CalStewart Meet Questions?

If you belong to TTOS or TCA, you can register at the door on Saturday.

This is the biggest show west of the rockies.

Saturday is pretty Dead from what a lot of TTOS/TCA Members in our club(s) Sunday is when people slash prices because Saturday was not that successful.

Most people wait til Sunday to get in at half price. Another one of those things that really makes you question why they don't change their practice. 

After the last Ontario meet, I wont be back. Saturday is an absolute waste for the sellers. 

The Cal Stewart Meet is in flux.  

After many very successful years in Pasadena, the Meet was moved to Ontario in 2012 due to Convention Center costs.  The downward change in attendance was immediate ... and the change in the "fun level" was also diminished.

The York Meet is also in attendance decline ... but there's so much momentum that that Meet continues to be valuable and fun.  For the time being.

This November's Cal Stewart move to Pomona - and the abandonment of almost all of the social aspects of the Meet (i.e., Friday night banquet, etc.) - will likely create additional attendance problems, IMO.

Many of us who remember the "old" CalStew are unhappy.  But times change.  And, so we old-timers must adapt.

I've missed one CalStew Meet since the sometime in the 1980s, and I have been to 24 York Meets so the comparisons are easy for me.

Asking the vendors to leave their tables and clear the hall 5 minutes before opening the doors to participate in the National Athem and opening ceremonies is unheard of. I've never been asked to do that at any other show. Guess what, 5 minutes after the doors opened, 2 vendors reported items missing from the table. 

I don't think moving to Pomona is going to make a difference. Lionel used to have a booth their but not in a long time. It's simply a swap meet with the same over priced stuff show after show.

To clear the Air...

The only reason why they are moving to Pomona is because the fees have gone up in Ontario like Pasadena. I would of loved to still be in Ontario but it is now a further drive from San Diego.

And what day will you be there Tim? I'm guessing Sunday because it's half price to get in right? 

Laidoffsick posted:

And what day will you be there Tim? I'm guessing Sunday because it's half price to get in right? 

YOUR SO RIGHT!!!

They might as well move the show to Nevada.  Prices in CA have already driven half the population there.  

Interesting questions and opinions here and while I have not been on the train show scene for a long time I do know there are challenges facing all of the train shows in Southern California. One is an aging demographic that has less disposable income and drastically escalating costs of living. Another annoying issue the lowering demand and therefore value decreases along with the same group that gets smaller buying and selling items they likely already have.  There are so many events that go on in Southern California that finding an affordable venue is almost impossible.

The playing of the National Anthem is certainly different and the reason for clearing the hall is due to all of the complaints from show attendees that they were not given a fair shot at buying their perceived dream deal. I have learned that being a smart buyer beats being first to everything most every time. Even the most argent collectors have a "one that got away story" so people just need to move on but they do not. I have a real tough time believing the stores of taken items from tables since I do work in Loss Prevention and I have spent time watching the hall and everyone in it. I am not saying these claims are not true, but I feel that it would be tough to pull this off. Of course having sellers not man their tables does also create an issue.

I also understand wanting to wait until Sunday for a cheaper admission price but then the sponsoring club loses out since the hall still must be paid for and without the people attending then sellers lose out also. Should the decline continue then the show will likely cease to exist. I would not want to see that happen since I cannot afford to go to York and with my wife's cancer back I likely may not ever be able to go so having a show out here is important.

I do hope there will be a full hall with lots of trains to buy and trade and lots of people having fun. Time will tell and I hope that people do support this show. I firmly believe that each show that goes away makes it harder to promote our hobby to everyone.

Thanks for all of the advice and information. Hopefully I can attend on Sunday if my travel/work schedule permits. I have only been to a few, small midwestern train shows so I am sure I will still be impressed with Cal Stewart since I really don't have much to compare it to.

I went to what I thought was Cal Stewart in Santa Clara two or three times as part of an "explore California, and warm up" winter vacation, when there was an O scale show next door , but think there were two including one down south that I did not get to?  Is this the southern one, and is there still one in Santa Clara? I decided with no O scale show it wasn't worth the trip (as if it ever was except for exploring Calf.)

The CalStewart Meet in SoCal is the larger one & is run by a division of TTOS.  The NorCal CalStewart, run by a division of TCA, at one time was an excellent meet and was often paired with OScale West in Santa Clara.  Great stuff!!  Rising costs have affected both CalStews and, as I said above, the SoCal meet is now in Pomona and the NorCal meet is now in San Ramon.

rthomps posted:

The CalStewart Meet in SoCal is the larger one & is run by a division of TTOS.  The NorCal CalStewart, run by a division of TCA, at one time was an excellent meet and was often paired with OScale West in Santa Clara.  Great stuff!!  Rising costs have affected both CalStews and, as I said above, the SoCal meet is now in Pomona and the NorCal meet is now in San Ramon.

I wish Southwestern was still a TTOS Division but sadly they are not. This show is a Southwestern show only, no TTOS involvement. There are a lot of TTOS members that do help and participate though.

Captaincog posted:

rthomps posted:

The CalStewart Meet in SoCal is the larger one & is run by a division of TTOS.  The NorCal CalStewart, run by a division of TCA, at one time was an excellent meet and was often paired with OScale West in Santa Clara.  Great stuff!!  Rising costs have affected both CalStews and, as I said above, the SoCal meet is now in Pomona and the NorCal meet is now in San Ramon.

I wish Southwestern was still a TTOS Division but sadly they are not. This show is a Southwestern show only, no TTOS involvement. There are a lot of TTOS members that do help and participate though.

That is so true.  I was just trying to avoid those complications in the explanation since they are not pertinent.