TTOS/TCA Display, Cal-Stewart 2018

beautiful tinplate Steve. Hate to hear it's ending.You guys had a great run.

The President's Special observation truck is off the track early in the video!  LOL!

It was more impressive seeing your layout in person!

It is sad that I will no longer be able to go to Cal Stewart!  However, the crowd was terrible at the last show.  I was surprised at how much the show has changed since my visits to Pasadena (2006, 2007, & 2009) and later Ontario (2012).  

NWL

You should have seen the attendance in the 80's and 90's. Our hobby has changed drastically. Very sad indeed!

Great video Steve, very nostalgic, hard to believe its been 8 months ago. 

It's amazing how a video will make some not so nice old Flyer freight cars look like new.

It is sad about Cal-Stewart, will miss the running and buying. 

Thanks for the video. 

POC914NUT posted:

You should have seen the attendance in the 80's and 90's. Our hobby has changed drastically. Very sad indeed!

Eric, my first Cal-Stewart would have been about 2001 or 2002.

Steve

Too bad...l used that show, and the one time neighboring O scale show, as an excuse to come out there and explore California.  Sure glad l did that.

Steve, I first took my own o-gauge modules to Cal-Stewart in the backseat of my Corvair in 1988. It was almost as important to me as Christmas. I'm not sure which years we set up the circus, but we did that on numerous occasions both before and after 1988. Obviously, the times setting up and operating our circus started my love for McCoy trains and standard gauge. Won't be the same without it!

My first Cal Stewart was in 1997 in Pasadena. Ward Kimball and Neil Young were amoung the attendees. Nobody made a big deal about them being there and it was cool to see them there just enjoying the trains and visiting.

Those days aren't coming back, sad to say. I was told by a wise person long ago that sometimes organizations or events  fullfill their intended purpose and then it's time to let them go. New things will emerge in their place as sure as Spring follows Winter.

Steve, as always, wonderful job on presenting the displays with seldom seen trains and I thank you for sharing them with us.

John

Attendance at the World's Greatest Hobby on Tour shows, and other public events like the International Toy Train Expo, Trainfair and Trainfest, is still pretty good.  Its actually more fun to show our toys to enthusiastic newcomers and ordinary folks than it is to run trains for the old guard of TTOS and TCA members.  We all miss the glory days of Cal-Stewart and York, but there is still plenty of fun to be had.

Kirk Lindvig

Standard Gauge Module Association

I've been going to Northern Cal Stewart every year since 1977 or so and Southern Cal Stewart many times since then also. The northern California Cal Stewart has been a one day, one hour show for the past few years. It's so much more fun to look at and handle the trains before buying them than it is to buy over the Internet and then be disappointed when they arrive.

I will miss both Cal Stewarts.

RoyBoy posted:

I've been going to Northern Cal Stewart every year since 1977 or so and Southern Cal Stewart many times since then also. The northern California Cal Stewart has been a one day, one hour show for the past few years. It's so much more fun to look at and handle the trains before buying them than it is to buy over the Internet and then be disappointed when they arrive.

I will miss both Cal Stewarts.

I believe the Nor Cal show is still continuing as a 1-day show as it has different organizers than the Cal Stewart show in the Los Angeles area.  

My understanding is that the Southern California show is the one that is no longer going to happen, as the expenses were too high, relative to the income generated by the show.  Having been to the last show, I can certainly understand their reasoning, as the show was poorly attended on Saturday and was even worse on Sunday.  

SGMA1 posted:

Attendance at the World's Greatest Hobby on Tour shows, and other public events like the International Toy Train Expo, Trainfair and Trainfest, is still pretty good.  Its actually more fun to show our toys to enthusiastic newcomers and ordinary folks than it is to run trains for the old guard of TTOS and TCA members.  We all miss the glory days of Cal-Stewart and York, but there is still plenty of fun to be had.

 

Kirk Lindvig

Standard Gauge Module Association

I agree. If you want excited visitors, do a few non club displays. We do a couple of Great Train Shows a year as well as the Huntington Beach car show. These are the viewers that are the most excited to watch the tinplate.

Steve