How worthwhile are the Greenberg Shows for o gauge hobbyists?

There won't be any manufacturers there are lots O vendors and plenty of buildings and accessories I would go what have you got loose 

I agree with Sean. (Let me go make a diary entry).

0 Gauge Guy,

   The Greenburg shows are definitely worth while, especially for a beginner,

lots of different vendors.  With lot of trains old and new, I go to the shows here in the Pittsbugh area, especially when I want to pick up more FasTrack at reasonable prices.  Go and have fun.

PCRR/Dave

Or you could watch the Eagles - Giants game.

I'd go to the Greenberg show.

Gerry

Being the Greenberg show is only one of maybe 3 shows we see down here yearly, I go every chance I get.

There's always some O-scale stuff, plus I like looking at all the new HO stuff (Seaboard of course and wishing they were made in O-scale) and the GIGANTIC G-scale Seaboard Boxcar I keep saying I'm going to buy.

This year I'm going to be looking at some older Lionel engines and parts for a Scout.  I bought some from a fellow last year and when I got home they were the wrong parts (siderods and retaining screws).  I'll take the engine with me this year.

Our show is in February.

According to the Greenberg schedual, the show is at the Valley Forge Convention Center, not Oaks. Greenberg has not done a Oaks show for a while. The VF Convention center is not far from Oaks, but space is tight, and modular layouts have been few and small in the past...and usually "HO" and "N".

In general, I think this show is good weekend entertainment, but not worth driving over an hour to attend. They usually hold this show in EARLY Dec.

It depends on the location.Personally,I am mostly on the hunt for MTH Premier and Lionel big steam and Atlas and Premier rolling stock.Timonuim,York and Lancaster were OK,but still enjoyable shows.The Edison,NJ show is outstanding! There was a much larger percentage of O and some big dealers attended too(Grzyboski,Public Delivery Track,etc).I always seem to find something I can use.Any Greenberg show is worth attending if you are   close.

Ricky

I believe that ANY train show is worth attending if possible. Even if there is not a lot to buy, and even if there is not much in O gauge to see, there are nearly always some great layouts to look at, and these can often provide inspiration for development on our own layouts. Besides that, I at least, am always happy to be around trains of any scale or prototype, and am often amazed at the high standards of work that the exhibitors have achieved. On top of that, there is often the great satisfaction of the 'surprise find' that can sometimes be found in the most unlikely of places. 

The Middletown, New York show was a complete waste of time.

I did get some Homies, though . . . . 

I find even a small local show with a smaller selection worth attending. I'd rather be browsing trains and related products than sitting in front of the TV (assuming there aren't better options that day). I also enjoy catching up with some of the nice people and dealers I've met in this hobby, as well as getting a chance to be amused by the cranky and quirky ones. I find train shows like a Christmas laout. Even a simple loop under the tree beats no layout at all.

I have been to many of these. If your only into post war as I am, then it may not be worth going if you have to drive a while to get there. I have seen both Lionel and MTH set up at a show in Virginia beach once, but never any place else. Sometimes Charlie Schmitt and East Coast trains are there. Lots of scenery stuff and new track, and new Trains. My only complaint is the strollers blocking the isles while the mothers gossip.

Rob

Just about everyone will have different opinions concerning any of these Train Shows.

Hobbiest interest and shopping lists varies. often they are upset by the vendors or lack of vendors, overpriced items etc. etc.

what you could do is attend the show in OAKS, Pa and give a report back to the forum what your opinions are of this show.

 Personnally I did not like the facillities compared to the Fort Washington  venue.

oldrob,

   I have to agree with you about distance traveled, some of the small shows are great if you do not have to drive 100 miles to get to them.  The Adamsburg show here just outside of Greensburg draws lots of people from the Pittsburgh, Pa area and the little show is in the Fire Station, great little show each year with lots of trains and vendors.   However if I had to drive 100 miles for the little show, it would be a different matter.

PCRR/Dave

I'll be going to the Valley Forge Greenberg show on Sunday. Would like to buy a Woodland Scenics "HO" Victorian house for my "S" layout. That and the '30s style gas station are a good size for "S". N.Smith trains do not have this house in stock, but I bet a few dealers at the show will. I'm not going to go today because our local news stations are wailing that we will be buried under a inch of snow.

Sure - go, you never know what you'll find.  Anyway there'll be nice modular layouts and lots of kids enjoying the trains.  I never miss it when it's near me in Virginia Beach and went when it (and I) was in Albany, NY.

Nicole is absolutely right. Any train show is worth going to. Usually they have operating layouts and all of us love to see trains moving around and around. Many vendors can have hidden treasures that you normally may not find online or at the local hobby store.

From working shows as a dealer/exhibitor, mostly in the Erie, PA area and now back in Kokomo, IN.  The crappy weather is usualy the better day.  In areas that normaly see snow, it has the opposite effect, the show is usualy packed and folks tend to linger longer and buy more as they know that they will be stuck indoors when they get home and need something to do.  Some of the best attended shows at Rainbow Gardens in Erie was during some of the worst weather I have seen.  While it may keep away folks driving from father away, the bad weather seems to bring out all the local modelers.  Personaly I feel any train show is worth attending atleast once.  If it bombs, then we make the most out of the day, stopping at any local hobby shops and going out for a nice lunch/dinner.  No show has ever been a total waste of my time, even if I dont buy a single item, I still manage to bumb into old friends that I might see only a couple times a year at shows. That makes it worth some of my time.  I miss the Greenburg's shows, they dont have them in the midwest other than the huge Weaton IL show and its 4.5hours away for me.  Have a great time if you go.   Mike and Michele T

ogaugeguy,

I recommend you go. I bet you will have a lot of fun. You will probaly fine a couple of things that you need. Maybe more. Also, stop for some ice cream on the way home. A train show and your favorite ice cream treat. Doesn't get any better. 

The Greenberg Shows abandoned Long Island, so I will not go to them as I have to pay ridiculous tolls to get off Long Island and away from the Big Apple.

Just got home from the Greenberg's KOP show.  Driving home was a bit messy, more so from the dopes who don't know how to drive on a snow covered road!  As for the show, lot's of families with little kids.  A good showing from the vendors.  Mostly the more generic type of stuff that you either already have or don't want.  All scales represented, with what felt like a lot of American Flyer. 

Overall all, not bad for a snowing Saturday afternoon.  ( I didn't by anything, short of a strwberry smoothie.  

Were there any modular layouts? If yes, how many? Thanks. I'm always amazed at how man  AF trains (in great condition) are neatly displayed at all the major shows in the NorthEast.

I think you should go if only because I personally thing they are dinosaurs and won't be around much longer. There was at one time a number of shows every year around our old digs and now there are none. Don

The Greenberg shows are pretty good. They do vary by location. We get 2 in Central NJ.1 in Edison and one in Somerset. Edison is usually good Somerset, not as much. Either way, when i go to one of the shows and find something I like, it is a good day! Upon further reflection, any venue still focusing on trains is OK by me.

FYI, there's a Greenberg show in Somerset the weekend after New Year's.

http://www.greenbergshows.com/schedule.html

ogaugeguy - how can you belong to all those RR organizations and live in PA, the heart

of the RR hobby in N. America, and not be familiar with train shows? Or is it

just Greenberg? Same question.

I live in one of the many Railroad Hobby Voids - most of the US is that way - and even

we have train shows - few, far between and pathetic, but every so often.

If I lived in PA I'd be broke next week. Went to York once a few years ago - a truly

scary place. Too much. 

D500,

   Now that is funny, never heard the York show described in just that manner.

I have not been to York in many years due to my Gun Dog Training business schedule.  As a kid I thought of it as a dream world of trains, nothing scary about it.   Course my Father and Grandfather were paying the bills at that time.  Could be scary I guess if a man had little self control and limited funds.  When ever I completey wind down my training business, I plan to visit York again and meet

Barry and the DCS guys at dinner.  Have been looking forward to it for a few years now. 

PCRR/Dave

Several modular layouts, mostly HO and N.  Also a couple of small display layout and even a LEGO set up as well as a slot car track (expensive - $3/20 laps)

Small shows beat Greenberg every time.

I think the Greenberg shows are great. I don't always get a chance to go but even if it's a small show as Nicole said above it's just a fun place to hang out. In short train people are as much fun as the trains.

As for the King of Prussia Convention center I have been there a number of times for everything from company meetings to computer shows and I think it's big enough. There is plenty of parking, good food services and enough reastrooms.

On top of that it's not far from Valley Forge National park as well as one of the biggest malls in the country. There are plenty of hotels in the area and it is only about a one hour drive to Strasburg, PA where the Strasburg RR, Toy Train Museum as well as the RR Museum of Pennsylvania live. It's a fun area and worth the trip.

I think the KofP convention center is hands down better then Oaks, at lest you can get in and out of the place.

I was about to post a thread entitled "Anyone else a sucker for a train show?" when I saw this thread.    IMO--it depends on where you live.   I went to the show today in Valley Forge as "you never know what you'll find".   Later in the morning I was out $7, gas money and two hours of my life which is par for the course.  Guess I've just been to too many duds.  IMO the only good shows outside of York are the ATMA shows, Greenberg in Edison, and the show in Springfield, MA but I haven't been there in 3 or 4 years do to distance from my home.  

---Greg

I had a good time at this show today. It opened at 10am, and by 11:30 I gave it up because it was a mob scene and very hard to walk the aisles. It was nice seeing so many families and kids, but the strollers really added to the jam-up.

I was able to find the Woodland Scenics house I was looking for, but I paid a lot more for it than they had been selling for at York (too bad I had not realised, back then, that this "HO" house was the perfect size for "S").

The show they had here in Wilmington DE at the Chase Center on the Waterfront was their first show in DE. It was pretty decent. Alot of O gauge and Gilbert American Flyer. There was a Lionel Parts Dealer there, with 1000's of parts and one vendor had ALL the LeMax animated accessories from the past several years. I picked up the Scale Lionel NYC Pullman Heavyweights to go with my Black Commodore Vanderbilt.

I believe they are having another show this March 2013.

I like the Greenberg shows. They're perfect for taking the kids or grandkids out especially the ones nearer to Christmas. True there is a lot of non-train related things there but that doesn't take anything away from the show, I've picked up a lot of cool things that weren't trains, like a Lost In Space robot or an Oscar Mayer Weinermobile.

I read posts about how a show like York isn't for kids or really family oriented and then I read posts by some of the same folks complaining that shows like Greenbergs aren't anything a "SERIOUS" train enthusiast can come away from with anything worthwhile. Not all shows are going to be all things to everyone of us. Kids get a kick out of Greenberg type shows, they don't care about the quality of the layouts or the scarcity of old or new trains or HO vs O and that's the appeal of these. Nothing beats the fun of spending the day with my train buddy just loading up on little things that in his eyes is the greatest thing he's ever found or how he gets all fired up because he got a boxcar for $5 that most of us wouldn't have given a second look or how he found a car just like the one I have so now we both have one, that's the true fun of a Greenberg show. Yeah I know York has a bigger selection and that I can get a better deal online or Ebay has things that don't normaly show up at shows but none of that beats the thrill that the kids get from just a day out with mom and dad or grandpa buying trains and looking at layouts. We seem to forget that we were all kids before and how the littlest things meant the world to us now it's our turn to return the favor to the next generation.

Jerry

For those that are fortunate to make it to York on a regular basis or the huge show in Wheaton, IL, one can get kind of jaded toward smaller shows.  Between ebay and those huge shows, one has access to pretty much anything at every level of condition.  When one does not have access to those shows on a regular basis or at all, then the smaller shows might seem to have a better selection.  As said before, to each his own and it depends on what your looking for.  If your just getting started with postwar or just whatever strikes your fancy in O gauge.  Any show with a good selection might be a great show.  But if your trying to take an established collection to the next level by upgrading, then York or ebay are your best friends. There is really only one show in Indiana, the show at Manual High School that I think is a dud, but thats only because I dont model the Nickle Plate, Monon in HO or N scale.  I prefer postwar Lionel and G scale, so that show is a dud and not worth the gas to attend.  I only go if tagging along with friends and we plan to do other activities after the show.   I miss going to York!     Mike

I am considering Somerset this upcomming weekend. the Edison show is Great! Last November show there were a lot of layouts in All scales. I suspect it may be the same for the March Edison show.

Lack -A $$ is my issue all the time nowadays.