Hi all,
In response to the ‘Annoying Train Show Patrons’ thread, I’d like to ask the following question: What is the most positive experience you’ve had at a train show?
Cheers,
tbdanny
Besides meeting and becoming friends/acquaintances with Howard Zane at the Timonium show ans seeing his layout for the first time. There was a club that had a very large modular layout set up I believve the four county society of model engineers who had a bunch of stuff for sale on a couple of tables. I thought i was seeing things when the sign said all car 5 cents. I laughed and and asked the guy if it was a joke. he said nope stuff belonged to some guy who passed away the club purchased it form his wife and picked through what they wanted and were selling the rest. I left their table with over 60 cars. all had KD couplers and some had seen better days but you know what for a nickle when their sitting in my freight yard they look pretty darned great. I go back there now at least twice a year. You would be hard pressed to find a better show in my O/P
Personally I only have experience wth the one local show, although next year the NMRA convention is coming here to the Sacramento area.
I too have had a great experience with purchases. But I think for me is the joy that my kids and I all have over things we would not see anywhere else. My son had the best time watching the Army Lionel set that has the moving bill board. And my daughter had a few enjoyable convesations with vendors. We all enjoyed watching the No 1 scale live steam, and where else can you ride on a Gandy Dancer.
When I decided to return to the hobby 5 years ago, I started attending train shows. The first few were like waking up in Oz or Never-Never Land. It’s that re-awakening of the inner child that got me.
I’ve also enjoyed the Springfield, MA show, just for its sheer size. I like browsing the small booths and finding detail parts, and picking up ideas.
Finally, I went to the NMRA national show in Hartford over the summer. Again, a huge show. It was fun to walk the same aisles with the “royalty” of the hobby.
But, there’s one thing that gets me every time. It’s the look in the eyes of all the little kids when they see the operating layouts. I’m pretty close to 8 years old again when it comes to trains, and it’s just great to all those smiles and all those young people enjoying the trains the same way I do.
I’ve had many, but one of the recent ones was meeting Mr. Beasley in person. : )
Jim
Has to be the first time I went to a train show, this Nov. I stopped by the layout of the HO division of the Ophir Tintic & Western MR club. There I met a few members who VERY openly invited me into the club. I left the show that day with a smile so big, I needed to turn sideways to exit the building. 
Best experience at a train show?
I enjoy every train show I attend. For all aspects of it.
Even the crowds {sometimes with a little push and shove} are great. The bigger the crowds the more likely that show will run again.
I find things I might not at a hobby shop, never think of to look for online, or in the Walthers catalog.
I enjoy seeing lots of layouts at teh shows so I can seee what others have done and get ideas from.
And taking cash tends to guarantee I will not overspend my budget like with a credit card over the net!.
The continued expierence of being able to hand the throttle of a $500 train to an eight year old and say, “would you like to take it for a spin?”
The looks in thier eyes is worth it EVERY SINGLE TIME. The look of ABSOLUTE HORROR in the eyes of thier parents doesn’t hurt much either.
The second year for our club at Madison, I passed the throttle to an eight year boy and his ten year old brother and told them they had to follow the train, not hit anyone, not get run into and they had to pass the throttle everytime they exchange the throttle everytime they passed me. Dad said that was the only time all day that they hadn’t fought. He then had a heart attack when he asked how much the train would cost to replace if anything happened to it. I didn’t have the heart to tell him how much it would cost to replace the train on the same track with it, if the boys either tailed end it or got tail ended.
Other positive times were when a coworker brought his teenage sons (15&16) to see what was what and had idly to told them that he might consider getting them a train if they wanted it. The youngest one was all for it. So they were going to get a set, but since my coworker knew that I was there, they found me and asked me what I thought of it. It wasn’t good. The boys face fell. He had grown attached to it, and the store clerk had assured him that the standard Life-Like was a good brand. So we went over to our crack supplier…er, our pusher, I mean our hobby shops table and asked if they would be willing to build a set for the cost of of what the LL set was. They confired and said no they couldn’t, but what they could do is meet the cost of the set in a Loco, power pack, and about a 18 cars. All they would have to do is by the track, and if they brought the engine into the shop once every year they would cover the labor to fix anything, if they covered the
One of the best experiences I’ve had was a couple years ago in Urbana, IL. There was a train show in the halls of a mall there, and while walking by one table, I spotted a very nice looking Westside brass 4-4-0 made by Samhongsa. I loved how the thing looked and it seemed to be very high quality throughout, but it was priced at $280 or so, which was more than I felt I could spend on it. So then maybe half an hour later, the guy selling it walked halfway across the entire show just to find me and tell me I could have it for $100 off![:D] He even guided me to a test track so we could see if it ran (which it sort of did), and he gave me some friendly tips on getting it cleaned up and working. I don’t run into people who will go to such great lengths for one customer often at all, so this was a very good experience.[:)]
The train show I attend every year is rather small and is mostly used inventory. Lately there have been a couple large booths that have new HO scale and some N scale. I went in their to look at things. I bought a six pack of coal gondolas made by Walthers. I left and returned a few hours later before they were going to close. I went back to the same booth and bought another six pack and 3 more freight cars for less than the first six had cost me. The guy operated a hobby shop and did not want to bring excess inventory back home.
As I started this thread, I should probably add my contribution to this list;
I’ve only done about 4 train shows as an exhibitor - 2 years’ worth. But if we include open houses/open club days as an ‘exhibition’ (which they are in a fashion), then my best train show experience would have to be my club’s 2008 open day.
I’d just purchased a Proto-N AT&SF Y3 with sound (in N scale), and was breaking it in on the club layout with a fairly lengthy consist behind it. A mother and father walked up with their young (6-7? year old) daughter. It was the young daughter who was into trains. The look on her face when I blew the train’s whistle and rang the bell was pure joy & wonder.
Mine actually started in the mid '80s. I was working for a Space Shuttle contractor and I had lunch nearly every day with Ron - a technical artist for the same company. One Monday he asked if I know anything about model railroading. I told him that I was really into it as a teenager, but hadn’t had much to do with it for about 10 years. Ron went on to tell me that he’d been to the train show in Ogden and that he was really intrigued. For the next year or so the topic came up fairly often at lunch.
In 1989 I was transferred to a different facility and not long after that, Ron was laid off. We sort of lost touch. Still, those conversations had awakened the old fire in me and I started planning a layout. In 2000, I bought a house with enough room to go forward with the layout, and I had enough money to do it the way I wanted - that translates to vintage brass and no plastic structures or rolling stock (I like real wood and real metal).
A few years went by, and I ventured off to the Hostlers train show in Ogden, and there he was, my old lunch pal, Ron. He was now a member of the Hostlers club and he had built some really outstanding modules for one of their modular layouts. Ron is now a locomotive engineer for the Golden Spike National Historical Site (how cool is that, driving a steam loco for the government?!). I make it a point to look for Ron at all the shows and get caught up on all that’s happened since the previous show.
I love model railroading for the model building and cool prototypes, but I think the very best facets of the hobby are the friendships.
I enjoy doing that as well, lol. I was running 4 Kato AC4400CW’s with about 80 Intermountain and Athearn Genesis cars at one show on my clubs layout a few years back. This dude starts asking me a few questions about DCC and I said it’s so easy a kid could do it. His 6ish year old son was getting bored just standing there so I gave him the throttle and showed him how to use it and then he was on his own. The dude asked me something about the cost of my train so I told him each car was around 30 bucks, the loco’s were 150 each plus the 25 dollar decoder. He starts to add it all up and told him yep, around 3 grand. In a very stern voice he says to his kid “Give the nice man back his train”. I said, “Oh no, you guys are good” and slowly walked over to a vendor table. The absolute fear and horror in the guys eyes I’ll never forget, lol. I’m always letting kids run my GO passenger train, the way I see it is its not going to hurt nothing and its going to leave a lasting impression for them.
I go to 10 to 12 shows a year and I just can’t nail down just one great experience. I have a good time at every show I go to.
You have to think you’ve had a great experience when you are looking for some out of production items and you pick up the top two or three on your list for a reasonable cost. Or find something useful you’ve never seen before. And the always welcome score the great deal.
I picked up a whole lot of Aethern BB kits and a VERy old Roundhouse kit. That was rewarding.
When I lived in Morgantown, a group of us from the local MR club used to drive together to the Timonium show every year. It was a very fun trip and the show was always great. I really miss those shows. There was a big N&W layout we used to visit on the way back, that was great too. I love train shows. - Nevin
I haven’t been to a show where I didn’t have a good experience. Yesterdays show in Belleville ON, was better than others as again with my 4 yr old, came across Dave & his club, set up the ladder from home for Liam, up he goes, tries out the new SD40-2 we just bought ( Thanks again Dave! ) then he decides to check out Thomas, Edward, Ben & Salty running on another layout next to where we were, all this time a littlegirl was patiently waiting to use the ladder. Looking at her & her Mom, I asked if she would like to use it to get a better look. She scampers up the ladder to check out the trains. She & her Mom said ty & continued on.