I’ll second Allegheny’s comments. The Timonium Great Scale Show has got to be the most comprehensive show on the planet. Howard Zane does an outstanding job putting this together three times a year! The October Show is always the best, with the February one a close second. The June show is smaller, but still a welcome break from yard work and summer heat.
The focus is on Scale model trains, but you can still park the kids in front of a Thomas-themed layout and visit a T-shirt or book booth… But the variety and depth of stuff for the scale model railroader is almost infinite. Everything from Micro drill bits up to the big ride-on trains.
Vendors representing all scales are there, along with modular layouts from all over the Mid Atlantic.
Yes, the food is overpriced, but it’s generally pretty good (pulled pork BBQ among other delicacies!)
My best catch was coming across one poor soul who was in the midst of a messy divorce. He had to split the proceeds with his formerly blushing bride, so he didn’t care a lick what he got for his collection of Atlas and Kato N scale engines. I picked up an SD-45, a U25B and a GP-30 for $100. I felt like I robbed the guy, but like I said, he didn’t care.
I’ve also been able to unload stuff on the White Elephant Table, which is great because it can help you raise cash to spend on the spot. I always enjoy it when I can get to the show.
Absolutely the show in Timonium was awesome, I went to the one in February but unfortunately missed the October one. Anyway, train shows are great and I am looking forward to the show coming up in two weeks at the Allentown fairgrounds. Went to the spring show there and was suprised by the size of the show.
I picked up a Norfolk Southern Dash 9 the last time I was there and this time will be on the lookout for auto carriers, mainly the older walthers kits. I recently made a trip (the first time) to Rule’s train shop in Manheim and got two 89’ foot auto carrier kits which will get me started on my auto carrier train.
The shop was hands down the best LHS in the Harrisburg/Lancaster area by far. Owner was great to talk to, the selection was second to none and the prices were good. I highly recommend anyone who is in the area to stop by.
Sorry I hijacked the link, so I will get back on point and say that I cannot wait until the Allentown show in two weeks.
I’ve only been to one this year. It kind of sucks around here since there are less than 5 a year within a 2 hour drive, and usually the same vendors charging MSRP although there are good deals from time to time. Although it is kind of hard to find stuff I could use since most of it is CSX, NS, Southern, BNSF, or UP modern era stuff.
The last one I went to I picked up a Athearn RTR SD40-2 in BN Bicentennial paint, an E&C MP modernized PS-1, 3 Athearn BB PS covered hoppers, and 1 athearn BB reefer alll for $110. I hope the guy I bought the hoppers from will be there at the next show since he was selling BB kits for 3 bucks, but he took 5 bucks for those 3 hoppers.
Unfortunately, the next show within 2 hours will be in march.
Yeah I’ll be headed up there too. I remember they had the one up by Westmoreland Mall either in December last year or January this year. From what I heard they got complaints about it so they’re headed back to Monroeville. I usually like going to them. I just about always find something I want and it’s always nice to see the layouts the clubs set up.
Add another vote for the Great Scale Model Train Shows at Timonium. When I lived and worked in northern Virginia I went to every one. Now I’m down further south, but a few friends and I will carpool up and share a hotel room once a year. One of these days we may even try and get our module group in the show.
It`s prettycrappy here in West Central Florida also. A big show here is 100-150 tables & a monster show is 200 tables like at the Tampa show. Most times the same dealers with the same goods.Locally we have 1 “show” with about 15 or so tables & another show 3 times a year with about 40 tables. I sure envy you people in NJ , PA & Maryland among other areas with big shows.
I think the biggest show I have ever been to was Atlanta. Spent about 6 hrs or more and came back with alot of items. Then I move to this waste land I call Kansas City. Ok I will give it credit (KC) we do have a couple of flea markets( nothing like GA or FL) here. But the last 2 shows have all been canceled.
I haven’t been to a show in quite a while. The last show I attended was at the fairgrounds in Pomona. I really miss the GATS shows in Las Vegas. I use to go every year until they stopped a few years ago.
I’d have to venture that the level of hobbyist enthusiasm for train shows is often in direct proportion to the attendee’s level of actual participation/experience in the hobby. I have observed that newer modelers and those for whom model railroading is more of a mild diversion, rather than a truly serious pursuit, tend to get a lot more out of visiting local train shows and see them in a different light than do seasoned veterans.
Now I’ll fully concur that meets like the big October one at Timonium, MD and to a lesser degree the winter meet at Springfield, MA (just too much in the way of “toy trains” there for me) can be a lot of fun regardless of one’s tenure in the hobby. But I’ve found that those local 50-75 table shows usually loose their attraction very quickly after more than one visit. Too often I see the same items offered show after show, with much of it over priced - the reason it goes unsold to return time and again. Likewise, at least here in the Northeast, bargins and the bargaining aspect between potential buyer and seller pretty much passed into history with the rise of that on-line auction site. Far too many show dealers are today offering the latest equipment at full retail prices and I find that I can get an equal or better deal than found at a show by simply driving 20 minutes to my LHS…while foregoing the parking and admission fees to boot!
Again, it may be a regional thing, but over the past two decades I’ve seen the number and size of local train shows around here steadily dwindle. There was a time when I could visit one or two shows a weekend, every weekend, from September through December, yet not drive much more than an hour or so. Today, even hearing about one show per month within the same driving distance is an exception.
I think that, in some ways, it may very well be a regional thing—depending on the local economic situations as they are. I know that here there have been some shows that were canceled a few times over the years as even those dealers that did do those shows were not in too good a financial shape either. The one that I do go to quite regularly in Woodstock ON sometimes seems to have an up/down attendance in both dealers and buyers—so there is alwayss some varience I guess.
As one watches the market for kits and such disappear one wonders how this will affect the trainshow makeup in general[:-^]
I attend 6 shows a year with my club where we display our layout, thats including the one that we host. I also attend 4 or 5 more just as a regular visitor. I really enjoy the shows and usually find some good deals on stuff. You got to get in early though because if you don’t the deals are gone.
I like to look on train shows as entertainment. I usually get to a Greenberg show in Wilmington, MA, and the NMRA Hub Division show in Marlboro. Unfortunately, or perhaps not, I spend a lot of weekends up in Maine skiing during the winter, so I miss most shows between Thanksgiving and Easter. I’ve only made it to Springfield once. The NMRA convention in Hartford, Connecticut, this year was well worth attending.
I regard the price of admission as a charge for having an afternoon of fun. I enjoy seeing the layouts, even the same ones again and again. Sure, I stroll around all the booths, and I buy some small items here and there, but I don’t look for or expect big bargains. I’ll spend a lot of time at the My Dad’s Trains booth, because they have a large wall set up with hundreds of detail parts. It’s stuff I wouldn’t think to look for online, but when I can look at it from all angles and put it in my basket, it’s hard to resist.
Our local Greenberg show is in the Shriners hall. The Shriners are a charitable organization, and they support childrens’ hospitals. So, I don’t mind buying their food. (It’s cheaper than most show food, and tastes better, too.) Free parking makes me like this show even more.
All in all, a typical train show day probably costs me less than $30. I come home with a smile, and a bunch of small parts I can enjoy adding to models. All in all, a great way to spend the day.
The small price people pay to get into a show goes a long way in helping pay for the cost of hosting the show. I’m the show co-ordinator for my club and I got to tell you the cost is out of this world. Here is an example of what it costs.
Building for 3 days, Friday to Sunday. You need to have the Friday because you need to layout the floor plan and vendors prefer to set up on the Friday. Cost, $1200.00.
Insurance. Unless you have a minimum of 2 million dollars worth of liability insurance there is no chance that you can rent a building so you have no choice to buy it. Cost, $950.00.
Show flyers, you got to have them. Cost, $200.00.
Advertising on the radio, TV etc. Cost, $250.00.
Food for your vendors and exibitors because we feel we should feed the people that help us put on our show. Cost, $500.00
There is lots of other smaller expenses like stamps for invitations and confirmation letters, gas for the guys setting up signs around town, extension cords to power the layouts, mats to keep the dirt off the floor, the list goes on and on. Knowing now what it roughly costs to host a show I don’t really think it’s that unreasonable to ask someone to pay 5 bucks for a few hours of entertainment is it? Still, every year we get some people complaining about the fee. [%-)]