How many model train shows do you think you’ll attend this year?
4-6 a year
Living in the Milwaukee area, were kinda over privlaged. I am seriously going to attend as many shows in the Milwaukee, Madison, and N Illinois as possible this year! More so the swap meets, I love finding a bargain 
Hope to C-ya Soon!!
I go to about 10-15 shows per year. 5-6 of these shows are Greenberg Shows, 2 are the Allentown, PA shows, 2-3 are in Dover, NJ, and the rest are scattered about.
I usually go to 3 of the Great Scale Train Shows plus 2 Greenbergs.
Enjoy
Paul
If I Have The Day Off ! Pete
Have gone to six train show so far this year, Alabama,Georgia,Florida,Mississippi,Louisiana,
I’ve tended to attend fewer shows each year. I live in the Twin Cities area and so many of the shows are just flea markets with no operating layouts, clinics, model contests, etc. They do little, if anything to actually promote the hobby.
I now tend to stay away from the GATS shows mainly because it is a Las Vegas-based for-profit organization doing little to actually promote modeling. I’d rather go to a show put on by a club where I know the money is supporting club activities like paying their rent, building a layout, helping restore railroad history sites (depots, etc.).
I also find the shows in rural areas are usually much better done, as are events put on by NMRA divisions and regions.
Also, many shows have become too expensive. Most in the metro area are $4. GATS here is $7, plus $8 to $10 for parking in downtown St. Paul. I’m not going to pay $17 just to get in the door.
My last reason for attending shows less, is that fewer of the flea marketers in our area are actual hobby stores. They are “jobbers,” or fly-by-night sellers. I’ve rather support with my dollars the local hobby shop and encourage them to give me discounts (our local club has a 10 percent discount available at two area shops.)
YORK was my 6th show so far this year & i have 5 more between now & christmas
i usally go to 5 or 6 but i am 15 so i am limited by my dad’s willingness to drive
We get 1 GATS show per year in Nashville
The Tenn Central museum sponsors a HO & N scale group
They will set up in Adventure Center / Museum at christmastime
I wish malls with empty stores would allow clubs to use the space
We have one with large scalers & they draw a good crowd!
One of the biggest drawbacks to living in a rural area is that going to the nearest trainshow that amounts to anything is at least a two hour drive.
The nearest large show is in Knoxville Tennessee, usually in the winter when the roads are bad! The nearest train store (that has a good O scale selection) is a 1 1/2 hour drive. Fortunately my job requires that I have to travel through Roanoke Virginia on occassions and I can visit my friends at the Railyard Hobby shop.
I’m a bit rural too. SO I had to vote “none” sadly. But there are a couple of operating layouts reasonabally locally (within a two hour drive) that I have gone to visit.
I would like to see a show with some flea market finds very much though.
I live in CT ans has such I have the opportunity to visit shows in New York and MA as well as my home state. I attend a half dozen or more shows a year, but the one I look forward to the most is the one held at the Eastern States exibition in February. This show offers the most for the money with operating layouts, workshops and dealers galore. I have some of my best deals from this show and have received many tips on building and refining model railroad layouts as well.
Unfortunate that here in West Texas there is little interest in trains and train shows. There used to be some support for flying model plains and RC boats but even those are fadeing out and the hobby shops are not as busy as they once were.
i’m just getting started in the hobby so i have not yet attended my first show. i’m a member of a club here in my hometown of macon, ga. so i hope to start attending some of the shows they go to. this is a great hobby.
I find the shows put on by the smaller train clubs to be more informative and they are much more helpfull and always willing to answer questions about how they did things, what they used etc. They are not trying to sell you a product, they are sharing the hobby and their knowledge. They are also much more reasonable priced than the larger shows. If I spend all my money going to the show, I can’t afford to buy something there.
I agree that if malls would let train clubs use empty stores for shows it would be good for both the mall and the train club.
I’m sort of rural, too. A week ago there was the Regina train show (which is 2 hours and 15 minutes from where I live). It was the largest they’ve ever had. There was quite a bit of stuff fro sale, including a lot of postwar Lionel. I came home with a trunk load of trains. Many bargains to be found.
My husband and I go to three or four train shows a year. We went to the GATS train show in St.Paul this year as we happened to be in Minneapolis for another event. Never again- the show was so small especially for O guage that it certainly wasn’t worth the money. The small show in Fargo and the one in White Bear, MN were much better than the GATS.
I am from New York State and Unfortunetly I have never been to one,they are all long distance from me.And transportation is a big problem I have.Someday the money train will stop at my door and deliver me the funds to make it.Till then I am glad that I have a computer so I can still read about them.[V]