York??

I hope you get answer to this. I am curious myself.

Only the dealer halls will be open to the public on Friday and Saturday. The member halls are closed to the public. If you want access to the member halls you have to become a member of the TCA.....................Paul

Paul, That would include the Orange Hall, as a dealer hall, right?

FranjkM

Thanks Paul for the information!

I think orange and putple are the dealer halls.

Thank god its finally open to the public.   That probably reduced the york whining by 75%

Right Frank, the Orange hall is a dealer hall plus the Manufacturers are in that hall too. Also but not 100% sure I think the layout hall may be opened to the public too but not sure.................Paul

Public admission last year was on Friday and Saturday.   Included only the Dealer Halls (Orange and Purple) and the layout in the Black hall.    We are assuming the same for this year.   The EDTCA hasn't been sharing too much info about the public admittance this year.

Mike McCutcheon posted:

Public admission last year was on Friday and Saturday.   Included only the Dealer Halls (Orange and Purple) and the layout in the Black hall.    We are assuming the same for this year.   The Eastern TCA hasn't been sharing too much info about the public admittance this year.

I believe Mike is right, including the part about TCA-Eastern not mentioning a thing about public days and times (at least I have not seen a mention on any of the popular social media sites and/or train forums).

You could also go as a guess of someone and get in all halls and all three days 

Utowntech posted:

Will the York train meet this spring be open to the general public ?  If so are there restrictions on the days you can attend and the buildings you can enter? Are you able to purchase tickets at the door?  Last fall I purchased two items from vendors that will be at the meet in April.  I could have had the items shipped to my house but I figured I could kill two birds with one stone....avoid the cost of shipping/ possible damage during shipping and I would finally get to go to York.  I am currently not a TCA member but have thought about joining in the past.  A few years ago I was at a local festival where the Pittsburgh Hi-Railers had a display set up.  At the time I was just starting into the hobby and they were extremely helpful in answering questions I had and they even invited me to there local meet in Cranberry, Pa that fall.  I had a great time at the meet but didn’t join because of where I live in relationship to the other members.  I live 45 minutes south of Pittsburgh and it seemed that most of the members lived directly around or north of Pittsburgh, making the travel time to much.  Still thinking about joining.

Honestly, if you're really excited about trains and train meets - and that appears to be the case - then you should by all means join the TCA and fully experience the York Meet.   Fifty dollars isn't insignificant - but the ROI is great!!!  

"I had a great time at the meet but didn’t join because of where I live in relationship to the other members."  LOL.  That's something of a quaint thought ... I live 2700 miles from York but I've had the great good fortune to be able to attend 30 meets.  

I live 540 miles from York and I have been to over 80 meets.

Eddie G, Don’t forget the number of Bandit Meets!!

You could also go as a guess of someone and get in all halls and all three days 

Only once. The Eastern Division requires positive identification, and keeps track.

Would have though that someone from Eastern Div. would have responded to this thread to let folks know what the "open to public" policy is for this April meet. If its the same as last time around, it means Orange and Purple (dealer halls) open to public on Friday and Sat. But, as I noted earlier, I haven't seen anything about it here or elsewhere.

This is not new. It was in place for the past 2 meets.

Allan Miller posted:

Would have though that someone from Eastern Div. would have responded to this thread to let folks know what the "open to public" policy is for this April meet. If its the same as last time around, it means Orange and Purple (dealer halls) open to public on Friday and Sat. But, as I noted earlier, I haven't seen anything about it here or elsewhere.

With all the years of abuse of the TCA, Eastern Division, and the York show, its no surprize that no official comments are made. 

Then there was the lawsuit claiming that the TCA was endorsing some books containing copied materials. Maybe the TCA has been advised against participating on this board lest another board owner sues.

Joe Hohmann posted:

This is not new. It was in place for the past 2 meets.

Does a member of the public pay at the door to the Orange Hall, for example, or does the public have to go to the Blue Hall to pay for a pass there?

All, unregistered members, guest and the public must register and wear the pass to enter the halls.

I have no problem with the meet NOT being open to the public...a move I said long ago, here and elsewhere, would not result in a significant increase in attendance and virtaully no increase in TCA member ranks.

But if it is going to be open in any way, shape, or form to the public, that information needs to be readily available and widely circulated.

I believe that the usual registrar is having health complications and that is the reason for the late meet notice coming out.

Anything you want to know about the York meet can be found here http://yorktrainshow.com/ 

Here is the map from the site which will show you where the public registration is.

Allan Miller posted:

I have no problem with the meet NOT being open to the public...a move I said long ago, here and elsewhere, would not result in a significant increase in attendance and virtaully no increase in TCA member ranks.

But if it is going to be open in any way, shape, or form to the public, that information needs to be readily available and widely circulated.

Allan,

If you feel strongly about it, publicize it in OGR Magazine.

Craignor posted:

Allan,

If you feel strongly about it, publicize it in OGR Magazine.

I don't feel strongly about it, one way or the other. And if it's the public they want to attract, publishing the info in train magazines and online train sites is probably not going to do it (preaching to an already-informed choir). Needs to be promoted via other media...I guess a good place to start would be the various York/Lancaster tourist booklets that are available in every hotel, not to mention local and regional news media (newspaper, TV, and radio) and that sort of thing.

Why not just join for a year and see how it goes?  Travel to and from, lodging, food, train purchases, 50 seems insignificant and you are helping a good group of people. 

 I agree with Allan that public admission has not significantly increased attendance at York . For the fall 2017 meet 400 of the public attended from a total attendance of about 10,000. New TCA member signups was around 60.   Public admission for York is now $22 and as pointed out gets you into the Orange and Purple Halls and you will see trains displayed upon about 420 tables.   Just for comparison, the Allentown meet draws about half the attendance of York, costs a reasonable $8.00 admission and you have access to over 600 tables.  It you look at these numbers, it is obvious that York is not now or was ever intended by the ED to be anything close to a public event.  IMO, the objective is to keep the attendance down.  If you want to see the entire 7 hall York meet you must join the TCA pay the $50 yearly membership and then $15.50 for admission.  Then figure in travel expenses, food,  lodging and fuel. Is it worth it?  You decide!

Public registration is in the lobby of the Orange hall.

Allan Miller posted:

Craignor posted:

Allan,

If you feel strongly about it, publicize it in OGR Magazine.

I don't feel strongly about it, one way or the other. And if it's the public they want to attract, publishing the info in train magazines and online train sites is probably not going to do it (preaching to an already-informed choir). Needs to be promoted via other media...I guess a good place to start would be the various York/Lancaster tourist booklets that are available in every hotel, not to mention local and regional news media (newspaper, TV, and radio) and that sort of thing.

In my mind, the public are those who are not TCA members. Judging by questions and comments posted here, there are plenty of train folks who either do not know about the TCA / E.D.'s York show, or do not know that a portion of the show is open to non-members. So I think there would be value in coverage by the various train magazines.

Just curious: is there any mention at the TCA museum?  I thought that I had read that there was not. It has been quite a while since I was there.

richabr posted:

Public registration is in the lobby of the Orange hall.

Good to now know. Thank you.

Is it worth it?  You decide!

Well worth the trip and every penny spent on it to York to see my friends from around the country. Yes, Allentown show is a large and an excellent show but in no comparison to "the big dance" twice a year in SE Pa. We get folks from all over the country plus Canada and overseas coming to York. A social event it has become for me.

Train buying has become secondary to me these days as I have enough trains to take to the grave. I only buy something that I always wanted and still looking for. The train companies have to realize that this hobby is not bringing in enough new, younger folks to survive the pace in say 20 years to keep pumping out the types, varieties, variations, etc.

Just my 4 cents( doubling my 2 cents opinion).

Ted

wb47 posted:

Why not just join for a year and see how it goes?  Travel to and from, lodging, food, train purchases, 50 seems insignificant and you are helping a good group of people. 

Certainly what I would recommend to anyone who is curious about the event and who has not previously attended. You kind of have to be there to fully appreciate what it is.

The Venders in the Dealer Halls (Orange and Purple) are the ones who pushed for it to be open to the public . They are the ones who should be  advertising .

"You are indeed correct here. Why is the EDTCA dropping the ball here? Maybe the cost of advertising it? If they want to promote it, why are they not doing what you suggested? A simple task at hand."

Roger TEB posted:

The Venders in the Dealer Halls (Orange and Purple) are the ones who pushed for it to be open to the public . They are the ones who should be  advertising .

 

SCORE!!!

The Venders in the Dealer Halls (Orange and Purple) are the ones who pushed for it to be open to the public . They are the ones who should be  advertising .

More like the manufacturers.

More like the manufacturers.

So.... how and where have the manufacturers been promoting the show, the TCA, or the hobby in general.
Where do they even advertise their own wares?

Hi Burf, i don't understand why you no longer come to York. You can't be older than me.

Lionel, MTH, and other folks in the Orange hall absolutely advertise York on their social media pages where all the young folks hang out that everyone wants to attract.  The last 2 "public allowed" meets I seen TrainWorld and others as well as the manufacturers promote the meet and give the details so they are promoting it probably as directly as you can to the younger crowd that everyone wants to attract. 

IMO, it would be difficult to do any real advertising or marketing with the ED York event as its still largely a members only meet. The TCA members already know about it, and you can't really advertise less than half a show open to the public.

OK, I've done this for the past 2 meets, but here it goes again:

Google "train shows 2018"

up comes "train shows/sale-events" from trains.com. Hit that and go to April.

Up comes Billy Budd York, Commonwealth Fire Hall York, Reliance Fire Hall York.

Oh look, no TCA York. Why not? The listings are free.