Favorite York Meet Memories

I won't suggest I know the years really well, but here are a few examples: (in no particular order )

1) The year (late 90's) when Lionel and/or Neil Young brought the Layout that made trips all over the country with Neil's HORDE tour.  The layout itself was phenomenal, and they also brought a very large Diamond Vision display (think that's what it was called - a smaller version of what they have/had used at many sports stadiums), this was playing a cab-view video of some of the trains running around the layout.  You could see this from a decent ways away in the parking lot.  (those engines never made it to a cataloged product I don't think, but it was well received as a possible update to the late 80's black and white RailScope engines)

2) The early demonstrations of DCS back in the "tent" days (early 2000's, since it was first released in April 2002).  MTH still had their display inside in Yellow, but these demos were in a tent outside.  Watching it evolve from the very early implementation using a laptop to send commands before the remote was ready was nice to see (though at the time, it did seem like eternity from the time it was announced, so we were all chomping at the bit for them to finish )

3) While it never came to be offered as a product, the time Lionel had the "Yard Boss" ZW style transformers on display and demonstration mode out in the tent.

4) I forget the last year this was there (pretty sure it stopped before Orange Hall opened), but the "Big Mo" MTH layout in a trailer that Harry Turner used to bring to show outside the Yellow Hall.  This apparently had a history that it was a Lionel display earlier in it's life (I may have seen it at a Greenberg Show on Long Island in the mid to late 80's sometime).  At the time, this was before MTH had entered the accessory arena in a large fashion, so a few of the items (might have been radar towers or control towers) that normally had "Lionel" as part of the structure had been hand modified to put "MTH" in it's place so as to not directly advertise the competition.   Also, Harry selling the series of rolling stock painted to match the orange themed color of Big Mo.  Most cars were (I believe) local businesses from the general area where Harry was based. Sadly, Harry passed quite a few years ago now.  He was always very pleasant to chat with briefly while visiting and ordering the latest rolling stock piece.

5) The Lionel "Power Station" (or was it Power House?) display.  I know technically, this display was probably considered a flop (I think they only used it once for York, and it was also HUGE!), but it was still an impressive sight.  Part of the problem some people saw with it was that it basically shielded the product from passers by until you entered the area (it was essentially a big walled display, with noting but the exterior of this scaled up Power Station visible when you were outside the perimeter of the Lionel booth).

-Dave

BLTs at Bob Evans.  

"Favorite York memories"

Spring 1994, it was my first York experience, could not believe all of the trains, a very powerful first impression.

enjoy your toy trains...

And do you remember the Friday night auctions? and do you remember the Yellow hall?

And do you remember when the purple hall smelled of animals?

And do you remember the York Valley Inn on E. Market St?  There were only about 5 motels in York then.

And do you remember the Billy Budd?

And do you remember when they roasted a big on a skewer in front of the blue hall?

And do you remember when the Round the Clock Diner was a Howard Johnsons?

OK, if we are extending it to restaurants .

I recall one called Rip Tide, think it was mostly seafood based, if I recall.   Only went there once.  Now it's a heating and cooling business.

I recall a steak house called either West Shore or West Side on the corner of 30 and either Kenneth Road or Roosevelt, I think.  Think I ate there once or twice.

-Dave

Thanks guys! 

Dave, 

- missed the HORDE layout, didn't go to that meet, I heard it was something to see.

- I remember the DCS demos!  Yes, did seem like a long time between announcement to release, but those demos really built excitement. 

- I remember the "yard boss" ZW! It might have even been shown at the meet I saw Neil Young.  Wasn't Lionel pretty close to releasing it and then pulled back? 

- Big Mo was fun.  By the time I became a member and started to go to York, it was an MTH display.  Whatever happened to the trailer?

- I definitely remember the powerhouse display! That was around 2005 or so because I remember seeing the new TMCC J 611 in that booth.  Yes, you had to walk "into" it to see anything.  Wonder if Lionel still has it? 

Eddie, 

How long have you been attending York?  I started going in 1998 and I went to one or two of the Friday auctions before they ceased.  I wish they still had them!  I didn't get to see the other events you mentioned.  

Rob N posted:

.................

- I remember the "yard boss" ZW! It might have even been shown at the meet I saw Neil Young.  Wasn't Lionel pretty close to releasing it and then pulled back? 

- Big Mo was fun.  By the time I became a member and started to go to York, it was an MTH display.  Whatever happened to the trailer?

-...............  

To the best of my knowledge, the Yard Boss only existed as the demo units, shown at York and probably other trade show events Lionel attended.  They did not make it far enough for Lionel to put them in a catalog and actually offer them, I'm pretty sure (pretty sure I would remember if I had one of those on a pre-order and it had then been cancelled ).  Several of the surviving prototypes were sold at auction when Neil decided to sell off much of his collection I think in late 2017.

I don't know the current status of Big Mo, or if it may even still exist.  (It seems safe to say it's not been resurrected recently to serve similar to it's previous function)  For a while (as recently as maybe 5 years ago(?), I think) Harry's family may have been trying to sell it, but I have no idea if they were ever successful.  Rumors were that it was not necessarily in very good shape after sitting idle since Harry last maintained it before his passing.

I started going in 1997, so I missed many of the sights/smells Edie described.  Purple hall to me was always on one level, and there were no animal cages simultaneously inside with the trains during the meet then, though I understand that was the case in earlier years.

-Dave

I remember getting Neil Young’s autograph on the back of a train meet flyer. I think Lionel had a display in the back of the White Hall and it was late on a Friday or Saturday when there weren’t many people around. I gave it to a buddy of mine who isn’t into trains but is into Neil Young.

My favorite memory would be my first York experience which was my October 1982 visit as a member. For a couple of years prior I use to attend the Train Shows on Long Island, and Jersey. I thought these were large and had great tables. Little did I realize what would be waiting for me once I passed thru the gates into the fairgrounds.  What a great experience and still continues to be after all these years.

My first trip was in the Fall of 2009. They say that your first is generally you're most memorable experience, and honestly it was. My dad and I had gotten a flat tire on the way there, but we managed to get it fixed in time to enjoy the Friday and Saturday events.

Getting to see what the York experience was really like was so enthralling. It was that year Lionel had just unveiled its huge display by T&W Designs in the Orange Hall, which is still spectacular a decade later.

Probably most significant was seeing a good chunk of people I had grown up seeing in hobby magazines and videos of my youth, from Dave Garrigues, Barry Leonard, Tony Lash, Carl Burkhardt, and Tom McComas and his wife Charyl. Seeing and meeting them in person was arguably the most memorable moments of my trip, which shows it's not just about the trains, but it's also the people you meet because of them. Especially since some of them are no longer around today...

Oh yeah, and I purchased my first Lionel scale Hudson at that meet, too!

Now I have not been in several years (as Steve and Stu will point out) but I do miss - in no specific order:

The VIking Club where many a great AOL Train Gang meeting were held

Parking lot tutorials

Sights marking the trip to York

OGR GrandStand Get togethers

Our distinguished hosts 

Exit of lesser used Gate 4 which leads directly across the street to what used to be a great dive bar - JR's. Ask Erol

The only way you can say Beavertail at Hooters and not get thrown out

More Viking Club Memories

Truly great people

Tony enjoying the festivities

Are there really two Clyde Coils?

Hanging with the  masters

Stu after unpacking for his tables in the red (?) hall

Who remembers Pat Fusco aka TRex aka SteelToys, bonus points - who has any of his steel girder EL or bridges 

made in his Brooklyn basement

After show refreshments in the parking lot

Thanks Ed for all you do and everyone else who contributes to this forum and our great hobby and York memories.

Paul

Trains of course. But my fondest memories are all the fellow train nuts I met. Many were forum members that have become long distant friends.

October 1988, my first. I never saw so many trains (and crazy people) in one place  before.

October 1990, my 6 week-old daughter's first. I had her in a backpack harness, and she slept through it. 

And of course, every other one that I have gone to (I've only missed two in 32 years).

My first York was 1985. I was somewhat familiar with the area, and campgrounds, from Hershey and Carlisle car shows.  I used to camp in my pickup just outside the blue Hall, until rule changes chased me off.  I used cumulative vacation time to camp at and hit all three shows after the long drive up, hitting Adamstown area antique malls and open flea markets on weekends, and Strasburg and U.S. 30 antique malls, as well as PA. historical sites.  I retired, auctions changed the old car hobby, so l gave up hitting all three shows, camping seemed to take too much time, so trips are much shorter and confined to York.  My favorite York was the one MTH offered the McKeen car.  Ordered that as soon as l got home...darned thing has not come in yet!

So many memories! First York, obviously. Meeting Neil Young, first time getting together for lunch with members of a forum group, Taking each of my three sons, and getting to visit my sister in MD every 6 months. Making new friends each trip, and selling in the Orange Hall.

Are there really two Clyde Coils? Rich Rendeiro and me back in the day when we helped out Lionel at York. Couldn't resist having 2 more Clydes!

Mike Newcomer aka Mytrains on AOL at one of our AOL online gang dinners at York Friday at the Viking Club. Mike lived in York, had keys to the fairgrounds, knew everyone in York and always was able to pull strings for Lionel when in need at York. He looked like the mini Jerry Garcia with a raspy voice and had a heart of gold. Let him rest in piece, my good buddy. The AOL guys still talk about Mike. That is my right arm in the picture.

Paul Licata aka Railrunnin on AOL. Another one from the old AOL boards with Richard Maddox when he came out of retirement to run Atlas for about 2 years while the Haedrichs took a world wide vacation. Dick is happily retired now living in New Jersey not far from me. As for Paul, he lives up in NY JETS enemy territory! LOL!

Who could forget TRex on the AOL boards? We always disagreed on TMCC or that thingie he called it, a cab-1. Plenty of us squared off with Pat back then but we always remained friends with him and his wife. Paul was an employee for him for a while at Steeltoys.com. Pat did make some great steel products in ELs, stations, and caternary systems. Another one to let him rest in peace. We still talk about him with fellow AOL'ers.

Above:  Jon Lane ... one of our late AOL friends from SoCal ... many times at York.

Below:  Dick (L) was an amazing man, businessman and a premier lover of toy trains.

My favorite are hands down all the people I've gotten to know over the years and call 'friend'. 

-Greg

The beer selection at the Grain and Verse Restaurant in our hotel in New Cumberland. 

I wish I had a photo of the layout K-Line had behind their display area. K-Line was located about where Atlas is now. They had a large Lackawanna viaduct upfront. They set-up a large city with Superstreets in a separate room behind their booth. Lots of cars moving around the city and I was blown away by how great it looked. That was back in the days when they had their Fall Fair Days, I had won one of their Alleghenys earlier and my name was on the list of winners (I sent in 50 entries per week). I just don't remember the year. They allowed me to trade the Allegheny for one of their Scale Hudsons (I already had a Lionel Allegheny).

Scott Smith

I have so many favorite memories for having been to only 23 Yorks, missing only 1 since my first in the Spring of 2008.  Here are a few in no particular order:

• Meeting so many great people.  Too many to name, but some do deserve special mention, like Marty Fitzhenry and Owen Sturm.  Owen was the first person to greet me at my first "Thursdays at Fridays" OGR dinner, and we would always have some good chats at the dinners, in the halls and even once at a Lionel open house at their old repair facility in Ohio.
• The OGR "Thursdays at Fridays" dinners.  Many times until we closed the place.
• The Legacy Users Group breakfasts at Alexanders, a.k.a. the Mike Reagan Comedy Hour .
• The pumpkin funnel cakes outside of Silver Hall and the chicken corn chowder at the stand that used to be on the outside of Purple Hall.
• The OGR bus trips to Weaver, MTH and Tony Lash's layout.
• Camping on the fairgrounds with my brother when we started selling in Blue Hall.  The fairgrounds is such a quiet, peaceful place late at night and early in the morning.
• The OGR Grandstand Meets, and especially the two where my club was presented with the MTH Blue Comet Award Honorable Mention in 2012 and the award itself in 2018.
• 3rdRailMike's Kosher hot dog cookouts in the parking lot Thursday mornings before the meet opened.
• Winning a boxcar at one of the Lionel Vision demonstrations.
• Winning one of the TCA door prizes (a single O scale tree...).
• Experiencing York from both perspectives -- attendee and table holder.
• Going out early to hit the bandit meets with some of my fellow PIHR club members and then exploring the area to visit hobby shops, train clubs, and antique stores in the general area, and even do some 1:1 train watching.
• The time I wore my pedometer to see how much walking I was doing and having it tell me I logged 10 miles on a Thursday (hitting each hall at least twice).
• Taking a guest who wasn't into trains (it was a one day stop on our way to spend the weekend with a college friend of ours).  As I said, he isn't into trains, but is a big Star Trek fan, and he somehow manage to come out of a York Train Meet with a big bag full of Star Trek merchandise that he didn't already have in his collection.  Go figure...

I enjoyed each and every York, even the first few where I drove there and back the same day (4+ hours each way) with sometimes less than $100 to spend.

Andy

Besides all the trains meeting and enjoying all the people on the bus ride from Long Island!

Best memory.  Easy.  When my late brother visited in October 2006. He was an avid Marx collector and officer in TTOS.  He was amazed at the size of the meet and we spent almost the entire two days in the member halls.  He bought several hard to find in excellent condition Marx pieces.

When we got home we ran them on my layout, where we almost lost one of his new engines.  It didn’t like my switches and nearly bounced off the table.

Best York ever.

The biggest thing I miss about the York Meet is....the York Meet.

Through the years we have attended the York event on and off but to us the meet was at its best several years back when OGR held its official get together at the now defunct Fridays restaurant in York.  Those events were huge, and heavily attended with model train enthusiasts. Guests would fill up the entire back room and overflow into the center restaurant dining area. Since then the meet and the now unaffiliated Thursday dinner has pruned down a bit, but we can look back and say without a doubt, those were the best of times.

I did the Spring York Meet twice. Favorite memory is running into AGHR Charter Member and Former President John Pignatelli and OGR Forum members I've only seen on-line, followed up by Thursdays at [Quaker Steak] and the "Round the Clock Diner" breakfast. Coming from the West Coast, the trip got pretty expensive (let's not talk about the stuff I bought) and I haven't been able to afford to go these past three years.

Seeing Neil Young’s Horde layout in the tent set up at the end of the Grandstand with the large Lionel Vision screen set up outside showing trains running on the layout in the tent.  Spent 1/2 hour or so talking with Neil as he ran the trains.

I remember running into my old friend Dick Maddox and spending about 30 mines with him talking about the old times. 

Having my vending table next to Lou Redman at one meet

Just like everyone else,it’s the great people you meet. One of the most memorable was about 4 years ago in the Orange hall when I looking at an item and to my surprise the person standing right along side me was Eric Siegel of Erics Trains.com. Being a fan I got a chance to talk with him. Like I said in the before, it’s the great people.

One of the things I miss from York...........Kirk the owner of justrains back in the day. He was the king of true "blowouts". He knew how to move product by pricing. I bought way too much K-line from him. I was thinking about this the other day and since I have some spare time (due to Corona) on my hands I thought I would go digging in my warehouse. I found all kinds of K-line 21" passenger sets and 4 and 5 car hopper sets. All aluminum and drop dead gorgeous. I knew at the time I overbought but remember thinking this stuff probably wont ever made again. Broadway limiteds,Congressionals, NYC and New haven Passenger sets.  He used to deliver to York and made it easy to overspend. Havent found a dealer like him since. Don't know if I will ever use the stuff, but it was a fun tour down memory lane. I kept the receipts from around 2003,04,05 and was looking at those as well. Cant believe how little I paid when you consider the K-line gouging on the Bay(especially the 21" passenger cars)going on today.

I have been coming to the York Meet since the Spring of 1998 and have clearly enjoyed the experience of getting to know all of the members and becoming friends with a lot of the folks from this board not to mention getting to know the people from all of the manufacturers.It is always a good time whenever I go to the York Meet and hopefully will continue to go for many more years to come.

Here's a few quick ones

1. My second York meet - Even though my Dad had no interest in trains I talked him into going with me.  We roamed the halls, me looking for things and Dad just following along and looking.  We came to a table with a near mint Lionel Standard Gauge Blue Comet.  Dad paused to admire it and I told him that train dated from his childhood and had been very expensive.  He looked at it for a long time and then said, You know, if I had even dreamed any kid in my neighborhood had such a train I know I would have died from sheer envy!"

2. Several year later - I found out a friend from work was really into trains. This person had relatives in York but had never heard of the TCA nor the meet.  I took him as a guest.  He followed me to the meet in his car.  As we got out of our cars and headed over to the Blue hall to get him registered he said, "I'm just going to look around this time. I know I won't be buying much of anything."  We had gone perhaps 100 feet when we passed a van which was being unloaded.  My friend spotted a car he had been looking for since forever.  He entered into immediate negotiations and bought it.  About 50 feet further and he spotted something else he had been looking for and we repeated the above.  By the time we got to Blue Hall he had almost a dozen items (he had had the presence of mind to bring along a large canvas bag with handles) he had picked up.  As we stood in line I looked at him and said, "If this is your idea of not buying much of anything I'd hate to see how it would look if you ever decided to get serious about hunting for trains."  P.S. by 4PM his car (a station wagon) was jammed with trains.  When he returned home his wife was none too pleased and I know for awhile she blamed me for what had happened.

3. Another York and another friend as a guest.  He had been looking everywhere for a like new Lionel Operating Baggage station.  I told him he would have no problem finding one at York.  We registered, the doors opened and we headed in.  At the second table on the first row we hit there was a new-in-the-box station.  The asking price was $35 (this was a few years ago).  His eyes lit up and he made a grab for his wallet. I told him to wait - I knew we could do better.  About 7 or 8 tables down on the same row we found another new-in-the-box - price $27.00.  Again he started to draw his wallet and again I told him to wait.  A few more tables down and there was one for $22.00 - we repeated the same exercise.  By this time I could see the act of passing up all of these new-in-the-box stations was really starting to get to him.  At the end of the first row we found yet another with a price of $15.00.  Before I could say anything he grabbed his wallet and in a rather loud voice said, "I don't care if there is a lower priced station in this meet - I'M BUYING THIS ONE!!!!"  The seller was a bit taken aback by the outburst but the money was tendered and the station had a new home.

Colorful Lou Redman, the zany Ward Kimball,the creepy Funeral Home director "Bob" that brought his trains to the show in a hearse! The crazy chatter on the P.A. system. Al Otten napping through it all in the car. The bandit meets in their heyday (Late 70's early 80's) at the Holiday Inn Billy Budd and the Sheraton (Now Wyndham Garden). 

From the 2008 Weaver Tour:

@jini5 posted:

One of the things I miss from York...........Kirk the owner of justrains back in the day. He was the king of true "blowouts". He knew how to move product by pricing. I bought way too much K-line from him. I was thinking about this the other day and since I have some spare time (due to Corona) on my hands I thought I would go digging in my warehouse. I found all kinds of K-line 21" passenger sets and 4 and 5 car hopper sets. All aluminum and drop dead gorgeous. I knew at the time I overbought but remember thinking this stuff probably wont ever made again. Broadway limiteds,Congressionals, NYC and New haven Passenger sets.  He used to deliver to York and made it easy to overspend. Havent found a dealer like him since. Don't know if I will ever use the stuff, but it was a fun tour down memory lane. I kept the receipts from around 2003,04,05 and was looking at those as well. Cant believe how little I paid when you consider the K-line gouging on the Bay(especially the 21" passenger cars)going on today.

Back then I was buying trains like a drunken sailor!  Kirk had so many great deals on K-Line passenger cars.  He had great deals on everything!!  Many a York Meet he would have to load up his flat hand cart on Saturday afternoon to wheel out all the stuff I bought.  Good thing I had a large mini van!