Just wondering if anyone was plannin on going to the show? I will be there for the weekend with my club. Anyone ? Anyone?[:D]
What club are you in? I know of a few clubs getting a bus together for the trip.
John i would love to attend it ,i havent herd of a show comming ,info for us bud
Carl…
No. I have gone to them for the past 3 years and each year there are fewer and fewer vendors showing up, so I don’t consider it worth the admission fee and 70 mile drive. Even the Fair Gounds management puts them in a smaller and smaller building each year. As with many other shows, Lionel O-scale dominates, so if you model in HO or N, you’re really a minority. I saw the same wares on display last weekend that are going to be at the Pima County Fairgrounds, because I have come to recognize the vendors.
I went to the Gadsden Pacific Museum’s Swap Meet at the Rodeway Inn in Tucson last weekend, and that will probably be the last one of those for me, too. I’m not a Lionel person, and that’s about all you ever see at any of these shows lately. There was very little available for an HO, N, or G scaler. Parking was ridiculous. The Rodeway Inn owners are adding another large convention building on their property, which has taken away at least 50 parking spaces. Everyone was grumbling about having to park a mile or more away from the train show site.
The problem with the one at the Pima County Fairgrounds on January 28-29 is that the Gem and Mineral Show is held in Tucson that same weekend, and out-of-town vendors can’t get hotel accommodations, or the room rates go so sky-high that they can’t afford to attend this show. I saw large tents being set up all over Tucson last weekend in preparation for the Gem and Mineral Show, which is the biggest event of the year, and I imagine that every hotel has been booked full. Last year, one vendor commented that he had to drive all the way from California the morning of the show because he couldn’t find accommodations. Most vendors who do show up live at the show site in campers.
I am in the Grand Canyon State Model Railroaders. it is a HO modual club, I am one of only two that have home based layouts. We have heard the show is on the decline which is why we wanted to go. We should be able to assemble a good size layout and hopefully, add a little to the show.
Great Western & Atlantic Train Show
Saturday January 28, 2006
11:00 am - 5:00 pm .
Event Location: Pima Fairgrounds–Tucson, AZ
If anyone comes, look for the GCSMR layout. I will be the 6’7" guy in club hat and chaces are, I will be running the engine shown below. Just the got pair painted up in time for the show[:D]
My sons and I are planning to be there. I know that Wig-Wag is coming, so there will be at least some N scale stuff!