Train shows

[Anonymous]

Do they ever have any in Las Vegas? It would be nice to check out some big layouts , get some good deals on some O gauge stuff, just generally look at things that I've never seen before, and talk to other hobbiests. It would be a new experience for me.

[Anonymous]

Dont know about vegas, you can check out the back pages of CTT for upcoming events, they go state by state.I love the shows and bring the hole family!!.The people are great and you can usually shoot the bull talking trains for hours.There are some good buys also.I find my best finds not on the tables, but usually under them in the junkboxes.Usually there are some good repairable rebuilders at dirt cheap prices.Also dont go to early the prices are higher then, I buy toward the end, you can chew the sellers down because they would rather sell it then pack it up and haul it back out to there cars[swg]

[Buckeye Riveter]

I always check TRAINS.com schedule of events.

Click on: http://www.trains.com/community/events/search.asp
for an example.

Put in the zip code and hit browse.

[Jumijo]

QUOTE: Originally posted by richardsushi

. . . I love the shows and bring the hole family!!.The people are great and you can usually shoot the bull talking trains for hours.There are some good buys also.I find my best finds not on the tables, but usually under them in the junkboxes.Usually there are some good repairable rebuilders at dirt cheap prices.Also dont go to early the prices are higher then, I buy toward the end, you can chew the sellers down because they would rather sell it then pack it up and haul it back out to there cars[swg]

Same here, but truth be told, I have a much better time going by myself. I just attended one the weekend before Christmas and had a blast talking with people, hunting for bargains under the tables, looking at display layouts. Then I went and had lunch with a bunch of guys I didn't even know. It was great.

The next day I took the whole family and the kids were whiney, fidgety, just not as well behaved as I have come to expect. I had a lousy time. Next time, in April, I'm attending both days at the show without the kids.

Jim

[jimhaleyscomet]

The prices of new items (espeicially one of a kind new old stock) are best right at the start of the show and right at the end of the show.

At the train show this weekend I got two 072 fastrack switches for $100 tax included. That is just slightly better than the best online price and I had no shipping. I also picked up a lionel fastrack expansion set for $65 (again tax included), an excellent price. By the end of the show neither of these deals were available.

10 minutes before the end of the show I found a vendor that always sells at a set "discounted show price". I managed to get another $15 off of the "show price" for a total of $100 because the show was about to close. This price would not have been available earlier in the show. Also, the price of the Thomas set started at $170 and by the end of the show was selling for $150.

This is just an indication of how show prices change during the event.

Jim H

[jimhaleyscomet]

One other thing about train show prices. I make up a list in excell of all the items I may want to purchase. Then I go through CTT adds and find the lowest price and the vendor. The show vendors will often match those prices (tax included) when I pay cash. I save money and I avoid paying shipping and I avoid the shipping hassles. The list also helps me to know when I see a good deal and should snap it up (like the Lionel expansion sets for $65). This all takes about 6 hours before the show....but I have more time than money.

Jim H

[jimhaleyscomet]

O.K. One very last thing. I always take a current CTT with me so I have a copy of the adds to refer to if I see something not on my list.

Jim H

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys! Seems to be something happeneing about once a month in a town about 45minutes from here, Boulder City. I'm kinda suprised that there isn't anything in Las Vegas itself, what with all the conventions and shows and all. Or maybe there is and I just haven't found it yet. Hmmmm...................

Anyone else?

[dbaker48]

When and where are the shows in Boulder, coming over to Vegas this weekend.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dbaker48

When and where are the shows in Boulder, coming over to Vegas this weekend.

Thanks

If I'm reading this right it's at the Nevada State RailRoad Museum on 2/11/06, 3/11/06, 4/8/06, and 5/13/06.

[Dave Farquhar]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jaabat
truth be told, I have a much better time going by myself. I just attended one the weekend before Christmas and had a blast talking with people, hunting for bargains under the tables, looking at display layouts. Then I went and had lunch with a bunch of guys I didn't even know. It was great.

When I go alone, it's an all-day thing. Like you, I talk to lots and lots of people. A couple of years back I must have spent a good hour at the Model Engineering Works table at a show, talking to them in between customers. I don't think I've ever learned as much in an hour before or since.

I've got a good friend I go to shows with sometimes. I find when I go with him, I end up spending a lot less money. And sometimes that's a good thing. It was funny the last time. I went table-diving, of course (scored a couple of rough AF S gauge bodies, which I proceeded to turn into O27 cars when I got home) and he did the same thing. He'd find the roughest thing he could find, hold it up, and say, "Looks like something you'd like." I passed on a box of postwar Lionel locos in various states of disrepair, labeled "Heavy metal crap," priced at $30. Leaving it was a mistake. Buying it would have been a mistake. That box was a no-win situation, no matter how I looked at it. I'd have bought it if my friend hadn't been there though, I'm pretty sure of it.

[Jumijo]

Dave,

I gravitate to junk like that box of locomotives you mentioned. I don't know why either. Maybe it's the part of me that want's to restore those old abused trains, even though all my expertise would go towards making them look nice. I'm just fascinated with stuff like that. I bought a bunch of built up Plasticville structures at a show last month that are rough to say the least. But at $2 a piece, I'll find a way to make them presentable. Give me the rough stuff under the table every time!

Jim

[jefelectric]

I go to a couple of train shows a year. Always spend to much money. If they are general shows I have a friend in HO that goes along. If strictly O gauge or Toy Train type shows I generaly go alone. As for waiting for the prices to drop, the few times I have done that, when I went back the item I was interested in was GONE. You do have to be careful of the used stuff, there is a lot of junk out there. I generaly buy new so that isn't as big a risk but you never know when it is an individual that you don't know and may never see again. A lot of the dealers are at the shows year after year and are pretty dependable.

John