I don't have the deep depth of others,since October was my first York. I was surprised that the April one seemed smaller than October, I thought with Covid receding and the like it would have been a bit larger. On the other hand, things are still in flux, the cost of gas is still high and people are still trying to figure out what the new normal is.
Did I think York sucked? Nope,not at all. The thing for me is it is still a wonderful experience and gives me a chance to enjoy trains and talk to other people, too. The experience of York for me is not just looking for that killer item (since I am really not like that, I buy things I like and I also tend not to spend all that much on the hobby..though this one was a new record). My purchases were modest, found a standard gauge caboose to keep the standard gauge engine I bought in October company, I found one the NYC ugly duckling (to me) S2 electrics, a TMCC model, at a decent price, found a couple of Chessie box cars (my wife loves the cat logo, thinks whoever changed it to CSX should be forced to eat Italian food only at the Olive Garden), and found some ross sectional track at a good price.
I can understand people being disappointed, being smaller it was prob less likely to find that rare gem they were looking for. I felt the prices I saw in the Orange hall were high, but I also saw the same stuff in one of the other halls at a really good price (my pet peeve with train shows? A)not having a price on the item, that is cheesy and wastes time and b)having a price you know is high hoping to find a sucker...price it a bit above what you consider fair value, you will get a lot more takers, guaranteed). I was sorry Lionel wasn't there and other makers, too. I hope by October the world is in better shape and people feel more comfortable with coming..
Yet...I still had a good time, especially with people. I got to see all kinds of trains, got to see old toy trains, foreign trains, saw a beautiful live steam engine in number 1 gauge (somehow, I don't think my wife would appreciate me spending 7800 bucks on it, at least not while we still have a mortgage to finish off!), and was just immersed, call it "train bathing" . I have been having a couple of crappy months, things at work, being under the weather with allergies, and just in general not great..and went there and actually felt much better. Maybe because these trains are not serious business, they are something we do for fun (well, I hope so, some of the ardent collector types I saw seemed to be a bit too much intense to be having fun, but who knows?). Yes, it was lighter attendence, which I am sure the dealers and people selling weren't happy about, can't blame them, but it made it a lot more relaxing, too, easier to get around or to be able to get out of the way of the (few) mad scooter drivers. Hopefully it will help drive off the funk and get me going forward with my layout that has been neglected by other things, it was just nice to do something out of the ordinary and have fun (as I did in October).
If I can make October I will go. My cost is a tank of gas, and a hotel room and food, and given that I am fortunate to have a well paying job, I don't have other hobbies or interests to compete with this really, the benefit I get from it is def a lot more than I put into it...btw not knocking others, I might have felt different if I had to fly to it, get a rental car, or drive long distance, I might feel differently.
Do I recommend it? Yep, I do, it is very unique. I can hope that in the future that it will return a bit to what people are saying, would love to see more layouts there for example, but the experience of being immersed in trains with other people (well, most of them, there are always less than nice people), being able to see everything, and just have a good time, makes it unique, it is different than other trains shows I go to. Among other things, people from all over..and on the drive home, got to see someone playing their field with a team of 6 oxen, that alone was worth something