Hi all, this is a quick report about the Greenburg show/meet at the Shriners auditorium this past weekend in Wilmington, MA. Honestly, this was the first train show I have attended in over a decade. With taking care of both my parents before they passed and now some significant health issues myself, it wasn't a priority or even a possibility. So, maybe it was a chance to make up for lost time. The wife and I had a conference we were obligated to attend on Saturday so that was a bust. However, Sunday was our savior. My wife Nina and I enlisted the help (and mini-van) of another couple we are good friends with, who aren't trainiacs like us but are always open to new experiences. OK so we got there around 10 AM and yeppers parking was free with our admission. We pre-paid our tickets and I had the code on my iPhone. At the gate I was whipping out the cell and before I got it open the ticket taker waved us through. OK so now to the important stuff. It appeared as if most if not all tables were occupied and thankfully, I only noticed one table that was very far afield of train related items. Much better than the days of old "Toy and train" shows at the Westchester County (NY) center where there were 10 non-train vendors for every 1 train related vendor. The first isle or two didn't produce much results in our search for pre-war tin plate. However, Nina found a small plastic o gauge gas station that extracted a Hamilton from her purse. Onward we went. My goal was to explain to our friend Lea, who was also giving us sighted guide, what the term "pre-war tin plate" meant. The next isle found some rusty, dusty tin plate cars but nothing worth taking home. Alas, the end of the isle found a Lionel 238e and its associated 600 series passenger cars that was calling me. A few taps of Mr. Visa and it was in the bag, literally. This prompted an impromptu talk about how modernization and streamlining were coming into vogue in the '30s. OK so we soldiered on. When the word on the street got around that we were looking for pre-war tin plate a few vendors reminded us to look under the tables. OK, now things were looking up, or was that down. Some goodies were tucked away 'down there' ya know. Only problem was that I had part of my spine removed about 2 years ago and once down there to check out the goodies it was quite a challenge to get back up again. It was almost like I needed a crane. OK, so that is exactly what I did and bought a 219 crane in good working order. Strolling along a Baby Ruth box car landed in my grasp, not sure how that happened. Let's keep the pace up, there was no stopping us now. Hey, look honey there is a Blue Comet over there. Do you take Visa, personal checks, lungs, kidneys, unnatural acts? OK so feeling a little worn out we hit the snack bar for some grub. A foil wrapped cheeseburger, box of popcorn and a pretzel with enough salt on it to be considered a cardiac situation, later and we were off and running again. We stopped briefly to take in some of the operating layouts. All very well done and the level of smoke from the steamers rivaled my old college dorm room. Hey, considering what was just legalized here in MA, what would happen if you substituted smoke fluid for... oh never mind. Some more aisles and a few standard gauge odds and ends, a caboose here, a caboose there; fun, fun, fun. Getting on in the day and we were making one last pass and noticed something up our alley at one vendor. It was a 1912 Marklin station that was candle lit and you can still see some candle soot under the roof. Pretty nice stuff but Nina is the boss when it comes to buildings, so she was on the fence, especially at the $800 asking price. So, we walked around some more, and she decided to go for it. We figured it requires some haggling. I asked her if she wanted to be the lead negotiator, but she got cold feet at the last minute and left me to do the dirty deed. After some back and forth it found its way into our possession. Now we were really had enough, and the crowd was noticeably thinning. On the way out, one vendor we did business with gave us a few free-bee tin 0-gauge freights that will be fun to restore or modify. With the mini-van loaded up the four of us headed back to our house for a bit until Lea and Jerry had to leave. All said and done, our feet were tired, my back was screaming in pain, my credit card is a mess of molten plastic from the flames coming out of it, our friends Lea and jerry think we are nuts, and I need to figure out where to put all this new-found bootie. But, dang it, I wouldn't have it any other way.
'Happy rails to you...
