York Roundup Part 1
My first TCA York meet is behind me now and all I can say is WOW! I felt like I was in O Gauge heaven. I couldn’t believe the amount of products on display and for sale. Now I understand why so many people look forward to the Spring and Fall shows at York. I took me 2 days at a leisurely pace to browse everything in all the halls.
As I expected, O Gauge products dominated the show, especially in the "dealer" halls. In the collector halls O Gauge ruled as well but there was plenty of old Standard Gauge tinplate and S Gauge too. G and HO scales were sparsely represented and there were harldy any N or Z scale items at the meet.
Apparently the TCA added a third day, Thursday, to the show recently to try to
spread out attendance across 3 days instead of 2. Everyone I spoke to
seemed to like the extra day because in the 2 day format the halls
would get packed, especially Friday, to the point where it was hard to
move up and down the aisles. Those I spoke to who attended the "bandit"
meets held the days just prior to the show said attendance was way down
at those meets and speculated the extra day added to the TCA meet was
the cause.
There was a nice turnout on Thurday but it was by no means crowded to
the point where you had trouble walking in the isles. I spent almost
all of my first day in the dealer or "orange" hall. Traffic was light
and I got the chance to speak with many of the retailers without
feeling rushed. It was very enjoyable.
It was amazing to see so many O Gauge products in one place at one
time, almost overwhelming. Another great aspect of the show was the
people. With the exception of a few grouchy people in the collectors
halls, everyone I spoke to at the show, retailers, collectors and
attendees alike, were all very pleasant and more than willing to talk
model trains. I met even more nice people at the O Gauge Railroading
Forum gathering on Thursday evening. I would estimate close to 100
forum participants showed up (most ever according to the folks I spoke
to). It was a very enjoyable to meet and talk to real O Guage
enthusiasts.
Because of the amount of information I have about the show (and because
my son in up and wants breaksfast), I will break up my York Roundup into several parts. My final thoughts in this post will deal with the major
retailer displays.
Everyone who is anyone selling O Gauge products is represented in York
including the big guys. Comparing the displays of the big two, in my opinion, MTH had
the nicer display. It had a nicer "feel" to it and the display layout
was more detailed then Lionel’s. Mike Wolf, owner and founder of MTH,
was there proudly running his trains at the MTH display the two days I
attended. I try to be very neutral in my opions toward MTH and Lionel
on OGaugeWatch, but I couldn’t help but feel there was more
excitement at the MTH booth. I think the fact that Mr. Wolf, who is a
very polarizing figure in the industry, was running the trains added to
the excitement. As an aside, one thing became very clear to me at the
TCA Museum Open House and at the TCA meet - Lionel may have the history
and brand loyalty but they desparately need someone that is as
passionate as Mike Wolf near the top of the organization to represent
them in the model railroad community.
That’s all for now. More to come about York and some interesting
news from Ready Made Toys and other interesting products including something called "RR in a Box."
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