I just returned from the Amherst Show in West Springfield Mass. We had a Great time, The layouts were Amazing as always. The Vendors were very nice and well stocked. I was able to buy several items I was looking for. Such as Detail parts,Scratch building materials,A Jordan Steam Shovel,And an Ho Scale Scaffold set From RS laser Kits. I also picked up a box of Kadee @5 maga-matic couplers.
After the show We went to Palmer Mass for some Train Spotting and Dinner at the Steaming Tender Restaurant , That was an experience in itself.
Sounds like a blast! Nothing better than Train shows in New England! I grew up right next door in Windham, I remember there being so many shows, sometimes several in the same weekend!!! Here in Virginia there is maybe 3 or 4 a year within an hours drive…
I have never had the pleasure of going to that show. I had wanted to but it is impossible given tha we had 20 inches that never really melted and another 19 on top of that that made my neighborhood into a good represnetation of the Western Front in World War I. People shoveled their walks but with 39" of snow in some places it looks like trenches here.
I suppose that’s what we get when we hire a $1 a year mayor who then tries to save money by hiring snow removal expewrts from Florida who think the temperature in New York at this tie of year are warm enough to melt anything.
Left the house (NJ) at 4:30 AM, drove to Tom’s house, he drove to Mass, stopped for breakfast and pulled into the parking lot at 8:50 AM. In line when the doors opened, walked 5 miles (according to the pedometer), did not sit down for 8 hours and spent too much money. Stopped for dinner at a great diner at exit 10 on #84 and arrived home about 9:25 PM. Cannot wait until next years show,
The show was indeed great, as always. I had a 7 year old in tow (who spent more than I did – his own money, no less) and other commitments all weekend, so I only got to spend about 5 1/2 hours there on Saturday, so I can’t claim to have seen the whole thing. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Next year can’t come soon enough for me!
BTW, I noticed that the Steaming Tender had a display booth at the show. Is that what made you go there?
3 of us SO looked forward to going, but finances weren’t having it.
Sounds like those who went ahd a great time.
That and frozen pipes/plumbing bill didn’t help. and still need more plumbing work done.
Went 3 yearsa ago, and were so looking foraard to 4 whole buildings crammed with everything trains. but THe finances for all of us were in to bad a shApe.
One member of our group had to duck out as his wife had a major surgery, then a second major surgery to fix screwups on the first, so he was tied up, she also got dispaced from her job then until she can work again, so their finances toileted also.
Also, I had JSUT had my second back surgery to remove teh second tumor {benign}, so walking aournd for 8 hours or more would have beeen agony for me, and the member with the wifes surgey has electrical implants in his back and the thirds back gets tired after about 5 hours, so we would have been the “walking wounded”.
Glad all who went had a great time and hope all got great deals or got what they wanted/needed!
Yes, We talked to the Waitress at the show and got a menu from her. Just when I was heading to the food section at the show. So we left at 3:30 or so and went straight to the Restaurant.
This was my fourth year at the Amherst Show. Saturday is really CROWDED! Came back Sunday morning and conditions were much more favorable, at least until the after church crowds hit. Someone should put a little restraint on the food vendors. $3.50 for a Sprite which was sorely needed to stave off dehydration and fatigue was a bit much. It was interesting to see the price of mass production engines overtaking that of brass pieces as well as other emerging trends in the hobby. All in all it was an intense experience, kinda like a Macy’s white sale for men with a few women looking on with glazed eyes.
Okay, a minor dissenting opinion. Yes, it is a great show, but I find myself more and more not wanting to go. Wife and I drove from Pennsylvania on Thursday after I snow blowed the driveway. My sister lives close to the fairgrounds so we had a place to crash.
But I fail to understand why they have to have the show at the end of January. The weather is always cold and the precipitation is always problematical. I get the idea that the fairgrounds is very busy all year. But one would think that there would be at least one other weekend where the weather might be more hospitable. But maybe not.
My main issue is the way the promoters have the floor plan arranged. I like aisles straight and continuous. That way I can walk down the middle and look to the sides to see if there is anything that might interest me. The way they have it layed out is more like a maze. I spent more time trying to orient myself than enjoying what I was looking at.
Our group from Boothbay Railway Village had a good 3 days at the show (counting friday setup). Attendance was down a bit from previous years, but every vendor I talked with had very good sales results. That is good news for our hobby and hopefully an indicator that the nation’s economy is improving.
Attendance on saturday was 11,400 and total attendance was just over 20,000, if I remember the announcement correctly. I believe last year was over 21,000. According to information in their handout, they had more than 8 acres of floor space in 4 buildings and almost 500 exhibitors including vendors, layouts and non-profits. When I printed the list from their website, it took 9 pages.
Saturday was the better day for sales. Typically, model railroad hobbyists show up saturday, and to some extent sunday morning. After lunch sunday is when the familys come with their kids to see the layouts and buy starter layout items. This group did not come in the usual numbers; traffic at our booth fell off quite a bit after 2PM sunday afternoon and we sold very little of our low end donated items that usually go out the door in the afternoon.
I would like to thank the Amherst Railway Society for all their hard work and organization skills at putting on another outstanding show! We are already looking forward to 2012. [tup][tup][tup]
JimValle,
I agree the cost of food is outrageous, but there is nothing stopping anyone from bringing their own food & drink to the show.
And if plastic prices are eclipsing brass, then I didn’t see it. Over at The Caboose, I saw a W&R NH 0-8-0 for $1300! And that’s over 10 years old. The new (last 5 years) NH brass was all well north of $1300, more in the range of $1500 for Hudsons, Pacifics, Santa Fes, and Mountains. Meanwhile, I saw two NH Mountains from Bachmann Spectrum for $110-125, even the BLI NH Hudson for $295. A friend of mine bought the Ingalls 4-S for $600 in brass, and another friend passed up the LV Black Diamon Pacific for $1400. Even old brass NH stock was $400 or better…unpainted.
maxman,
It’s not just the availability of the Big E (which is used often, or so I hear). It’s also the price. The Big E, I believe, charges less for winter events due to the difficulty in booking shows during winter time. Now the Amherst Railway Society does make a lot of money from the show, but as a non-profit group, most of it goes right out to various museums and historical societies in large cash donations. So the choice is to have it at the end of January (avoiding Super Bowl weekend) and give a lot of money out to deserving railroad preservationists, or have it in warmer weather and give less out to the preservationists.
As for the floor plan, I feel your pain since I walk it for 2.5 days straight, but they are limited by the Fire Department rules, the shapes of the buildings (two of which are not rectangular), and the number and location of all the posts. Add in odd shaped layouts like the Free-Mo On30 layout or layouts with multiple bends or legs, and what can you do?
Don’t blame the Amherst guys for the cost to the food, they don’t hire the caterers; Big E does. Cost of food is usually outragous at any big events like this. Anyone going to the Superbowl? What does a hot dog and drink cost there? [:'(]
One of the major missions of the Amherst Railway Society is to give grant money to other non-profit organizations in the railroad business or hobby. The Boothbay Railway Village, where I volunteer, has applied for and received grant money to support of restoration projects at the museum that may not have progressed otherwise. This is a list of the grants they gave in 2010: http://www.amherstrail.org/news.htm
The $2000 dollar grant we received at Boothbay last year went tword restoration of SD Warren locomotive #2. This small 2 foot gage steam engine is one of 3 that were built by Baldwin in 1895, and the 2 we have at the museum are the only ones of their kind left in the world. We hope to have #2 back running in a few years. This is a photo of #1 at work at the SD Warren Paper Mill in Westbrook, ME over 100 years ago:
This is some more about the history of these locomotives and the museum’s efforts to res
Granted, food and drink prices are a little rough… but as someone else pointed out, places with a more or less captive audience generally have ridiculous concession prices. Local baseball stadiums are similar; Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Chokers…er, Patriots, is ridiculous. Fountain drinks are $4 (and they cost about $0.75 to make), hot dogs and pizza $5, and so on.
The timing of the show really is driven more than anything by scheduling (although I’m sure pricing has something to do with it too). Next weekend is open (probably because no one wants to compete with the Super Bowl, but after that there’s pretty much something going on every weekend and then some for the next six months. The Big E (local name for the Eastern States Exposition due to it’s most popular event – a huge fair called “The Big E”) has it’s roots in farm shows, and indeed the majority of the events held there still involve animals. Mostly dog and horse shows, but other livestock as well. The Dept of Agriculture has a permanent office there. The animal shows probably prefer the warmer weather, and, of course, the Big E highlights the New England Fair season, the last two weeks of September.
So, winter in New England can be challenging, but for me, it’s a good way to fire up the train juices prior to entering the dreary weeks of winter, which are perfect for modeling.
I’ve gone some 3 times during the last 9 years when Iived in Syracuse NY and it was about 3.5 hours driving distance each way. I have to agree about the time of year being an issue. One of my trips, the weather conditions were so horrendous that on my relatively new car I couldn’t keep the windshield from icing over to the point I couldn’t see the road in front of me! Its always bitter cold too. Thats Amhearst and the north east I guess. Good riddence to the north east!
I thought the show was great. I spent way too much money this year but I guess nobody can say that I’m not doing my part to kick start the economy. I found just about all of the vendors I had any dealings with willing to discount their prices this year which made for some good deals. The weather was nice for the end of January. Last two years were freezing. This year I didn’t even need a jacket to go from the parking lot to the buildings but you did need boots to get through the melting snow and ice in the parking lot.
Saturday seemed a little quieter then Sunday to me but thats just my observation. Sunday definitely had lot more families with kids in tow than Saturday. Took me over an hour to get from the rotary on Rt. 5 to the gate at the parking booths. Took me only an hour and a half to drive there from home.
Like most of the rest of you, I’m already counting down to next year. They need to make the show 3 days long. 2 days isn’t enough to see everything, at least for me.
Well, Paul, I guess I didn’t make myself clear in my remarks about the show. I usually troll for older brass pieces and picked up a SP GS 6 in mint condition for much less than a new BLI or MTH equivalent . In the past I’ve found brass pieces for as little as $50.00 and usually for less than $300 although sometimes needing some work and a paint job. I’ve done great deals with The Caboose in the past but this year they were really upscale with their prices. As for the food, I usually go to the local IHOP and chug down a huge breakfast to see me through so I don’t have to buy vendor food at the show but for some reason I really needed the Seven-up so I paid through the nose. I agree the Amherst Society boys do a great job and I’ll probably be back for years to come. By the way, It’s a 300 mile haul for me,
Kind of depends on your definition of “precipitation” and “cold”. This year, it was above freezing and sunny both days. In fact, in the 6 years I’ve been attending, I can’t recall ever being seriously inconvenienced by the weather. It would have to be really cold indeed for those buildings not to feel overheated.
