The Changing Face of the TCA York Meet

Emile, what you’re describing is what I’ve often referred to as York’s “trade show” atmosphere disappearing in recent years — COVID notwithstanding.

I’ve always viewed York on a spectrum with two ends:  [1] pure toy train industry trade show and [2] pure toy train swap meet.

Aside from York’s roots as a “swap meet”, it’s mostly been a blend of those two ends of the spectrum over the years.  And now I see very little — if any — of the industry trade show element.  And that’s sad to see happen (IMHO).  

The energy level and excitement of so many toy trains in one venue is still there, but it’s very different now… AND that excitement is largely being generated by a new set of attendees, while those of us seasoned veterans can’t help but make comparisons to a bygone era that we arguably viewed as York’s “good ole days”.  
Generally speaking… perception is everything. 😉

Well, i was at York on Friday but just for the day due to circumstances beyond my control. In my opinion the fairgrounds were empty. Arriving at a little after 9 AM I could pretty much have any parking space I wanted. My friend and I started at the Red and White Halls then Blue and Silver and finally the Orange. We were on our way home by 2:00 PM. My friend picked up a Nabisco set in the Blue Hall for $235.00 and I picked up one of the wildwood Boardwalk Tram cars and some people to put in it for $22.00.

That was the extent of our purchases although I would have like to spend more but the items I was looking for were just not there.

I too have been going to York for many years starting in 1995 and can attest first hand all the changes.

Some Thoughts:

Perhaps one reason that the manufacturers no longer attend comes down simply to cost. When the ED extended the hours on all days including Saturday it did cause a lot of additional expense and many of the dealers were not too happy. It was explained that by opening up the meet to the public on Friday and Saturday it would increase the vendors opportunity to sell merchandise. While this was much ballyhooed there never were any figures released by the ED to justify the change.

Years ago I had the opportunity to speak with Dick Maddox, then President of Lionel, and it was his opinion that the TCA meet will never attract the general public because of it’s location, York PA. In sharp contrast, I attended the LCCA show years ago when it was held in the Baltimore Convention Center. It open to the general public and it was packed. I also worked a TMCC Demo booth at the Worlds Greatest Hobby Show held in Oaks PA. It was so well attended the traffic was backed up for miles with people trying to get to the show. They even shut down an exit off a major highway due to the volume of cars.

So, there are many reasons why the TCA meet in York is not the same and never will be. I will be going in October for Friday and Saturday, I already have my badge. I’m hoping to get a badge at the meet for April 2024 but since my TCA membership expires in August 2022 I’m not sure I’ll be able to get one. In that case I’ll just pay my $10.00 and just go to the Orange Hall and out to dinner with my friends.

For all practical purposes York remains mostly a members only show in a a very small city. IMO, the location, admission restrictions and demographics of the attendees will all continue to affect the attendance and meet size. For the foreseeable future it will remain the largest O gauge show around but it will continue to feel the pressures of a changing hobby. Have the attendance figures been released by the ED yet?

Ok, here we go…. Sudden Thoughts and Second Thoughts…

I don’t see all the angst being mentioned. I thought the Meet was fantastic. There were tons of O gauge products and some of the vendors I talked to said the attendance was lower than in the past but the ones who were there were buying. There were even some new vendors there and more young people and kids than I’ve seen before at the Meet. Even on Saturday. 

But just like how video killed the radio star, the internet is crippling all train shows. And Covid shutdowns magnified this. 

A few large train dealers that I’ve patronized for years have told me they were never as busy as they were during Covid lockdowns. The result? People realized they can buy trains at home wearing their underwear and not have to go to a show or belong to an organization. Dealers realized they could just take all these orders for trains and not have to pack and lug half their store to attend a show to get sales. 

However this may be slowly changing. At Nicholas Smith’s store today the staff commented to me how dead the store has been. This is a major player that’s been around for decades. They will now be returning to York in October. Not as big as before but it’s a start. 

Other factors include inflation and higher costs of O gauge trains. Costs of our trains has gone up because of demand during the pandemic. Also, the importers produce less overall keeping prices high. Lionel put out a large catalog but the production is smaller and pricier. MTH is figuring out what they are going to do and Atlas O and Williams are practically invisible. 3Rd Rail makes some beautiful trains but they have low production runs at premium prices and are crippled by the limitations of only offering TMCC. TMCC is fine, but the locomotives are priced to heaven because of the low runs and prototypical accoutrements but most people prefer Legacy or DCS control. 

All this contributes to buyers putting on the breaks on purchases and memberships and dealers and importers not seeing enough eyeballs on their products. 

Public shows may draw more attendees but not as many buyers. Maybe down the road they will but how long are dealers and importers willing to wait?  The York Meet being part of the TCA is perfectly content with operating as they originally intended.

The dealers and importers joined to cash in on the crowds. Once it didn’t serve its agenda some of them pulled out and the TCA will happily be a group of members buying, selling and trading trains with each other. 

The York Meet isn’t even held in an Easter Division area. But the York Fairgrounds are the largest venue in the area, close to Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, Pittsburgh and New York/New Jersey. I don’t subscribe to the view that the area can’t draw people like a larger city could. Philadelphia is in the TCA Atlantic Division and their local TCA meets are small, usually like 9am to 2pm. Why don’t they draw better? Why don’t the New York, Boston, Los Angeles, etc. areas have huge train meets?

It’s because the TCA Eastern Division volunteers are awesome, amazing and dedicated to putting on a fabulous Meet at York. The leadership may be difficult but the membership of volunteers do a bang up job. 

Suggestions, not personal agendas, are always welcome but whether we like it or don’t like it, we need to learn to love it. If it wasn’t great and cool and so much fun I wouldn’t travel over 2700 miles to go there! But then I’m not normal people. We are all spoiled. 

That’s not an insult, THAT is a fact of life!

You said it Brian.

Trainman9 I just want to clarify something you said. You said Oaks was so busy they closed the exit. While this is true it was not because of the train show but a GUN show in the same complex. I have attended Greenberg train shows and trust me they are not that packed that they need to close the exit on the highway.

TrainDiesel you are DEAD ON with your thoughts and what you wrote.

Northstar, As a computer tech you are more than correct about the computer shows. Where are they now? Computers are even a bigger part of everyday life now than they were then. BUT no shows exist that I know of.

As for location I agree Atlantic Divison does not draw huge crowds and they are in Phila. It isn't because they are not trying either. The Internet just makes it too easy. Brian put into words the best description any one could write. (Guess he isn't all that Loony after all)

As for me, Like I said earlier I am excited to see the younger ones and can't wait till October. Unfortunately I can not go more than one day in October. Not because of me but I bring my Nephew and his son (both TCA members) who is in eight grade and has the train bug more than ANYONE that I know regardless of their age! Going only one day it is nearly impossible to see everything unless you are running and not really looking (Sorry Trainman9 but that is a fact!)