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Post by superwarp1 on Apr 18, 2024 17:21:15 GMT
News Flash from York, there are trains, lots of O gauge trains.  That is all, I now return you to your regularly schedule programming. |
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Post by Traindiesel! on Apr 18, 2024 22:23:13 GMT
Big day for the PENN AMERICAN RAILROAD at the York Meet today!! The Voices were very active! More on this later.
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Post by Adam on Apr 19, 2024 12:00:37 GMT
Reminder of my usual York offer. If anyone buys me a new train at the show and sends it to me I will be your very best friend for one full year. Limited time offer!
😁
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Post by dennym57 on Apr 19, 2024 14:58:36 GMT
It anyone buys me a train I'll be you best friend for a year and six days... okay I lied, I'll take the train and slam the door in your face.
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Post by rockymountaineer on Apr 19, 2024 15:02:49 GMT
A few quick random thoughts from Thursday’s visit…
Light crowd in the Orange Hall during the time I was there: 12 Noon - 3pm. But people were grabbing some good deals and bringing goodies out to their car.
Nicholas Smith Trains was back in the Orange Hall — slightly smaller presence than they once had, but still a good-sized booth nonetheless. They were absent for a couple of years, so it was a good sign to see them return. Lots of NOS at great prices.
Anyone know why Trainworld wasn’t there? They’re having a “10% sale” at Trainworld.com. But it felt strange not seeing them in their usual corner spot in the Orange Hall. Were they somewhere else that I didn’t see? Even with a few tables containing small odds-and-ends stuff scattered around the perimeter, that corner looked vacant and cavernous without Trainworld's O-Gauge trains.
The rear wall of the Orange Hall is now taking on a different “new look”, now that Charles Ro, Lionel and a few others no longer attend. Instead there’s now Mr. Muffin’s Trains, Pete Costa, JusTrains of Delaware, and Trainz. Some of those folks once held down space in the Purple Hall, but their booths are even bigger in the Orange Hall now. Great to see!!!
Grzyboski’s Trains had an enormous presence — bigger than some brick-and-mortar stores entire real estate footprint back home. And they had a HUGE variety of different trains — clearly picking up lots from estate sales and snagging collections through the year. Indeed, the secondary market is VERY healthy.
Also enjoyed chatting with the fine folks at Stockyard Express, LCCA, Brady’s Trains and METCA.
Ross Custom Switches was in their usual spot, and they actually brought product to sell at this show. So I guess they’re catching up on their backlog of orders.
Speaking of order backlogs, Jack Pierce’s fantastic interior lighting products were on display — but no new orders are being taken until the October 2024 York. Still can’t believe the amazing work he does. Some items in his display were already marked sold, and I doubt he’ll be bringing much if anything home. Superb craftsmanship!!!
That’s it for now. I’ll probably forever regret a great deal Pete Costa offered me on a Lionel passenger set I was eying in his booth. But I’m still in collection-thinning mode and planning for a few purchases due later in the year. We all have our limits… sigh.
I must say… I enjoyed the light Thursday crowd, since I was there as an enthusiast casually strolling the aisles. And at my stage in the hobby, it was nice to just enjoy strolling and catching up with a few friends. I can't speak for traffic in the member halls, but the Orange Hall traffic Thursday afternoon was nowhere near the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds I observed as a seller at Allentown ATMA.
One thing I will say though... it became obvious there IS indeed a young contingent of our hobby moving along at a more brisk pace and with a swagger we all had years — dare I say decades — ago when attending what is still arguably the largest O-Gauge train show around. York continues to definitely weather lots of changes, but it’s still an amazing show to attend. Good job, EDTCA!!!
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Post by healey36 on Apr 19, 2024 18:17:45 GMT
I didn't spend much time in the Orange Hall, so I can't comment other than to say the crowd was definitely thinner than October (which is normal). This was primarily a parts-n-paint run this time around, so I found what I needed there (Orange Hall), then moved on. The member halls were crowded, but again less so than October. Quite a few regulars were missing. Still, lots of deals (I burned through all of the cash in my pocket within three hours). There was a ton of stuff that caught my eye, but the project pile is just too big these days, so I passed on much of it. Bought a bunch more parts, a couple of replacement postwar motors, and then a few odds-n-ends: Lionel 656 stock car:  Flyer 1120 Seattle coach in blue:  Flyer 3142 wide-body observation:  Lionel 651 flat car:  And Pastor Ingqvist:  Odds-n-ends:  Heading home...my feet hurt, lol. |
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Post by superwarp1 on Apr 19, 2024 18:35:12 GMT
One thing I will say though... it became obvious there IS indeed a young contingent of our hobby moving along at a more brisk pace and with a swagger we all had years — dare I say decades — ago when attending what is still arguably the largest O-Gauge train show around. York continues to definitely weather lots of changes, but it’s still an amazing show to attend. Good job, EDTCA!!!
Glad to hear. The future of the hobby is the youth.
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Post by rockymountaineer on Apr 19, 2024 18:42:23 GMT
By the way, speaking of member halls… an announcement was made at the start of Thursday’s show that photography is now allowed in all halls. However, for member halls, permission to photograph items on display must be granted by the table-holder(s). No restrictions in the dealer hall(s).
So the seas of change are finally catching up with the TCA’s old stodgy photography rules — albeit one step at a time.
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Post by runamuckchuck on Apr 19, 2024 20:37:07 GMT
Some of the dealers that I spoke with in the member and Orange halls were just so so about their Thursday results. All universally bemoaned the killer hours ahead for Friday 9-5/6:30.
Speaking of Joe Grzyboski, it was nice to meet his charming daughter and see her get knee deep in the business along with her brother who was enroute. A wonderful example of how a family business sustains itself with honesty and integrity.
I was at York Thursday and stayed over until about mid afternoon Friday. I noted a marked increase in the scurrying from one hall to another unlike Thursday. The parking lots also seemed to be more full than I recall on Thursday.
As is typical for me I did not find one thing that I was looking for, but more than enough that I determined on the fly was worth picking up in both O and standard gauge Tinplate by MTH, at reasonable prices for unused well kept items.
Isn't it interesting how something that you see online or in a print version of a catalog either knocks your socks off or leaves you cold, however when you see it you have the opposite reaction? So it was with me and the MTH Standard Gauge Mayflower Set. In print, holy cow, while in person yawn fest. Conversely I have never been smitten by the gender sets no matter what the gauge. However a member in the Blue Hall had one each of the girls and boys sets in O gauge tinplate in unused condition. An instant winner.
The only problem is that we have 6 grandchildren. Four more sets to go!
This is getting way too expensive!
Dealer wise I hung out from time to time with my friend Don of Star Hobbies here in Annapolis. He was doing the show solo so periodically I would spell him for the price of a soft pretzel with yellow mustard. Traindiesel do you have your ears on?
The surprise purchase was from Trainz, and most surprising of all from the RPB stash. I even got a certificate! A beautiful Southern Pacific O gauge tinplate passenger set with loco in stone mint condition.
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Post by runamuckchuck on Apr 19, 2024 21:26:13 GMT
By the way, speaking of member halls… an announcement was made at the start of Thursday’s show that photography is now allowed in all halls. However, for member halls, permission to photograph items on display must be granted by the table-holder(s). No restrictions in the dealer hall(s).
So the seas of change are finally catching up with the TCA’s old stodgy photography rules — albeit one step at a time. Oh another surprise, unlike the printed material for the meet, it was FedEx doing the shipping from York this time around not UPS.
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Post by dlagrua on Apr 20, 2024 0:15:11 GMT
All things change and the TCA, ED/York will change too. It sounds like most reports were positive and everyone had fun. . As for Trainworld, I can only guess that the cost of attendance became too much for them. Trainworld regularly came with a very large truck that may have been rented. They brought a large amount of trains and a staff of 3 or 4 that had to drive along as well. Staff needs lodging, food, refreshments and they obviously get a salary. The cost of fuel is a factor too and large trucks get low fuel mileage,
If you add it all up,coming from NYC, thousands would need to be sold just to break even let alone make a profit. I could be wrong but Trainworlds absence may have been a matter of economics.
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Post by gpritch on Apr 20, 2024 0:31:03 GMT
Overall a good show for sure. Walked my legs off as usual. Crowds were down, espcially on Thursday. Many missing vendors as well.
On a positive note, I got some great random parts I didn't expect to find AND . . . A Century Club II ESE Streamline Hudson and the PT tender, all for a good price - the seller wanted to move it for sure. This will go nicely with the 20th Century Ltd set my wife bought me for Christmas. It's certainly a New York Central kind of year!
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Post by Traindiesel! on Apr 20, 2024 3:37:17 GMT
Dealer wise I hung out from time to time with my friend Don of Star Hobbies here in Annapolis. He was doing the show solo so periodically I would spell him for the price of a soft pretzel with yellow mustard. Traindiesel do you have your ears on?
Speaking of mustard, when I was talking with Dave (David1) at the Meet today he told me he asked several people about the correct condiment to go on an authentic Philly cheesesteak and the overwhelming consensus, much to his chagrin, was ketchup! Others around us were in agreement. I don’t know if he’ll ever learn though. Especially when I know his Mother raised him right!
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Post by Traindiesel! on Apr 20, 2024 4:17:11 GMT
I am bewildered every six months when the York Meet attendance is discussed. I considered bringing an iron umbrella in case the sky began to fall.
Ever since I first joined an internet train forum back in the Year of Our Lord 2000, the discussion about every York Meet was the declining attendance of the York Meet. People were jumping off bridges when attendance went down from nearly 15,000 down to 14,000. Twice a year without fail guys were measuring the width of an aisle and saying how the hobby is dying or already dead because the aisle was 3 inches wider so vendors are not attending. Some pundits declared that the York Meet would be gone by 2010. Like the Doomsday Club saying the Rapture was coming in 1999 or so.
As discussed at our Friday Night Dinner Gathering at Olive Garden, the thing to consider is back then TCA membership was hovering around 30,000 members. The TCA Headquarter News publication pictured a thermometer of the rising membership until it started shrinking. So at the height of the TCA membership York Meet attendance was around 14-15,000 attendees, more than 50% of the membership showed up.
Today TCA membership sits around 14,000. When 7-8,000 members attend that is still around 50% of the membership showing up to the Meet. So the problem isn’t low attendance, membership needs to be increased and the York attendance numbers will follow. Being open to the public isn’t much of a solution because the Meet isn’t held in a major population center. The nearest large population centers, Baltimore/DC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York City are 1 to 4 hours away along with being open Thursday through Saturday. There are local train shows in those areas occasionally so ‘the public’ isn’t going to travel to York for a train show. In the York, Pa. Area most all model train enthusiasts are already going to the Meet. Having the Meet in those larger population centers presents their own issues, union labor rules and costs, heavy road traffic, much more expensive venues especially for four or five days in a row. All problems that are minimized in South Central Pennsylvania. So the real dilemma is growing the membership and granting access to ‘the public’ without required membership kills any chance of growth since York Meet attendance is the major attraction of becoming a member. Sure, the Allentown, Pa. Train Meet is a big draw in a small city because it’s held on Saturday and Sunday. The TCA Eastern Division should somehow schedule the York Meet in the same manner.
What was it that Yogi Berra said? “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded”.
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Post by bluelinec4 on Apr 20, 2024 12:34:11 GMT
"Anyone know why Trainworld wasn’t there? They’re having a “10% sale” at Trainworld.com. But it felt strange not seeing them in their usual corner spot in the Orange Hall. Were they somewhere else that I didn’t see? Even with a few tables containing small odds-and-ends stuff scattered around the perimeter, that corner looked vacant and cavernous without Trainworld's O-Gauge trains."
Kenny Juniors wife is having a baby at any minute He was read the riot act if he went and they didnt have enough to cover the booth So all the conspiracy theories about the sky falling are wrong
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That is all, I now return you to your regularly schedule programming.
