It's coming soon, January 27&28. Who's going to be in West Springfield?
Well, I moved to Delaware, so it would be a long trip for me. When I lived in the Burbs of Boston, it was totally worth it.
Keep us posted.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Better Living Center, section 2A, tables H and I.
Better Living Center section 40 E,F,G
Unless a storm like a couple of years ago happens I'll be there. Fortunately only a 1 1/2 hour drive for me. Maxman, Neal, I'll stop by to say howdy
3 weeks to go. Vendor list and floor plans have been posted on the show web site: www.railroadhobbyshow.com
Time to plan your moves.
Getting too old to do 3-4 hours driving. do the show, then return. Sure do miss the bus. Maybe next year.
Have fun,
Richard
I'll be there, from the U.K. despite the 7 hour flight. Its worth it to get things you can't get back home and meet good friends and share a meal and a pint.
Colin Kings Lynn UK with the 1/87 vehicle group
I've been 3 times back when I lived within a 3 1/2 hour drive but now it is around 450 miles on northeast corridor highways. It's a great show but just to far and time consuming. I do live within 2 hours drive of Timonium so I usually try to make it to that show a couple times a year.
Back when I did go to Amhearst, it was always bitter cold and snow conditions, which add to the difficulty of getting there.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
At the Amherst Railway Society meeting last night, Jan. 10, it was announced that all the tables in all 4 buildings had been filled.
2 weeks to go, and counting. Has everyone got their shopping list ready?
1 week to go. Current long-range forecast is cold, but no blizzards in sight. Maybe some flurries.
The final countdown has begun. Volunteers will be starting to put tables in place on Wednesday & Thursday. Layouts will be getting set up. Many vendors arrive on Friday, so they can set up and be prepared for the opening whistle blasts on Saturday morning.
For those who attended the show on Saturday and thought it was crowded, you're absolutely correct. The ticketed attendance was 15,612, an all-time one day record for the show.
Great show, but way too crowded. I've been attending for 20 years or so and this was busiest I've ever seen. Was hard to move around, people stopped in isleways to chat. I think it's time to consider opening an additional building and spreading things out. I had a short list of vendors I wanted to visit and barely got to all of them. Didn't really get much time at layouts. Plus, there was no parking organization to point us to available parking, at least at Gate 1. Plus, bought tickets on line Friday night, to avoid the walk up ticketbooth, and the line to get our bracelets was longer than the ticket booth. Needless to say, not their best effort at organization. Not trying to female dog, but hopefully those who run it will consider this evaluatio. It's truly a great show, and I'll go until I can't, but a few issues need to be addressed
Regards, Chris
Chris,The problem was the weather. Several thousand people decided to come to the show Saturday instead of their normal Sunday due to the snow forecast. There's just nothing that can be done about the weather effects on show attendance. Every time it snows on one day, the other one gets flooded with people.
As for spreading out, there's not much chance of that, either. The large building next to the Stroh has a dirt floor for horse displays, etc., during the fair. The next building after that, besides being a lengthy walk, I think is also dirt floored for livestock. The only way to add more buildings to this show is to build new ones.Even if they tried to add a day (to make it a 3 day show), the dealers/clubs/manufacturers would revolt. They already have to take 1 or 2 days off their "real job" to travel and set up at the show. Adding another day to that would make it not worth it for many. And speaking as a dealer, I hope they never add a third day. My feet are killing me...
Thanks Paul, I appreciate your comments. Wasn't aware of the dirt floor issue, but it makes sense obviously. I live just outside Boston (Westford) and I thought the forecast called for snow starting in the evening. But that said, maybe different starting time for West Springfield. Next year we plan to order our braclets earlier and get them mailed to us.
Haven't researched total attendance, but Saturday was a record day of over 15,000.
Chris,I live halfway between Boston and Providence (also a 90 min. drive to the Big E), and my organization (NHRHTA) and club (SSMRC) drive out Friday afternoon and come home Sunday night.The show starts at 9AM Sat. (and 10AM Sun.). I set my alarm at the hotel in West Springfield at 6:30AM (and 7:30AM) and get to the show an hour before it starts. Not for nothing, but I sure hope they don't open the show any earlier than that. Getting up at 5:30AM to get to an 8AM start time should be illegal. BTW, I think total show attendance was something like 22,000 or 26,000 if you include the dealers (who all pay for admission, BTW).
Paul, I hope I didn't come across as whining (ok, maybe I was just a little ). My interest in sharing my critique was in the hope that, like everything in life, maybe some improvement could be made if possible to the event. I understand what a huge logistics undertasking is involved in running a show this size and I am very appreciative of the group's efforts.
Chris,Oh, no, I never thought you were whining. If anything, I'm the one whining about getting up at 6:30AM for a 9AM train show that's just 10 min. from my hotel. Still, it's the only way to get a close parking spot. I've been going to this show for 33 years, and I always try to get there at least 1 hour before show time. BTW, did anyone find out why they opened the show 10 min. early on Sunday?For improvements, I would tell the show to move the Atlas booth further away from the doorway to the larger Mallery hall. For some reason, the show set up a couple Atlas tables perpendicular to the doorway's edge. Along with the Dry Hill modular group on the other side, it formed a long funnel that seriously impeded travel between the smaller front hall and the larger rear hall in the Mallery.I would also ask for the return of the tent "hallways" outside between the buildings. We got lucky in that it wasn't pouring rain, but it was still unpleasant on Saturday. Sunday morning was worse with large flakes of snow for a couple hours.
Paul3 Chris,Oh, no, I never thought you were whining. If anything, I'm the one whining about getting up at 6:30AM for a 9AM train show that's just 10 min. from my hotel. Still, it's the only way to get a close parking spot. I've been going to this show for 33 years, and I always try to get there at least 1 hour before show time. BTW, did anyone find out why they opened the show 10 min. early on Sunday?For improvements, I would tell the show to move the Atlas booth further away from the doorway to the larger Mallery hall. For some reason, the show set up a couple Atlas tables perpendicular to the doorway's edge. Along with the Dry Hill modular group on the other side, it formed a long funnel that seriously impeded travel between the smaller front hall and the larger rear hall in the Mallery.I would also ask for the return of the tent "hallways" outside between the buildings. We got lucky in that it wasn't pouring rain, but it was still unpleasant on Saturday. Sunday morning was worse with large flakes of snow for a couple hours.
The Show Director decided to open the show 10 minutes early on Sunday because he saw people getting soaked while waiting in line.
dcm64,I kinda figured after the fact (I had no idea it was even snowing until after the first customers came in covered in snow), but that wouldn't have been such an issue if the tent "hallways" had been there.Did they give any warning? I don't recall hearing one. Just "The show is now open." I was rather surprised it was 9:50AM at the time.
Final tally for the show:
Saturday - 17.330
Sunday - 5,321
Total Attendance - 22,651
Does not include approx. 3,500 vendors, show staff, and volunteers.