Report from the frontline: "World's Greatest Hobby on Tour" show 2004...

[chutton01]

As promised, I have visited the "World's Greatest Hobby on Tour" train show, survived, and have since safely returned...
As I had expected, it was better on paper than in person. I will admit it was a good example of what a local train show should aspire too (as opposed to the Lionel and Doll-House centric focus of the usual Greenberg fests) , but certainly not "Worth the Drive from Anywhere in the Northeast" (it was questionable if it was worth the drive from Long Island even, let alone Albany or Providence, RI).
As promised, there were about 8 modular layouts (and a few stand-alones), and I'm afraid to say this fellow HO'ers, but the N scale modules took the prize for detail, attractiveness, and completeness, while the O scalers/Hi-Railers won on their animations, kitsch and attractions (although the Spongebob Module was a bit over the top, the sequenced running lights on the Plasticville Airport Runway was definitely kick-***). The HO modular layout from Delaware (First-Staters, I think) was good, and I was totally impressed by the sheer number of scale people at the station (hundreds, it seemed, and we can only hope they hand-painted each one [:D] ). Yes, there was a large scale ridable train, and boy did the kids love riding it (glad I wasn't the guy who had to keep spraying the tracks with WD-40).
By the jam-packed Thomas play area, there were about 8 simple layouts (one train, loop of track with spurs, and command system) and one scenicked one where you could try the command control systems - problem was, there was no clear instructions, and so adults and children alike were stumped (although the children were more willing to press random buttons to eventually get the loco moving, usually past the end of the dead-end spurs and off the track...).
As for manufacturers, hmm, this was a huge let-down. Many manufacturers simply weren't present, and of the name brands that were there, a significant percent had just a simple table with some literature and brochures laying out (e.g. Walthers and Model Railroader). Woodland Scenics had a decent display, as did BTS and JL Innovations. Alas, the mystical and magical "Show Discount" remained very elusive (although JL did have it on many structure kits, and BTS on a few). MTH, Aristocraft[?], and several other O scale concerns had good displays, although I wasn't particularly interested in their wares. Kato, Atlas, and a few others were also there (oh yes, Carstens too [can we mentioned them here]).
The only real freak out moment I had was due to something pervading the Expo and not yet mentioned by me - by BTS there was a few layout displays, and as I kept looking at one (of a transistion-era coal mining branch) something was very off - I couldn't tell what, and got more and more irked the longer I looked till I walked around and found I had walked into a nest of S-scalers (yes, I though it was a HO layout at first, with really odd structure dimensions). This tour might well be called the "S-scale Comes Alive 2004" tour, as I have never seen so much S scale anywhere before (including one seminar - "S Scale Is Not Just American Flyer"- sounds subversive to me).
Well, that's about it - I glossed over a lot of stuff (such as I almost got out with my wallet still alive, but I stopped by the Greenway Products booth and picked up some HO machine/wood shop equipment - BTW, if you stop by their booth, check out the JL Innovations stuff they are selling, and then walk two booths up to JL Innovation's own booth, and let me know if I was seeing things).
Well, this hopefully was not a "Once in a lifetime event", as it rather pales to, say, computer expos of the mid-1990s (now those were shows!). I give it a passing grade, as it was crowded, people seemed happy and interested, and hopefully will help bring new people, both young and old, into our hobby.

Oh yes, I did not hear any live band in the time I was there (I did hear a guitar being tuned, the toots from the riding Erie F unit, and the horn from the 'Big Sounds' train video booth), but I guess that was for later.

[egmurphy]

Thanks for the very comprehensive report. Let's hope that a few of the people who visited come down with the train bug. That's the main purpose of the WHG campaign.


Regards

Ed