I included most of the following update in another thread. However, I thought I’d give others who attended the chance to comment on either or both of the train shows that were in Cleveland this past weekend.
I really enjoyed the WGH show. First off, the show was VERY well-attended at the Cleveland I-X Center with lots of adults and children. Although the front area where the manufacturers were did get a bit congested at times, the aisles for the most part were “passable”. I attended the WGH show 2 years ago in Monroeville, PA, and the aisles were much narrower and harder to get around because of the crowds.
I talked to a few of the manufacturers (Atlas, BLI, Bowser, Caboose Industries, Digitrax) to inquire about some things. Here are some of the highlights of the show for me:
Atlas - I got to see their Alco HH600/HH660 switcher. Very nice looking unit. I asked the Atlas rep about whether or not they might be releasing a NYC version in any upcoming runs. He wasn’t sure.
BLI - I was disappointed that they didn’t have a pre-production sample of their NYC 4-8-2 L-4 Mohawk at their booth, which is due out in June. Ken told me that the company the is making the hybrid is very slow but very good. Although I’ve been waiting over 2 years for this unit, that’s music to my ears. I’ll take accuracy over speed any day of the week. I also got a little better understanding about their transition from QSI to Blueline to Paragon 2.
Bowser - I just stopped by their booth to tell them how much I appreciated and enjoyed the smooth operation of their Buehler & Cannon drives. For me, their diesels the best! [^][tup]
Caboose Industries - I talked to them about an issue I was having with installing the tip on their 220S ground throws. The fit is tight between the two parts a
Sounds like you had more vendors than the Tn. show. We didn’t have BLI, Digitrax or Bowser. That little Atlas Alco switcher IS really nice.
Is the owner of City Classics named Joe or Jim?? The card he gave me says Jim Sacco.[%-)] I think he was playing the name badge game though.
Got the smoke smell out of your nose yet?[:P]
Obviously I don’t know what saturday was like to compare, but today it was absolutely swamped when I was there.
The coal mine module of the freemo setup was very nice. However, I liked the European layout more. I don’t see a lot of that sort of thing so it was a neat change of pace.
The only manufacturer I spoke to was good old City Classics, and mainly to heap praise on the the very Pittsburgh look of the kits. Also liked seeing that little layout with all the City Classics structures on it. I am looking forward to the PPLX hoppers Bowser is offering this summer. Don’t really have any need for more hoppers or any Pennsylvania Power and Light ones at that, but I’m a sucker for a regional hopper for some reason.
Saw quite a few things I wanted to buy, but either passed up on price knowing I could get it better or because I later forgot where I saw it. For example, there was a six pack of the Walthers RD-4 hoppers for $50. Much less than the $70 my brother spent on a set for me last year. And of course I just looked at Walther’s site to see them listed as $110 and retired so swear words here. Only reason I passed was it was the same set of numbers as the six I already have. Really kicking myself now.
Kept the purchases to a CR coil car and a pair of CR PS-2 covered hoppers, both Walthers and from the Conrail HS booth. Also snatched up the City Classics West End Market with bonus free signs. Don’t know what sort of use I’ll get out of them, as my layout that currently only exists as fullscale drawings and some foamcore buildings is supposed to be set in 2005ish. But hey free signs. The PS-2s will need new trucks and possibly renumbered but I’m satisfied for now.
Despite taking that initial hit on parking and paying my brother’s admittance in exchange for driving and being an experienced Cleveland navigator unlike myself, it was worth it.
I believe you are correct, Tom. It was Jim Sacco @ City Classics. I was close. It was at least monosyllabic. [:)]
It was pretty smoky up front by the manufacturers and layouts. However, for the most part, it wasn’t too bad elsewhere for me.
BLI was tucked around the corner in one of the aisles. No banner at all. If I hadn’t seen the locomotives on their table, I probably would have walked right past their booth - without even noticing them.
Tom: It was great meeting you and getting a chance to talk with you for a while. Marilyn was relieved to learn that I’m not the only one possessed by the hobby.
We also were surprised at how well the show was attended. We were happy that we got there early before it got really packed. Even with the cost of parking factored in, the IX Center is an excellent venue. Access was easy and parking was plentiful.
The first booth we stopped in was Walthers and my wife immediately noticed the blinds and shades on the Walthers buildings. The shades had a visible pull that she really liked. So we added them to our mission list. Of course we found them at the City Classics booth. I think were purchased 5-6 kits and got our FREE vintage signs. It was harder to pick out which sign set than it was the window treatments. We also got a set of their cedar shake shingles.
A couple of the folks at the Free-Mo layout were from our local NMRA division and were able to chat with them and learn more about the extent of the layout.
Tom covered everything pretty well. I would only add the large number of potential young modelers in attendence and how much there was that was oriented towards them.
As luck would have it, we stayed in the same hotel as the Athearn folks, so we knew we were in good company.
This narrative sounds very much in line with what I have observed about train shows here in south eastern Wisconsin, from Trainfest in the fall, Mad City in winter, and a variety of smaller shows, some of which are also swap meets: that is, it seems a train show still can gather a crowd if well publicized, and the crowd is a nice mix of dedicated fans and modelers and folks just out to do something with their kids.
It also reminds me of my Trainfest experiences because I agree that the opportunity to talk to the manufacturers is really valuable.
After years of going to large shows and swap meets I now have a general philosophy that if I see something that I think I want, and if I have the money, I buy it on the spot rather than hope against hope that the next table will have it cheaper. It is far more common to kick myself for having missed out on something I came to realize I really wanted, than it is to kick myself for spending too much on what i could have bought for less. Both happen of course but more often I am angry at missing out than at spending too much.
Now true this philosophy has caused some excessive acquisition from time to time, but more often it has worked in my favor. It also helps to have an informed sense of what is currently available and what models are retired or out of production.
I think you’ll need to introduce Marilyn to a few more MRRing wackos before it’s done. Then she won’t even flinch at your unintelligible mumblings after you’ve come up from a long stint in the basement. [(-D]
It seems like your Marilyn and my Stephanie are very similar. There’s little nuances and details about MRRing that they really like. Stephanie really enjoys lights. I think she’d probably go bonkers over blinds and shades, too.
And, if I ever added a pond, a lake, or a wharf to my layout? Look out! I’d have to sedate Stephanie, for sure.
Hello hey Tom sounds like you had a good time. I went to Railfest on saturday my dad did not go said he was to tired so I graped his list and went. I found to Mantua log cars,some old cars,trucks,people for him. I found for me a old Riv 2-8-8-2 it’s in good shape and needs a cleaning but it runs good. I also got a City Classics 3 pack of company houses but I did get any signs with mine. I also found a semi trailer from the 30’s for my junk yard. The show had steady flow of people for the 3 hours I was there.But I fun any way. Have a nice day Frank
I had plans to go to WGH with some friends on Saturday but some family business put the kabosh on it. My wife and I went to Railfest on Sunday instead and had an enjoyable time. VERY good crowd - if WGH was doing well also, it says a lot for the continued good health of our hobby. Found vendors who offered a price reduction on items as soon as you picked them up to look at them - very nice. Never ran across that before. Picked-up some pieces to augment my motive power consists. Big event for me was a brand new MRC Symphony 77 sound system for a substantially discounted price. Spent the afternoon making my house sound like a major yard and engine terminal.[swg]
I attended RailFest on Saturday and was surprised at how well attended it was. I thought it was a little more flea marketish this year than in the past.
WGH was my Sunday visit…I was actually quite surpised by the number of vedors that were there…quite a mixed crowd around the convention center, model railroaders in one hall and bikers in the next…
Kudo’s to the planners for leaving more than enough space for the layouts and the kids play areas but!! the entrance area needed some reworking to the avoid the jam up around the Lionel display…which was quite impressive and popular with young and old alike. Kudo’s also to the guy doing the Woodland Scenics demo’s, everytime I walked by he had more and more kids painting rocks and making trees!
Even watched some trains at Berea…all in all a great weekend!
Oh yea…One complaint/question…Where were the Model Railroader staff???
Went to the WGH on Sunday. I thought it was well attended with a well rounded assortment of vendors and layouts. There was something for everyone. I went with my neighbor, his son and my grandson and we all had a great time. To me that’s what the hobby is all about. I encourage everyone to attend one of these shows if they come to your area.
I noticed that Walthers didn’t have any of their current 20th Century Limited car offerings out; the first release being from this past December. My only thought was that they didn’t want to risk any “5-finger discounts” on those particular items. Course, they could have just put them in a plexiglas case - if that were the concern.
I went to both shows – the Trainfest show in Kirtland followed by WGH later in the day. It’s disappointing these had to be scheduled the same weekend, because I noticed there were several of the larger dealers that normally attend Trainfest that were at WGH instead. For me, this diluted the value of Trainfest somewhat. I was impressed by WGH show. It was sort of an odd mix of dealers, kid-oriented stuff and manufactuers. Sort of a trade-show, flea market and kid outing all rolled into one. I was surprised the manufacturers weren’t selling more of their stuff directly. A couple of them had some static displays and some rather uninformed reps there – what’s the point of being there for the company? And where were the Model Railroader rep(s)?!? With all the huffing and puffing about how important this tour is to the hobby and they don’t even have anyone there? Come on fellas, lead by example. They’re all talk and no action. The $8 parking fee and $10 admission would make me hesitate going back, but overall, the WGH was a good time. And I agree with the initial review: The freemo modules were outstanding. I have some pictures of the show on my blog – unfortunately my camera crapped out and took a lot of my better photos with it. www.smallrails.blogspot.com You’ll see a lot of smiling kids, which is good. And one final thought: Kudos to the dealers – almost all of whom were selling deeply (almost 50 percent off in some cases) discounted train sets. If you were just starting out, this was a great place to get started. The dealers that ate some of their profits to sell more sets get a big tip of the cap from me. I heard one guy say he had sold three cases of a particular set, and it was only 4 p.m. on Saturday.
I want to thank you guys for the nice words about the Free-Mo set up. A friend and I traveled from Kansas with 7 modules for the set up. I have to agree that the coal mine (not ours) set was extremely well done. It was a blast to run trains for two days and talk to the many folks who stopped by. I’ve heard that around 20,000 attended Saturday with maybe the same on Sunday, that’s quite a crowd even in the best of times. I got a chance to look at the various vendors, unfortunately nothing really jumped out at me, might be because I model the plains and most everything was geared for areas east of me.
I did find out one Digitrax rep was a person that I was stationed with in Germany 22 years ago, talk about suprised!
I also got the see Berea briefly, visit Nick’s (don’t ask me what town!) hobby shop and lawn supply. Picked up some goodies there. If you’re looking for some out of production (long out of production in some cases), check with him. Also visited the The Train Station in Columbus, was doing good, no purchases until I hit there! And finally the Train Haus in Warrenton, MO on the way home. One other shop in Cleveland were closed for vacation.
Overall, worth the 16 hour drive except I didn’t get to see as many trains as I would have liked!
Ricky Keil
Edit: Have to agree with the high price for parking, $8 even for the vendors and they don’t accept anything but cash! It does tell me that between parking, admission and food, the I-X Center made a bit of some model railroaders.
Were you the one that just retired from the Air Force after 27 years? If so, I was the guy with the red fleece jacket and the back New York Central t-shirt on Saturday that kept peppering you with questions about Free-mo or bumping into you at one of the booths. How did the ops session go on Sunday?
Yea, Nick’s Railway Supply (North Canton) is a terrific LHS. He has an amazing amount of detail parts, as well as hard to find items. Derrick the (guard) cat is pretty cool, too. I don’t get down there often because it’s well over an hour drive from where I live on the east side of Cleveland.
Yup, that was me. The ops session went well, Tim had a pretty good concept. We ran a 92 car coal train just to see if we could, really clogged up the main as we had no place to put it so we followed it with light power to pull it apart and move it back to the yard.
Yes, Derrick the ferrocious guard cat got me, no scars or scratches to prove it though.
It was nice to meet you and now I can put a face and a voice to the typed words.
I’m glad the OPS session went well. I can definitely see how a long coal train or that length could clog up a one-track mainline. (I would think the longest siding would only hold 20 cars or so.) Still, it had to be fun to operate.
I was informed a couple of days after the show that I was hired for a position and start next week. Looks like I will have train money to start the new layout and I can always hook up with the Free-Mo groups.