I’m headed for the Great Scale Model Train Show just outside Baltimore next weekend. I’ve been going to this monster show since 2009 and haven’t missed one since. Really big train shows can save you a gang o’ bread and reduce future shipping costs to zero.
Load up while there or plan on regretting it later as you pay large sums just to have the stuff shipped to you when forced to order online.
Go with a plan and a list. Top the list with stuff you gotta’ have and at the bottom of the list place the stuff you know you’ll need before the next big show. You will ultimately find favorite dealers that you will search out in future shows and luck out on the rare one time only guy who is getting rid of just what you want.
While good advise, taking you time to see it all and then going back to the tables with the best deals might work out to be a bad thing on limited amounts of goods or rare items. Really rare items need to be impulse bought, then and there.
Never be afraid of breaking the bank, (within the limits of putting you out on the streets). Sure there will be future shows, but get the good stuff you need now; it may not be there next time. If you go to the show just to look, you are either missing the experience or already have all you will probably ever need.
Avoid taking the wife or kids, for obvious reasons. Wear a back-pack and pull along one of those little two wheel grocery carts. The back pack will hold your most precious jewels and the cart will handle the 50 sticks of flex track and keep it straight. (Try walking around a giant show with 10 sticks of flex in your hands).
If you have never been to a really giant train show, hold on to your hat because you won’t be able to hold onto your cash. Enjoy!
Something else to try is to go on the last day (if it’s a 2 or more day show) and offer a lower price so the seller doesn’t have to pack it up again. I’ve saved $2 each on three $15 Accurail auto rack kits. I too like kits so I can be sure they were assembled properly; one already built kit I bought came apart because the builder did not remove paint from the gluing surfaces…then I noticed they put some wrong parts in the wrong places (but I didn’t really care because thanks to them not removing the paint before gluing, they came apart pretty easy).
One kit I recently bought at a show, the seller assured me ‘all the parts are there…’ …they weren’t. I scratchbuilt a replacement so no big deal, but take your time and check all the parts are there.
As for walking away empty handed, I’d rather spend gas money and admission price than to store something I don’t really need (or have room for). Then again, picking up a gift for somone (like a t-shirt) is a good excuse to spend money, or to excite a kid about railroading. Spending money at a train show encourages others to get tables for the next year if they hear people are buying.
For you SE Michiganders, there is a regional convention in Toledo (about an hour south of Detroit) April 25-27; not sure how good it is, but it’s not too far away.
A quick update to correct an error in my earlier post: The Redford Model Railroad Club is holding its annual Spring show this year, at the Costick Center on 11 Mile Road in Farmington Hills on March 16. Until a buddy sent me a list of shows he’d be selling stuff at, I would have sworn that it wasn’t happening. And this is a show that’s usually on my radar.
The club hasn’t done a particularly good job of promoting the show this year- there’s no mention of it on the Kalmbach events listing or even the club’s own web site. 'seems to me that those are pretty basic places to advertise, especially since they’re both free.
First few times at a train show can be overwhelming. Don’t be afraid to come away empty-handed. After a few, you’ll get a feel for what’s a good deal and what isn’t. The danger goes both ways - see what looks like a deal early on, but pass it up because you aren’t sure and want to check some other vendors, and the original one will prove to be a deal but also gone by the time you get back. Or think something’s a deal, snag it, then later find another vendor selling the same kit for $5 less. Ooops. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Just don’t get too worked up over it. With experience you will catch on.
Also, keep a list of what you have (at home, as well as recent purchases) so you don’t end up with duplicate items. I have far too much rolling stock to possibly recall everything I own, my inventory program lets me print out a simple “train show list” report that I carry with me at shows. I also make a list of what items I may be specifically looking for at a given show, if I actually am looking for something and not just browsing. Avoids that feeling of forgetting something and then remembering what it was when you’re in the car on the way home.
Then again, picking up a gift for somone (like a t-shirt) is a good excuse to spend money, or to excite a kid about railroading. Spending money at a train show encourages others to get tables for the next year if they hear people are buying.