Posters have created thread topics on some of the larger train shows like Amherst, but I thought to create a topic for smaller train shows that don't rate their own thread. So anyone may post here about any of the other lesser know shows.
Someone else has started a similar topic in Classic Toy Trains, as train shows usually have both scale and hi-rail.
A smaller train show that I recently attended was the Mid-Michigan Train Show in Mt. Pleasant last Sunday March 24. It was their first show since the pandemic. It was in a smaller conference center than their last show, and there was no room for layouts.
I guess I already have filled out my roster so I did not buy any rolling stock, but I did need to start populating my On30 layout with structures.
I went to the Great Train Show in Sacramento last January. It wasn't as good as in the past but I picked up a couple of goodies. I did get to meet Scott Inman of splives.org. That was nice but he said that the show was about one eighth the size it was before covid.
MC, Oroville, CA
WP Lives
Last weekend, I attended the annual model train show in Ottawa, organized by the good folks at OVAR. Many of the vendors are real model railroaders clearing out their stuff or just thinning the herd. Prices are very reasonable for older stock, like they should be - and also for newer stock. My kind of show! I scored on HOn3 rolling stock and some older locos. Got home and I realized that one of the locos had a dead decoder. I swaped it out - no problem given the low cost of the loco.
I look forward to next year's show already!
Simon
One factor is, what makes a train show "smaller?" Size of floor plan, or diversity of stuff being offered? A buddy of mine is a train show dealer and he has learned that many train show customers are really just locomotive buyers, and thus some train shows are mostly just locomotive dealers. I rarely buy a loco at a train show any more. Structures, detail parts, and certain books and railroadiana such as maps are more my thing.
A smaller local show where I know what to expect to find might be uninteresting to me now but a smaller show away from where I live might have more things of interest. So I live near Milwaukee but go to relatively few local shows; I have seen most of the inventory. But the smaller shows in Galesburg IL, Rockford IL, Davenport IA, Green Bay WI seem fresh and new to my eyes. I will give an example. Local shows -- everyone is looking for the same Milwaukee Road and C&NW stuff so do not expect deals. But you might find C&NW almost being given away in Galesburg or Davenport. Conversely if you are looking for Rock Island stuff, the local shows are the Mohave Desert but Davenport IA, oh my!
Obviously the major manufacturers tend to go to the biggest shows where their new product announcements will make the biggest splash. Some "smaller" shows do feature more local or "basememt" manufacturers, such as the recent profusion of 3D printer based manufacturers. That to me is a draw because they tend not to advertise much or be placed in local hobby shops or the Walthers catalog. But many smaller shows do not even feature basement manufacturers.
Some "smaller" shows feature regional brick and mortar train dealers selling new stuff, perhaps at a discount, but not all smaller shows feature actual retail dealers selling new stuff. One reason I like local dealers at distant train shows is that "new" means "unsold" and sometimes you see stuff you've been looking for and here it is, new-in-box. While Milwaukee's Trainfest was never a "smaller" show it did feature local dealers, and one of them, the long-gone Jerry's Bay View Hobbies, had a lot of old inventory -- models, kits, parts, books, even paints -- that we locals had long since seen but the out of town types would go crazy over the chance to buy old stuff that was nonetheless new. Just by way of example Jerry had way overestimated the market for a book, I think from Kalmbach, showing verified accurate Pullman paint chips, and he had stacks of them to sell. Out of print for years. You'd hear guys yelp at finding something they'd been praying to find someday, and here it was at list price and not "collector's price."
Some, perhaps most, smaller train shows are mostly guys selling used stuff but even here there is used stuff and then there is used stuff. Busted up train-set fodder? Well .... one might find a treasure. We kitbashers have odd tastes sometimes! I would say this, that I have reached the age (knees and eyesight) where the boxes of stuff BELOW the table might as well not be there at all even if I have this hunch that the stuff I am really looking for, like certain old IHC and AHM structures, might be down there rather than up top with the stacks of Tyco flatcars and LifeLike cabooses. But those guys presumably know what sells. I prefer shows where everything is up on the table.
Dave Nelson
May 3 & 4
Cumberland, Maryland Fairgrounds
Maryland & West Vriginia Model Railway Association
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
Give a shout-out to the Greenberg train and toy show:https://www.trainshow.com/ They make a circuit at places; lucky they're in Chanitilly, VA twice/year. A lot of great vendors without being too overwhelming.
I like the smaller, local shows now. I'm not building much, so my shopping list is minimal and I'm just looking for ideas and entertainment. Cost is low, driving time is short. What's not to like? We don’t have a lot of shops in Delaware, so shows provide an outlet.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Hello All,
There are three (3) annual train shows I can attend from where I live.
Each are approximately 2-hours drive-time- -one way.
The premiere show is at the Denver National Western Stock Show Complex.
Another is in Estes Park.
While the "smallest" but not the least is in Colorado Springs.
"She Who Must Be Obeyed" allows me one foray to a single event.
I've enjoyed the "smaller" more community-orientated shows.
Because of my given limitations, I'll save my pennies for the larger show.
Full Disclosure: I have seen many of the same vendors at both the smaller and larger gatherings. I try to support them at the larger show.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
dknelsonOne factor is, what makes a train show "smaller?" Size of floor plan, or diversity of stuff being offered? ...
When I started this thread, I intended the tern "small" to be interpreted liberally. The only big train shows topics that I have seen recently are Amherst and that show in Milwaukee. I was told that the show in York, PA was bigger than Amherst, but I don't recall hearing about in this forum. If you don't think a show is big enough for you to start its own thread, please post it here.
Duplicate
If you mean the York, Pa. show, I believe that is a TCA show and you either have to be a TCA member or a guest of one. And you can go as a guest only once.
And I think it's mostly large scale.
I believe the Train Collector's Association is aimed at collectors of toy trains, so is mostly Lionel - American Flyer, not large scale (which usually refers to No.1 gauge, which is also sometimes called "G gauge" - like LGB trains.)
wjstixso is mostly Lionel - American Flyer, not large scale (which usually refers to No.1 gauge, which is also sometimes called "G gauge" - like LGB trains.)
SIGH!!!!!!! Okay, I guess I should have said "larger scale".
"Large Scale" means trains that are 1:32 scale or larger (1:29, 1:22.5, 1:20.3), generally using No.1 gauge (1.75") track.
O scale/gauge is not large scale...or larger scale.
Double sigh. Okay, how about scales generally larger than HO?
Also:
The Amherst Railway Society presents the Northeast Large Scale Train Show. The event occupies 55,000 square feet in the Young building on the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds. The show covers all facets of large scale railroading - model railroads, railroad art and photography, railroad history and preservation, tourist railroads, railroad artifacts, and railroad books and videos. The Amherst Railway Society defines :"Large Scale" as any of the following: S-scale, O-scale, G-scale, F-scale, 7.25 gauge, 7.5 gauge (1.5" to the foot) and larger.
Here's the shows I'm aware of in the Nashville TN area. Please feel free to add any I've missed and any info relating to the other areas of the State – Memphis/West TN and Knoxville/East TN.
Coming up soon:
April 24th - Train Show, April and November, Tennessee Central Ry Museum & Hobby Store, 220 Willow Rd. Nashville, TN, www.tcry.org.
July 20th - Madison Train Show, July, City Road Chapel, Madison, TN, nathanbaker@comcast.net 615-612-3324
Aug 10th - Train Show, August 26, 2023, The sHOw Model Train Club, Bowling Green, KY, kcomer300@yahoo.com, About 90 minutes north of Nashville. The official Corvette Museum is also nearby.
Others:
TCA (Train Collectors Assn.), July, Volunteer State Community College, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN, 615-646-2232, petrone.v@comcast.net
Crossville Model RR Club/SE Region NMRA, Annual Train Expo in October, Cumberland Community Complex, Crossvilletrains@gmail.com, About 2 hours east of Nashville.
Jim
Oops!
maxman If you mean the York, Pa. show, I believe that is a TCA show and you either have to be a TCA member or a guest of one. And you can go as a guest only once. And I think it's mostly large scale.
It depends on what building at the show. The dealer hall is open to the public so anyone can come. The member halls which is the vast majority of the show require the membership.
While you are mostly correct that the show is aimed at O and S Scales you can still find plenty of HO, N, and other scales there too. I model HO and always come away from the show with something and crazy good deals especially from the member halls either liquidating their HO/N collection to get out of the hobby or to move on to O. Works out for me everytime.
wjstix I believe the Train Collector's Association is aimed at collectors of toy trains, so is mostly Lionel - American Flyer, not large scale (which usually refers to No.1 gauge, which is also sometimes called "G gauge" - like LGB trains.)
scott7891The dealer hall is open to the public so anyone can come.
I missed that the first time through the website ad. But what do they mean by "dealers"?
I did try to see what/who the dealers were, but that link on the website didn't seem to take me anyplace.
maxman I did try to see what/who the dealers were, but that link on the website didn't seem to take me anyplace.
The Boot Hill Model RR club held a show in Garden City, KS in March. The show meets the metrics in terms of small in terms of venue size and attendance. We hoped to have 400 folks attend over a Saturday/Sunday. There was a large HO Free Mo layout, a couple of N scale layouts, another HO layout, a On30 layout, a Lionel layout, Spring Creek Model Railroad hobby shop, and other vendors. I have found some really good bargains; last year I picked up two new Athearn CF7s for $50 each.
The club used to hold an October show in Dodge City, but there have been venue problems. I am working to find a solution to that, because it would be much easier working a show in my backyard than 45 miles away.
In some ways I like the smaller shows better- In other ways the larger shows. We have three in the general area that could be considered larger shows and two smaller shows (used to be three but the Lynchburg one seems to be defunct) Both of the smaller shows seem to be a magnet for deals.
The Mebane show does have a larger tinplate footprint but there are great deals to be found. One had loose cars 3 for $10 and one of the dealers had a table that all boxed car kits were $2
You can not beat that- in the $2 cars was this gem- the only narrow gauge thing in the whole show. A pair of Taurus ore cars in HOn3. By the end of the show from what I understand he was giving things away.
Likewise the Greensboro show also has fantastic deals especially at the club tables on stuff they had donated and did not want to take back. I have bought a Hobbytown E-7 there for $2 before. This year they had everything on the club table for a buck. That included two Tyco locomotive kits and a NWSL motorizing kit for the Keystone shay (coincidentily I had bought one of those for $8 at the Mebane show the year before) The only things I didn't buy at the club table were the book and the CB&Q boxcar
One that is really unique that is mid range is the Spencer, NC Shops Train Show. (coming up May 18th and 19th) It is smaller than the largest show in Raleigh but larger than Greensboro and Mebane and what better venue than a railroad backshop!- they run a row of two tables the entire length. Plus you have a railroad museum to look through- all for the price you normally pay to get into just a train show ($8) if you pay another $8 you get a train ride too- cant beat that. There is a hobby shop across the street too although their selection is not what it used to be. Plus the train show coincides with their antique truck show outside.
I really like these smaller train shows for deals but the larger ones are great too. The Neuse River club has a twice yearly show in Raleigh (Next one May 4th and 5th) that is the largest in the area- I really enjoy that one. There is another in Hickory NC that I will occasionally go to but it is the edge of my range- even further afield are shows in Richmond, Fort Mill, SC, and Ashville but they are really too far to go. (I am in Danville VA on the NC line)
There used to be a couple of TCA meets but those had little HO- they used to have the spring show that the Raleigh group took over and it was not worth it to go for what little HO they had. Our club had came to the point of not going before that happened. They did move that further out but I have not attended that one but imagine it to be similar.
Happy Trainshowing....
Train show in Grand Rapids, Michigan this Saturday 5/4. About 200 sales tables and a number of layouts.
https://grvrrc.org/
We have a relocated show this weekend. Not much info about it, but since it's only a few miles away (like 2) the travel time is minimal so I'll be going. All the other ones are at least a half-hour away. The sponsor seems to be a local club.
gregc May 3 & 4 Cumberland, Maryland Fairgrounds Maryland & West Vriginia Model Railway Association
reminder. this weekend
Our small local show was today. I didn’t know it, but the show was almost entirely O-scale, both the display layout and almost all the dealer tables. Of course, there were Hot Wheels tables and the weirdest thing I saw was HO track, new in an Atlas blister pack, but it was brass.
Went to the Grand Rapids train show today. There weren't as many large layout displays as usual, on account many of them were at an NMRA conference.
Lansing Train Show is on Nov. 10th. It is reportedly the largest train show in Michigan, about 500 tables.
https://lmrc.org/trainshow/