Let's talk about cell phones at York

Suppose by October they will ban Google Glasses

It is fair to say as soon as you have one or more trains which cannot be run on your layout you are a "Collector" at some level?

 

As soon as we passed locomotive #10, my wife said I was "hording trains," is there a club for that?

 

 

No Sir, I think they call that a Hobbiest.  There are still a few of us around. 

Seems like a good enough time to start one...

 

THA

Train

Hoarders

Anonymous

 

Hi, my names Jerry and I'm a train hoarder.

 

Jerry

THA #13-0001

"Hi Jerry, I'm Joe, and I'm a train hoarder too. (Crowd says "Hi Joe"), I've been hoarding since 1971..."

 

Joe

THA #13-0002 (Give or take a few, seeing how this post is going....)

You forget Jerry, I am also an operator.

I guess most of us knew that it would only take a short time before the posts would become antagonistic and ugly.

Does anybody believe that the Eastern Division will change show rules as a result of what is posted on the OGR board?

I don't. So what was the point of this thread?

You are right Burf. This has gotten really stupid. it goes on every 6 months. Hey mr. Buffle, how about we meet on Friday at Alan & Jeff's table in the blue hall at 12 noon.

Hi Folks,  It seems that the cell phones at York topic comes up on this forum each year.  I am a relatively new TCA member and I am looking forward to attending York someday.

 

This is my experience with cell phones at the just ended Cal-Stewart convention in Northern, CA.

 

I had two tables of stuff to sell.  The fellow next me had some impressive pre-war and postwar trains for sale.  He left his table to do something.  A buyer came up and started asking me about the trains.  I didn't know anything about them.  The buyer was about to walk away when I offered to call the seller on his cell phone.  The seller came over and made a $500 sale.

 

In another instance a woman stopped by my table.  She spotted something on my table and told me that her husband was looking for that item or one like it.  She called her husband using her cell phone,  He came to my table and I made a $50 sale.  I was glad to get rid of that item.

 

I have never seen anyone comparison shopping using cell phones at trains shows but I suppose it could happen.  I think that the largest use of cell phones at train shows is to alert your friends that an item that they are searching for is available in the ABC hall at table 123.

 

I also give my cell phone number to the sellers on each table around me so that they can alert me if a buyer stops by when I go to the rest room or to get something to eat.

 

I think that cell phone use at train shows benefits both sellers and buyers.

 

Joe

 

 

 

Comparing Cal-Stewart to York is like comparing apples to oranges' or a cat to a tiger.

I will be attending York with my wife, 19 year old daughter and my 10 year old daughter. They have a mild interest in trains but mostly go for me. I will spend the majority of my train budget at York for the year in one day.

The girls planned on scouting separately for cool stuff and then I would eventually check it out. Their plan included pictures of the items, texting me the location and also to arrange eating.

They laughed when I said no cell phones. They thought it was a joke. I showed them the rules.  In a heartbeat they said the funs gone it will just be old crabby people there. 

Their interest in going has diminished. No phone....no fun.  No exchange of information.

If they opt out I may pass also and we can spend our day and money doing something we are all comfortable with.

Joe, I'll work up a certificate for those of us with this dreaded affliction when I get home later. Maybe we can even get some government funding to study our problem but that money is to be used strictly for studying the cause and possible cure, NOT TRAINS!

Jerry

THA #13-0001

I don't own a cell phone, but I have to use a company-issued one at work (that gets turned on when I punch in and turned off when I leave). I've never understood the need to be connected all the time. The blue tooth things that people plug into their ears kinda creeps me out: you look as though you're talking to those little voices in your heads. I'm for the rule, some folks can't walk and chew gum at the same time, and I've watched people stop dead in the middle of an intersection to yap at thin air. It's a safety thing as far as I'm concerned.

I am not trying to start a fight here and maybe I am off topic...and I am a TCA member, this goes beyond the cellphone and camera usage.  The TCA needs to get with 21st century. TCA "Eastern Division" rules are archaic and  outdated to say the least and that's being polite.

 

When I read the TCA quarterly I see the membership thermometer and how it compares to a few years back etc.. typically the membership #'s are lower.

 

What is the average age of a TCA member Eastern Division or not? I dare to say 60 years old plus? The TCA needs to loosen up its rules and entice and encourage younger people who have now for the past 10-20 years grown up with technology. Tell a 10, 20, 30 or 40 year old they can not use their cellphone or camera feature and they will stare at you like you  have 10 heads. I understand rules are rules but this is to much in our digital age.

 

Is the TCA doing enough in getting younger people to join in a major way. I am sad to say I do not think so. Even Lionel has embraced technology by possibly using the IPad which has a camera as a possible controller for our trains. This conversation gets old, the TCA needs to bring their policies up to speed, and the speed at which the TCA does things is slow in my humble opinion. I do not want to see my favorite dinosaur become extinct in 20 years due to lack of members.

Train related reply:

 

I sometimes take NJ Transit to NYC, and there are some trains which designate "quiet cars" that prohibit cell phone talking.  Some trains have no "quiet cars" but woe to the person who engages in a loud conversation on his phone.  They are quickly harassed by the other passengers until they hang up.  That's how to handle the problem. 

 

-Mark

I would like to be able to take a few pictures of the layouts and displays.  I don't mind stepping outside to use the phone but it really doesn't bother me if others are using their cell phones.  I vote to change the rule.

No,  there will be alotted time frames of when you may speak and ask questions,

no you may ask, a vendor a question during your time frame,  you will just have to

wait for the answer, when the vendors time frame to speak comes up !!!!!!!!!!

My phone goes off when I walk into Church,  other than that it stays on 24/7,

because I have employees dependent on me when they need a decision or advise.

I am going to HICKORY, NC. April and have a good time !!!!

We don't need no stinking cell phones.  I went to York last fall.  My first visit since first hearing about the show three years ago.  I collected n-scale for years intending to build a layout and run my trains.  I even have a couple first year issue Micro-Trains that I ruined the value by removing them from the package.  I rediscovered O-Scale trains by accident about three years ago and started attending train shows in the Maryland, PA and NJ area.  York was like the holy grail of shows, or so I was told. 

 

The only problem was you had to be a member to get in or be a one time guest.  This rule was recently changed to allow anyone to become a member and attend the show.  It was even harder to join.  You needed two people that were afraid that a new member would buy the item they were looking for to sponsor your membership.  For those of us that play with trains and still have to punch a clock.  Thursday is not the best day to take off work when you have to go back on Friday for one day then have the weekend off.  I'm not a collector, I run my stuff.  I'm not interested in old Lionel or tinplate.  I go looking for the newer modern equipment.  (To each his own right) 

 

I'm in my mid 50's.  Growing up in Maryland and buying trains for several years I find that a lot of the hobby shops that used to sell trains are long gone and the remaining shops are limited in their selections.  That's the reason I wanted to go to York.  York the show with the bid vendors most people only see advertized in the back of a train magazine.  These vendors go to York and pay to set up their stores.  Think of the deals that could be had if these same vendors were allowed to sell to the public and not to a select group of aging members that are not willing to change. 

 

For all you collectors out there.  Ask your spouse or children what their plans are for your collection you value so much?  Better be sitting down first.  Remember a closed mind is lose.

This is about the time to queue the violins.  This has become such a tear-jerker, all these people who are losing their dignity, unable to think or breath if they can't use their cell phone.  And the vendors who gorilla pound their chest about it always seem to come back meet after meet.  Why?  Because they like the returns they get and don't want to be left out of the event.

 

Judas Priest!  All you have to do is step outside the hall to talk on the phone, it's simple.

 

:::sniff... sniff :::: Tune in tomorrow, to see if the Whinefest continues!  (Bring your own cheese to go with the whine.)

I am in my late 30s and have recently moved from N scale to 3 rail O over the past 2 years.

Some general observations from a younger "new guy" that I have learned collecting & running older toy trains on a budget. I joined the Plasticville Collectors Association, I had thought about joing the TCA or TTOS....The longer I'm in this part of the hobby the more I dont want to be in a club at all. 

 

I'm glad I found this site and its helpfull members I was about to give up on "O" I did not know there were 2 "O" magazines available till now.

 

Here is my rant on train shows in general-

 

- I wish all shows would enforce a "personal hygene & no dingbats" rule myself, its embarassing to explain to your wife why you want to go to a train show full of rude older men who will push a woman out of they way to get to a "toy" train on a table for sale - it happened to us at the meet in Allentown PA - NOT a great way to expand the hobby to other family members.  The antique car parts swap meets I visit usually are fun relaxing, nothing like a train show in winter...mob chaos in flannel shirts with no patience.

 

-I have met a few good guys in the larger scale but for the most part large scale train people I come into contact with at shows are friggin coo-coo for coco puffs. Especially in eastern PA.  And they wonder why they can't attract new club members.

 

-HIGH prices for stuff that belongs in the spare parts bin. Rusty Dented Missing Parts with no box.....look it up in the price guides and paste on the higest price.

Also spray paint over rust & dents makes it "professionally restored"

I got screwed by a "TCA member" vendor on a transformer that was down right dangerous to use $75 for an externally "restored" type Z lionel transformer that looked like it was in a flood on the inside. His response when I took it back - "Its 80 years old its not going to look new inside"  Heavy rust in a transformer? what TCA code of ethics?

 

-A complete lack of respect for the fact that someone younger then themselves could possibly know what they are talking about.  - I DO have the ability to learn about and enjoy things that were manufactured before I was born.  I do not need to have been a kid in the 1950s to appreciate and want a Lionel 671 Turbine or American Flyer Circus train.

 

-Some people like to laugh at you if you dont have deep pockets and cant play the who's wallet is bigger game, I dont need a home museum of mint vintage trains in mint vintage boxes to be happy, I ACTUALLY enjoy the challenge of fixing or building an engine from spare/junk parts with a small budget.

 

WHY would I want to go to York? What makes York so perfect in many peoples eyes?

Is york the only show that does not have any problems with sellers or buyers?

From the behavior and attitudes I  have seen towards new younger guys at smaller local shows over the last 2 years why would I want to "supersize" this experiance?

 

-Jason Rackawack

The one that always gets me was the year I was stopped by one of the hired uniformed security personel inside a hall who told me I could not use my Bluetooth ear bud! Yes, I had it in my ear, and yes, it was on. However, I was by myself, and very obviously not  talking. My reasons for having and using the device are not open for debate. However, there is nothing in the ED York rules that says I cannot have it in my ear and ready for use. Same thing applies to the cell phone. It's operational and ready for use. If I get a call, I take it, tell the person to wait a moment while I exit the hall, and complete the call. End of discussion. At this point, I feel I have done my best to abide by the ED's York cell phone rule, ear bub or no ear bud.

 

Chris

LVHR

Tempot in a teapest

Or, Once, Tice, Fee times a mady.......

Post of the month!

Let me clear up a few things that seems to be lost on a few people,

!. The York show is run and controlled by the Eastern Division of the TCA.  TCA National has no control over the show.  It is completely controlled by the Eastern Division.  Address your concerns to Eastern Division not TCA National.

2. You may use your cell phone at York, just not inside any of the Halls.  You may answer your ringing phone and ask the caller to hold for a minute while you step outside.  If you want to make a call just step outside.

3. As past President of the Keystone Division and National TCA let me educate some of you about the York show being held in Keystones area.  Eastern Division used to be quite large, in 1978 the Keystone Division was carved out of the Eastern Division.  Since the Eastern Division had been using York for it's shows since the mid 1960's, they asked for and received permission from National TCA and the newly formed Keystone division to continue using York as the location of Easterns shows.

 

I hope that will clear up a few minds.

 

Paul Edgar

 Do they allow texting?  Maybe they'll ban conversation all together.  I find it amazing that they won't allow cellphones in this day and age.  Does you no good to step outside if the guy you are calling is a dealer inside a hall.

 

Lew

Wow! I just read all the comments, some good, bad, indifferent. I do wonder, is the York meet or Eastern Div. TCA regarded as some "high power" ? What about "power to the people"? When a rule is made that is not appreciated by the majority the normal recoarse is Boycott!!

Eastern Sportsmen show is somewhat like York because it also attracts collectors, operators, horders of guns. This year they made a new rule, no assult weapons, large capacity bullet magizines will be allowed in the show. The gun people spoke! Dealers cancelled as well as visitors. Result, show had to be cancelled!! That is how rules are changed for the majority of those who see the need to change them.

 

Is York above all department stores, food stores, auto dealerships, fine clothing stores etc.?? All of these businesses have no cell phone rules, you can take photos, do price checks, call Uncle Rudy or Aunt Maribel anytime.

Just Sayin'

Thank you!

I wonder just how many of the pro cell phone posters reside within the boundaries of the Eastern Division. Maybe equal to or more than the current number of Eastern Division members who favor the ban. We all know you're more in a position to foster change when you're on the inside rather than perched on the outside. It's just a thought but imagine if the pro cellphone people decided to join TCA's Eastern Division and their ranks became a voting majority in that group. Rather than remaining on the sidelines and complaining about the rule that dispise they would now now be in a position of power with a voice which would really count as they change that rule and those old hardliners like it or not would find themselves outvoted and couldn't halt the change they so resist. Anyone up for organizing a TCA Eastern Division membership drive to wrest the reigns of power from the grasp of a few?

I take my York trips as part of my vacation time which means its a chance for me to escape. At work I have multiple phones, e-mail instant messaging, my personal cell phone and a Blackberry.  I kind of enjoy shutting all this stimulation down for a short time and focus on the trains. " Frankly my dear I don't give a ****" about the cell phone rule.

 

I do carry my cell phone and keep it on during the meet. If i need to use it I just walk outside the hall and take care of business.  Life is too short to worry about such a trivial manner.

 

 

Kenn, that would work, provided all those "outsiders" moved to an Eastern Division location.  You can't just "join" the ED, you have to live within it's boundaries.

From my limited perspective (fortunately,) far more troublesome and dangerous than any cellphone use or user has been the cruel and calculated phenomenon of crop-dusting. I have never been hit by a cell phone, nor bumped into by a caller, but I have been assaulted by lurking dusters (Think: "North by Northwest" w/ me as the Cary Grant victim.) Somehow, being stationed next to a huge open door, I kind of imagined and assumed (you know what that can mean) I was safe from such danger, but oh no, my fellow hobbyists and horders. Yes, I have been hit, and hit hard, on more than one occasion. Maybe, a cellphone could put out your eye, but what I've been forced to endure has taken more than my breath away. I swear, I've lost vision and hearing, temporarily, and perhaps the sense of touch, I'm pretty sure, from such well-placed callous disregard.

 

I mean, I'm all for freedom of expression, but...

 

OK, I'll shut-up, now. Back to the topic of import.

FrankM.

Now that you can plug a small magnetic strip reader into a cell phone to complete charge card transactions there may well be pressure from many dealers to allow the phones so they can easily take charge cards for purchases.

 

Cell phones have become small computers/cameras/etc. and adjusting the rule to permit their use may eventually become so logical it is unavoidable because they benefit the majority of members.

Trainfun, You have made two really vital points.IMO.

Of course, that's the case, Traindiesel, and I wasn't suggesting otherwise. However the Eastern division is so disproportionately larger than it's neighboring divisions encompassing many, many more people over a very large and densely populated geographical area that I'd venture a guess that many of this forum's pro cellphoners live in that area blanketed by the Eastern Division and if they joined then that group of new pro cellphone users would find themselves the "new" majority of the Eastern Division's membership and would be in a position to command the change they're clamoring for.