October York Meet..."Times be a changing"

I attend from California and I am back in the area (from Boston to NC) for a minimum of 6 days (and often 10-14 days) with the focus on the York Meet.

I'm flexible.  I can accommodate any change - as we all did a few years ago when the ED opened York on Thursday.  I will miss, however, "brunch" at Bob Evans on Thursday.  

Nothing to be concerned about folks.  I have been informed that the opening hours for the next York Meet are not being changed.  

Lol. Was it Gilda Radnor that used to end her skit with "never mind"?

Too bad.

Excellent news! 

Glad to read that the opening hours aren't changing.

Opening time seems to work well for most. As mentioned above and beyond the dealers need setup time and driving for hours and then setting up on Wednesday night does not seem pleasant to me. I spend 2 days there and find that more than enough time to see everything I want to see.

Jim

But what about the closing hours?

Or eliminating Saturday!

(note, I am not truly in favor of eliminating Saturday, but it's one of the semi annual whine-fests and we haven't seen that here yet.)

I think there will always be Saturday for those that can't make Thursday & Friday.

Please, lets open the meet Thursday at 9AM.

Good news.

Peter

No can do, Eddie (even though I would also like an earlier Thurs. opening), and here's why:

1.  Dealer hall sellers are able to unload and set-up or begin set-up in their respective halls on Wed. afternoon/evening and Thurs. morning (because, in many instances, they have larger and more complex displays, etc.)

2.  Member halls--those halls with folks holding one or more individual tables--are not permitted to set-up until Thursday morning.  Imposing a 9 a.m. or even 10 a.m. opening time would be problematic for a good number of those folks, many of whom are Eastern Div. members (and this IS their meet).

3.  If all halls were permitted to set-up on Wednesday evening, security requirements for the meet would be at least doubled for that night.

Etc., etc., and so forth.... 

What's the history of the York Meet and the number of days it used to be?

I've been a TCA member since 2003 and have attended every meet with the current Noon opening on Thursday.

Did the Meet previously start on Friday at 9 AM with no activity on Thursday or has it always started on Thursday at Noon?

Used to be just Friday and Saturday.  I think it used to start at 8 maybe instead of 9 then. 

To the best of my recollection, there was no differentiation between the hours for dealer halls and member halls then either. 

There was no Brown or Orange hall yet, most dealers were in Purple, Yellow(grandstand), Gold(small building next to grandstand), Black, and probably Green(small building behind Silver - always announced on the PA as "the green barn").

-Dave

When did the Silver hall open?

I know it wasn't there when I first started attending, but I don't remember when the Silver hall opened.

I'm waiting for Saturday to be open to the general public.  

Rick

So if the meet used to open at 9 AM on Friday, which was the first day of the meet, why can't it open at 9 AM on Thursday now?

Sounds like it was done for years at 9 AM on Day 1.

Actually the meet is open / accessible to the public on any day.  All anyone has to do is pay $50 to join TCA on the spot and pay $20 for admission.

Do that and they are in and can have full access to all the halls.  Simple!

It was there when I started in 1997, but I think people have told me it was pretty new then, so maybe early to mid 90's?

-Dave

It used to be the brunette hall, but changed to silver as the average age of the membership increased.

Your right BOB. if it opened on Friday at 9 why can't it open on Thursday at 9. Allan, whats you answer to that?

My theory only:

With the 9am start on Friday, dealers (and maybe some members) needed to be in town by Thursday anyway to a) get there in time, and b) have time to set up (dealers only, I think were allowed to set up on Thursday night - members were forced to set up in a short time on Friday morning, maybe one hour before meet opened.)

For some portion of participants in that boat, the addition of Thursday at noon did not result in an additional hotel stay.  There are of course those from further away that now need to come in on Wednesday.

The advent of the Orange hall (and actual space for larger dealers to set up) also requires some more time to set up.  Anyone remember the tiny alcoves in the grandstand that dealers like Grzyboski, Nicholas Smith and others had to shoe-horn themselves into?

It can't be everything to everybody.

-Dave

John: Thanks for the opening date of the Silver hall.

I think the silver hall opened before the orange hall. Don't recall the date of the orange hall either.

quote:

For some portion of participants in that boat, the addition of Thursday at noon did not result in an additional hotel stay.  There are of course those from further away that now need to come in on Wednesday.

That's my impression.

That's definitely true.  I want to say April 2003 was first meet for Orange, with Brown following around a year (or at least one meet?) behind it.

-Dave

HA!  Yes Steve, it was. Or more specifically, it was her 'Roseanne Rosanna Dana' character..  Great!

I get a kick out several younger fellas saying hey walked the whole meet on Thursday (7 hrs) and then went around again on Friday to say goodbye.  We've only been twice, stayed through Saturday morning and STILL didn't see all the halls.  Must be gettin' old...

Well I admit this particular meet I got a bit train-drunk and was absolutely rifling through the show. Thursday I think I walked each building once and went around the Orange and Brown Halls multiple times. Friday I walked each building once again and then made another circuit just to take the photos for the "Virtual Tour". Then I wrapped it all up by walking around and saying goodbye to friends. I officially left the grounds at around 4 or 5, right when that rain starting coming through Friday.

Yes, at 22 it's certainly easier and I'm enjoying it while I have it 

Pretty sure that the Orange Hall opened in '04.

You could be right.

The method to my madness was reviewing the purchases I made during York meets around those years and April and October 2013 is where I first remembered picking up items from dealers in Orange as opposed to their previous spots in Purple.

My memory could be mistaken however.

-Dave

My first York was April '04 and the Orange hall was opened before that.

I'm thinking sometime in 2003 or earlier.

this thread sounds like a Seinfeld episode which is usually about NOTHING.

Marty ... thanks for clarifying.  Seemed like Spring, 2004, but now thinking about it, you're correct.  Thanks, again.  

That sounds awful. Thank goodness that was changed. I can only barely imagine the pressure the dealers must have felt. And the confusion. And the commotion. And the tension. I'd imagine there might have been some shop-lifting, too, given how distracted dealers setting up would have been, esp. those with broad and wide displays of small items, eh?

In my case, it takes me several hours on Wednesday and a few on Thursday mornng to get my little 10x10' booth all set up and configured exactly the way I want it. Plus, most of my customers occur during the first 20 minutes - actually the first 5 minutes - of the opening on Thursday. If such a pressure as you reminded us were to be the case again, I would not go back. (I'm discovering that I am not getting any younger, you see.)

Thanks for the perspective, CW.

FrankM

I guess I should have been clearer. The shotgun start was in the member halls. I don't think the dealer halls ever had a shotgun start during my tenure as a TCA member.

The shotgun start avoided giving tableholders any advantage over non-tableholders in finding those rare and highly prized items.

Well gee folks...it's called "real life". Oh, let's make things fair and let everyone BID on a item. Wait...that sounds like eBay!

I think "tableholders" should get some advantage. Without them, there is no meet.

quote:

I think "tableholders" should get some advantage. Without them, there is no meet.

As an occasional table holder, I thank you.

Of course you realize that at shows without a shotgun start, there are people who buy tables just to get in early and really don't contribute much to the show.

I wish more people would appreciate that the table holders are there to enjoy the show too.

If a train collector is that desperate, that anxious to get into York early and must buy a table to do this, that person is in need of severe psychiatric care. I always show up late for train shows and have always found what I was looking for at a great price. No anxiety, no panic, no urgency; just a relaxing fun day as it should be. These are toys that we are talking about. York is not the commodity exchange and you won't find the crown jewels there!

quote:

 I always show up late for train shows and have always found what I was looking for at a great price.

Then you've never looked for anything that is difficult to obtain.
Your comment about psychiatric care is inappropriate and uncalled for.

People in glass houses............

With eBay, and various "collector" shows on TV, it has become much more difficult for dealers to find things that they can sell at a profit. We have a huge "Sunday only" Flea market (Renningers in Adamstown, PA) that sees buyers show up with flashlights well before sunrise...and they are leaving with bags full of stuff by the time I arrive around 7am. I'm sure 75% of these poeple are dealers re-selling in shops or on eBay.

Same goes for Estate sales in my area.

Folks arrive way before the starting time and wait in line to get first crack at the merchandise. The good operators hand out numbers. I don't like lines (who does?), so I don't participate in the wait, even when trains are listed.
I arrive a little later, and look at what's left.  Once in a while I even get a train that the early birds missed