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Post by ptc on Oct 22, 2019 20:17:24 GMT
I remember my first York Meet many years ago. I was awestruck with all of the vendors and so many choices. I went looking for a 36" turntable (for the Big Boy) and a roundhouse. Found both. I will never forget that experience.
I know at least on of our OGF members had the first meet experience last week. If this was not your first York Meet, please share the experience you had when you did have your first Meet. |
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Post by laz57 on Oct 22, 2019 20:46:56 GMT
My 32nd meet. 16 spring 16 fall. My first meet was a Saturday, did get all the halls but was very tired at the end of the day. I and my friends were awestruck buy the volume of trains that we saw. Lots of great people and got very good deals that day. Since then EDTCA got me hook, line and sinker!!!!!! Love going to YORK!!!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2019 12:38:24 GMT
OUR FIRST YORK. Train Meet? Train Show? More like a Train Buffet!! I'll start with the drive down. Rain all the way,(470 miles),not a problem for me, but NY and PA drivers seemed very confused by it. Spoke to some locals about this and we were told that in PA it usually takes 2 minutes or more per mile to travel in PA. Took us over 8 hours to reach our hotel. Probably should have went to York Wednesday instead of Thursday. Arrived at the Olive Garden for the OGF Dinner and met Emile and Jennifer. Soon afterwards other members arrived. George and Pam,Bill Webb and Rich,Denny and Mike and others arrived. A very warm welcome from everyone. Thank you all! More like old home week instead of meeting people for the first time. Great food and great conversation. Lots of laughs. Got to speak with Harry H at the end of the meal. He told me he was looking for me all day Thursday. I said I was easy to find...on I-81 all day!! He had a very humorous reply that was whispered. LOL.
Arrived at the Orange hall at 9:00 am Friday morning and set out on the adventure. Brian,(PTC),had given me some marching orders. Dutifully fulfilled. More on those later. Then it was time to meet the vendors that we buy from. Some for the first time. Al and Libby Rudman,(SideTrack Hobbies), wonderful people. Discounted my purchases even more, thanks Al. Clyde and Diane from Stockyard Express who delivered the two SF REA MTH plated cars. Thanks Clyde. On over to Nicholas Smith to see my brother from another mother, Joey Morretto. While chatting with Chris Gans,(owner of N S Trains), and his wife Doris I look down and there is the VL NYC Niagara in the fantasy grey color scheme that I have been pining for. Needless to say it is now in our collection. Absolutely gorgeous loco!! Then it was off to Gryzboski's Trains to meet Joe jr. Really nice lad. Like Nic Smith his booth was very busy. He also brought us some goodies as well. Then it was off to explore the rest of the Orange Hall.
Very nice to see and talk to people from the websites that I like to surf. Time flies when you are at a show like this. An awful lot to take in for one day. Saw and watched the new Rotary Coal Tipple from Millhouse River Studio. Al is a super guy. His staff as well. Looked at the 34" turntable and their transfer table. Both will be bought in the future. On to Dennis Brennan,s booth. Great chat with him and his wife. Bought hi book. Hung out with Dorcie,(TW TRAINWORX) for a while. Great models and conversation. Will be sending or delivering passenger cars to jack Pierce to have the interiors done by him. Incredible workmanship! Got to see 3RD RAIL products up close. Stunning! In the future....hmm. Spoke with Mike Wolf an staff for a bit. Looked at the UP #80 Coal Turbine. Didn't grab it. Cheryl did not like the look of the trucks. Thinking about it now, an easy fix. May still go for it. Swung by Harry Hieke's booth. Spent a good amount of time their talking to him and his wife Vicki. Wonderful Lady with a great sense of humor. Harry dragged me through the Orange Hall at breakneck speed to show me a few things. Note to self, buy a Segway to keep up with him!!! Whether we are able to go with Penn Station or Cambden Station Harry will be getting some business from us.
Would we go again? YES. Overall a great experience. Fantastic to see all of the products in one place. Met and talked with so many great people at the show especially at the concession stand tables. Missed a few people but we will rectify this the next time around. As for York going to two days in the future it is difficult for me to comment on this as this was our first event. As for the attendance at the show I really didn't notice. Too many trains to see. Looking forward,we will probably attend as a guests to gain full access. Thursday,Friday. Friday,Saturday. Either or would be fine with us.
Our yellow OGF badge holders really stood out. A lot of people were asking about them. We took the time to explain to each and every one of them about our forum. Positive responses from all. Although at two booths we did get some strern looks. HA,HA
Gary and Cheryl.
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Post by ptc on Oct 23, 2019 13:28:12 GMT
Thanks for an excellent report about your first York Meet Experience, Gary. You picked a good one for the start of many more to come.
Wait till the Spring, 2020 York Meet, you will see many more yellow OGF badge holders. |
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Post by jdstucks57 on Oct 23, 2019 13:58:44 GMT
This was my first York meet. I had heard so many great things about it and have dreamed about going since I was a little kid. I finally decided that 2019 was the year to make it happen.
I drove in Wednesday afternoon from Hamilton, ONT after being there for work. It rained the entire way but my GPS kept me out of any major traffic jams. I stayed at the Hampton Inn in York which was a fairly nice hotel. About 20 min from the York fairgrounds.
Went to register first thing Thursday morning. No problems. Drove around the fairgrounds a bit to familiarize myself with the hall locations. Left to grab some coffee and answer some work emails. Came back around 11:30am to wait in the parking lot.
Before the doors even opened I was approached by an enthusiastic Roger Carp from Classic Toy Trains Magazine. Roger has been working on a feature of my layout the past few months and this was the first time we met in person. Super nice guy. I went to the CTT booth and we chatted a while and took a picture together. I also picked up a few of their recent magazines and had Roger sign a copy.
Then that overwhelming feeling hit. I walked straight to the back of Orange Hall to say hello to my friends at Stockyard Express. I had tunnel vision walking down the isles. Trying so hard not to stop at every single booth on my way towards the back. My heart was racing. It was like Christmas morning. Now I understood why people come back again and again.
After saying hello to my favorite hobby shop (Stockyard Express) I went over to the MTH booth the meet Mike Wolf for the first time. Brief conversation. He of course asked if I had the wifi app. And I thanked him for all he's done for the hobby.
I went through Orange Hall fairly quickly. Looking for my bucket list items first. Picked up 3 Lionel auto racks and a MTH SD70ACE from Mr. Muffins trains. I chatted with Atlas and Lionel about upcoming releases and admired the Altoona model works display. Went over to Purple Hall and went through those booths fairly quickly. I must admit, I flew through the rest of the halls. Not that they didn't have desirable sales, I'm just not in the market for older used trains. There was one guy selling a 611 with the AUX water tender that had my interest. I asked if he would sell the AUX tender separately but he was very adamant about selling it as one set. "No problem. Good Luck with the sale" was my reply. But then he wouldn't let me leave. Just went on and on about all the offers he had already received that morning. "Great. I'm sure you'll sell it soon". But the guy just kept talking and talking. Rather condescending towards me which was really annoying. I may be on the young side but I'm no dummy. Spent the rest of the day back at the Orange Hall. Taking my time to see everything this time. Met dozens of people from the forums and YouTube.
The OGF dinner Thursday night was an absolute blast. And to think I almost forgot about going! Thank God I remembered. Such a welcoming and kind group of people. There wasn't a boring moment the whole night. Great new friends that I hope to see again soon.
Friday arrived first thing when the doors opened. Again, spent more of the day in Orange Hall. The highlight of day two was meeting Rich Battista who produced and published the Black Diamond Railway DVD series. Rich's work has been the single greatest source of inspiration for me in the hobby. I wouldn't have my current layout if it weren't for his guidance. We chatted for a good hour and got a photo together. Super nice guy.
I would say York fully met my expectations and lived up to the hype. However, the distance to drive from Detroit, MI means I'll probably only attend once every year or two. I know people are sad about it going from 3 days to 2 days but that will only make it easier for me to take time off work to attend. Nonetheless, I left York inspired to get my basement finished and to start on my new layout.
- Jason
  
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Post by ptc on Oct 23, 2019 17:34:04 GMT
Terrific that you enjoyed your forst York Meet, JD.
Roger Carp is a class act. One of the best in teh nodel railroading publishing business. I have known Roger for many years. He was at our home a year ago last Auguust doing the feature article for CTT. |
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Post by Traindiesel! on Oct 24, 2019 4:34:11 GMT
My first York Meet, October 1981. Up to that point, I had only attended a couple of Greenburg’s shows. I learned of them through my cousin who also introduced me to the TCA. He brought me to the Meet as a guest. At the time my son was just a couple months old so there was little money to spend. Also at that time my train collection consisted of five post war sets, some Super O and O27 track, a ZW and a few Plasticville houses.
I went with my cousin and uncle. These were the days when the first day of the Meet was Friday at 8am. So leaving from Philadelphia, we left for York at 3:30am. They knew how to do it right. My uncle made an incredible buffet of food. Sandwiches, salads, condiments, snacks and drinks and all the fixings you could think of. The food filled the trunk of the car!! We would tailgate at a PA Turnpike rest stop, it was 30 degrees at 6am when we stopped but I didn’t even notice the cold. The excitement of tailgating with family in the cold dark morning on the way to see trains had my blood pumping!
I was floored at how immense the Meet was! Not to mention the incredible amount of product there!! My first purchase was a big box of used Super O track and switches for $20. Then in the Yellow Hall I discovered Williams Electric Trains. They had a beautiful four car Amtrak Metroliner set for $125. The lead engine didn’t even have an E unit installed, but I had to have it!! So I purchased the set from a young kid working the Williams booth named Mike Wolf.
And when we left at the end of the day, I experienced my first bout with PYTS syndrome. (Post York Traumatic Stress). When I got home I just had to join the TCA. In those days you needed two member signatures to join. My cousin and Chris Gans of Nicholas Smith Trains signed for me. I wanted to make sure I got my application in as soon as possible so I could go to the April Meet. Everything back then was slow but luckily the TCA president at the time lived in my neighborhood in Philadelphia. I took my application to his door and handed it to his wife. I wasn’t sure if he got it and I was worried I wouldn’t get my membership approved in time. Then a couple weeks later my membership card arrived!! I was IN!! All those trains are gonna Get.... These.... Hands!!
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Post by dennym57 on Oct 24, 2019 7:50:09 GMT
My First York was 2015 (I think). I was about a year and a half out the hospital ( My point of reference). I was a guest, I joined the TCA not long after. I was standing in the Orange and a fellow walk up and ask, "Are you overwhelmed?" . I said,"That's like telling someone standing in front of a tidal wave they might feel a little moisture". I guessing he noticed the look of shock on my face in seeing all the Lionel boxes are far as the eye can see and I wasn't prepared for all the walking to and in the halls either.
I remember meeting the guys at Charles Ro. There were a couple of them that remembered me when i came back the next year.
I actually didn't do too bad. I wasn't running Legacy or TMCC engines at that time. The only thing I remember buying was my Williams U33C loco that I later installed ERR into it. I still have it.
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Post by Country Joe on Oct 24, 2019 18:09:03 GMT
When I was a young fella in the '70s I didn't know diddly about the TCA. I didn't know any members and you couldn't join unless members sponsored you. I went to local train shows and they were pretty good. In the '80s I discovered Greenburg train shows and they were a cut above others. In the '90s I got into G and after the turn of the century we moved and I only had room for N. In 2014 I got back into O and joined the TCA for the first time in 2015. April 2016 was the first time I attended the big meet. I had been attending the Amherst show for years and it's a very big show but York blew it away. I remember buying a track cleaning car and the New York Central Aerotrain there, as well as some other stuff that I can't recall right now. April this year was my second York and I'm not sure when the next will be. It's a long drive from Florida but who knows what the future holds.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2019 2:11:30 GMT
It's great to read about everyone's reactions to their first trip to York and I hope you can go back many more times. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I'm pretty sure I was the youngest of any of us the first time I went to York. From the time I was very young, I remember my Dad would disappear and I would ask my mother where he went, and she would just say, "Dad and Uncle Fred are at the York train meet." At the time I didn't know what "York" was. All I knew was that every time he came back from York, he came back with more trains, so it had to be a great place. Finally, in April 1979, at 10 years old, I got to go to York for the first time. For me, as a 10-year old boy, it was the trifecta: a day out of school, time with Dad, and toy trains. It just didn't get any better than that, and I went to York every time right up through high school. At that time, the meet was only 4 halls (Red, White, Blue and Yellow) but it was still massive, and I'll never forget those days. Those 2 weekends a year were very special times for me as a kid, and I remember my Dad totally enjoying being there at his table (always in the Blue Hall) and visiting with his friends, most of whom are gone now. Looking back, I think a big reason why he loved those trips so much was it was the only place he could go and be guaranteed time away from my mother  , but I digress...…………. Even now, 40 years later, it's still a thrill to go back--and, thanks to forums like this one, it's a great chance to see the friends I've made here. John |
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, but I digress...………….