The TCA show in New Braunfels Saturday. It was small, not too chaotic, a good “starter” show, at least for us. Looking for track, Plasticville, and possibly something “reasonable” in a post-war loco. Found a pretty cherry pair of O31 switches (5132 and 5133) for a very good price, a box of mostly thrashed track with some salvageable sections for next to nothing, a graduated trestle set and a Plasticville station. I felt that, other than total beaters and basket cases, the post-war locos were a little high for their condition so I took a pass on those. There were plenty of new or like new high dollar whiz-bang locos for sale; I noticed that they were still available at the time we took our leave.
Some general observations: Although there were a couple of fairly large modular layouts, the most interesting ones were the kids layout, and the one with a standard gauge loop, the two smallest. Sound systems are a neat novelty, but almost all the ones we heard sounded more like a Chipmunks record than an actual train. The only pleasing sounding one reminded me of the good ol’ American Flyer “choo choo.” Speaking of Flyer, there was a whole lots more of it than we were expecting to see but, like those expensive locomotives, it didn’t seem to be moving. The best feature of the whole shebang was that all the exhibitors and attendees we visited with were friendly and informative.
Looking forward to our next show, whenever that may be.
I agree with your observations, Pete. All I could find was an 025 prewar bumper without its top, for $5. The Austin Tinplate Trackers’ layout is getting huge; it dominated the hall. They are a nice bunch of guys, who will let you run a train or two during a show. I don’t see how they stand that inane carnival ditty that plays endlessly, whether at a show or in their own place. The schedule on their web site is a good place to find out what the coming shows are.
Don - While I appreciate your invitation/suggestion I think that York may be too much show for me. In a previous life I occasionally attended trade shows of similar magnitude and didn’t really care for the circus atmosphere. Pretty sure I could go for a slightly larger one, but a small, humble show like the one in New Braunfels is just more my style these days, I guess.
Pete–at least you have a show to go to. Our shows have really dried up around here and I miss them. I would have to 2nd the motion for you to think about the York meet, it’s huge but not overwhelming. My wife and I were fortunate to attend once, almost 3 years ago and we want to go back soon, maybe one more year. It’s well worth the effort and trust me–after you take one general tour of the bldgs. you will see that it’s very managable.
The guys with overpriced junky postwar have probably been packing the same stuff around for the past five years and will continue to pack it around for another five years. I agree with you on AF mechanical choo choo. The most advanced digital recordings don’t seem to hold a candle to it.
No circus here, 14,000 members of TCA, all with a disire and love of toy trains, the public is not allowed in. The entire York Fair Grounds (except the race track) is in use for the members. Four Halls have tables for the membership (1,877 tables). Four other halls are for Dealers and Manufacturers, they also must be members. Talk to Jerry Calabrese (Lionel), Mike Wolf (MTH), and the staff of Classic Toy Trains. Everybody wares a LARGE name badge, everyone is friendly.
In addition to what Don is saying, York segregates commercial and trade show environments from swap meet environments by arranging them in different halls. That way if you’re in the mood for a real swap meet, you don’t have to trudge through the commercial side of this hobby. Out of sight and out of mind so to speak.
York’s a great show … have’nt went for a couple years though . But alot can be said for the other non TCA shows also … there’s alot of bargains out there and in the smaller ones you have a chance of getting closet finds and non collector trains at much lower prices . As with all types and vintages … beauty is in the eye of the beholder … I call no man’s trains junk no matter what the vintage … [:-^]