York Reports and Hauls - Post Yours Here

Nick,

Thanks for your York report.

Looks like you snared some great bargains.

Will look forward to your pix tomorrow.

Bill

Thanks for this report....looking forward to hearing from others on this York.

Nice scores Nick,  What's on your radar for when the checking account recovers?

 

Best,

Dave

I really want to go to York someday.  I just want to see it firsthand.

 

Would love to meet some of you guys and find some good bargains.

 

Sitting in South America tonight, wishing I was at York!

PC9850, where'd you hear about photos being allowed in dealer halls?  I believe if you look on the doors to the Orange hall there is a poster that states NO pictures, No strollers, and No large back packs.  I'm pretty sure it says No pictures.

 

Rick

Rick, they made an announcement on pa system just before opening.  Pix ok in dealer halls.

 

Dave Hikel demoed the new app to control dcs via tablet.  MTH said the aim is to keep price of the box needed with each TIU to under $100.

 

Did any of you at York see any dealers with the Ingersoll B&O switcher that MTH made a few years ago?

Weather was gorgeous! Halls were not packed for the most part. Occasional back ups from those who still do not know how to move to the side to look. Obvious absence of announcements regarding cell phones not being allowed. Everyone was on a phone or pad taking advantage of the new rules!! Large variety of different makes and sizes at this show. What ever you were looking or, it was not hard to find. Prices were all over the place. Some very reasonable, others not so much. Noticeable missing dealers who were long time attendees. Back of Brown hall walled off due to loss of some of those dealers. I was quite upset that one big Flyer parts dealer decided to attend some local fire house meet instead of this main meet where he was expected to be. Another glaring observation, the total jack of younger attendees. It was like the sound stage for The Walking Dead there. Everyone, including myself was OLD! Does not bode well for this hobby or event. In the end I did pick up almost everything on my list except a flyer part, and a Lionel Semi-Scale 2957 caboose. Not too bad for having a 4 page list. 

 

Gandy.

First time at york on a Thursday definitely less crowed than Friday. Not much bought in the first couple of hours and then like it can happen found a bunch of stuff on my list. Prices about same as october but more people seemed more willing to deal.  Also meet Marty and Alex for first time two really nice guys.

Another glaring observation, the total jack of younger attendees.

Thursday... Kids have school.

 

We're taking some educational time to show up Friday.

WOW!!!! Pics OK in dealer halls...Priceless!!!  What will be next?

 

I didn't think the dealer halls were very crowded but the member halls were a bit hard to traverse.  Some very nice layouts this time around in the Black and White halls (sorry I forget who the groups were).

 

I stocked up on Atlas 2 rail track from Deichman's Depot in the Orange hall.

 

First stop was at Charlie Ro's to check out the G scale stuff.

 

Rick

Great day.........bought a the NYC Water Level set from the Lionel 2013 catalog from Gryzbosky's. 

Renewed the MTH club and got the Premier Pillsbury car.

Got some track and roadbed from Ross.

Catalogs and brochures.

 

Visited.....

 

 

Peter

Chris:

 

Thanks for the photos.  That looks like Bill Schmeelk in that first photo with a Lionel shirt on.  Was that taken in the Lionel booth?  Does he work for Lionel now?

 

And IMO none of the guys in the 2nd photo look very happy!  They should be happy they're at York and not stuck at home like me and many others!

 

Bill

Miscellaneous & from a couple of "reliable"  sources:

 

The Lionel Cab-Forward AC-12 in Daylight colors is outselling the "real" color schemes.

 

Interesting.

This is not like The World's Greatest Hobby shows. There are entire families at the WGH shows with rides and layouts for them to watch and interact.

 

Andrew

 

Had a great first day and met allot of ogr friends like Alex, Dina,Nick, Peter (Putnam division), Brian  (traindiesel), Gerry, Pat and many many others.

 

first day was for scenery products, 3 dvd's, a kit from korber and some other incidentals.

Tomorrow is time to pick up some locos I have been looking at. 

That's an understatement, Nick.  Around 3-4pm, I could have driven my car down the wider aisles in the Orange Hall, and I wouldn't have hit anyone.    Things picked up noticeably when the member halls closed at 5:30 though.  In general, dealers I spoke with said the show was very slow.

 

For me this York was just a day-trip, so I tried to make the most of it.  

 

Stopped by the Lionel booth and asked one of the reps about the gold PE coaches and whether more would be produced for those folks who want to build a train.  As expected I got a non-committal answer.  For the time being, if you want to build a gold train, they recommend buying extra gold coaches to go along with the gold observation.  Sounded like they won't be offering more gold cars unless those catalog'd sell very well.  And even at that... Nobody's committing there will be more cars even if those offered now do sell well.    So I'm not gonna hold my breath.  

 

Other than that, I just breezed thru the Lionel booth.  The bulk of their display that caught my eye were all the pilot locomotives on display.  Besides that, they had a section devoted to their Christmas decorations, and the PE "believe" banners looked cool.  The display layout was pretty non-descript.  But I guess it served a purpose... More of a bland test track with no scenery... Just to display some trains.  Go figure... Now that photos are allowed, the inspirational well-scenic'd layouts become a thing of the past?  

 

The MTH layout was pretty basic as well.  But at least it was nicely scenic'd AND they even had a Standard Gauge loop going!!!    Saw the upcoming Ives National Ltd on display, and I'm now convinced one of those trains will find a home on my Standard Gauge layout!

 

Wouldn't be York if I didn't stop by Trackside Hobbies.  And they had one of the upcoming Dorfan Standard Gauge passenger sets on display --  the one with passengers in the cars.  First time I had seen that up close for Standard Gauge... And I liked it!

 

Caught up with some friends during a mid-afternoon break, and then it was back to the halls.  Spoke to Dorcie and Roger over at the Trainworx booth, and Roger confirmed that the big 96" arch bridge I bought from them a couple of years ago would have absolutely no problems supporting a Standard Gauge train.  That was music to my ears... and I can't wait to enjoy Standard Gauge trains traversing that bridge.  Should make for a super focal point of the layout.

 

It was also great to see Clarke Dunham holding down some booth space again at York.  Quite a nice size booth too.  Spoke to him about a custom backdrop, which should look terrific on my Standard Gauge layout.  Their artwork is fabulous!  Can't wait to get that project in gear.

 

Charles Ro, Grzyboski and Nicholas Smith had GREAT prices.  And if I hadn't switched my key focus away from O-Gauge, I could have done some very serious damage at those booths.  Instead, it was back to Sidetrack Hobbies where I made a Standard Gauge purchase and then hit the road for the ride home.  

 

Time went by all too quickly... But it was definitely worth the trip.  Life has taken some serious turns lately, so it was great to "just get completely lost" amidst the York experience -- if for only a day.  October can't come soon enough!!!  

 

David

 

 

This is my 5th consecutive York.  Crowds were lighter today, than last April, but there were some great deals to be had.  I'll be back in Oct.

 

Was a great day and a lot of fun. Wonderful to see people like Marty & Dotty, Pat & Jean, Barry & Cora, Paul, Don, Jim, John, Bernie & Mat, Alex & Dina, Mr Muffin, Stu, Jeffrey S, David, Brian & Lynley, Chris, Bob D, Alan, and so many others. Missed Chris & Linda, brother Bill, Jim P,  Carl, Bear and others.

 

Deals were to be had, but my list was the smallest ever.

 

Wished Howard Hitchcock the best at Lionel. I hope he is more accessible than his predecessor, even if just to say hello.

 

Thursday at Tuesday was great. The manager really went all out to try to make it good for us. KUDOS to them.

 

Gerry

Had a ball as usual. My goodies were lionel big boy new in shipping carton for 900 and a lionel 2-6-6-4 weathered which I bought from forum member Pat H for 325. Was thrilled to meet Lou Palumbo and got a signed copy of his book. John

 

 

Its Easter break. Duh! Also, kids in grade or high school do not typically collect. It's the  college grade kids on up into the 30's and 40's year old brackets that will matter. 

 

Gandy

 

Member halls were crowded, dealer halls not so much.   The Fort Pitt Hi-railers layout  in White Hall was excellent, 4 track mainline, very nice scenery.  I stopped by Vince's Trains to drool over his extensive locomotive selection.   They made me leave.   It is hard to sell engines that are covered with drool. 

Bob

Nick......you did a great job on the weather.......

Peter

I liked the scenics on the Ft. Pitt layout, also. Spent a bit more than usual, and had a great time. Lots of OGR members at the Thurs. AM hot dog roast...I'm guessing at least 20?

I wondered why there were spots on Vince's locos.  RRDOC must be banned!

Member halls were very crowded in the AM but empty by lunch, thought it was Saturday. Picked up a ABA F3 Santa Fe and 3 cars that all need major TLC, but if it works great. I also got a prewar train for display. After buying those, MartyE kicked me out of the LUGnuts for heresy

Found a Hobo water tower also!

Oh and to keep the tradition alive, got rained on

I had the usual great time.  Thursday BBQ was a lot of fun.

 

I thought the crowd was a little light on Thursday.  Seemed you could park closer to the Orange Hall than usual.

 

Found too many things I liked.  DAP GS-4, DAP IC 2 car set, too many mint cars and some scale PFEs to run behind the VL BB that's coming.  Of course, Thursday at Tuesday’s (or is it Tuesday’s on Thursday?) was great.  Lionel did some stand up seminars (or in Mike R’s case stand-up comedy) in their booth about the upcoming iCAB app and Legacy smoke/sound advanced usage.

 

Lots of good info at the LUG meeting. We got confirmation that the VL BBs will have road number specific dialogs.  Also, a very nice demo by Marty E. of the sensor track and automatic train control.  I have to admit I wimped out and took off a little early on Friday to avoid driving home in the rain.  Missed the OGR grandstand forum.  Looking forward to the report.

 

On VL BB front, we at the NJ Hi-Railers had tested some new radio boards for Lionel that increased the signal capture.  Mike R. confirmed to us that the VL BB will be the 1st engine to use this new radio.  That alone made my York.  I now feel good about it running on our club layout. Keep an eye out for a mega BB MU someday.   

quote:

Its Easter break. Duh! Also, kids in grade or high school do not typically collect. It's the  college grade kids on up into the 30's and 40's year old brackets that will matter

 

Duh? ... it isn't Easter break in this neck of the woods. The kids were off last week. I've been a TCA member since before my kids were born. They are adults now. In all the years they were in school, their vacations coincided with York at most 3 times.

quote:

This is not like The World's Greatest Hobby shows. There are entire families at the WGH shows with rides and layouts for them to watch and interact.

 

Good! The York train meet isn't supposed to be like the World's Greatest Hobby Shows. Do people travel from all over the country, and even from overseas to attend a World's Greatest Hobby show? I certainly wouldn't make the drive.

 

I did not see any long faces at the show.
I didn't buy much, but I enjoyed the drive with my buddy, and reconnected with a bunch of people I only see at the show.

just got back. Agree that crowd was on the light side but amazing that going through the Blue and silver halls still remain the most crowded. Picked up a few goodies and met some friends.

ALWAYS A GREAT TIME

STEVE

It was a little strange to see "dead spots" in the Orange Hall...the empty corner where Sean used to set up shop....the floor space that wad dedicated to the modular layout (even though I enjoyed  seeing it.). And as others have noted, Thursday's crowd was very light.

 

I didn't really have any wish list in mind but you know how it is, you go to York, you see things.  Picked up a NS Interstate Heritage engine for a decent price (thanks Jim!) an Amtrak engine and a GE demonstrator dummy.  Also a few boxcars, catalogs, and a couple of figures.

 

All that plus the usual great company and laughs at Friday's....er, I mean Tuesday's.  

 

- Mike

York Day 2 saw gorgeous weather up until about 5 when the rain came in. Walking the show a few more times I was relieved to see there was nothing else I wanted, because I had already spent all my money Thursday! 

 

As for pictures I ended up taking so many they will be posted in their own thread. And this morning I finally got to try the infamous Scrapple at the Round the Clock Diner. (Apologies Peter, I ended up oversleeping and missed the 0800 Lyndon meeting). It was totally fine. Imagine breakfast sausage links, but in the shape of a loaf and a little softer on the inside. That's exactly what it tasted like. I had it like I have all my breakfast food - lots of pepper and mixed with eggs over easy.

 

The dealers were very willing to help with any questions I had and there were several.  I found some great deals on some older Kline scale cars.  Bought eight of them even though I kept saying to myself I DON'T NEED ANY MORE CARS!  I want to thank one of Steve Ross's salesman for solving a problem I was having with an older 3 way switch.  He offered to send me the part that corrects the problem.  Thanks Barry for giving a very informative talk about DCS.  I bought several upgrade kits I have been waiting to buy for a long time.  Midge was great in putting it all together.  Getting to know so many fellow train lovers makes each show better and better.

A number of dealers were conspicuously absent in Orange.  The guy who sells t-shirts and jackets - usually takes up half of a row.  John Hoover (Darstead).  The animation guy.  The guy near Trainworld who always has several tables of dirty old stuff.  Even saw some empty tables in Orange.  Saw numerous empty tables in blue / silver.  Is this indicative of a trend, or just some folks taking April off?

Around noon on Friday, there was a call for a doctor to come to the blue hall.  Does anyone know what happened?  Hope the guy was OK.

I heard that announcement too. While walking around the Blue Hall later on I did overhear two table holders talking about it. They were saying it was a young woman that passed out in the restaurant area in the back.

2nd day review.....

 

 

I was very impulsive......pick up a scale Hudson with TMCC from the 2001 catalog for $360.

 

Picked up a load of hoppers to run a coal train with my WBB Lehigh & New England ABBA Alcos.  I run conventional at the county fair because the venue is very dusty.

 

 

Peter

If it were, I'd stay home. I spent an entire weekend at a WGHS...lots of nice layouts, but very little for a train buff to buy...unless you are into Thomas the Tank Engine. My ankels were sore from all the strollers hitting them. Never again!

I thought Friday around noon was the most crowded I have seen Blue and White halls in past 5 trips.

 

Does anyone have the code for Trainworld?  I missed it and have a regret of something I want to pick up.  I think it was York2014, but I could be confused with last year.

 

Thanks