Train Show Report.

[Terry]

I mentioned a while back that we were looking to do outdoor parking lot shows. I finally found a place 10 days ago and we did the first show this afternoon in the parking lot of a restaurant.

I went to talk with the restaurant about using their parking lot they had a Die Cast car swap meet going on. It was 3 tables of Hot Wheels, and a few people in the back meeting room of the restaurant. The place was empty. This was a Tuesday afternoon.

We told people the show would be from 2-5 this afternoon. When I got there at 1, the parking lot was crowded and people we setting trains out wherever they could park.  Maybe a dozen people were setting up then. By 2 pm we had 23 sellers set up -- most with 2-4 tables.

People came from 150 miles away. There is no way to know accurate numbers because we didn't charge or even pay attention, but this was bigger than a Biden campaign rally.

The goal going in was to have some time out with the train people and not get caught up in organizing anything. I had fun, got some stuff for the layouts, and didn't do much more than show up and tell people to set up wherever they want if they even bothered to ask.

I like the idea of doing Sunday afternoon shows, but to use the grocery store owner's lot  adjacent to the restaurant we'll change the future shows to Saturday mornings.

Here's what I got for the layout:

 

I think those are Strombecker planes that someone has detailed nicely. At $15 for the pair, they'll look good hanging over the O gauge layout. 

I also bought the transformer with two controllers. I am trying to use the controllers from two singles together and having problems. The seller said both controllers worked when plugged in at the same time. I'll sell the two singles to get most of my money back.

Here's the solution to a problem that vexed me:

 

Those are Lionel postwar 155 bell ringing hiway flashers. They flash their lights back and forth. I'll mount the bases under the O gauge layout and use the mechanisms to run my flashers.

Overall a good day.

There were a few people passing out flyers for upcoming indoor shows.

[early0electric]

I wish we had something going on here in the Detroit area. There are absolutely ZERO shows of any kind here. Any purchases are made off eBay or the auction houses so you can't actually see what you are buying which really sucks even though pictures are provided. Nothing beats actually holding, looking, and seeing what you are interested in. I'm not driving 200-300 miles to a show for a maybe. This Covid-19 has really screwed things up on so many fronts that it feels like I'm isolated from the real world. But then the current "Real World" is not really where I want to be.

[pjdog350]

I understand what you are saying earlyoelectric. I just got a Lionel 1675 delivered today. I got it on EBay. Seller said restored! The wheels are dirty and rusty. Axles are rusty. Lionel Lines missing on the sides of the car. Plus they painted over rust.

I was going to change the color anyway but I paid a high price for it. The picture looked good but! I could return it but I passed on a three car set yesterday because this one was coming? Nothing like hold what you are buying. I would still buy this passenger car but a less than half the price I paid.

There is a small train store about 25 miles north of me in Spring Hill Florida. They have 4 train shows a year. So I do have that to go to. In recent years it’s become more HO scale rather then o gauge but there is still o gauge. Plus the store is more ho scale. When I first got here they had lots of postwar trains. But something has changed cause they don’t have much anymore?

[Terry]

Anyone could start a show, all you need is a parking lot. Most of the places we contacted balked once the idea of selling came up.

The big hurdle is getting the word out. That's where we excel.

We run an AZ train show calendar website so we have the reach to get the word out. All the AZ clubs except the TCA division and a northern AZ group sent out emails to their members.  The local TCA is mostly a coffee group who meet once a month to talk about what's on TV so they are worthless anyway.

This is more about hanging out with the train people than buying or selling.

Three determinants of a good train meet:

• Buy something interesting
• Sell some unwanted trains
• Hang out with other train people

Get any one of those and it's a good show.  Two and it's a very good show. Three and it's a great show.