Both of these touring train shows are going to be coming to nearby areas. It is a little bit of a drive, but I’m thinking of going to the shows.
For those of you who have attended, what do you think of The Great Train Expo?
What do you think of World’s Greatest Hobby on Tour?
I posted this a few days ago on the OGR Forum, so if you posted a reply over there, no need to go to the bother of posting it here as well.
Thanks.
My feeling about the World’s Greatest Hobby on Tour is that people who go to train shows are already interested in the hobby. They are preaching to the choir.
They should be exhibiting at places where NEW people will be introduced to the hobby. I would like to suggest that they display in malls for a week or two at a time.
When I was a child department stores always had train displays at Christmas, now those stores don’t even sell trains.
They’re only making ONE appearance on the whole east coast at all … LOUSEY booking … in my opinion … [tdn]
I went to the WGH show in Oaks, PA early in January, this year. Traffic nighmares and bad facilities aside, the Oaks WGH show appeared to be geared for folks looking to get a feel for the hobby, new comers, lots of young parents with small kids. If you have children / grandchildren showing an interest in the hobby, then they’d probably enjoy it. Lots of layouts to see, Thomas the tank engine, product demos, etc. If you’re looking for a show to browse, bargain and buy, probably not the best show to go to. Product offerings were sparse and prices were pretty outrageous IMHO.
Regards,
CJ Meyers - South Jersey
Member - TCA
Speaking from having attended the GATS/GTE and the WGH shows here in SoCal the better of the two was the WGH. WGH had almost all of the manufaturers of “O” gauge in attendance promoting the hobby and their latest releases, unfortunately this is not a yearly show. GATS/GTE, at least in this area, are almost all sellers of predominantly the 2 rail product with very little 3 rail “O”.
Yes, the WGH events target non-hobbyists or maybe seasonal operators. It is more of an intro, rather than a hard core train show for the converted. They also change the venues so they can expose the hobby to a greater number of people.
Nice to see other areas getting major train shows, but what about south Florida?
The last time Greenberg’ Train show or any other major show was down here is about eight years ago! Don’t forget that Florida East Coast railway ran down to Key West during the 1920’s and mid 1930’s until a hurricane washed out the tracks below Key Largo FL. Florida was a state that was developed by railroads and today still has at least two major railroads and three or more shortline roads still operating.
Lee F.
I was just at a Great Train Expo last weekend in the San Francisco Bay area. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of postwar three-rail trains for sale. Made several purchases and enjoyed viewing the many operating layouts. The Lionel layout with operating accessories drew the most viewers while I was there - even more than the Lego layout.
Robert
Thanks for the replies. I’ll try and make it to the WGH show.