If so, can you give me your general impression? Is it aimed more at trying to convince people to join the hobby, or are there still a lot of vendors and such for the serious modeler?
There are basically two major train shows in the Cleveland area each year, and the WGH show picked a date that is the same weekend as one of them – brilliant. I may have to try to get to both shows in one day, but was wondering if the WGH show is worth the effort.
thanks
I went to one last year for the first time. Took the family. I sort of think of it as going to Disney Land. Had lost of cool stuff. Bit of everything. Bought a few things, but the deals go early and fast. And after the expence for lunch, travel, dinner, oh, and staying overnight at a hotel, that $10 Walthers grain bin was not so cheap LOL… But it was great fun, my daughter could not leave the Lionel Set up as she became star running the new Challenger. Even the wife was even impressed with the 100 car G-Scale coal train with the three big boys (two pulling/one pushing).
It’s something you should at least do once :O)
I went to one a few years ago. It was so crowded couldn’t hardly walk. By all means You should go at least once,there’s lots of neat displays,I didn’t find any bargains though(proaboly was too late).
Enjoyed the one in Nashville a few weeks ago, got to meet some other forum members which was especially neat. There were not the number of vendors I had seen in Atlanta a few years ago, but still a good many (lots of n-scale) plus a lot of the MR companies were represented. The kids there seemed to be having a lot of fun.
I found some bargains, enough I guess to make the drive worthwhile (I didn’t have to stay overnight).
One of the big draws for me is getting to see the layouts running. There were lots of them, a great source of clever ideas. Plus, if you like trains, they’re just fun to watch.
I went to one a couple of years ago. I liked it. What is nice is that you get a different set of vendors/manufacturers than the your normal train show. I don’t remember a lot of deals though. All in all, I thought it was worth it.
Enjoy
Paul
Went to San Antonio last week. The many club layouts were facinating. Everything from Z-scale to Tin Plate, all incredible… The big manufacturers were represented because they sponsor the show. Lionel and MTH both had BIG impressive displays (not just because of scale) showing many products. Bachmann displayed their N through large scale items, very nice. Athearn, Walthers, Kato, Atlas had smaller displays. Woodland Scenics was the only vendor to have a how-to saession going o all day and had great deals on their “Try-It” kits. I think the fact that there was a show in Houston the same weekend may have affected the San Antonio show. I had expected more vendors, and there were several empty booths. Still, for $10.00 a decent deal.
Eric
I went a few years ago in Pittsburgh , Great Show , And yes it brought me back to my childhood hobby… It allowed me to get a first hand look at all the changes in MR and it helped my decision on taking the jump into N SCALE… Large crowds… Very nice displays… I was also able to meet LHS owners. I would not miss this show…
Went to Nashville 2 weeks ago. I liked it. First big show I had been to. Only a few vendors. No great deals, but Kims trains had stuff at resonable prices. There is a tool guy with about the same stuff as MicroMark. I could have spent hundreds in his booth. Quite a few painting, print, book and T shirt vendors. And did I mention THOMASMANIA!!![:-^]
I thought the Bachmann On30 layout was worth the price of admission.
If your looking for deals on trains, go to the other show. You might have better luck there.
tshryock,
I went to the Monroeville PA WGH show a couple of years ago. I also live in the Cleveland area so it was a bit of a drive for me. Even so, I enjoyed my time there.
Lotsa folks and kids were at the show, along with a large majority of the MRRing manufacturers. Athearn, Atlas, Bachmann, Bowser, BLI/PCM, MTH had booths - just to name a few. The only ones that were mysteriously absent were the DCC manufacturers.
There weren’t many deals at this particular show but there were plenty of new items from the manufacturers. Athearn had their new (at the time) Model Ts. MTH had their Pennsy K4. It was pretty neat to be able to see the things that I had read about and anticipated being released but hadn’t hit the streets yet.
I have to say that the best part of the WGH show for me was meeting up with Chip (Spacemouse) and his son, Shane. After walking around for a little while, we grabbed some lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant, not far from the Expo center. I always enjoy meeting and chatting with forum members, whenever I have the opportunity.
tshryock, if you plan on going to the WGH show, I would devote as much time as you can there - especially since you will have to pay for both entry AND parking. (Plus any food that you partake of - Ouch! [xx(]) Of the two, Railfest will have the better deals. Since I’ve been to Railfest a number of years in row now, I’m going to opt for WGH.
Tom