Flintlock76:
Yes I can totally relate. You go and come home with more stuff for your roster or collection! :)
I've always wondered, are train shows in the Midwest/Northeast/South bigger than the ones in California?
Just curious
Tables are in place, and vendors and layouts are getting set up. Opening whistle is 9:00Am on Saturday.
ATSFGuyI've always wondered, are train shows in the Midwest/Northeast/South bigger than the ones in California?
I've never been to shows in California or the Midwest, but from experience I can say the shows in the Northeast, especially the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania area can be pretty big, the Northeast's got a very vibrant model railroading culture.
Shows here in Virginia are pretty good but modest compared to the ones in the Northeast. They're worth attending if you're within easy driving distance but honestly not worth coming cross-country over.
Anything interesting from the show?
Mark B.
Mark B Anything interesting from the show? Mark B.
Of course the show is underway, but if you go to the show's website then click on "Who's Who" and then "List of Exhibitors" you'll get an idea of who's there and what they're likely to have. I haven't gone, I live too far away just so you know.
https://www.railroadhobbyshow.com/
Perfect show day weather. Total attendance for Saturday was 11,921.
It was a pretty decent show considering. Vendors still seemed a bit thin in various areas of the buildings as compared to previous pre-pandemic years, but certainly better than what I saw on Virtual Railfan last year. Crowds were pretty decent IMO. While some well known names were missing this year (e.g. Woodland Scenics, from who I could always finagle a few tree armatures from during their hands-on clinics), this year I couldn't find the 'Plasticville' vendor that usually was in the Stroh building (I never brougth anything from him mind, I just like the way the buidings he displayed looked - then again if no one else brought from him over the years no wonder he wasn't there). In fact the Stroh building always seemed to me a bit empty in its western half, but this year it seemed rather worse.City Classics was there, although it seemed to me to be more of an odd tribute to its founder wih a number of tables along the North wall of the BLC, but not a whole lot of models on them (what was the image on the draped tables cloths? An anthropomorphic rolled up backdrop? A diploma for scholarships? I didn't readily get it, and didn't bother to ask. I did however ask for 'show' discounts (which, since it was Saturday, were not given - no surprize there, but I figured no harm in asking). I did get about 40% of the items I had on my list (actually a high for the 7 shows I have attended). The show started off a bit weird for me, as I was somewhat early so they parked me in the lot to the East of the BLC next to the giant slide (for the admittance fee they could have opened up the slide to all paying customers - we're model railroaders, they could have just draped some old shag carpet over the concrete barriers at the end.All in all, seemed a fairly decent show.
It was a beautiful day Saturday and by noon or 1:00 it was getting crowded enough that I decided that a second time around wasn't worth it. Much better attended and more vendors than last year (COVID + snowstorm). A few new and very impressive large layouts this year - the Nebraska free-mo and the Reading Historical Society layouts stood out to me, as well as the one whose name escapes me that was running the 60-70 tank car lashups and the 18 car D&RGW Snow Train.
I got there early, right at the bell, and made a beeline to the vendor I knew had the FSM Brownsville Depot that I needed for my layout. He also had the SRMW roundhouses - both brick and stone versions. He told me he could give me a good price on the stone one - I walked away with both the roundhouse and depot for less than the roundhouse typically sells for on EBay (I've been watching them for the past year or so). Also picked up an HO New Haven Potato Reefer from Eastern Seaboard Models, so a real good day for me.
ATSFGuyare train shows in the Midwest/Northeast/South bigger than the ones in California?
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to go to attend a show in Atlanta. Having never been to one outside of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and the Mid Atlantic (an iron triangle of model railroading), I was quite curious what it would be like. Atlanta isn't exactly a small city, after all.
It was held, I believe, by an organization that operates throughout the south. The same group that holds a railroadiana show annually in Gaithersburg, Maryland that is of note. It was on what I'd call the mid size, akin to a Greenberg show if you're familiar with them in the East. A bit more on the tin plate and much heavier on the memorabilia, which to be fair is how it was promoted. I enjoy this aspect too and my wife likes looking at the china, which is advantageous for me.
What did strike me were two major differences. It was a one day show, which I found unusual for the size and the kind of venue (a major convention center complex), and only a handful of layouts and not particularly large ones at that. I'd suspect that one of the top tier outfits like those Reading modular guys have a larger layout at Timonium than the entire Atlanta show.
But, I went with the dual goal of "get away from the in-laws for a couple hours" and "look for a Union RR MP15." The first was guaranteed and the second was a long shot. The chances of a dealer in Atlanta having a railroad with limited out of region demand is low. But the first table I went to had two of them and they came home with me.
Looks like gate total for the 2 days was 18,369 and "total population" was 21,869.
Not sure what total population includes. I'm sure it included vendors, but not sure if it includes pre-purchased tickets that vendors purchased for their helpers.
Oh, and as far as I can tell Kalmbach was conspicuous by their absence.
maxman Oh, and as far as I can tell Kalmbach was conspicuous by their absence.
Maybe, just maybe, after all the work of Trainfest in November, Kalmbach employees wanted to take a break from big shows?
maybe
maxman Looks like gate total for the 2 days was 18,369 and "total population" was 21,869. Not sure what total population includes. I'm sure it included vendors, but not sure if it includes pre-purchased tickets that vendors purchased for their helpers.
Vendors and helpers are not included in the total gate, but advance purchase tickets are. The "total population" also includes the Amherst Railway Society volunteers, who make the show possible.
maxmanOh, and as far as I can tell Kalmbach was conspicuous by their absence.
Here's a quick wrap-up of the show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31wZ74BvwL0