I'll have to remember to do the funky chicken if I ever go!
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
You do see folks doing the funky chicken a lot at train shows but usually it turns out to be the lines waiting for the rest room.
Dave Nelson
riogrande5761 I'll have to remember to do the funky chicken if I ever go!
Jim,I don't know about the funky chicken but,act like you belong and that usually works quite well.A little strut helps to makes them wonder who you are.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I hope the MR videos of the train show were filmed before the show was actually open for the public. There is hardly anyone walking around.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BigDaddyThere is hardly anyone walking around.
.
I was there on Friday after it opened to the public and almost all day Saturday. Except for Saturday morning, it was pretty sparse.
I have not seen the videos, so I cannot guess when they were filmed. My bet would be it was before the doors opened to everyone because that would be safer for all of the video equipment, and it would be easier to work and get the videos done.
I am going to post my overall experience in a couple of days... stand by.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I have watched the MRVP video now. I am pretty sure it was filmed mostly when the show was open to NMRA convention attendees only. I am basing that on the lanyards everyone in the background is wearing.
The show was much busier than that the entire time I was there.
My experiences at the National Train Show and National Model Railroader Association Convention in Orlando, Florida.
First, I learned something about myself. Apparently I do not give off the “vibe” or “aura” of being a model railroader. Everywhere we went in and around the venue people kept asking my wife and me if we were lost or if we knew where we were supposed to be. Maybe that is because I am “local”, but I was wearing my tourist disguise one day of orange shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. Even in the National Train show, almost everyone talked to us as if we had no idea what we were looking at. This is not a criticism of anyone there, more of an observation about myself.
Almost everyone I ran into at the National Train Show was friendly. This is especially true of Tony Koester and Sam from Kadee. I watched Tony talk to people before I introduced myself, and he is an excellent ambassador for the hobby. He was neat, professional, polite, enthusiastic, and approachable. I do not know how much time he spent in the Model Railroader booth, but he was on his game every time I saw him.
The layouts on display were for the most part very appealing. The people running the layouts were also very helpful and talkative. One layout even had what I would call a “junior ambassador” reaching out to fellow youngsters and pointing out fun features of the layout. The Lego layout was great, as it always is. This is a common feature in Florida train shows. The guys from Orlando N-Trak were very happy to talk about the construction details of their new layout too.
This biggest problem was the venue. I do not know why it was decided to hold this event at the Orange County Convention Center, but that was a mistake. The OCCC is over TWO MILLION square feet in several concourses. The room the NTS was in was like a corner basement closet. This was a terrible choice for an event this small. It looked like we were a drop of water in a bucket.
Parking was way in the back of the massive concourse, and it was probably a quarter-mile walk indoors to reach the entrance to the NTS room. Many people were complaining, especially those with mobility problems, about the walk. You had to park in the back of the West Concourse, walk across the parking lot, go up to the catwalk over the loading area, go down to the main level, walk all the way to the end of the concourse.
Look at the picture, see how small the Rosen Plaza is? That is where the NMRA Convention was held. The smallest of the four major hotels at the OCCC. The pool area at the Hilton is bigger than the Rosen Plaza.
Sheldon has posted in these forums about how small the model railroading community actually is, well, you sure got a feeling of how small we are in these stunning cavernous surroundings with our diminutive little show at the end.
The show itself was worth it. I just think having this at the OCCC made us seem small. If you have never seen the OCCC in person, you cannot imagine how big this complex really is.
The dealers were all complaining, but dealers always seem to complain.
Most exciting new product: The Walthers layout control system.
Very best thing: Meeting Tony Koester.
Where I spent the most $$$: Kadee.
Most annoying thing: The hucksters trying to sell cell phone chargers. Somehow these people beat out the Sinbad Glue people for most annoying. How did cell phone chargers get into the NTS?
Funniest thing: When I was going up the escalator from the parking lot, a guy behind me was talking about a Cosplay event at the OCCC he saw recently. “Those weirdos were all dressed up in costume looking silly.” I myself am into Cosplay, so I was going to say something, when I noticed he was dressed in striped overalls and wearing an engineer’s hat! I guess he did not realize he is into "Casey Jones" Cosplay himself! HA!
If you ever have a chance to attend a National Train Show… GO!