World Greatest Hobby Show: Schaumburg Illinois

Yes RickO that's a great show to go to.
We had one last year a few miles from my house
It was in Edison New Jersey. It was packed never
saw so many people.Hope they come back soon.

THANKS ALEX

I managed to get to the the show for a couple hours. The place was packed, considering it was 18 degrees outside. Said hi to Jim Barrett and J Don Reese, and briefly saw the TCA Midwest and Independent Hirailers Midwest Division modular layouts. There was a good amount of O Gauge for sale, but not at the greatest prices. Chicagoland Hobbies, Gryzboskis and Walthers were among the largest dealers there. MTH, Lionel, Bachmann and Atlas had great displays. I was looking for the C&NW Historical Society, but they weren't located where they were supposed to be, and may not have shown up. LCCA, LOTS and Illinois Railway Museum had good displays. The most impressive display, AFAIAC, was the guy who had the HO scale model of the Edmund Fitzgerald at the ore dock in Marquette, and another lake boat with Hulett machines.

Went today with my better half. First time at one of these and I was surprised at all the toddlers there! Has to be the Thomas effect! Some of those layouts were pretty amazing.

Being the noobie I don't know anyone so that took care of that.

I will admit I don't have any MTH engines in my stable, now I understand why poeple say if you want smoke buy an MTH, WOW!

Anyway, all those layouts all those trains, we get in the car on the way home and all my wife could talk about was the burning house on on of the layouts. Oh well, at least she remembered something.

The burning house is on the TCA Midwest Division modular layout. Its a hit with everyone.

Any news on upcoming product from Lionel?

Terrance

quote:

Originally posted by Terrance:
Any news on upcoming product from Lionel?

Terrance

I saw the new ZW at the Lionel booth. It looks really cool with the volt/ammeters on the top. Don said it should ship in July...

I'll agree it looked cool, but it also looked huge!

RDemo4 thank you for the update on the new ZW from Lionel, I am still debating whether or not to get one. Was there any mention about the conventional classics series or the postwar celebration series returning?

Terrance

quote:

Originally posted by Terrance:
RDemo4 thank you for the update on the new ZW from Lionel, I am still debating whether or not to get one. Was there any mention about the conventional classics series or the postwar celebration series returning?

Terrance

There was no mention of either... but I didn't ask.. all we talked about was the ZW. It does look and feel a bit more beefy than past models and I noticed the handles really felt sturdy compared to my PWC issue.

Jeff T -

I thought that you were going to stop by and say hello.

I had an application for you. I guess you are not interested.

quote:

Originally posted by SantaFeJim:
Jeff T -

I thought that you were going to stop by and say hello.

I had an application for you. I guess you are not interested.

With everything going on we can meet up down the road, crowds were big and you guys looked pretty busy.

It's too bad members can't take the time to shoot some photo's or a video when they attend these shows. There are so many of us who aren't, for one reason or another, able to attend. It is always more interesting to view a thread like this with visual aids added. It doesn't take that much more effort and sometimes it is fun to film new items or just fellow forum members you meet and share these experiences with us.

TEX
Steve

quote:

Originally posted by TexSpecial:
It's too bad members can't take the time to shoot some photo's or a video when they attend these shows. There are so many of us who aren't, for one reason or another, able to attend. It is always more interesting to view a thread like this with visual aids added. It doesn't take that much more effort and sometimes it is fun to film new items or just fellow forum members you meet and share these experiences with us.

TEX
Steve

I apologize for that Tex, I suspect when OGR changes the format next month making it easier, I will be more inclined to do so.

quote:

I apologize for that Tex, I suspect when OGR changes the format next month making it easier, I will be more inclined to do so.

No problem Rick. I think members are so excited going to a train event that a camera might be the last thing on their mind. But, in reality, threads started with the excitement of receiving a new engine, train, car or going to a train event can be better experienced by the reader with photo's and/or video. Then the reader can really share in their enthusiasm by seeing what they see.

I'm glad you had a good time at the show.

TEX
Steve

House on fire module; TCA Midwest Division

White Castle, only 39 bucks!

S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald at the Marquette, MI ore dock, scratchbuilt in HO scale

ATSF tugboat in HO scale

S.S. Lawrencecliffe Hall with Hulett machines in HO scale

Here are some follow up images of the new ZW that was talked about.

As RDemo4 said, the new unit looks AND feels much better that then the current ZW. In my opinion, it is not as big as some have thought it would be.





Working with the Midwest TCA group, I can say it was a great show from the traffic standpoint. The place was PACKED. Very much like Trainfest in Milwaukee, but not as many operating layouts. As I had the chance to rome the hall, it was nice to see so many people, young and old. I don't know the total number of people yet, but I'd guess it will come close to a record.

As for the before mentioned Fire Scene, or should I now say the "famous Fire scene" on the TCA layout, as always, it was the most crowded part of the layout and probably comes in a close second to the Train Races that has also been part of the TCA group. I even had a (brief) chance to speak with Jim Barrett about the races, but it was too busy to have a real deep conversation.

Back to the Fire Scene:


The TCA member (Kevin) who built the scene, again answered many questions from both the general attendees AND a least two manufactures who were asking more questions on the technical details of the work Kevin has done. All I can say is I wish I had a video of the action instead of still pictures, as video is really the only way to do the scene justice. And remember, this scene is not permanent, it has to be put up and taken down after every show. Anyone who operates in a modular group knows the beating a modular layout takes.

While I don't have any pictures of the train races from this show, I can tell you that it was again busy from the show start to past the end of the show. The kids really get into the action of operating a train and when the races are close, the adults do also.

By the way, the TCA Midwest Train Races are also the undertaking of one member (Bill) who also answered many questions about the operation. Maybe a version of train races will be coming to a show near you.

Anyway, wish I had more pictures to show but that is it.

Charlie

We where told that the "head count" for Saturday was OVER 16,200! Sunday sure looked even more crowded to us at the Independent Hi-Railers layout.

That would put the total attendance at OVER 32,000 people! Now THAT'S one he$$ of a show attendance, especially for Illinois in the WINTER!

quote:

Originally posted by jay jay:
S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald at the Marquette, MI ore dock, scratchbuilt in HO scale

Wow is that ever cool!

Yes, his entire display was great. Several lakeboats and numerous other vessels. He had a DM&IR SD9 running back and forth on the dock.

Texas Special, you can see a video of the TCA fire scene on you tube under Milwaukee Trainfest 2009. Enjoy