Trainfest 2017 pictures

Thank you so much for these photos. It's great for those of us who can't be there.

Wow! Looked like a fun time for all! Wish I could have gone. Thanks for the photos!

Thank you for sharing your photos, great shots.  Sure wish I was there.

Did Atlas have any updates on the newest O scale items, such as the C&O steel caboose? 

Andrew

I have to make it there some time. Thanks for the photo's.

Wow, first time I went on Saturday (morning) and couldn't believe the difference in crowd size from Sundays.  Sundays are still busy, but I never had to wait a half-hour just to get into the parking lot.  Pictures don't do justice to size of crowd.  Sat down once near a display railroad, and one very polite young man with his family asked if it was alright for his kids to block my view.  I said sure, it's all about the kids, and he replied it's also for the "big" kids.  I smiled and nodded agreement.

Only complaint was that I too often ran into "group" of friends chatting in middle of small aisle.  Slowed up traffic immensely.  Come on, guys, move to wider spaces so families with strollers can get by easier.  After all, it is about the kids having fun.

Chuck

Thanks for the pictures! This is the first one I've missed in years. I'm no longer working up in Chicagoland, so I won't be able to attend the November show anymore.  It always brings a lot of young folks and family's into the hobby. The show is a refreshing change from the typical grumpy old men meets and shows.

Billy C

Thanks for the great pictures !

falconservice posted:

Did Atlas have any updates on the newest O scale items, such as the C&O steel caboose? 

Andrew

Go on youtube and look for jlwii2000. Jim did a video report, on it was Altas. They had 2 O scale diesels that was announced a few years ago, their was 2 complete painted samples in the video.

This is still, and will likely remain my favorite train show of the year.  

Its a good mix of most all factions of the hobby, from the family that maybe only looks at trains with their children once a year at a holiday train show, to tried and true hobbyists.  It is also and opportunity for the one group to be exposed to the other, both sides get a look at where they came from, and where they could go with this hobby. 

Ben

A mass you are welcome to all the thank you's posted above!!

Here's a quick video  

The future of the hobby.

PRR1950 posted:

Wow, first time I went on Saturday (morning) and couldn't believe the difference in crowd size from Sundays.  Sundays are still busy, but I never had to wait a half-hour just to get into the parking lot.   

Chuck

Chuck,

I was surprised by the wait to get into the parking lot too. We got there around 10am. I usually park on a side street and walk in, but the weather didn't make that a decent option. 

That was a huge crowd!! Glad to see it and happy to wait in line since I see it as a great thing for our hobby. 

wild mary posted:

The future of the hobby.

Indeed!! 

A huge thanks to the Midwest Division of the TCA. They have a section on their Modular layout that has all of the classic Lionel operating accessories in a line. In front of each accessory is a bar stool for the kids to sit on as they get to press the buttons to operate the milk car, barrel loader, log loader and a few others. Always a line of kids waiting to try them out. 

Also another big thanks to the Milwaukee Lionel Railroad Club. They brought several layouts that are built at the perfect height for little kids to see and do on their layouts. No step stool or dads' shoulders needed to get an amazing view!!

Fantastic! Love seeing all the happy families, and others! Thanks for the photos.

I was really hoping to go this year.

Terrific! So nice to see youngsters enjoying. Perhaps they will enjoy the hobby as they get older.

The Operation North Pole locomotive and train look neat. It looks like O gauge, so do you know if it is it a custom paint job?

bigtruckpete posted:

PRR1950 posted:

Wow, first time I went on Saturday (morning) and couldn't believe the difference in crowd size from Sundays.  Sundays are still busy, but I never had to wait a half-hour just to get into the parking lot.   

Chuck

Chuck,

I was surprised by the wait to get into the parking lot too. We got there around 10am. I usually park on a side street and walk in, but the weather didn't make that a decent option. 

That was a huge crowd!! Glad to see it and happy to wait in line since I see it as a great thing for our hobby. 

We arrived just before 9:00am, parked right away but stood in line for 25 minutes even with advanced tickets. They had one person taking tickets for a while, but even when a second arrived they still funneled through one door. That was at the west entrance (84th St side) It seems to get a little more disorganized every year to get in. The show was packed! I have been going since 2004, always on Saturday and can't remember a crowd that large.

trestrainfan posted:

The Operation North Pole locomotive and train look neat. It looks like O gauge, so do you know if it is it a custom paint job?

When I walked past, it appeared to be paper or something stuck to the side or the cars, a small corner was peeling. It is O, it was at the Midwest Division TCA massive modular layout. Still looked pretty nice, Kato makes two versions in N scale.

Despite the long lines for getting in, once inside it was reasonably easy to move around and see the layouts. 

I went this morning and arrived about 9:15 and parked on the west side of building. Bought my ticket and walked right in. No lines at all! I left around noon and it was getting busy!

As many have mentioned it was a great show indeed. Every year the show floor plan is different and not the same year after year.

Keep up the good work, Trainfest!

Yes, was there both days. Big show, tons of people. Leaving today at 1:45, there was at least 50 people waiting in line to buy tickets. I hope I hear the attendance figures at some point.

Any information or photos about the Atlas display?

DL&W Pete posted:

Go on youtube and look for jlwii2000. Jim did a video report, on it was Altas. They had 2 O scale diesels that was announced a few years ago, their was 2 complete painted samples in the video.

The Trainman Dash 8-40CW's are finally, after 7 years, going to arrive soon. I spoke with Andy Petersen recently and he informed me that they have already shipped from China.

The Operation North Pole model on the TCA layout is this year’s decoration of the actual Metra train wrap. Each year we run a layout for the kids at the ONP event. We have a MTH Metra train decaled to represent the real train the families ride on on their way to the North Pole. Kato has done the two previous years decorated Metra trains in N scale. MTH this year, has cataloged a decorated Metra engine from two years ago. The decals used are made by a sign company that takes the actual art work and scales it to fit the MTH models. They are a thin film that peels off to do the next year’s train.

We went on Saturday and it was a great show.  Large crowds, great layouts, major manufacturers represented, plenty of hobby shops with big selections to choose from.....a very well run show!

But the star of the show for me was that Atlas had the prototype for my Spencer Packing Co. reefer at the show.  I have tried to get this made for 11 years and I can't tell you how happy I am to see it get to this stage.  They have done a beautiful job on it (not that it surprises me).  Accurate colors, car type, and car numbers.  They are expecting them to arrive in Feb.

Art

Thanks for the info on the Operation North Pole Train. It looks good.

Just got home and unloaded from Trainfest and wanted to add a few more photos about some of the products that interested me.

First, I will say that Saturday seemed to the busiest I have ever seen this show. I don't know the head, count, but it was very difficult to move around the very wide isles. Sunday, seemed to be the usual crowd size that I am used to.

I did ask Atlas about the C&O caboose delivery but no additional information was available, I did not really expect an answer, but I did ask anyway. The staff was nice, but just did not have any up to date information with them, and that I fine with me.

Lionel showed pre-production samples of the NW2 switcher and two of the UP-passenger cars.

The NW2 will use a similar drive from the the S2 switcher, namely, the horizontal drive which you can see below. According to Dave Olson (Super nice guy along with Ryan Kunkle (sp?)) the difference internally from the S2 to the NW2 have created enough space to add a much larger speaker compared to the S2. The detail looked fine on this model, die-case frame, fixed pilots, low riding, and again the horizontal drive and three pick-up rollers, can't wait for mine to arrive.

The other car of interest to me was the UP-passenger cars. Mostly the dome, ride height and detail. The dome looks fine, but the exterior detailing (car seams and rivets) look really nice especially since this is not a brass model. No oversize rivets and crisp seams.

The most noticeable thing was the lowered ride height as compared to the previous offerings of the 21 inch cars.

Charlie

Nice...

Charlie...Thanks for the photos and info

Great pics,thanks!

Peter

Great event for the promotion of our hobby.

Our club spent three days entertaining the children and parents that came to enjoy the FEST.