Did anyone attend the 2006 NMRA Convention and/or Train Show in Philadelphia? I attended the show and was quite disappointed in it’s size. I thought there would be more items for sale and a a better selection of merchandise. Milwaukeee’s TrainFest blows this one out of the water. I heard talk that many cancelled because they were told that union workers would be unloading and setting up and loading displays and materials. Not sure if this is true. I asked some convention and NMRA officials/ workers some questions about the show and admission and they were of no help or didn’t know what they were talking about. I’m very disappointed in the attitude of the NMRA workers at the booth. Not sure if I’ll renew my dues. Sorta disorganized I thought.
Never having been to a National show before I dont have anything to compare it to ,but I myself was a little disapointed too! being that this was my first time also, a good sampling of manufactures I will admitt, maybe I was expecting too much?
can anyone else give us their opinions? Or shed a little more light on this subject?
bob
Union rules many times do get in the way of layout or vendor setup. I saw this happen in Chicago a number of years ago. As far as what is for sale - I did not attend this NTS, but I have attended about 6 or 7 in the past 10 years. Generally they are pretty good when it comes to getting ‘deals’, but many times the selection of items are ‘home road’ related, and you will not see the same selection you saw at Trainfest. Trainfest and Mad City(Madison) are two of the best shows in the nation - You are spoiled! Usually the NTS has much more manufacturers that any of the other shows. The NMRA is seperate from the NTS(although somewhat related). Dealing with the ‘rules’ of an event center can always be challenging. The last time the NTS was cancelled was due to the 2003 SARS issue in Toronto - I hope we do not see that again!
Jim
I did go to the NMRA convention on Wednesday. It was nice but for future reference, a one day pass is a waste unless you plan to do a tour or a master builder clinic. The were two very good DCC clinics, I got a lot of questions answered but now have twice a many. The Loys Toys clinics in AR sound like a good thing for Digitrack owners.
I was somewhat disappointed that there were not more manufactures giving clinics at the convention. They all planned to be at the Train Show but I think they miss a real opportunity to reach the hard core modeler. Digitrack and Woodland Scenics made their mark.
The was such a push for the Train Show that I wondered why anyone would join the NMRA or go to the convention when there was going to be more offerred at the Train Show. At least that is what was promoted on Wednesday.
Jim I guess your right about being spoiled with MLW’s TrainFest and the Mad City Show. I guess this being a National Convention and the Train Show being associated with the week’s convention that it would be a much bigger event. IMHO it should be as big or bigger than TrainFest. This is a national draw as well as a worldwide draw. I sure hope when it comes to Milwaukee in 2010 that it is much better than the 2006. Where was all the “O” scale stuff ? I also spoke with some NMRA officals at the booth when you first came into the show and I sure hope they don’t show up to the 2010 show. I had asked a question and then gave my opinion to something( which was probably a mistake on my part) and they had terrible attitudes and didn’t care about what I said or how I felt. A big disappointement of my fellow MRR’s. I also noticed that some of the conventioners walked around like they owned the place or were guests of honor. The vendors were all very pleasant and helpful. Oh well, I’m home now and ther will be another show in the near future I’m sure.
Jim, I too am one of the spoiled ones as I attend Trainfest and Mad City every year (and even displayed at the Mad City show last year with my modular club upstairs in the new part), but even when comparing this show with the other three I’ve attended (Madison 1997, San Jose 2000 and St. Louis in 2001) I was disapointed. I still enjoyed the show and all, but I found that there wasn’t the usual selection of vendors with “really great deals,” just a few, and they layouts that were there were impressive, but there were huge empty spaces they could have easily filled with another smaller layout or two. I’m happy that I went, but I guess it could have been better.
Noah
Didn’t go to Chicago in '76 but I undestand that the deadbeats there made such a pain in the butt out of themselves that in the years following several manufacturers threatened that if the NMRA ever tried to go back there they would boycott the (convention) trade show - I haven’t made any inquiries in the last few years and its now been 30 years since that inauspicious event; I am sure that most of those manufacturers who tangled with the deadbeats there in Chicago have probably departed from the scene but if, as has been presented here, the deadbeats made a pain in the butt out of themselves again as they did in Chicago three decades ago I will predict it will be a coon’s age before a convention goes back there - and, let’s face it - except during the restricted-to-convention-attendees-only hours on the first day of the trade show the real economic power for the National Trade Show belongs to those who buy the $10.00 ticket at the door and if the manufacturers “politely” extend their middle-fingers into the air and boycott the convention with a message to the convention promoters there ain’t going to be a convention - at least not one with a trade show
I got to the Train Show. Yes I thought it would have been bigger too. There weren’t a lot of vendors there. But I did get to see the big Companies booths like Atlas, Walthers, Athearn, Overland, and Rapido’s new stuff. My little brother like the LEGO layout
I really enjoyed the show. It wasn’t as big as Timonium, MD shows, and Amherst in Springfield MA blows it out of the water in terms of size, but I was glad it wasn’t wall-to-wall people! I had a chance to really chat with some manufacturer’s reps, and sometimes the company owners themselves! I spent a few bucks (mostly on a Fastracks kit), but I didn’t overdo it.
All in all a worthwhile experience.
most vendors don’t go to the nationals because they charge way to much for their booths and it makes it tough to afford it
I went to the train show and it sucked. OK that’s a little rough but it was bad. I agree that Timonium is better. Also I know a small business owner who didn’t set up there because of the cost. He said it was unreasonable.
Les
Like some others who commented, this was my first NMRA national show. I expected to be more impressed and was somewhat disappointed. I was interested by the comments about cost of booths, and the requirement that the dealers use “union” personnel (I presume that means convention center employees, is that correct?) to unload and set up.
Some observations:
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There were one or two brass vendors in the whole place.
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I went armed with my downloaded directory of vendors who were coming, and the map of the show floor; and then I was quite shocked to find that multiple vendors I was looking forward to seeing were not there, and their space had been taken by somebody else.
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Some (not all) of the layouts were a real delight to see, particularly the model of Strasburg. I love to see a layout that is a real reproduction of a real place, and I note this is a form of modeling rarely seen (rare in this country anyway — American modelers seem to far prefer to invent something). The Strasburg group did a terrific job.
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I was also quite “taken” with something I didn’t even know was being done to such an extent: Z scale modular layouts, of which there were multiple ones there. It was the first time I had seen Z to any great degree, and for the first time I got an appreciation of what you can do with it.
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Here’s a minor but amusing finding: I left with as many free manufacturers’ catalogs as I could carry; and I roughly figured that the cost of these, if I had ordered them, would have been something like three times the admission cost of the show. So, I guess in a sense I made money by showing up.
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Because this is held in the summer, it is peak travel season, and I assume this is why it cost me so much to get from NY to Philly on Amtrak. I could be wrong about this but I am guessing that if it were held in the dead of winter (I believe Amtrak prices like airlines do) it would have co