CTValleyRRDmoore-- I assume your attendance figures are the ticket sales and do not include the vendors. It seemed more crowded this year, but IIRC, attendance last year was more like 24k. My vote for vendor of the show: BEST Trains! Very friendly, helped me unload a wad of cash that was burning a hole in my pocket, and gave my son a free model kit, to boot!
The battendance is for all ticketed people which includes the 15 and under crowd which is not charged as well as Amherst Railway Society members who receive a one-day pass to the show. Vendors are not included in the count. 2013 attendance was 20,157 while 2012 attendance was 22,232.
CTValleyRR,Brian and Jill Bollinger of B.E.S.T. are friends of mine and are great people. http://besttrains.com
They told me they had a great show, and did far more in castings than they had expected. Brian figured it was their new display booth with the rug and archways that drew people to look and buy.
Paul A. Cutler III
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
My first time attending, what a great show! I spent most of my time in the Make-and-Take clinic area in the Mallory building, but ran the see people in the BLC every chance I got. Getting through the Young building on Saturday was a chore...aisles clogged with people.
Kent in KC
nvrr49.blogspot.com
Kent in KC'nvrr49.blogspot.com
Attendance on Sunday was 8,691. Total ticketed attendance for the two days was 21,039. BTW on Sundays the bus parking area next to the Better Living Center serves as an overflow handicapped parking area provided no buses are scheduled (and the buses generally come on Saturday.)
Yes they do I went with a friend yesterday who had a handicap placard . I noticed a lot of handicap marked vehicles so you may not get next door. When we got there yesterday they had filled up inside the fenced area and were parking handicap outside but near the fence which is still closer than regular parking.
Ron High
I'm late, the show is basically over, but FOR NEXT YEAR: Can anybody tell me, do they have Handicapped parking? There would be two of us handicapped going next year.
We went several years ago {I think only 3 buildings then?}, I could walk better then, but still a strain on my back, And we thoroughly ENJOYED It!
Well worth the efforts!
Wanted to go htis year, but it snuck up on us.
SO: DO they have handicapped parking???
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Attendance for Saturday was 12,348. Show reopens at 10:00 on Sunday.
In Boothbay, we finished sorting, pricing and packing a late donation around noon (EST), and packing the vehicles about 2 hours ago. The gang will be on the road west tomorrow AM. Have a good show everyone, wish I could make it. As the Scott said, best laid plans of mice and men, etc. etc.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Getting the suitcase packed this morning for tomorrow's journey from western N.Y. For me, anyway, it takes two days to see and enjoy it all.
One thing that I've noticed from attending this show in past years is the difference in the crowd between the two days. On Saturday, especially in the morning the crowd seems to be made up of serious modellers who are there to purchase specific items. On Sunday, starting mid-morning, you get the baby strollers and the folks who want to "take little Johnny out to see the trains". Consequently, it's much easier to navigate the various buildings on Saturday.
I also look forward to the demonstrations put on by some of the vendors, such as Bar Mills and Scenic Express. It's much easier to learn a technique by seeing it actually in use than by reading an article, and the chairs at the Bar mills booth are a good place to rest your weary bones after 3 or 4 hours of cruising around the various displays.
CTValleyRR is there anything that can be done about the massive traffic jam on Memorial Ave trying to get in? That's always the worst part of the trip!
That's easy, sneak in the back way. Rt. 57 W to 159 N (Main St.) to 147 (Memorial Ave.). Take the first entrance you see. No lines, and if you're early enough, you might find a parking space near the building . Short line for wristbands, too.
You can thank me on Monday.
...And don't tell anybody. Let this be our little secret.
Dave
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
Set up starts tomorrow, Jan. 23. Layouts start getting assembled and tables get put out for the exhibitors. Many dealers arrive on Friday and get everything set up to be ready for Saturday morning. Opening time is 9:00AM as announced by the blast of an air horn. Tickets are on sale at 8:00AM. Weather looks promising if a little chilly.
Last Thursday we finished pricing and packing the sale items at Boothbay RR Village. All that is left is to pack up the vehicles next Thursday and hit the road to W Springfield on Friday (hope for good driving weather all weekend). About 6 hours drive, 3 or 4 hours to set up, a good nights sleep and get ready for the crowds on Saturday morning. Come and see us at BLC section 15!
One week and counting. Long range weather forecast looks decent if possibly a little chilly in the evening. Hope everyone has their shopping lists ready.
2 weeks from now it will be all over and everybody will be packing up. Hope for reasonable weather.
I wish I could go to it some day, but my job has it's biggest surge time in late January. Zero chance of getting the days off I'd need for travel on either side of the weekend.
Hoping to make it to the National Train Show in Cleveland though.
It's not always freezing-
I went for the first time a couple years ago. I got completely stuck in the mud in the parking lot, then the AAA tow truck got stuck, an my nephew pulled us both out with a chain to the tow truck and the tow truck hooked up to my car.
Now I go with my club and set up a module, so I get to park on the pavement.
Cowman has a point. Here in the DC area we've had rain and temperatures hovering around the freezing mark. Those kind of contitions are trecherous.
One of my trips to Springfield was also trecherou because the ice kept forming on my windshield and even with the defroster on full tilt, it kept icing up so I couldn't see the road. It was BAD. This is the problem with Springfield. It isn't that we are wimps who can't handle the cold or snow, its freaking dangerous to try to get yourself there due to hazardous roads and driving conditions. So even if I still lived within economical striking distance, I'd be put off by the hazards associated with the cold, snow and ice.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
CTValleyRR,
Nothing wrong with 5 degrees and snowing, it's the 28 degrees and raining that make me think twice. It was about 28 and snowing up around Burlington today, think they said eight accidents in an hour on one section of the Interstate. Back roads around here are well packed and the rain forecast will turn them into skating rinks. Don't need that kind of weather for the show. Cold and snow, that's OK.
Will get there when the bus does.
Have fun,
Richard
CTValleyRROh, yeah, and I'm not sure what you jokers mean by "nice" weather. What's wrong with 5 degrees and snowing?
Nothing if you are walking, but rubber tires and snow, well, you know... And after 15 years in Syracuse NY, I know too.
2 weeks to go if anyone's counting.
G Paine Amtrak goes from DC to Springfield, then all you need is a taxi or rental car to the hotel and show. One of our Boothbay volunteers is fron VA, and took the train to help us with the show a couple of times; but he is retired from Amtrak and has a lifetime pass.
maxmanAre the models going to be in individual boxes, or in individual plastic bags sitting in the peanuts? How fragile are they? And if there is any possibility that the flight attendent tells you at the last minute that you will have to check that bag, you might as well resign yourself to the possibility that some TSA person is going to open the bag and paw through it.
I am not worried about gate check, as soon as you tell them what is in it, they will find a place, even if it has to go with crew baggage (been there, done that). The models are really pretty tough, mostly 3d printed structures, HO scale, and we will have glue with us to put things back together. I am going shopping tomorrow for a hard side wheeled carry on to put them in.
There are a few smaller details, like this HO scale forklift...construction details here: http://nvrr49.blogspot.com/2013/12/fork-lifts-for-my-long-bell-lumberyard.html
But most are buildings, like this one bedroom house.
Construction details for the house can be found here: http://nvrr49.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-house-3d-printed-down-on-farm-5.html
I have a clinic on Thursday morning. If anyone has any questions regarding my clinic, just let me know.
Kent in KCnvrr49.blogspot.com