BIG E SHOW COMPARE TO YORK

Two different animals.

The Amherst Show is an ALL gauge show catering to everyone from a family out for an afternoon to the most serious scratch-building rivet counter.

The York meet is almost exclusively 3-rail O and is primarily a buy-sell event for serious hobbyists (TCA members and guests).

@Lad Nagurney posted:

Two different animals.

The Amherst Show is an ALL gauge show catering to everyone from a family out for an afternoon to the most serious scratch-building rivet counter.

The York meet is almost exclusively 3-rail O and is primarily a buy-sell event for serious hobbyists (TCA members and guests).

Don't forget all the railroad preservation groups, tourist, and societies that show up to educate and fundraise for their originations.

As for comparison you can't compare the two.  York is O gauge model trains and nothing else.  Amherst is everything trains from Z to G to 1:1  Sadly due to the virus of unknow origin, and the spike we saw this winter plus the snow, the Amherst show was a shell of it's former glory. Only 5900 attended when it's usually around 18,000.  Hoping for a more normal show in 2023

"York is Ogauge model trains and nothing else." I beg to differ. Although the majority is O gauge, there are sizable amounts of S and to a lesser extent standard and HO. The only shows with more S gauge are the various S only meets and they are usually heavy in the scale side. The times that I attended Amherst it seemed more like a manufacturers display with a sprinkling of postwar resale. If I were looking for a mix of postwar O/S and new trains, York is the choice.

@richabr posted:

"York is Ogauge model trains and nothing else." I beg to differ. Although the majority is O gauge, there are sizable amounts of S and to a lesser extent standard and HO. The only shows with more S gauge are the various S only meets and they are usually heavy in the scale side. The times that I attended Amherst it seemed more like a manufacturers display with a sprinkling of postwar resale. If I were looking for a mix of postwar O/S and new trains, York is the choice.

There was S at York and as you would expect with a TCA event, it was leaning heavily towards S tinplate (or whatever you call it). There was some of other scales, but it was very little, the overwhelming majority of York is 3 rail O. The Big E looks more like Greenberg shows on a much larger scale from what I can tell (I sadly wasn't able to make the Big E, the weather stopped me from going Saturday and Sunday something came up).

They are both great. I always go to both. The York Meet is run by the Eastern Division of the TCA and is a three-day meet (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) that is held twice a year in April and October. It is primarily 3-Rail O Gauge, although there is some S gauge and HO gauge as well. York Meets have dealer and member halls. The dealer halls are open to TCA members and the public, while the member halls are open to TCA members only. An October York Meet typically draws approximately 10,000 attendees, while an April Meet typically draws a somewhat lower number. Parking is free.

The Amherst Train Show is run by the Amherst Railway Society and is a two-day show (Saturday-Sunday) that is held once a year in late January. It covers all scales but it's mostly HO and N gauge. One of the cool things about the Amherst Train Show is the fact that it has numerous operating layouts. There are some operating layouts at the York Meets, but far more at the Amherst Show. Attendance at the Amherst Train Show is about 20,000 on a good year, so about double the attendance at a York Meet. There is a $5 daily parking charge.

Pat

York meets are in April and October.  The Spring and Fall weather is typically !

Amherst is always in January.  The New England Winter weather is... to .  And even more daunting...

As much as we'd like to go to the Amherst show, for us (eastern Michigan) it's about a 1350 mile round trip, 10-hour 'non-stop' drive each way ...in the best of weather.  Between lake-effect snows from Buffalo to Rochester and beyond, and Nor'easters from Albany eastward, January is a rather poopy drive eastward 'as the crow flies'.  And that's hoping that Canada would allow us crow-flying passage...or the US letting us back in!!

Why not fly, you say?...

I believe last weekend's flight cancellations totaled somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,500 due to Winter Storm Kenan.    Oh goody!....such fun.

Well, not the comparison you expected, but that's as far as this Michigan family has gotten.

Besides, for driving 1350 miles in January, I'd rather be heading due south...to our place in Floriduh!

The Big-E in Springfield show has 4 buildings of stuff along with big name vendors. This year was a slump with the snow but in the past it's fantastic! 4 buildings! I've never been to York but from the reading/discussions on it I've concluded York has buildings you (the public) can't even go in. How snotty is that! It previously wasn't open to the public except of one day? Is that true.  York is big but it's geared to the TCA members so I'm happy with The Amherst show in Massachusetts....then again, I'm in the Boston area!

There are several logical and well documented reasons on this forum and other forums that explain why many of the halls at York are members only.

@Mike23 posted:

The Big-E in Springfield show has 4 buildings of stuff along with big name vendors. This year was a slump with the snow but in the past it's fantastic! 4 buildings! I've never been to York but from the reading/discussions on it I've concluded York has buildings you (the public) can't even go in. How snotty is that! It previously wasn't open to the public except of one day? Is that true.  York is big but it's geared to the TCA members so I'm happy with The Amherst show in Massachusetts....then again, I'm in the Boston area!

At least you have a few hobby stores in the area, in Western Mass I have none.   

Back to York, Yes the dealer halls (two total) are open to the public on Friday and Saturday.  The member halls are for members only.  There has to be some perks for being a TCA member.

As mentioned previously, the York show is primarily O gauge with a wide selection appealing to collectors and operators.  If you're hunting for something in O and 3 rail, you go to York.    The Amhurst Show is all gauge.  You bring your kids, there are plenty of layouts for the young and old.  There is some O gauge, you never know what you will find.  One year I picked up a Lionel Grand Central Station, the full building model.  I like both shows but Covid has kept me away the last 2 years and I'm managing the withdrawal thanks to the internet.   Maybe I'll go to the October York if the virus is down.  Maybe the Allentown Spring Thaw.

Last Fall, 2021, York had a lack of large retail vendors. How was the Big E show with Large retail vendors this year?

The York show is in about 7 bldgs and is mostly O and S gauge.  However, I have noticed more and more HO the past few years.

But the show is held by a private club.  Really nice people, not snotty at all.  Of course you can always join the club.  And similar to AAA, or your local country club they do have dues and benefits for the members.  I think dues are $50 per year.  You get a couple of different publications every other month during the year.  And you have to pay a train show entrance fee of around $18-$23.

And worth every penny, even though I drive 1742 miles one way to get there.

@Mike23 posted:

The Big-E in Springfield show has 4 buildings of stuff along with big name vendors. This year was a slump with the snow but in the past it's fantastic! 4 buildings! I've never been to York but from the reading/discussions on it I've concluded York has buildings you (the public) can't even go in. How snotty is that! It previously wasn't open to the public except of one day? Is that true.  York is big but it's geared to the TCA members so I'm happy with The Amherst show in Massachusetts....then again, I'm in the Boston area!

Mike:

There is nothing unusual, must less unique, about restricting member halls at York Meets to TCA members. This is no different than any other organization or club that requires membership and annual dues restricting entry to its facilities and events to members. Membership in the TCA is $50 per year and a trial membership is $20.

Pat

York was basically designed from what I can tell as a swap meet for members, it goes back into time when TCA membership was somewhat controlled (wasn't quite the Freemasons *lol*), and the reason was given TCA was a collecting organization where members sold to each other through the TCA publications (and later website) and that they didn't want scammers joining to fleece people and then disappear (with the idea scammers wouldn't go through the process of joining). The member halls were designed to allow members to sell basically to each other as well, it is a benefit of joining, and there also were tax reasons. The dealer halls were commercial dealers and the manufacturers and the like, which have a different dynamic so the public was let in there.

In some ways it was a bit more snooty in the old days (as can be evidenced by those still not happy that joining TCA was made a lot easier), but the focus of York is still on TCA members, it isn't an open train show like the Big E or Greenberg or First Frost/Spring Thaw. Some have argued that EDTCA should open the entire show to the public (and there are ways to attend as a guest in all fairness, it isn't hard to go in as a non member from what I can tell) and there may come a time when it becomes an open show if TCA only doesn't work (not enough people likely). And as others pointed out it isn't exactly hard to join TCA, it isn't prohibitively expensive and has benefits outside York, being part of local groups, etc.

@gftiv posted:

Last Fall, 2021, York had a lack of large retail vendors. How was the Big E show with Large retail vendors this year?

They were pretty much non-existent this year. Covid was one reason but the main one was the snow. A number of dealers decided not to attend but there were more who signed up who cancelled at the last minute because of the snow. Grzyboski Trains and TrainWorld are two examples of the latter.

Pat

@irish rifle posted:

Mike:

There is nothing unusual, must less unique, about restricting member halls at York Meets to TCA members. This is no different than any other organization or club that requires membership and annual dues restricting entry to its facilities and events to members. Membership in the TCA is $50 per year and a trial membership is $20.

Pat

The only reason I joined the TCA back in 2000 was to be able to go to York. It’s still the only reason I belong.

I see now. York is put on by the TCA therefore geared to members.  I thought it was just a large train show.

@shorling posted:

    The Amhurst Show is all gauge. 

Amherst,  not Amhurst

Both shows enhance our love of trains in their own, unique way. The Big E covers New England and York the Middle Atlantic States. No complaints from me. Mark

My wife and I were all set to go to our first York meet before the COVID. Hopefully we'll make it there once the virus is under control. We live in Boston so it is 2 our Uber ride (we don't drive) each way to Amherst. We didn't do it this year because we were snowed in with over 2 feet of snow. October York is still a possibility if we can figure out the logistics, airplane, Amtrak, Uber, etc.

This is like comparing Apples to Oranges.