I’ve been hitting road blocks with local train shows lately. It seems like something is always coming up that is prohibiting me from going to one. (Mainly work- perhaps it doesn’t help that I work retail and weekends are the busiest times of the year). I try to plan to go to one and then something comes up. It’s been one thing after another for the last two months.
I’m wondering if I am not alone here. Does anyone else get the “annoyed because they have to be somewhere else than a swap meet that they have been waiting for” disease?
I only attend one train show a year–the one here in Roseville, usually on the last weekend of October or early in November. I always plan ahead for it, and haven’t missed it once. Reason I only attend one, is that I usually go crazy and max out my Master Card, LOL!
You’re not alone. After getting into modelling I found shows in Timonium, Maryland. That’s about 2 hours from me. I made the first couple shows then found that other shows within the year happened to fall on the same weekends that we had another obligations to attend.
Since I’ve spent quite a bit on just getting the layout started I haven’t gone to any in the last year. Right now I’m concentrating on getting the basic benchwork and layout to a stage where I can run some trains. So shopping at the shows doesn’t figure in for the moment. Maybe next year.
I try to get to Timonium once a year, but this year’s been a little tricky. The budget has more or less dried up along with the wider economy, plus by the time I spend $30 on gas and $9 to get in the door, (not to mention the over-priced lunch in the hall) I’m pretty well tapped out. I can stay home and browse a lot of the vendors on the internet and not pay a thing.
Don’t get me wrong, I love going to the shows, but only when I’m flush with cash and loaded for bear!
I haven’t gone to one in at least fifteen years. Beside the gas and the entry fee you may get a little off what you can purchase something new for at a hobby shop. So you are comitted to buying to justify the cost from a guy who you can’t return the merchandise to if there is a problem. So what do you gain? Your local hobby shop loses business (see other threads regarding the state of local hobby shops). You get a slight discount with no warranty and you put up with some real idiots like the guy who tried to sell me an Athearn blue box 86’ box car for $25.00 claiming it was part of the “original run”. When I said good luck he called me a loser. Don’t need the hassle. Don’t need to waste my time and certainly don’t need to go shopping on a Sunday morning instead of going to church and restoring my soul.
Up until this year, I have attended lots of train shows:
Trainfest(Milwaukee)
Mad City(Madison)
Indianhead(Eau Claire)
8 different train ‘flea markets’ in the Mpls/St Paul area(and had seller tables)
This year, due to ‘burnout’, high fuel costs, and not too much to sell - I have cut down my schedule. I have missed several events so far and only plan to attend the following:
Naperville RPM(Sunshine Models)
Mad City(Madison)
…and 1 or 2 of the ‘flea markets’
Even with high shipping costs, mail order is far cheaper than all of the fuel/time. I will attend a few smaller shows for the ‘social’ aspect…
What keeps me?.. Transportation. But I do go a couple of times a year with friends, though we are looking for very different things.
Conrail, liked the site for your layout, I look forward to seeing videos if you have any. I also like that your trackplan isn’t too big and complicated, looks like things are coming along well.
The narrow gauge conventions are probably the best of all for high quality modeling, and do have a whole lot of vendors who cater to the crowd. Next year’s will be in Colorado Springs, so it will probably be another biggie, as those held in narrow gauge country always bring a crowd. I made it to the 2003 event in Denver and to Durango in 2006, had a great time at both. Best modeling I have ever seen, and got to enjoy rides and photography on the area narrow gauge railroads in steam. That’s what brings modelers back time after time. If I could afford it, I’d go again next year!
Hear the main hotel is already sold out for next year, so start looking for other places right away if you intend to go. We got into the main hotel in Denver, missed it in Durango.
Have fun!
Back to the orginal question - I don’t think I’ve ever missed an area train show for scheduling reasons. When I worked, it was a weekday job, no weekends. These days the travelling and costs do make a big difference. Missed an area show this past weekend, was a 3 hour drive from here, no one else wanted to come along and share the gas cost, so I didn’t go. Nothing much I need or want anyway. The annual show hosted by our local club is in three weeks, and I’ll be there with my HO scale modules.
Thanks, that is one of the nice features of an Apple Computer and Operating System. It comes with this handy software called iWeb that you can use too make some nice sites… Not much to video tape at the moment, other then empty track and styrofoam, once I have stuff wired up I can video tape some trains Just got a decoder for my sd75 so now I can finally create a consist which I really want too try out (limited funds have prevented further locomotive purchases and only have 2 dcc locomotives)
Up until 6 or 7 years ago, I hit every train show within 200 miles from here (north Houston) without fail. At that time, I realized that I the smaller shows were much more enjoyable to me as compared to the large annual show held at the G. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston. Even though the smaller shows had less of “what I needed or had to have” and were typically 100-200 miles away, the “train show experience” was much more fun.
The reasons were fairly obvious to me as to why the “big show” turned me off. First of all, driving and finding a decent place to park was often a major hassle - not to mention the cost of parking. Second, the convention center always has another show going at the same time (in another part of the building) which doubled/tripled the size of the crowd.
But the real reason was trying to navigate the aisles filled with loose young children and baby strollers - some the size of small SUVs. Folks would be stacked two and three deep in many places along the way - usually where I was interested in shopping. It just got to be too much of a hassle for me!
Now I realize that shows are excellent places to introduce new folks to the hobby, and I endorse that immensely - but I’ll stick with the smaller shows from now on!
I wouldn’t say it really prohibits me from going to shows, but eBay and the interwebs are the reason I don’t go to shows anymore. I am not one of those types that are attached at the hip to their PC and never see the light of day with the fear of human interaction, but I have found more stuff on eBay that I was looking for than I could ever dream of finding at a show.
As I found out this summer, a hyperactive thyroid will do the trick!!! [:(!] Perfect health for 40 years, then this, and my doctor says, “Just wait until you’re 50!” Woo-hoo!
There were several shows in the region (Charlotte, Nashville, etc) in the last few months that I really planned on going to but didn’t because I just wasn’t feeling good enough. Fortunately, we have The Great Train Expo every few months here in Atlanta just around the corner from the house, and it seems to get better and better every time. In fact, the only reason I go to the out-of-towners is to make a weekend of it with railfanning and just getting away with the wife & kids for a few days of fun. Jamie
I have not attended a narrow gauge convention before. I model in HO with HOn3 tied in.
How is this show? Is it well attended? Are there a lot of NG model railroad vendors to look over?
It’s been a few years since my schedule allowed me to attend. However, I can tell you that the NNGC is far and away the best show for vendors if your interest is narrowgauge. The clinics are also great, as well as the local layouts and tours. If you’ve ever wanted to rub shoulders with those who write about narrowgauge, either model or prototype, this is the place to be.
Just got a decoder for my sd75 so now I can finally create a consist which I really want too try out (limited funds have prevented further locomotive purchases and only have 2 dcc locomotives)