Was York REALLY worth it??

If you've never been, your first experience won't be "stale" no matter what.

Even if you skip the much maligned (possibly justifiably) Saturday scene, it's worth it.

You have to figure out for yourself the best scenario you find acceptable regarding airfare (or long drive), maximum benefit from hotel nights, etc based on the meet hours.

-Dave

There is a lot of complaining that goes on every York, both before and after.  Don't let that influence you.  A lot of it is a case of mole hills being turned into mountains, or nits being picked, or just plain envy that the complainer can't go.  Is it perfect?  No, but then what event is, especially one run by volunteers?

My first 3-4 Yorks were one-day trips for me.  I would leave home at 5 a.m., drive 4 hours, walk around for 8 hours and then drive the 4 hours home.  And it was worth it!  I then started budgeting to allow for an overnight stay at a motel in order to attend two days.  And again it was worth it to me!  Now I attend all 3 days as a table-holder and camp on the fairgrounds for the event.  Is it worth it?  Yes!  I'm already looking forward to Spring York.

York has been such a great experience for me, and buying and selling is only the smallest part of that experience.  The best part for me is being able to meet, talk to and spend time with a lot of great people, including many from this forum (the ones who don't complain all the time ).

Andy

I go to York to see what items I may want now or in the future. Almost everything there is to offer in O-scale trains is at York. I get ideas that inspire my layout design, purchase buildings, get items and supplies for kit-bashing, talk to people and generally have a great time.

Although you may save money on your purchases, the cost of travel, food and hotel tend to wipe out any savings. However, I have many, many items that I have never seen at a hobby shop or local train show, so the cost factor gets blurred if you can't buy it anywhere else, or never knew it existed in the first place.

I have been to many Yorks, and now go every few years as my train room is bursting with stuff. I consider York a great experience, regardless of the generally discussed flaws.

Joe K

Is it really worth it? Yes. If for no other reason than to meet and socialize with members and staff of the OGR Forum. The meet is "changing", but IMHO there is still nothing else that even comes close.

There is a lot of complaining that goes on every York, both before and after. 

Andy, you are so right! How can anyone complain about the largest O gauge train show in the world? Oh, maybe people who don't go but seem a need to comment anyway. I have been going since one hall in 1973 and the one comment I have heard every year is "Wow, the attendance looks off" LOL, as if that affects them. Even thru the years when York grew from 1 hall to a high of 9 halls!  Prices are prices, you will see people with super high prices and others giving stuff away. That is the nature of business. Supply and Demand. Come to York and enjoy the show!

Is Christmas getting a little "stale"?

I have never been. April will be my first time. I can only imagine that every table could be a possible score for that niche kit, or locomotive I am always looking for.

Most of the train shows here are littered with HO and O seems to be hard to find.

So image hundreds of tables and dealers selling items in your scale... sort of like going to Vegas... bring only what you can afford to lose!

Same old same old.  People will say this every six months.

And every time I'll say this.  It is our hobby!!!  We make it what we want to make it.  Everytime I go I see something I missed the other times.  It is the MECCA of Toy Trains bar none.  Come on down and walk the aisles of the Halls, see the latest innovations in the industry, sit a spell and talk with other TRAIN NERDS about the likes and dislike out there, meet new people and new ideas.  This is the YORK experience.

It is a personal journey. I have been there 3 times and looking forward to my 4th in the spring.

How can a day of looking at trains and searching for those one or two hard to find items not be fun?

Not to mention those cool "niche" type deals that will just fit into your layout. Serendipity.

I also love talking to fellow train lovers....

Stale? Nah!

Very nicely stated, Joe.

Bottom line... There's a social element to attending York that even the most powerful internet reach can't deliver.  So while the internet has brought us ubiquitous dealer sales -- seemingly every week right here on the forum -- most enthusiasts still attend York and are glad they can.  Is the meet changing? Absolutely.  Is the dealer landscape changing? Surely.  But for that matter, we're ALL changing (and getting 6 months older) as each York comes along.  If you've never attended York, you're definitely missing out on a great social experience that very much goes along with being an enthusiast of toy/model trains.

Step away from the spreadsheet.  Don't try to cost-justify York.  Some things are better left to just "experience".  York is one of them.

David

John, 

I'm glad you posted this thread, don't let these negative threads influence you in anyway. I'm going into my 4th year attending York, it is the best show I've ever been too. There is so much to see and enjoy, and best of all meet so many great forum members. If i were you i would make certain that you make the trip and see the best train meet/show ever!!!!!!!!!!!.

Alex

Is it worth it? Absolutely! I attend for the camaraderie, to deliver products, to meet and greet my customers, and hopefully make some new ones. I consider myself lucky if I break even regardless of how my comments were misconstrued on another thread.   

APRIL York can't get here soon enough for me. The complainers are 1% of the people that go to York.

Thank you all for the great posts. It has renewed and even increased my interest in figuring out a way to get to York asap! It's nice to know there are so many that hold this event in such high esteem.

i was hoping the responses we're going to be the way they turned out to be!

Looking forward to seeing you all down the line.

Best,

Johnjr

Until I stop having that PYDS (post York depression syndrome) then it is worth it.  The Monday after York is always the worst because you have a full 6 months until you get to go again and you remember how great the last week was.

Seriously, even if I didn't get anything seeing old and new friends make it worth while. 

Joe K. said it.  I blew way more money on motels and eating every meal out,

than I did on stuff to stick in my trunk, BUT some of that stuff won't be found in any

local show, even Wheaton, that you can  attend, which are littered with HO and N.  At least, trying new and different restaurants, as sort of a mini-vacation, is part of the experience.  Look how much people blow on attending a New York Broadway show,

a major sports event, or.....and just bring home ticket stubs.  Try it, you'll like it.

Agree with others in that I'm glad you started this thread and asked the question(s).

I'm always amazed -- but I suppose I shouldn't be by now -- about how much whining and moaning there is after every York Meet. Don't get me wrong, attendees can and do have less than rewarding experiences and I'm sure there are legit complaints about a specific dealer or transaction. But for the most part I've always believed if you are an avid train enthusiast and you don't have fun at York you're not likely to find it anywhere else.

I've come home from York empty-handed some visits and still had a blast.

I was talking to a fella from Washington State at the FCTT-Hirailers layout in the White Hall. He had driven cross country to attend. Having just done that trip two months ago I know that is no mean feat. He must have thought the trip was worth it. I have no idea if he bought anything but said he really enjoyed the layout and was getting ideas for his own layout. Buying stuff is only a small part of the experience.

Pete

The York Show is like walking into every catalog or reference book you've ever thumbed through.

You'll see stuff you never saw before.

The first time my father and I went I discovered on the drive home while looking through the Meet pamphlet that we missed a hall.

It's pretty impressive. Massive amounts of trains, old, new,rare, junk you name it, its at York.

Where else can you walk up and talk to the CEO's and Owners of the toy train companies and owners of Train Stores you deal with on the internet?

It's well worth the trip. Make plans for the Spring show and be ready to be awed.

John JR, my wife and I have made the York trip twice, and like you, we are in CA. Yes it a long ways, and yes it's an expensive trip. Going twice a year, probably wouldn't ever happen just because of the expense, but we will definitely be back... hopefully next October with a table in the Orange Hall with my O Scale Haulers. Talk about an expensive trip lol

A couple of suggestions from someone who has been twice... April and October, 2015.

Read up on York... Clem's Primer is a big help. Look at who the dealers are and know which ones you don't want to miss. Take a look at the map and have some idea of how the place is laid out(Google even). Review the schedule of events, breakfasts, dinners, seminars, and make a schedule. Ask questions on the Forum; most are glad to help.

Make a list of what you know that you want to purchase. It gets easy to overlook things in all the confusion.

The first time can be a bit overwhelming and being a little bit prepared will result in a lot more being accomplished. You will get out of it what you put in.

And be sure to meet people. That is the best part of the York experience.

Absolutely.....the trains are great, but seeing everyone makes it a memorable experience, time after time....Trains have become a social hobby, instead of a solitary one.

This was York 64 for me.....it has changed since my 1st time.....it will continue to evolve, and, it never gets old.

My 1st York was April 83. I was 29. Missed only twice since then.

Peter

Peter

No question about it! Yes!

Since joining the TCA in 2010 and attending my first meet that October, it is fantastic to me. Even if I do not purchase anything, just seeing what is out there is worth it.

Meeting up with friends, making new acquaintances, finding that missing or longed for item. It is definitely worth it! Even if it is just once in a while.

Definitely worth it. It's  a 6 hour hike for me but hanging out with some of my best train friends on the planet is worth it right there. If I find something cool in the halls that's just icing on the cake!

Absolutely, York is worth it.

It's really hard to describe the complete spectrum of experiences that is the York train meet.  York is:

• Meeting your old friends and making new ones
• Seeing the new items being offered by vendors
• Walking around and through a train meet that takes 8 buildings to hold
• Finding an item from your childhood that spontaneously brings back a flood of happy memories and feelings
• Getting bargains and finding scarce / rare items for your layout

It's all the above, but it's also that rare feeling of being transported back to your youth. 

I've missed 1 York since Fall 2000. 

George

hmmm..carpool 4 people

- 7 hour roundtrip

- $40 for breakfast

- $ 4 for the best hot dog and soda

- $ 45 for gas

- $75 for dinner

all this to buy 2 Barclays figures for $40. only missed 2 Yorks since 1984

I would have to say Yes

rat

This was my 1st York meet.   I attended Thursday and Friday.   I spent 5 hours on Thursday quickly taking it all in.   I had planned on going to the OGR dinner.  But I was just too tired, since I was up from 1am Thursday morning for the 9 hour drive to York.  

I got up at 6am Friday morning for breakfast at the hotel.  While getting my coffee, I recognized Peter (Putnam Division).  So I had breakfast with Peter and Tom (Gilly@N&W) and a few others from the River City 3-Railers.   This was a trip highlight.  The social aspect of meeting fellow OGR forum members and creating new friendship.

Peter introduced me to more forum members in the orange hall lobby before the Friday opening.  I walked the halls until 1pm.  Only stopping for a Pumpkin Funnel cake treat.   Then decided to head for home.   I only spent $60 on trains.   I already have enough trains.  Plus, I didn want to spoil my chances of being able to return to York again.   My wife seemed very happy and surprised that I didn't over spend.  

The member halls had a lot of older stuff that I enjoyed looking at.  It's just not what I'm interested in purchasing.  

But it as soon as I got home, I was already craving a return trip to York.   There is something magical about York that I haven't felt after attending other train shows.   I think it's a combination of many things that make York special.

Now, sadly I have to wait a full year until my next York.   I can't go in April, since my family goes to Bonita Springs, FL that week.

Living in Chicago I've been to York but once. I was able to plan a couple business trips around the meet. It was pretty amazing to see the mecca of the train hobby. But way more fun was putting faces to names, hot dogs in the parking lot, dinners with everyone. 

I think I bought one freight car, but the real fun was meeting all the people.

I hope to go again sometime.

We travel from Michigan every April, toll road's, gas, food  and lodging, add up. Last April my spending at the show totaled $19. Would I miss going heck yes. reserve me a room, send me a badge, I'm ready to go. If J Daddy does go in the spring I'm just going to follow him around and watch him go nuts.

Don't miss going at least once.

Jim

Around 30 posts in this thread, and I agree with every single one.  This is surely a sign of the apocalypse.

Twice each year, I use vacation days (and always have a job when I return - imagine that!), drive 9.5 hours each way, pay for four nights in motels, meals, gas, etc.  Sometimes buy a lot, sometimes not.  Plan to keep coming back as long as I'm able.

Where are the naysayers?  Seems kinda weird without them, doesn't it?

In the Spring, I was able to be there Wednesday through Saturday, and I never once got bored! I camped at the fairgrounds, and except for the wind on my tent, it was a blast! Each day had something different to offer!

This time, I could only go Saturday. 2.5 hours down, 5 hours there, 2.5 hours home. Again, completely worth it.

We all have the things we wish we could change about it (some of us don't have vacation days to use, such as in my case), but it is still the best train show you'll ever go to!

I forgot to mention that I had knee surgery in August, just so I could walk the 4.88 miles, wobbling up every aisle again.

My answer is still ...yes

rat

You bet it was worth it!!  The round trip for us is about 1100 miles but worth every mile since just seeing my friends and all of the "train guys" is THE highlight!  This year's meet started with a great breakfast that Peter Condro arranged where about 30 or so attended.  To my right was Gilly who followed us to the fairgrounds after the breakfast.  Can you imagine a Corvette following a PT Cruiser!!!  He could hardly keep up with me...yeah right...LOL!!  I enjoyed meeting new folks and all of the many friends I have met on the forum.  Sorry I missed seeing some of you as I am sure all were busy finding the great trains for sale!  See you all in the Spring!

Alan

You're not the guy I beat out for the Barclay gorilla in the Blue hall are you?

This York was some what anti-climactic for me, didn't find one thing on my wish/want list but I did pick up a few things but nothing to write home about. I did get a Polar Express Letters To Santa mail car that I wasn't even looking for (I was looking for the Conductor Announcement car and Train Sounds tender but came up goose eggs on those) Some things seemed a bit on the high side compared to last year but a few things were cheaper than even Ebay like the 3 Lionel Budweiser reefers I picked up for $15 a piece. Over all it was a pretty good trip, meet a number of Forumites, spent time at the Orange hall info table trying to find out where exactly the Gold hall was, apparently the gentleman manning the table was unaware there was a Gold hall and he had no idea who OGR was or where the OGR Forum meeting was, much to the amusement of several others at the table looking for the same information. But I will in all likely hood be back there next Fall since it was a pretty enjoyable 2 days for me.

Jerry

If you have never been to York and you like O gauge trains, you owe it too yourself to go at least one time.  It is the gold standard of O gauge shows.  It is well run, has great hosts as well as a tremendous diversity and depth of merchandise.  You will be glad you did, and you will never forget the experience.

I was told that the orange dealer hall has over 2,000 tables alone.  The blue and silver are probably at least 700 tables each.  It is a lot to cover.  I worked pretty fast Thurs, Friday and till noon on Saturday and still did not see all of the tables.

I would recommend that you:

 - Listen to what everyone complains about as things to be aware of.  Some are true and most are overblown.  If you are there on Saturday, be ready to deal and work quickly.  My best deals were during the 3 hours I was there on Saturday.

 - Read Clem Clement's primer.  An exhaustive source of information.

 - Know your prices before you go.  Throw away the price guide and use your phone and "ebay completed sales" as a price guide.  I observed a price range of $20.00 to $170.00 on a car I was slightly interested in.

 - Know what is hard to find and what is not hard to find.  If you've been looking for something for a long time, be ready to deal when you find one.  Don't count on it being there when you come back.  I bought two items at this York as soon as the previous person walked off to think about it.  On common pieces you can shop around for the best price.

 - Prioritize your list into groups of: gotta have; would like to have; and would like to see what one looks like.  Your list can be too large and you end up wasting time asking about several items from each dealer.

- Know how many cars are possible for the set.  Try to get a complete set or make a huge discount for sets with no extra cars.  Extra cars may be difficult to find by themselves later.

 - Be open minded about buying things that aren't on your list but are way too cheap.

 - Be wary and closely inspect the things that are way too cheap.  Take it out of the box and inspect the sides of the item you can't see in the box, in case there is warpage or damage.  (Almost bought a Kodak tank car until I realized the red platform and railing on the dome had been painted black.)  If the dealer won't take it out of the box for you to see, then you need to move on.

 - Take plenty of cash.  Don't waste time or fees trying to get money from the ATM.

 - Be an excellent judge of people.  This is tremendously important.  If possible listen to the conversation they are having with some other buyer for hints and clues.  I made a decision to buy an engine of a brand I had never owned.  I was unsure, but after watching the dealer deal with other customers and how he handled his merchandise, I became more confident in his opinion and perspective.

 - Make use of the test track if applicable.

 - Strategically park your car near the halls you are most interested in (dealers or members).  It's great to be able to dump your purchases and grab a small snack of some sort to eat while you are walking back to the next hall.

 - Get the most comfortable shoes possible and bring more than one pair.

 - Wear layers of clothing if possible.  Include a raincoat or poncho when you pack.  It can rain at York and its a hoof between some of the halls.

 - Bring a large shopping bag for your merchandise and to discard the layers of clothing if not needed.

 - Study the York fairgrounds map on the internet or the eastern tca website to become familiar with the names and relative locations of the different halls.

 - Get to the fairgrounds at least an hour before opening time to get your parking spot, use the bathroom, eat a final snack and go over your notes.  Get to your first hall before the opening music plays.  ( I really liked the national anthem, kind made me feel like I was at the first game of the world series.  I wished they would have played that every day, BUT I'm not gonna start a thread whining about it.)

 - If an area of a hall is too crowded, jump over an aisle or two and keep going.  You are not going to be able to be the first one to see everything.  (Thank goodness they let the dealers in early to setup.  It used to be suicidal to try and walk the aisles while the dealers were unloading boxes in the aisle.)

 - Stay calm and relaxed.  You don't want the other buyers or sellers to sense fear or lack of confidence in your voice.  (Just kidding on this one, I made that up.)

 - Stay relaxed and have fun.  You probably won't find everything you want and maybe not the price you want.  Some things may get away from you, or you might pay too much for something, but you will have an outstanding experience, especially if the weather is good.  This last York weather was unbelievably good. 

Yep, well worth it.

This was my 26th time at York, each one was well worth it...the deals are much better than in hobby shops, no shipping and handling, the variety is unbelievable, getting access to the Manufacturers is great: asking the head honchos questions, asking them to build such and such, seeing prototypes of next years trains, seeing live product demonstrations of new equipment, where else do you get all that?

I live 5 miles from the Md state fairgrounds, there are 4 trains shows a year there. People kept telling me to join TCA and go to York. I was like why drive an hour when all those shows are 5 minutes down the road? Former TCA President Paul Edgar gave me the best advice, just join TCA, go to a couple of York meets and if you don't like it you can always not renew your membership and quit. So, I joined TCA and was blown away by it all, York trumps the local shows in every way, I haven't been back to the local shows since I joined TCA, and went to the York Meet.

I have also attended two TCA National Conventions with my family, and had a great time.

Finally, you won't meet a nicer bunch of people.

Join the TCA!!!

I don't need to add anything to all the reasons to go to the York Meet that has already been mentioned.  But here's what all the fun I have at the Meets means to me.

I am fortunate enough to live only about 75 minutes from the York Fairgrounds, so it is easy for me to attend all the time.  However, someday my wife and I will retire, probably to a warmer climate, I'm told.   But no matter where we end up, I will fly, drive, walk, crawl or swim to get to the York Meet!

John,

Please don't miss out on the York experience just because of some negative comments you read about on the forum.  FWIW you will read negative posts about York, twice a year, every year. It used to be about cell phones, strollers, cameras, etc, etc.

I have only been to York 4 times (which is nothing compared to some forum member's attendance records). but each time seemed better than the last.  I still find walking into the Orange hall on opening day to simply be overwhelming in size and variety.  And as much as I love the Orange Hall experience, the member halls are just as amazing.

If I could I would attend twice a year I would but it's about a 700 mile trip for me so I only go once in a while.

I hope you decide to go.  It is more fun than you can imagine and you won't regret it.

Ed

Nope, tobogan kids on sled and kid falling on the ice

rat