Give your "York Report".

Mallard4468 posted:

Dmaxdeere87 posted:

I enjoyed it , people were really willing to deal and I saw lots of people buying stuff. I've switched everything from modern to postwar now and I got really good prices on stuff.

People are finally starting to get the memo on postwar and MPC.  

"Getting the memo" or "didn't you get the memo" are both long standing phrases in American culture referencing a proposed change of direction/policy/trend.  Possibly a change in direction that passed you by. 

My favorite was used by Morgan Freeman at the Wayne Enterprises BOD mtg at the end of one of the Batman movies.

Of course, not all memos are intended for all people.

Gilly@N&W posted:.

My mistake thinking that photography was allowed in the Orange Hall. After that I didn't bother trying to take any pictures anywhere.

 

Photography is allowed but at the vendors discretion. The MTH booth and Lionel and such I don't ask. The small vendors and sellers it's always polite to ask. 

aussteve posted:

Mallard4468 posted:

Dmaxdeere87 posted:

I enjoyed it , people were really willing to deal and I saw lots of people buying stuff. I've switched everything from modern to postwar now and I got really good prices on stuff.

People are finally starting to get the memo on postwar and MPC.  

"Getting the memo" or "didn't you get the memo" are both long standing phrases in American culture referencing a proposed change of direction/policy/trend.  Possibly a change in direction that passed you by. 

My favorite was used by Morgan Freeman at the Wayne Enterprises BOD mtg at the end of one of the Batman movies.

Of course, not all memos are intended for all people.

Yes, I KNOW about "didn't you get the memo" slang phrase/etc. Used it for years/decades.

However in this case: Obviously, I RECEIVED NO fictitious, non-existent MEMO and wanted to know what was IN the fictitious non-existent "memo" Mallard was talking about!

The "info" on the "fictitious memo" was all sorted out in posts previous to yours. We can move along now.

Andre

MartyE posted:

Arrived Thursday and found a Scale Polar Express boxcar. The caboose remains more elusive than Bigfoot. 

Do a search for "LIONEL 81811 The Polar Express Scale N5b Caboose #1402 - MINT-NR" on eBay. Your caboose awaits....

I had a great time. Got up there thursday morning with enough time to grab an omlette at the 'Clock and head to the orange hall to bull rush the door. This was one of those "no list, don't need anything" shows, which is typically a fatal mistake and it did me in again.  I had some money earmarked for a pre-order pickup, so I took care of that early, found an Atlas insulated boxcar I was looking for and had a hunch where to find it, then wandered around for a little while. The real fun came around 2:00 when I found an FT A unit it Trainworld, but no B. The TW guys looked around in their system, i fumbled with my phone on the MTH locator and Stockyard Express showed having the match. Sent a buddy down there, sure enough there it was. Managed to get them both held while I ran back and forth to confirm and bought the A-B pair. First time I ever built a set of anything from 2 different dealers on the spot. Found the matching caboose for the engines in short order and was good to go. Can't imagine thats a common occurrence, even at York. Having basically blown the money, I wandered some more, got some odds and ends, picked up my Animal Cracker factory from Todd Models and went to dinner. We took all our loot back to the hotel and ran trains all night with a few adult beverages. Friday morning, did the dreaded ATM stop on the way in, but didn't buy much on friday. Saw a lot more I could have bought but the trunk of the ol' wagon was pretty topped up already and I needed to have a little restraint. 

Stopped at Mainline Hobbies on the way home for some bits that York doesnt usually have, then Point of Rocks for a bit, saw a train and drove home. 

No complaints from my end. 

I covered every aisle, in every hall on Friday, was there at the open through the close.

Feeling it today.

I had a ball, it was great seeing everyone, and meeting new people. I found a few things I was looking for, on the second to the last aisle of the show, I was stunned to see a hard to find dining car that completes a Standard Gauge set of mine just sitting there on a table, score! I also bought a couple of Xmas cars, and a few parts and tools.

The Lower Susquehanna Modular Club in the back of the White Hall had a very nice display, I particularly liked the JLC GG-1 pulling 10 of the new Lionel 21” Tuscan streamliners...a very smooth runner with good sounds and the cars were just beautiful.

Fun from the start to the finish. Nice day off from work and the commute. A great day.

FWIW, it seemed pretty well attended, more than I have seen in a few years, I also noticed more young bucks in the crowd than usual.

Thanks to the TCA ED, the sellers, manufacturers, and all the volunteers.

I bought April’s badge on my way out.

We had nothing on our  "Need, Want, Desire" list, and managed to not buy any engines or rolling stock.  Smoke fluid from JT's Mega-Steam, parts from MTH, a pair of RR sign earrings for me, and we were done shopping. We had Marty's Grandson Dean with us. He flew from Newfoundland just to go to this, his 3rd York. We saw many old friends, made a few new friends and had a great time.

Railroading in America Magazine was sharing a booth with OGR. Evan Cihlar and Max Harris developed the magazine and represent the next generation of model railroaders. It was a pleasure to speak with these two young men and share their enthusiasm. PLEASE, check it out: www.railroadinginamerica.com.

Of course, there were a few highlights: Having your picture taken with Mike Wolf was a given, thank you Bear.

Passing by the OGR booth:

As always, Scenic Express had cool vignettes on display:

Part of the hobby is painstaking attention to detail, and the fine touches that make the layout more realistic. Hand painting little people falls into this category:

Another great York meet behind us. See you all in the spring.

I saw the Ed Boyle jacket - had to do a double-take and then just started laughing.  Crowd seemed stronger than last couple times, although Saturday morning was really dead - front row parking was available at 11am.  Saw more "public" wristbands on Friday than last time. 

peanutboo posted:

 I have almost a 325 mile drive.  

My drive is 2 thousand, 815 miles, so you will get no sympathy from me.

I got there late on Friday morning and there was no parking near the Orange Hall so I had to park way out by 74. It was just like the old days. I did the Silver Hall first since I brought my grandson and he didn't have a badge. It was very crowded. Possibly due to the narrow aisles. Around lunch time the crowds seemed to have thinned a little and I was able to find a spot by the Orange Hall. Overall had a great time as usual. My grandson liked seeing the layouts the best. Special Thanks to the "Kids Run Trains" layout in the Orange Hall. They let him run their trains for quite a while and he had a blast. I bought a small building kit from TW Trainworx. I briefly talked to Mike Reagan. As everyone knows it's a real shame that Lionel let him get away. I would have spent more but I had already arranged to buy some 2R curved switches from forum member Tom Tee. Hopefully, April will be just as good. 

RoyBoy posted:

peanutboo posted:

 I have almost a 325 mile drive.  

My drive is 2 thousand, 815 miles, so you will get no sympathy from me.

 You are the King, RoyBoy.  

Boilermaker, how did you fare on US 15 south of Point of Rocks?  I left York about 1, and US 15 stopped dead at Lucketts.  Finally bailed out through Stumptown, but it took me 3-1/2 hours to Fairfax.

Hudson J1e posted:

 I did the Silver Hall first . It was very crowded. Possibly due to the narrow aisles. 

I found the same thing Thursday around 3pm. The Red Hall used to win the PITA Award...now it belongs to the Silver.  

My only complaint was getting the “bums rush” in the Orange Hall Friday night when they killed the lights at 6:17PM.

(Closing time was 6:30)

This was an interesting York experience for me.  The prices were higher for the items I wanted.  Weaver B60s were very high, I assume because the Lionel remake is over $150 so that pushed up the Weaver price.  MTH R50s were also high (over $100), not sure why.  And I did not see a single Atlas X-29 Express Boxcar, not even the new release.  There must be somebody else out there besides me building a PRR express train.

Not sure about post-war, but the prices for modern stuff seemed higher than last Apr.  I was looking for the new MTH MKT caboose in bicentennial colors to go with my GP-40.  I found three and all were just a bit below MSRP, the spread being smaller than previous new items I have bought.  I also saw those Natty Boh reefers for $795; I wonder if they sold for that price. 

My impression of the crowd was that it was smaller than past years, especially Thursday.  And as mentioned by some above, the aisles were wider in many halls so there must have been fewer sellers.  I did enjoy Peter’s Thursday morning breakfast, and both the DCS and Legacy meetings had useful information.

The Flyer layout in the black hall was different; a smaller layout sparsely populated.  Made you focus on the neat trains they had.  I think my modular club, NCT, will be there either in Apr or Oct.  I assume we will try to fill the black hall again.

Since I’m in the layout building phase, not train buying phase, I probably will not attend the Apr York next year.

Traindiesel posted:

So far , for me anyway, it’s been another magnificent York Meet! Unfortunately, since sometimes I think I’m still 25, I injured my knee while doing yard work on our irrigation system last week.  So I’m dragging my leg through the halls. I should have left the irrigation repair to the professionals!

Aside from the fun of greeting friends and making new ones, I hadn’t planned or expected to buy much of anything because I’m between layouts right now. Foolish me! Wednesday afternoon I went with a friend to do train watching in the Harrisburg area and we saw three Norfolk Southern Heritage units. My general rule is I only buy Heritage units that I actually see. So naturally, one of the first places I looked in the Orange Hall had one of the ones I saw. The MTH Norfolk and Southern ES44. And a deep discounted price. It ended up in my rental car trunk.

Then today I stumbled, literally, into Henning’s Trains booth and saw the new Lionel Reading RR ABBA F3 set. With the powered B unit and the Superbase powered B unit. I had been wanting an appropriate motive power to pull my lonely 8 car set of K-Line aluminum passenger cars I’ve had for several years. I was offered the “Traindiesel” price and I graciously accepted. A big ‘thank you’ to Gunrunner John for helping carry the load out to my car, saving me much pain and a couple of trips.

I also got a MTH Premier UP Dash 9 for the ‘Traindiesel price’ at JusTrains, who were kind enough to ship it to my home for free.

To add to the great time, at the MTH DCS meeting on Wednesday night I was the winner of a MTH Premier TOFC car for traveling the furthest to get to the meeting.

And it’s not over yet. I tailgated for lunch with my cousins today whom I haven’t seen for quite a while. We had some piping hot homemade meatball sandwiches and homemade potato salad and all the trimmings. It’s been a tradition for us at York since the 80s along with my late uncle. And just before the halls closed I picked up a pair of tasty morsels from MrMuffin’sTrains, Union Pacific ES44’s. Then had a jovial dinner with some Forum friends to close out the day. 

So what trouble will Traindiesel find himself in tomorrow?
Will the dastardly wallet goblins stop him in his tracks?

Tune in tomorrow, True Believers!  Same Train time, same Train forum!

The only complaint I have about the York Meet is that eventually I have to go home.

Hey Brian! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you at the QS&L on Thursday evening! 

I'm so sorry that you injured your knee before coming to York. You probably should have seen the people at D&L Rentals to see if you could have rented a power scooter. It would have saved you a lot of pain and suffering. Take it from someone who used to be able to all of these sorts of home chores himself, it's time to let the pros do these type of jobs.

I'm also sorry that Lynley could not make the trip to York with you. Maybe next year?

Well at least you didn't go home empty handed! Maybe this will help motivate you to start building that layout you always wanted. 

This was a special York for me too as it was only a few months after my Lumbar Fusion Surgery. I'll have to send you some pictures of the changes I am making to my layout.

Have a nice trip home and enjoy your new trains!

Steve 

Yea best crowds I've seen in a few years, as mentioned mid day on Friday,  people were parking out by fence like old times.  Silver hall was tough to navigate as well as red hall. They were jam packed

RJR posted:

Boilermaker, how did you fare on US 15 south of Point of Rocks?  I left York about 1, and US 15 stopped dead at Lucketts.  Finally bailed out through Stumptown, but it took me 3-1/2 hours to Fairfax.

No trouble at all. Got stuck in Frederick as usual for rush hour, pretty much ran at speed the whole way back to rt. 50 without issue. 

NYC Niagara coming next week so I didn't go for any expensive engines.  But, did get Lionel SOO SD60 and several SOO cars, including a 6 car coal hopper set and some Atlas SOO boxcars.  Also, a few other cars - K-Line Milwaukee caboose and 2 nice Lionel Great Northern boxcars.

So, in summary:

"I got really good prices on stuff"

"prices were higher"

"best crowds I've seen in a few years"

"crowd was smaller than past years"

Joe Hohmann posted:

So, in summary:

"I got really good prices on stuff" - post war items

"prices were higher" - modern items

"best crowds I've seen in a few years" - silver and red halls (old stuff)

"crowd was smaller than past years" - orange and purple (modern stuff)

White hall was so-so on prices and crowd (too far away?)

Anyway, hopefully we all had a good time.  I did.

Ok, I really wished I could have attended because, TCA, LCCA, are people Clubs, all with one common denominator, Toy/Real Trains....From Days gone byby, to the Present. We all have our Favorites....My Question, did Lionel, MTH, Atlas O have their Large Layouts set up in their booths? If so, send pictures....Thank You for this thread as York, a wonderful Tradition seems Great as Always.  Happy Railroading.

Mallard4468 posted:

I saw the Ed Boyle jacket - had to do a double-take and then just started laughing.  Crowd seemed stronger than last couple times, although Saturday morning was really dead - front row parking was available at 11am.  Saw more "public" wristbands on Friday than last time. 

I'm pretty sure that Ed (or OGR) would give YOU $110 for taking the dang thing off his hands.

peanutboo posted:

RoyBoy posted:

peanutboo posted:

 I have almost a 325 mile drive.  

My drive is 2 thousand, 815 miles, so you will get no sympathy from me.

 You are the King, RoyBoy.  

Roy seems to have a bit longer way to go than me ... but it's pretty close.  

How far is York, PA from Santa Barbara, CA?

 

2717 Miles 4372 Km

113 Gallons 437 Litres

 

Likewise on the sympathy meter.  "0" covers it.  LOL!  

Farmer_Bill posted:

Quaker Stake party is petering out at 9pm. Wtf?

 

 

After meeting you and your lovely wife there was nothing left to do (and I had way too much to drink) , It was time to leave.

We had a great time!

MartyE posted:

......... Waiting for spring to see the changes. 

Was there a specific change (or rumor of change) you are referring to here?

I missed out on some stuff since I was manning my table.  I heard of one potentially significant change for April in Orange, but I don't want to repeat it if it is just a rumor.

I suspect if the thing I heard was a hard fact I may have seen some significant mention of it here(I read through most of the York threads and did not see anything), unless the thread zapper got to a thread before I had a chance to see it .

{edit: looks like the thread zapper DID get one... I found a topic (but of course couldn't read it since it's been deleted) that was posted but is now gone by googling the topic I had in mind.}

-Dave

This York was an interesting time for me.  I had some "auxiliary" visits prior to the Meet  throughout the NE area, including the Cog RR on Mount Washington in NH (plus two other "heritage" RRs in MA and NH) and a 6.5 hour ride on the Acela from Boston to BWI.  The Fall foliage was simply stunning at the higher elevations in NH - best I've ever seen.  Plenty of RR stuff on this trip that made my York visits close to 30 over the years.

1.  I REALLY appreciated the young men and their new RR publication ("Railroading in America").  The guys (Evan Cihlar and Max Harris) are working hard and doing a great job.  Their OGR Friday Forum presentation was superb and appropriate for the meeting of old guys.   They deserve our support.  The hobby cannot afford to lost the interest or talent of these two.

2. I thought the crowds were fairly light - especially on Thursday and Saturday.  I was not overwhelmed on Friday either.

3.  Prices were all over the place and the one thing I was "chasing" I only saw one example priced about 2x too high.  I passed and I have no reservation in thinking that the piece will be back in April at a lower price.  As someone noted ... P/W pricing for less than LN is finally starting to decline.  The question is whether the guys bringing the stuff will react or continue to take it home.

4.   The Pumpkin Funnel Cake trailer was not in front of the Silver-Blue Halls for the first time in memory.  A BIG downer. 

5.  We stayed in the LQ - York and the WiFi never worked properly during the entire visit ... and the staff appeared not to be concerned.  The lack of action over nearly five days is not a recommendation for the hotel.  

6.  The shock?  No more "senior citizen" rates for the York Meet - everyone pays $15 beginning with the April Meet.  Wow!  This is something that the ED-TCA probably should have done several years ago as 60% of the attendees paid the senior rate.  With costs increasing and overall attendance in a slow decline, this was inevitable.

Personally, for me, a good Meet.  Certainly a B+ or higher.  

machinist posted:

Good Evening Everyone,

Did anyone who attended this York(Oct 2018) notice if Lionel had the UP 1943 Spirit of the Union Pacific on display.   If so,  was the main body color all silver or was the center of the body where the American Flag is located painted in battleship gray?   I'm asking because I saw a photo of the METCA special run UP 9026 Spirit of the Union Pacific that was on display and the main body color looked all silver.   I'm hoping it was because this was a special run for them.   The real UP 1943  is painted battleship gray in the center body section where the American Flag is located.   I have the 1943 on order and I hope the paint is correct.   Thanks for any help

Nick 

Didn't notice if the 1943 was on display at the Lionel booth, did get a photo of the METCA version.

machinist posted:

Good Evening Everyone,

Did anyone who attended this York(Oct 2018) notice if Lionel had the UP 1943 Spirit of the Union Pacific on display.   If so,  was the main body color all silver or was the center of the body where the American Flag is located painted in battleship gray?   I'm asking because I saw a photo of the METCA special run UP 9026 Spirit of the Union Pacific that was on display and the main body color looked all silver.   I'm hoping it was because this was a special run for them.   The real UP 1943  is painted battleship gray in the center body section where the American Flag is located.   I have the 1943 on order and I hope the paint is correct.   Thanks for any help

Nick 

The 1943 was not on display, only the 9026.  Both Lionel's 1943 and METCA's 9026 will have the same body color.  The only difference will be the road number.  See photo below.  The cab is definitely silver and the center section is definitely gray.

Stu

ed h posted:

machinist posted:

Good Evening Everyone,

Did anyone who attended this York(Oct 2018) notice if Lionel had the UP 1943 Spirit of the Union Pacific on display.   If so,  was the main body color all silver or was the center of the body where the American Flag is located painted in battleship gray?   I'm asking because I saw a photo of the METCA special run UP 9026 Spirit of the Union Pacific that was on display and the main body color looked all silver.   I'm hoping it was because this was a special run for them.   The real UP 1943  is painted battleship gray in the center body section where the American Flag is located.   I have the 1943 on order and I hope the paint is correct.   Thanks for any help

Nick 

Didn't notice if the 1943 was on display at the Lionel booth, did get a photo of the METCA version.

Ed,

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question.   In your photo,  the angle/lighting makes it look like the main body is nearly all silver or silver/light gray at best,  which is similar to another photo that I saw.   Stu from METCA also provided a photo(see above post).   Again,  thanks for your help.

Nick

NOT LionelLLC posted:

machinist posted:

Good Evening Everyone,

Did anyone who attended this York(Oct 2018) notice if Lionel had the UP 1943 Spirit of the Union Pacific on display.   If so,  was the main body color all silver or was the center of the body where the American Flag is located painted in battleship gray?   I'm asking because I saw a photo of the METCA special run UP 9026 Spirit of the Union Pacific that was on display and the main body color looked all silver.   I'm hoping it was because this was a special run for them.   The real UP 1943  is painted battleship gray in the center body section where the American Flag is located.   I have the 1943 on order and I hope the paint is correct.   Thanks for any help

Nick 

The 1943 was not on display, only the 9026.  Both Lionel's 1943 and METCA's 9026 will have the same body color.  The only difference will be the road number.  See photo below.  The cab is definitely silver and the center section is definitely gray.

Stu

Stu,

Thanks for taking time to respond and provide the photo and information to my question.   From this angle/lighting,  I can see the separate silver and gray body sections.   I feel better after seeing this photo.   Thanks again

Nick

This was my first York trip with my wife and Steve Papa Eastman and CPBob along for the trip. We arrived so late on Sunday it was actually Monday morning. We stayed at the Days Inn and saw some of the sites and other unofficial events. 

We wore our custom made Dorfan shirts and got lots of looks. 

I did find some Dorfan items for myself and I got my loving wife an MTH Breast Cancer steam engine that she wanted. We walked a lot and tried out the local eating places along with some museums and a tour through the Harley Davidson plant. Very interesting and the weather was perfect!

I am surprised by the sheer numbers of everything there and by what I did not see. The amount of American Flyer S gauge was more than I had ever seen anywhere. The selection of European tinplate and trains was amazing and I did grab a couple of little items. I was surprised by the lack of modern tinplate for sale. I am sure I missed some since I did not get to all of the Orange hall until Friday. I did not find any Harley Davidson tinplate which I was thinking I would but that is okay. The show size of course overwhelms anything here on the West Coast in SoCal which is why we went.

Overall thoughts?

My wife wants to go again next year....I think that says it all.

Some more thoughts.

Overall MTH still has the best booth.  I guess it's a bit easier being an hour away vs 6 or more for the other vendors but still a really nice setup.

MTH as always had an excellent display of the DCS App in station form, which brings me to the Lionel booth and the missing Legacy stand Dave Olson created to show the Legacy stuff.  I've always wondered why Lionel hasn't showcased Legacy and LCS in the booth.  I was told more than once that it was the wrong audience.  Well then who is the right audience?  Dave's display at least had folks asking questions.  Without that, and this was a topic of discussion at the Legacy meeting, there is no attempt from Lionel to educate folks about Legacy and LCS and that's a shame.  Maybe as the Legacy Users meeting head and user I am biased but it seems 1 person dedicated to the layout with a Legacy remote, a sensor track or 2, and maybe an iPad LCS app and at minimal you could at least get a conversation started.

Anyways I'll move on but still missed the Dave Olson Legacy Pulpit.  Preach Brother!

I'll volunteer 2 hours of my time on Thursday and Friday to do nothing but operate Legacy and talk to folks about it if it's an issue of manpower.  

My first York.  I really liked the meet,  I am a rookie to the hobby (2 years). 

Observations:

1.  Everybody I met was really nice.  I felt like I was among "friends" all with a common interest. There were a few exceptions- I thought that some of the "rock stars" of the hobby in Orange were NOT as nice, even though I talked with them early on Thursday, and they should not have been jaded at that early point!!   

On the plus side, I was impressed that Ryan Kunkle seemed to be so enthusiastic about Lionel's product line as he ran trains in their display. He should be- he IS "product" at Lionel- but it would be easy for him to be "jaded".  In fact all the "Lionel people" were seemingly enjoying the work.

2.   Given the shrinking  numbers of the "collector" nature of the hobby- I don't see how anybody could expect to be successful at a big show if they maintained high prices.  People are interested in RUNNING trains, not shelving them as an investment for their retirement- those days are over.  Prices were all over the place, from really low prices to over-priced. Example- I saw nice C&O Lionel N2 "Switchers" from $60 (low) to $ 200. 

3.  I expected near 100% "seniors"-  and I saw quite a few teens, and kids w/ parents (vs. with their grandparents).  THAT is good for the hobby.

4.  The meet is great for the smaller manufacturer with specialty products, like O-Scale roller coasters, custom buildings etc.  These people need a place to meet lots of serious enthusiasts- the "web" is so crowded that even online is not adequate IMO.  If I had something really "niche" in nature- I would never miss the York opportunity. 

Likewise, as a hobbyist, that is what I would be going there FOR- I can buy widely-available stuff at ANY local show, and at good prices, but I would never get local opportunities to see the really specialized stuff.

Captaincog posted:

 

I am surprised by the sheer numbers of everything there and by what I did not see. The amount of American Flyer S gauge was more than I had ever seen anywhere. The selection of European tinplate and trains was amazing and I did grab a couple of little items. I was surprised by the lack of modern tinplate for sale.

My wife wants to go again next year....I think that says it all.

Glad you had a great visit. American Flyer has a large presence even at smaller shows. There is even a dealer who specializes in mint/rare postwar AF items. I was looking for a certain 2 AF passenger cars, and I found examples to choose from at about 6 different dealers.

As far as a lack of new items, I think this has always been the case. Perhaps it is because these are available on-line, and at train stores. A seller can haul just so much stuff. Also, York has not been known as "bargain city", so you may get better "deals" on new stuff elsewhere. This is probably why it is rare to see someone selling new track at York. With the older stuff, York lets you test before buying (test track in every hall).

Mike Wyatt posted:

My first York.  I really liked the meet,  I am a rookie to the hobby (2 years). 

  The meet is great for the smaller manufacturer with specialty products, like O-Scale roller coasters, custom buildings etc.  These people need a place to meet lots of serious enthusiasts- the "web" is so crowded that even online is not adequate IMO.  If I had something really "niche" in nature- I would never miss the York opportunity. 

Likewise, as a hobbyist, that is what I would be going there FOR- I can buy widely-available stuff at ANY local show, and at good prices, but I would never get local opportunities to see the really specialized stuff.

Great point!

OK, all done? Going once, going twice, BANG....on to Allentown.

Captaincog posted:

This was my first York trip with my wife and Steve Papa Eastman and CPBob along for the trip. We arrived so late on Sunday it was actually Monday morning. We stayed at the Days Inn and saw some of the sites and other unofficial events. 

We wore our custom made Dorfan shirts and got lots of looks. 

I did find some Dorfan items for myself and I got my loving wife an MTH Breast Cancer steam engine that she wanted. We walked a lot and tried out the local eating places along with some museums and a tour through the Harley Davidson plant. Very interesting and the weather was perfect!

I am surprised by the sheer numbers of everything there and by what I did not see. The amount of American Flyer S gauge was more than I had ever seen anywhere. The selection of European tinplate and trains was amazing and I did grab a couple of little items. I was surprised by the lack of modern tinplate for sale. I am sure I missed some since I did not get to all of the Orange hall until Friday. I did not find any Harley Davidson tinplate which I was thinking I would but that is okay. The show size of course overwhelms anything here on the West Coast in SoCal which is why we went.

Overall thoughts?

My wife wants to go again next year....I think that says it all.

Loved the Dorfan shirts!

Joe Hohmann posted:

OK, all done? Going once, going twice, BANG....on to Allentown.

Aww, Joe, don’t mention Allentown. I miss it and can’t get there anymore!