But first I’ll state that to me (and perhaps some other modelers) a “Train Show” should include to mean the smaller local shows in addition to the big Greenberg type shows. I agree with Cedarwoodron’s assessment regarding the larger “pow-wows”. By the time you park and walk inside, your wallet may be a bit lighter.
As for $100, that’s easy. I look for old-run (painted) Walthers corrugated streamlined cars in unpopular road names. These cars usually go for bargain prices ($15 - $25) and since I’m going to paint strip and metalize them in Alclad2 anyway, the road name doesn’t matter. Same for the older run P1K RDCs which I’ve seen in the $40 range.
If I were going to a train show right now I’d probably be looking to spend most of the $100. on structure kits & scratch building supplies. I’m getting ready to start construction on the one major town on my layout. So, I’d be looking for certain types of structures and/or kits that I could kitbash into the type of structures I need.
I’d especially be looking for kits that I could kitbash into classic northern Maine Potato Barns and railside Potato Houses. Virtually no one makes kits of either, so all must be kitbashed or scratch built. The only kit I’ve found that is an easy kitbash into a trackside row Potato House is Walther’s Cornerstone Ice House & Platform kit. Just forget the platform & the building is about 90% identical to a classic Potato House. A few slight modifications & add some large wooden loading doors & you’ve got it.
Well here in the Mid Atlantic we have the well known Great Scale Model Train Show at Timonium Maryland, held at our State Fair grounds.
Free parking, reasonable admission fee, food can be a little pricey, show held five times a year.
And Greenbergs comes to the same venue two or three times a year.
But personally, I’m pretty burnt out on the train show thing, and from what I see, it is past its prime.
As for used stuff, most of the vendors at these shows selling used stuff have the same old junk they have been carrying there for years. But, as explained earlier, I buy some “new old stock” type of stuff, but that blue box kit you already put together - NO THANK YOU.
Used track? I don’t even try to take up track and reuse it myself, let alone buy someone elses used track.
First I look over the S scale (not American Flyer) stuff. There is usually very little if any, and rarely something I can use that I don’t already have. Maryland (The Great Scale Model Train Show) and Virgina (Greenberg Shows) are not hotbeds of S scale.
Second I have become a casual collector of (I like Sheldon’s term here) “new old stock”. Particularly, I look at MDC Old Timer Kits and old O scale kits. I don’t pay collector prices though, about $5-10 for MDC car kits and $10-20 for O scale kits. A little more for a locomotive kit.
Third, I look at the Lionel stuff to see if anything appeals to me at a good price. I’m casually buying stuff for when my grandson, who is 2, is ready for Lionel.
Fourth I peruse the books and tools.
At this point I have spent $0 to $100. So I hit the snack bar for a coke and pretzel or hot dog, then I look over the layouts to see if there is a new one I haven’t seen.
And then I am on the road home.
I haven’t spent over a $100 at a show for quite a while now. But I do like going to shows and looking. Even when I go home without buying anything, I’ve had a good time.
Sheldon,We have junk dealers too and those I avoid.
Now when a dealer has decent used MDC,Trainman,Athearn cars for $5.00 each with KDs and used higher end cars for $10-12.00 he has my full attention.
As far as used track…I see you know very little about this…
Let me explain…There are those among us that buys track and uses it on a layout and *never ballast it…*This track is easy to salvage and in good overall shape.
That’s the used track I am talking about.
There is no shame in saving money by buying quality used models and good used track.
If it were me,I would be a hundred dollars ahead,it would remain in my wallet,for I would not be there to begin with,not that I don’t like any kind of show’s,It’s the crowd’s I don’t care for,especially the one’s that a lot of people,are walking around with the same tee-shirt on,saying,‘‘I’m With Him’’…
The answer depends on what I need at the time, and what interesting bits I can find.
The last train show I attended in Midland, Ontario was a bit of a disappointment because there were very few vendors - I would say less than half the number of previous years. However, there is one reliable vendor who does all the Ontario shows and who specializes in tools/nuts/bolts/drill bits/paint/detail parts etc. I managed to spend about $50 on needed bits and pieces, and given Testors recent copout I should have spent more. Seems every show I go to I spend money at his booth.
As for the rest of the stuff, it seems to me that the vendors are trying to price themselves out of existence! $15.99 - 19.99 for a BB kit (are you kidding?!?). There were a few locomotives at decent prices but not bargain prices by any means. One vendor had Digitrax decoders at fairly good prices but I had already ordered what I needed at the time through Canadian Express Line and I wasn’t about to stiff Dave by cancelling my order just to save $2.00/decoder.
Bottom line is the show was a bust. I could have ordered the paint and bits on line and saved myself the gas to get to the show and the admission price (I was good - I didn’t order the fries and gravy!) The best part of the whole show was watching a young boy try to run around a club layout as fast as the Bombardier bullet train was running. Everyone got out of his way.[(-D]
I will give the Toronto and Barrie shows a whirl this fall and next spring but I will be surprised if I spend $100.
Gidday, I’ll just have to presume that a “Train Show” is pretty much the same where ever so, on my once a year outing, I look for 2nd hand rolling stock, and unbuilt freight car kits. In this part of the world Athearn BB, Roundhouse kits sell for between $10 - 15, built or unbuilt ,and can occasionally pick up Bowser for a similar price. (There are of course dreamers who have this idea that because BBs and MDC kits have been discontinued they are now rare and worth far more than they were when they were on the LHS shelves, they obviously don’t need my money). I will also consider Lifelike or Tycho if I have a kitbashing project in mind. Unless its a “too good to be true” bargain I generally look at every thing before I commit myself. If of course there is nothing there I am not compelled to spend my $100.
By the way did I mention 2nd hand Atlas / Kato RS’s ? , You can’t have enough of them.[swg]
Frank,I worry more about the bad air WMDs that some joker passes.
Bear wrote:There are of course dreamers who have this idea that because BBs and MDC kits have been discontinued they are now rare and worth far more than they were when they were on the LHS shelves
We have those dreamers here too…Their kit boxes is beginning to get worn from packing and unpacking and they still don’t get the clue.
In my days of hitting the ultra crowded train shows, my attention was mostly for postwar Lionel stuff. But for HO, I was always after something different - that couldn’t be bought thru regular channels. Some of my best (and less expensive) finds were various club car kits, and of course out of stock / production vehicles and rolling stock.
I look for the best bargains. Sometimes it is track, sometimes locomotives or cars. Lately it has been automobiles in the period I model, as I seem to have accumulated more than enough rolling stock for my layout. I have also found some neat tools. The last 2 shows I went to, I didn’t buy anything. Going to another show tomorrow where I’ll get some track for a layout our school is building for handicapped kids.
You need to get out here to Springfield sometime, or to the National show that moves around with the NMRA convention.
Our twice-a-year Greenberg shows have gotten tiresome to me, I must admit. It’s pretty much the same vendors and display layouts every time. Still, with free parking, they are a bargain. I’ve gone to a few where I didn’t buy a thing, but I considered it time and money well spent just for the entertainment value of the layouts and “window” shopping. I’ve been going to the smaller local shows, where I find different vendors and display layouts.
C’mon you guys, I see you at train shows, buying up everything in sight, you do not need any more “stuff” what about all the stuff ferreted away under your layout, that you couldn’t possibly use in 40 years, unopened boxes of cars, buldings, etc etc etc , do the world a favor and give the $100 to a needy person or charity, you really will feel better, or maybe not. Just go to the train show and enjoy it.