Report from "Greatest Hobby on Tour" trainshow in St. Louis

[simon1966]

Well what a dissapointment this show was. I was really looking forward to seeing manufacturers booths loadad with new things. Hardly any manufacturers of HO stuff were present. Bachmann was the only DCC maanufacturer displaying DCC products. The Walthers booth was empty save for a box for a Walthers drawing. The advertised 100's of booths of manufacturers and retailers totaled about 60 companies including the T-shirt vendors and the inevitable Thomas the tank retailers. All in all a very poor show for the serious modeller. Quite good I suppose for kids, but certainly not, and I quote "Worth the Drive from Anywhere in the Midwest" or "A special once in a lifetime opportunity"

MTH did have a big booth, without doubt the most impressive of any of the manufacturers. No sign of the HO offerings at all, not even a graphic for them.

Having said that, it was packed and perhaps will get some folks into the hobby. So perhaps it met the show objectives.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like more hype than substance! [:(]

Bob Boudreau

[grayfox1119]

If you can make it to the Big E in Springfield, MA the end of this month, you will NOT be disappointed Simon, but it is a little drive for you. Make it a weekend, fly into Bradley Intl Airport which is only about 15 miles south of the Big E right off I91.


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[chutton01]

QUOTE: Originally posted by simon1966
"Worth the Drive from Anywhere in the Midwest" or "A special once in a lifetime opportunity"

Heh, I also ragged upon the Edison's WHQ Show "Worth the Drive from Anywhere in the Northeast" Slogan, as it pretty much wasn't.
The Edison show was thin on HO vendors (and vendors in general, although perhaps not as thin as your show sounded - Walthers also was represented only by an empty booth with a contest box at Edison), although oddly thick with S scale for some reason.
The display layouts at Edison were pretty good, however, as was the play-with-dcc layouts (well, they would have been great if there was a placard with some instructions at each layout) - crowds were thick, many children at Edison (somebody said 40,000 attendees), which can only help the hobby.
As a serious train show (in either a flea market sense, or a model expo sense), it was a bust.

[Anonymous]

LUNCH $10
GAS $ 5
PARKING $ 5
ADMISSION $ 9
TRAINSHOW WORTHLESS

[Anonymous]

If the promo title doesn't have the word scale in it (such as the Great Scale Train Show in Timonium MD every 3 mos.) - I avoid it like the plague for the above reasons!

[coal drag]

The only thing that saved the day for me, was running into several people I hadn't seen for a looong time. And one of the layouts had a feature that we need to add to the club's moduals.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps they should rename it "What could be the World's Greatest Hobby on Tour Show if it were better organized"? [:)]

Bob Boudreau

[simon1966]

Well, I took the kids today. Yesterday my youngest was sick on saturday, so I had gone to enjoy the show on my own. The kids really loved it. There were several good layouts operating including a really good Lego setup. On relection, I think my dissapointment for this show stems from the truly poor showing by the manufacturers. The manufacturer participation was described in such glowing terms "Never before has the Model Railroad Industry created an Exhibition like this" If ever a statement was false advertising this is it. I still can't get over the fact that Walthers is listed as an exhibitor and had nothing more than a drawing box! Just for kicks I am going to drop an e-mail wilth my opinion on this to the show organizers and Walthers. Woodland Scenics, Bachmann and MTH were the only manufacturers to have really put any visible effort into the show and they were wall to wall people both days.

[raysaron]

Maybe the midwest modelers should consider Trainfest in November in Milwaukee.
Walthers is local and well represented. It is held in conjunction with an MRIA show,
so there are many manufacturers' booths.

[jrbernier]

Trainfest is a great show. Lots of manufacturer's, layouts, and displays. I have not attended the Springfield show, but I understand it is even bigger. I am unaware of any 'west coast' shows that are similar. Maybe the Hobby Trade show in Las Vegas?

Jim Bernier

[Anonymous]

I echo many of the comments above - the show was disappointing due to the lack of vendors, specifically Dixitrax, one of the sponsors of WGH. Was not worth my driving 200 plus miles.

[Anonymous]

I'd love to be able to attend the Springfield, MA show at the end of the month, but don't have any desire for driving 6-8 hours in the winter. Several local friends have attended in the past, and reported the show was awesome, almost too much! Their report of a guy flying past them on one of the highways then spinning around, across the opposite lane and into the ditch really made me lose interest! [xx(]

Bob Boudreau

[Anonymous]

I agree with much of the above sentiment. I didn't have to travel very far, and I'm glad for that. It would've been a harsh letdown if I had come from out of town for it. From the advertising I saw, it seemed like their intention was to please the kids and get them interested. I think they succeeded in that. For the rest of us I guess it was a mixed bag. I didn't really find any great deals, I didn't see a few things I was looking for at all, and with all the kids, the band, and the shoulder-to-shoulder crowdedness I might have missed who-knows-what due to sensory overload. I did, however, pick up a few nice pieces of rolling stock that I had been looking for (and didn't want to pay near list or more plus shipping on eBay).

[KenK]

I saw K-10's Model Trains was listed as having a display there. Were they
there? That's the hobby shop I go to in Maryville. I didn't choose to go to the
show, I assumed it would be packed what with the Health Fair running at the
same time. After your report, I'm not all that disappointed in not going.

[simon1966]

Ken and a bunch of the regular guys were at the show. The K-10 booth was loaded with photo's of the layout and they were handing out information sheets. It was very much a PR job rather than a retail booth. We are so fortunate to have a store like K-10's so close by. Most of the time his prices are as good or better than anything on the web. The first Sunday of the month operating sessions on the layout are always a real blast.

[Anonymous]

Agree with all of the above. We all need to e-mail WGH folks and demand a better show with truthful advertising.