The (expected) return of TRAINFEST

[Bayfield Transfer Railway]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zt4aPPyUy4

[dknelson]

The most recent version of Milwaukee's Trainfest was in November 2019.  The 2020 show was canceled fairly early due to pandemic concerns, plus the venue at State Fair Park in West Allis WI had been converted into a huge, expensive ($15 million or so we heard), and as it turned out, mostly unused emergency hospital for what was expected to be a massive influx of Covid sufferers.  There were patients treated there but not in the numbers feared, which is a good thing in the bigger picture.

By 2021 there were still however concerns about putting on the show since for a variety of reasons a show of that size has to be planned months in advance, including months when the venue was still a hospital with no announced closure date for that use.  Plus the group that put on Trainfest for nearly 50 years, the Wisconsin South Eastern Division ("WISE" Division) of the NMRA was becoming somewhat splintered and weakened by the sheer burden of putting on the huge event with an aging and less active (and yeah, shrinking) core of members. 

Trainfest had reached the point where if it was a success (meaning attendance in the 20,000 range) it roughly broke even, whereas the purpose was not to break even but to raise funds to further the WISE Division's activities of education and modeler recruitment and encouragement, which in  the past had even included purchasing locomotives for donation to railroad museums.  A "bad year" for Trainfest (due to weather or competing events or worse yet a last minute cancelation due to Covid) would have destroyed the WISE Division and depleted the treasury.  It had reached the point where each year's go/no go decision was an enormous roll of the dice, with everything at stake.  And while Trainfest had always had the goal of introducing the public to our great hobby in all its manifestations, some in the WISE Division had gotten tired of the playground/kiddie ride aspect and wanted more genuine model railroad content.   Much of this, and much else about Trainfest, was the then-advertising agency's idea.  

 

And to be frank there was also some unease within the Division about certain directions the show had taken and what all that money was being spent on and just who was calling the shots.  Trainfest was the tail that wagged the dog and in a sense Trainfest was almost dictating terms to the WISE Division. The more this went on, the less comfortable WISE Division leadership became with their situation as directors of a corporation (The WISE Division is a Wisconsin non-stock corporation and 501(c)(3).

Things got bad enough in 2021 that some of the elected leadership of the WISE division resigned and the Midwest Region ended up taking the WISE Division under administration with appointed leaders, all of whom were well known and respected NMRA members and long time Trainfest volunteer workers.

The Trainfest federal trademark is likely the WISE Division's largest single asset.  We know many other train shows tried to use it unlawfully.  We knew that if the WISE Division started putting on little swap meets and such to meet its financial needs that we would be diluting the value if we used the Trainfest name for that kind of event (and Milwaukee has plenty of swap meets).  Yet we all recognized that every year that Trainfest did not take place would make it just that much more difficult to revive and put on again.  

Anyway ....  my point here (and I do have one) is that at this Sunday's WISE Division meet we were told new information about the 2022 Trainfest but were asked to keep it under wraps until the public announcement today.  That announcement is now on the Model Railroader website and can be found here

Trainfest 2022 announced - Trains

https://www.trains.com/mrr/news-reviews/news/trainfest-2022-announced/

The WISE Division NMRA has worked with Kalmbach Media and the folks who run the Great American Train Shows, including the very familiar monthly show in Wheaton IL, for them to put on Trainfest 2022 and use that name for the show.  Kalmbach and GATS obviously have between them the sorts of solid relationships with manufacturers, vendors and exhibiting layouts to make Trainfest 2022 wothy of using that name.  Both organizations know the hobby and know how to put on public events.  

Whether they use the same State Fair Park venue (hugely expensive) or not I do not know.  Whether they will be needing volunteers from the WISE Division or other hobbyists to run the thing I do not know.  But things are looking very good for their being a genuine Trainfest 2022 and, we hope, beyond 2022.  Is this forever or at some point will the WISE Division be able to reassume the role of running Trainfest ?   I do not know.  

I hasten to add that all editorial commentary in  this posting is mine and mine alone. I do not speak for the NMRA, Midwest Region, WISE Division, or of course Kalmbach Media or GATS.  

Dave Nelson