Skip to main content

Closed78 replies

Big E - Springfield MA Report

RailrunninRailrunninOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

 

Had a great day at the Big E. The weather was cold, blustery and damp with occasional light snow. But not bad for late January in central MA.

 

We got there before the doors opened. After purchasing our tickets we were ready when the doors opened.

 

MJ noticed a couple of things during the show:

 

First there were a tremendous amount of kids and families. Always good to see new blood to keep our hobby thriving. I got a good laugh when she also noticed some of the men could use a shower

 

Rich and Andy were at the MTH booth. Interesting that they had the S Gauge layout on display running trains and not the O Gauge layout that I have always seen in the past.

 

Atlas had their nice showing as well although I did not spend enough time in that booth for some reason.

 

The vendors looked like they were moving product. There was anything you needed for layout building and no less than 20 operating layouts throughout the four buildings - probably more. A very impressive 4 level G Gauge layout had me fascinated.

 

The abundance of layouts is one of my favorite things about this show. There were some modular layouts that had to be 60 feet long. I purchased only a couple of things: two bottles of Mega Steam (hot chocolate and coffee). I also bought something I never ever thought I'd purchase - I bought MJ a Boston Red Sox 2013 Championship boxcar. Thank you Bobby Salerno of RGS Trains. As a die hard Yankee fan I justified it by honoring the best rivalry in sports. Besides she doesn't know I have four or five Yankee cars to have it surrounded

 

A big thank you to Steve and RCS Custom Switches for letting us take over the front of his booth. I look forward to purchasing a few of the tinplate switches in the near future.

 

Of course the best part by far was getting together with friends, comparing purchases, telling stories, and sharing in our common bond.

 

Presented without further ado is evidence of our gathering. I present the usual suspects.

 

Paul

 

ps, sorry some got cut, I had to have someone else take the picture this year and while he did a good job his framing was off a bit. I'll bring back the tripod next year...

+

003

Attachments

Hide
Images (1)
  • 003
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

N NessmuckOGR Forum Member

Just got home too, talk about sensory over load !! It would be nice if they had O guage in one building, HO in another..etc...just a total cluster if you ask me.And too crowded to enjoy anything ..even over heard some of the vendors complaining about lack of isle space for people to see his stuff. Iam good now for another 20 years.

leavingtracksleavingtracksOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Fantastic report Paul!!  It looks like this show is a must....hopefully next year I will be there with OGR.  The darned weather in this part of the country ended up being fine as far as the 4 hour round trip to a local airport but it was not a sure thing.  In any case, the meet looks like it is the place to be at this time of the year for sure and we are going to work really hard to become a fixture there in the future...

 

Alan

mike.carusomike.carusoOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Just got home about 30 minutes ago…slow drive back because of bad weather-related conditions on 84 and 684.  I agree with Paul's observation…saw a lot of families and kids.  Although I've only been to the show once before it seemed busy to me, despite what I heard from a couple of vendors.

 

 

e1

 

 

Here's one thing, however, that I have never seen at a train show.  There were plenty of times when I wished I had something like that behind me to hold everything rather than juggling all those flimsy plastic bags.  But then again, if the other 4,999 people had the same thought, what kind of chaos would that be?

 

 

e2

 

 

No, this isn't a repainted Honda Fit.  This speeder was on display at the New England Rail Excursion exhibit.

 

 

e3

 

 

e4

 

 

Lunch at The White Hut was great!  (If you go, make sure you order yours with the grilled onions!)

 

 

e23

 

The rest are various sights that caught my eye during the course of the day.  It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed meeting a couple of Forumites in person for the first time, as well as saying hello to familiar faces.

 

 

 

e9

e8

 

 

Love these gigantic trains!!  

 

e7

e6

e5

e10

e17

 

e18

e20

 

 

A very impressive boring machine setup...

 

e14

e19

 

 

Amazing G scale layout, complete with engine shed!

 

e21

e15

e11

e22

e16

 

 

Probably the most incredible model I saw all day.

 

e12

 

 

- Mike

Attachments

Hide
Images (23)
  • e1
  • e2
  • e3
  • e4
  • e23
  • e9
  • e8
  • e7
  • e6
  • e5
  • e10
  • e17
  • e13
  • e18
  • e20
  • e14
  • e19
  • e21
  • e15
  • e11
  • e22
  • e16
  • e12
Last edited by mike.caruso
Frank MulliganFrank MulliganOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
Just crashing here at the Holiday Inn in Enfield, Ct.

I picked up some rock making molds and the stuff to make them. I was hoping to pick up one building kit but nothing tickled my fancy.

My daughter got a pin and some gifts for our freinds daughter.

The layouts were quite impressive.

We were done after about 2 1/2 hours. Afterwards we went to the basketball hall of fame and the Yankee Candle Village.

Overall, I definitely prefer York.  As someone who is primarily into tinplate I found the offerings few and far between.

I'm also noticing that most dealers (I'm talking scenery and building kits) offer no show discounts.  No incentive for me to spend the kind of money I did in gas, tolls, hotel, show tickets, and parking, at all.
CW C W BurfleOGR Forum Member



quote:
 Although I've only been to the show once before it seemed busy to me, despite what I heard from a couple of vendors.




 

I have been attending the Springfield show for many years. While the crowd was very respectable, the crowds did seem lighter to me than it has been in the last few years. The weather forecast many have contibuted somewhat.

 

IMHO, Springfield is a great show. Folks who didn't make it today, or want to go back for more will have another chance tomorrow.

TexSpecialTexSpecialOGR Forum Member
Originally Posted by Railrunnin:

 

Had a great day at the Big E. The weather was cold, blustery and damp with occasional light snow. But not bad for late January in central MA.

 

We got there before the doors opened. After purchasing our tickets we were ready when the doors opened.

 

MJ noticed a couple of things during the show:

 

First there were a tremendous amount of kids and families. Always good to see new blood to keep our hobby thriving. I got a good laugh when she also noticed some of the men could use a shower

 

Rich and Andy were at the MTH booth. Interesting that they had the S Gauge layout on display running trains and not the O Gauge layout that I have always seen in the past.

 

Atlas had their nice showing as well although I did not spend enough time in that booth for some reason.

 

The vendors looked like they were moving product. There was anything you needed for layout building and no less than 20 operating layouts throughout the four buildings - probably more. A very impressive 4 level G Gauge layout had me fascinated.

 

The abundance of layouts is one of my favorite things about this show. There were some modular layouts that had to be 60 feet long. I purchased only a couple of things: two bottles of Mega Steam (hot chocolate and coffee). I also bought something I never ever thought I'd purchase - I bought MJ a Boston Red Sox 2013 Championship boxcar. Thank you Bobby Salerno of RGS Trains. As a die hard Yankee fan I justified it by honoring the best rivalry in sports. Besides she doesn't know I have four or five Yankee cars to have it surrounded

 

A big thank you to Steve and RCS Custom Switches for letting us take over the front of his booth. I look forward to purchasing a few of the tinplate switches in the near future.

 

Of course the best part by far was getting together with friends, comparing purchases, telling stories, and sharing in our common bond.

 

Presented without further ado is evidence of our gathering. I present the usual suspects.

 

Paul

 

ps, sorry some got cut, I had to have someone else take the picture this year and while he did a good job his framing was off a bit. I'll bring back the tripod next year...

+

003

 

Thanks for posting forum member photo but outside of a couple in the group whom I recognize from forum icon, I am at a loss as to who they are.  Can you put forum nicknames with the people in the photo please?

 

It looks like a huge show.  I don't know if there is an annual show this big on the West Coast anymore.  Layouts and exhibits are awesome and plenty of venders also.  Thanks, everyone for posting photo's of the event.

 

Steve, Lady and Tex

Next
Views: 6,293
Post

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×

Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership

OGR Forum Supporting Membership

Help support this forum with an OGR Forum Supporting Membership.
You will be able to watch the videos in the INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO FORUM!
A one-year OGR Forum Supporting Membership is only $12 per year, so sign up now!


    OR     


Access the ALL the OGR VIDEO FORUMS AND  over 300 back issues of OGR
with a DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION!



$12.00 per 12 Months (plus tax if applicable)
×