I am fortunate to be able to attend the Atlanta Train Show this weekend. I am leaving Nashville about 6:00 in the morning and hope to be there by 11:00 AM. Traffic and countless others factors could effect my arrival time. Hopefully this will not be too bad. I also lose an hour on the way.
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If you are attending, please note it is in a new location this year.
In the past, people on this forum from South Carolina and Alabama have asked what train shows are worth driving for. In my oppinion, this one is it.
I have only made it there a couple of times in the past, but it has been a very good show. I hope it continues to be just as good in the new location.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
For a variety of reasons I'd be very interested in reading your report about the show in terms of attendance and vendor participation, costs, and parking situations. Some train shows seem to be struggling; others are going great.
Have fun and find everything on your wish list.
Dave Nelson
I will make a post-show report for you.
SeeYou190 I am fortunate to be able to attend the Atlanta Train Show this weekend. I am leaving Nashville about 6:00 in the morning and hope to be there by 11:00 AM. Traffic and countless others factors could effect my arrival time. Hopefully this will not be too bad. I also lose an hour on the way. . If you are attending, please note it is in a new location this year. . In the past, people on this forum from South Carolina and Alabama have asked what train shows are worth driving for. In my oppinion, this one is it. . I have only made it there a couple of times in the past, but it has been a very good show. I hope it continues to be just as good in the new location. . -Kevin .
I think this is the show that used to be at the Cobb Galleria off of 1-75 towards Nashville.
The ads say it is now in the Infinity Energy center off of Sugarloaf Parkway, which is also a nice venue that the other big ATL train show uses, sponsored by the Piedmont Division of the NMRA. Off of I-85 on the way to Charlotte.
Maybe I'll see you there and tap you on the shoulder. I've seen a recent picture of you.........
- Douglas
DoughlessMaybe I'll see you there and tap you on the shoulder. I've seen a recent picture of you.........
I am pretty easy to pick out of a crowd. I am 6' 7" tall and weigh 300 pounds.
I will be wearing a blue plaid shirt, torn blue jeans, and gray Nikes. I will most likely be carrying a Canon camera with me.
Feel free to say hi if you see me, I am a very friendly person.
SeeYou190 Doughless Maybe I'll see you there and tap you on the shoulder. I've seen a recent picture of you......... . I am pretty easy to pick out of a crowd. I am 6' 7" tall and weigh 300 pounds. . I will be wearing a blue plaid shirt, torn blue jeans, and gray Nikes. I will most likely be carrying a Canon camera with me. . Feel free to say hi if you see me, I am a very friendly person. . -Kevin .
Doughless Maybe I'll see you there and tap you on the shoulder. I've seen a recent picture of you.........
Will do Kevin.
My wife already packed my pants, so I guess I will be wearing shorts to the train show.
It was a really good show. Good turnout, and I picked up a few items.
Also, based upon the demographics of the attendance, the hobby is not dying, at least the patrons are not dying off. I don't just mean there were a lot of kids with their parents.
Lots of mid-aged to younger patrons with no kids in tow. I was surprised by the number of people in their 20s looking to spend money.
Met Kevin. Very friendly and is as tall as reported. Good to put faces and voices to names on the forum.
It was great to be able to shake Douglas' hand at the Atlanta train show. I have now met three people that post on the forum face-to-face. All have been very friendly and nice experiences.
The show in Atlanta was very different from the train shows in Florida. In Florida the main crowd is waiting outside an hour before the door opens, the first hour of sales is very busy, and then it trickles down until the day ends.
In Atlanta I was there 10 minutes after the door opened. There was no line to get in, and there was almost no one inside. I went over to the layouts and took about 100 pictures before any crowds gathered to watch the trains.
The crowd continued to build as time went by. I left about 2:00 PM, and by then the aisles were getting too crowded to anvigate comfortably. In Florida, train shows are almost dead by 2:00 PM.
I walked all throughout the auditorium and spent a total of $480.00 on model train stuff.
In Florida, it is the same dealers at every show. The only dealer in Atlanta I recognized from Florida shows was Tex-N-Rails.
I also met the crew from Lindys/Trainz. That was nice. I spend a good bit with that group.
The show supposedly had 350 dealer tables. I think that sounds just about right. It was a great show with lots of deals and hard to find items to be had.
There were lots of Millenials, and Gen-X'rs with children there. Everyone seemed excited for model trains.
The biggest disappointment for me was that the Country Roads Modular layout was not there. I even brought along a STRATTON AND GILLETTE boxcar to pose/leave on thier layout.
$4.50 for a 24 ounce bottle of Dasani water was ridiculous. That was my only complaint. Parking was free, so I took it in stride.
After I left the train show I headed down some Georgia back roads and saw this nifty railroad scene.
Nice haul. Curious how much stuff Lindy's had at a show. Their only location that is anywhere close to me is just outside of Charlotte at Catawba antique mall. We would sometimes go if I took my wife to IKEA. The last couple of times the selection was pretty poor. They had mostly lionel and a lot of what could be considered junk. (Tyco etc that was in poor condition) That was less than a week after they had restocked. After the second time I really was not going to go back.
Lindys/Trainz had four tables at the show, and lots of boxes of stuff. It was mostly being sold like a Dollar Tree, everything was $1.00!
I picked up all kinds of O scale details I can use for wargaming from them, and a 1/25 scale State Trooper figure that will be fun to paint.
I bought all the MV lenses they had.
As stuff would get bought off of the table they would replenish it with stuff from the boxes. I went through their tables three times, and every time there were different goodies out. It was a lot of fun.
As for Lindy's locations... I am still upset they took their booth out of the Big Peach Antique Mall. That one was always a treasure trove. When I drove up to Nashville a couple of weeks ago I stopped at Liondy's in the Gateway Antique Mall just south of the Tennessee State Line. It was pretty good.
A few weeks ago my wife and I went antiquing up Insterstate 85 out of Atlanta. This included three Lindy's stops. The Red Hound Antique Mall, Brazelton Antique Mall, and Revival Antiques in Monroe, GA. Red Hound and Brazelton were complete busts, but I spent over $200.00 in Monroe, including three Kato drive Atlas locomotives for $20.00 each!
The last time I was in the Catawba location, I scored am Atlas/Roco S2 switcher for $20.00!
I think it is pretty much hit-or-miss with Lindy's. That can be part of the fun.
SeeYou190 After I left the train show I headed down some Georgia back roads and saw this nifty railroad scene. . . -Kevin
Looks interesting to model.
That could be where the future LINE CREEK RAILROAD's mainline branch's off at Raymond GA to head down to Greenville GA to serve the woodchip/lumber plant. All ex Central of Georgia RR trackage.
If y'all look closely, I think you can see how that tunnel of foliage is hiding a punchout in the backdrop.
BTW, roadbed? Superelevation? What are y'all talkin' about? And who needs ballast when you have tons of nearly free pinestraw?
SeeYou190 As for Lindy's locations... I am still upset they took their booth out of the Big Peach Antique Mall. That one was always a treasure trove. When I drove up to Nashville a couple of weeks ago I stopped at Liondy's in the Gateway Antique Mall just south of the Tennessee State Line. It was pretty good. . A few weeks ago my wife and I went antiquing up Insterstate 85 out of Atlanta. This included three Lindy's stops. The Red Hound Antique Mall, Brazelton Antique Mall, and Revival Antiques in Monroe, GA. Red Hound and Brazelton were complete busts, but I spent over $200.00 in Monroe, including three Kato drive Atlas locomotives for $20.00 each! . The last time I was in the Catawba location, I scored am Atlas/Roco S2 switcher for $20.00! . I think it is pretty much hit-or-miss with Lindy's. That can be part of the fun. . -Kevin
Since I had the misses I have been a little reluctant to go back- It is a ways for us, although we stop at Little Choo Choo Ikea and sometimes the outlet mall on the way. The last time there I had to go past the other side of Charlotte for something so it worked out OK but I still thought it was a waste of time that time. My first couple of times there I found some good stuff. I even found a blue box SD7 that allowed me to fix an engine that had been sitting in my rip track drawer for 30 years (It had a custom shell) for only 15. The last two were so bad I didn't think it was worth my drive. Maybe when they restock again I will try.
Doughless roadbed? Superelevation? What are y'all talkin' about? And who needs ballast when you have tons of nearly free pinestraw?
That is what I loved about this scene, the track is not elevated at all. It really looks like a plywood sheet with no cork roadbed.
drgwcsMaybe when they restock again I will try.
If you click on the Events/Program tab on their website, it shows when the booths are restocked.
I cannot say for Catawba, but Antique Revival and Gateway Antiques both send me text messages when the booths there are restocked.
SeeYou190 drgwcs Maybe when they restock again I will try. . If you click on the Events/Program tab on their website, it shows when the booths are restocked. . I cannot say for Catawba, but Antique Revival and Gateway Antiques both send me text messages when the booths there are restocked. . -Kevin
drgwcs Maybe when they restock again I will try.
I followed on facebook and get updates when they restock. Went down a the week after once and that was one of the times I found a bad selection. I wonder- I have seen where they say that they restock and then I have seen a message where they restocked 20 boxes etc. It seemed like the ones where they list a lot of boxes are a better restock?? Least that happened once. Just guessing
SeeYou190 Doughless roadbed? Superelevation? What are y'all talkin' about? And who needs ballast when you have tons of nearly free pinestraw? . That is what I loved about this scene, the track is not elevated at all. It really looks like a plywood sheet with no cork roadbed.
I'm having some fun with it of course. Is what you shot a couple of industrial spurs, or a long spur heading to an industry a mile away?
The ex CofG mainline in my area would have been built to class 1 standards and wouldn't really look like that. A little messy now yes, but it would have been properly elevated.
The Walking Dead is shot on abandoned CofG mainline, and you can tell it looks more like a class 1, even when abandoned.
Doughless Is what you shot a couple of industrial spurs, or a long spur heading to an industry a mile away?
They are two dead end spurs. They end about 300 feet behind where I was standing. The mainline is about 1,000 feet through the trees.
There is a building with a loading dock for the track on the right, but it looks abandon.
The track on my left went to an empty field that appears to have never had a building on it. The trackage behind me on this track was in really good shape, ties, ballast, and few weeds.
All rails were shiny on top, but no freight cars were present.