Does Labor Day begin the 'train season'?

Nah.

Fall York meet is it for me.

To me, summer doesn't end until fall really begins in about 3 weeks.  That's just me.  I never liked saying "summer" is from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

"Train Season", on the other hand, lasts from January 1 through December 31.  A layout around the tree may get put down and taken up but the stuff stays out year round and I will sometimes run my Polar Express in the "summer".  I do other things besides trains but I see no reason that they need to be a seasonal activity.  After all...  I don't have an outdoor railroad (yet)! 

Yes this is the time we are going into stay in the house more and we are looking for something to do and that will be trains because of the seasons coming up.  It's time to get the trains repaired from the last time we ran them and put it off because of the outdoor days of summer.

Good time to run our trains, I get to do this all year long because my layout is up all the time.  Have a great time this season.

Phillip

Somewhat for me, but I will be in full mode like Marty E said around York time.

Thanks, Alex

Labor day is it, I'm expecting snow on Tuesday....lol..I hate losing summer, it seems so short. But there seems to be some hint of toy train talk beginning. Our club will have it's first fall meeting on the 15th so I guess it has begun.

Train season for me is all year long although yesterday it was 95 degrees here in the North east, god I hate summer. Too hot for me. Now the fall and winter  coming is my kind of weather, let it snow, let it snow and let it snow. 55-60 degrees would be perfect for me, anything higher turn on the AC. So Walter, as to your question, yes it's train season.  

Not til NOV when the yard work is finally done.

NO...it is the start of the swimming pool closing season which last into november..

Every day of the year is train season for me, of course, but I really get in the mood for what I regard as the traditional toy train season around mid-October or so, and through the end of the year.  The trigger for me is the York Meet, if I attend, or right after Halloween if I don't make it to York.

But since I just put the finishing touches on our December issue prior to sending it to the design team this coming Tuesday, I guess it's fair to say that, for me, the link between toy trains and Christmas is already in full swing.  It's now just a matter of waiting for my preordered and long delayed Christmas "presents" to arrive. 

Train season for me is 365 days a year!!! It just takes on different dimensions from day to day.

Sunday to Sunday, every day, 24/7 (ya gotta sleep and dream about trains sometime) is train season.  Of course, there are the occasional non-conformists who don't think like me, but it takes all kinds....

Have a blessed day!

They're just weird...  

Just one of the few (very few) advantages of living in California.

Labor Day is just about the end of train season for me. I'm back in school and don't run my trains as much (only about 1-3 times a month, more on school breaks) not to mention our excursion railroad goes back to weekend only operation through September with select night excursions (Halloween Train) in October. After that, all is quiet until Spring. 

kinda think that the train bug hits certain people after labor day..sometime in the fall and def around christmas time the prices on ebay goes up lol for me from now till december i start planning the holiday layout...while I play with my street machines in the garage lol

Someone should ask the professional concerning seasons:  Daffy Duck!

(Sir, you have permission to fire!)

Not until the end of October, when all of our car shows are done.

I used to shift hobbies with the seasons. RC Airplanes, RC cars, driving my 1993 Mazda FD Rotary Rx7, skiing, boating, fishing, camping, para foil kites, fixing my Rx7, cutting the grass...the list goes on. This has changed in last few years, somehow the trains have taken over for all seasons. I still do the other things but very limited. It's trains 24-7-365 for me. Most of my other hobbies definetly were affected by weather conditions. I have found it seldom snows or rains in my basement. 

I don't know about summer being over (I hope not) but around here train season is kicking into gear-the shows and swap meets are starting up.  In fact, there are meets, like the Boeing meet, that are prior to York!  What to do, what to do?

Due to school, my train seasons are backwards. Don't get to do much of anything in the winter except for the short Christmas break.

I understand what you mean by "train season," but it doesn't apply to me.  I run the trains all year.

When I was a kid, though, it started when the new Lionel and Sears Christmas catalogs came out (when was that, about October?).  I really went into full train mode at that point!

Being retired train season is whenever the urge hits me.

Yes and know for me.  I actually started my layout this summer and did all the bench work and laid some track.  I have been running trains on it all summer and now that I see some issues with my trackplan "switches out of reach" I plan to do some major revisions this fall.

I do plan to work on the layout much more this winter, and plan a major rework of my track as soon as I get my new switches from ross in.  

RABBIT SEASON !!!!

I don't subscribe to trains having a season.  Model Railroading isn't a scheduled activity to me.  I enjoy working on the layout in the summer as the Train Room is the coolest room in the house.  But I always make time for beach time. 

Just like my other interests, I do them all year round.  If I need beach time during cold weather we go to the Caribbean.  If I want to see snow, I......  well, never mind, who wants to see snow anyway!! 

I find the York meets, being a club member and this forum fuel my interest 365 days a year for me.

For those that stated "Fall York meet is it for me"  Does that mean the April York meet signals the end of the train season???

I fool with trains year round.

In my area, train show season used to start up in late September, but that particular show is no more.

NETCA has a show on September 9th.
I think the first show within approximately an hour drive is in October. I don't know whether I will bother.

Our first truly local show is in November.

Then there's York

My season is normally all year but this go-round health issues have slowed me during the June-July-August period. I did get to attend a TCA Train show in Raleigh, but that is about the extent of it. My two layout corner projects are static for now---Lumber Yard/Sawmill in one corner and Cotton Mill in the other utilizing many Kober and Ameritown structures and fronts fabricated by Joe Fauty of Model Structures.

Back to work soon.

Works for me!  Don't do much trains during the summer months, except chase and photo some real ones, also go for tourist/museum rides.  Labor Day weekend is still summer, and in fact, Saturday was one of the hottest days of the year, so I ducked downstairs and did some needed repair work on the trains.

So, I guess, Walter is right:  Labor Day does start the train season.

Paul Fischer

Train season is whenever I want it to be, which I never know when that's gonna be.

Pete

Good point, I'm curious if anyone else would agree with this. Last April's York was my first and only trip thus far, and I remember the crowd being relatively laid back.

I myself agree that the October York is a sort of unofficial start to the "train season", aka holiday season since trains and Christmas are synonymous. From what I've heard, there's more of a "buzz" in the air at these meets. October is usually when the Christmas countdown mentality really kicks in so it makes sense.

Train season has pretty much been a year-round thing for me. I may not touch my trains everyday, but they get used or worked on quite often.

This year we are lucky.  "Train Season" is 366 days long.

Tweety Bird would say:

Twain Season, bad old Putty Cat.  (Followed by a hit from Granny's unbrella!)

For Wily E., he can get train suff all year from Acme!

And fall is for Duck Season.

It's always train season here. 

Yea, I can feel the change in the air. Today 82 degrees, tomorrow 82, Wed. 82, Thurs. 82, Friday 82, Sat. guess what. The palm trees are turning yellow, I'm going to make a fire tonight. No wait, we don't have a fireplace. Well anyway, it's going to be interesting this winter. The only thing I think I won't get into is football. It needs to be cold to watch football. Don

I can tell that you are already bored and want to move back to the parent land. Somehow the views never looked that good from the deck of a Destroyer[before they dyed the water and painted the sky].

I am with CW on this one. It is a year-round season!

 Well Labor Day is actually a day off from the railroad....but only the real railroad

 Really I try to start working on or run my trains everyday I can.Because I don't have the time it takes to devote to the hobby right now the way I wished I could.So I'd say no,it's just another day in the hobby for me.

every day is train season, especially this hot summer we had.  Labor Day marks the start of fire wood chopping until Thanksgiving.  at my house no firewood = no heat. In do split wood one year in advance but splitting wood sucks in the Summer heat!!