Attended the GTE Show in Pomona Sunday. Not a very good show for N Scale vendors. There was the usual "Mark it up by 100%, then advertise 50% off." guy. I won't do business with him. A couple of other vendors in N Scale. One was list price and one was selling at a discount. Many vendors selling Lionel. Attendance was not good Sunday. People said Saturday was better. Vendors had to be disappointed. Great layouts. 2 N Trak one N Freemo. A large On30. A G Scale. An HO Pacific Electric layout. Best part of the experience was visiting the 1:1 exhibits outside. UP 4-10-2, UP Big Boy with operating whistle, UP 4-12-2, DD40, Climax, ATSF Hudson. Very nice. Parking was either $9.00 or $12.00 depending on how close you wanted to park. GTE made money from the vendors, but I can't see the vendors being happy with the turnout.
I wasn't at the show as I had other obligations. Two of our mountain men did get down off the hill and reported it was a good show. Lot's of N Scale available, vendors selling at reasonable prices and they were afraid they would need to rent a U-Haul truck, to get all the stuff home. They said, they got to visit John Paulson and the Free-Mo group. Plenty of other clubs represented. All to sorry I missed it. I do agree with Pete, there seems to be one vendor in particularly that has items for sale and the pricing seems high. These shows do need better attendance but with the times being what they are... Got an unusually busy day ahead of me.
Also, if it weren't for the locomotives on the complex which, when I went to the Pamona show, weren't even open, there'd be no reason to go to Pamona. Del Mar and Anaheim have the advantage of not being Pamona in the first place which makes them more desirable any day of the year. I wonder if they wouldn't do better to have the show up in the San Fernando Valley somewhere. Pamona is kinda close to Anaheim. They might do better to go north and west. They'll pick up the Valley, Santa Barbara, maybe even as far north a SLO.
There's no convention/exhibition space in the Valley...none. Yeah the issue with Pomona Fairplex is that you have no choice but to park (and pay for parking) there. I'd rather not drive far, and if I do, I'd rather not pay for parking. They should try the Pasadena Convention Center...it's close to the Gold Line. Take the train to the train show! Same with the Los Angeles or Long Beach convention centers...
GTE tried Ventura in early December 2008. Attendance was very, very low so as a result GTE has not returned. The December Pomona show has been a "replacement" for the last couple of years. GTE also tried Costa Mesa in March 2009. I thought attendance was OK from a vendor, public and layouts standpoints but GTE has not returned. I suspect it may have a lot to do with what the venue charges. Remember not only do the vendors have to make a profit, GTE also must make a profit. The SF Valley might be a good choice. However I cannot think of a good venue right off the top of my head. I agree Anaheim is the king of the shows followed closely by Del Mar. This is written from the view point of one who participates in the shows as a Z scale modular layout participant.
There are none in the Valley, unless they want to rent out a hotel ballroom or something. There used to be a place in Reseda that the local computer show would set up at, but the building was torn down a few years ago. Cal State Northridge has some exhibition space, but it's way too small to host a train show.
How small do you have to be to be too small for a Train show. Every GTE I've ever been to rates the smallest hall in a complex. The only one that was different was World's Greatest Hobby at Del Mar which rated one hall for retailers and one for modular layouts. Even Pasadena would be better than Pomona for picking up the Valley. I'm somewhat surprised Ventura didn't do well, but it might be too far. I'm not surprised that Costa Mesa didn't do well. Why even bother if you're going to have a show in Anaheim too? When I lived in the Southland, I rated Del Mar well above Anaheim. IT felt bigger and I got better deals. And I lived in North County SD, so I didn't have to leave paradise.
This is why I'm prety much done with train shows, not much of what I want at a price I like. Seems like the large scale and toy venders have taken over. Wig-Wag is about the only vender worth going for.
I thought N scale was represented better than many shows in the past couple years. Ya, the Hawaiian shirt guy with his massive discount on his massive mark up was attempting to sell his old collections, but there were five other vendors selling N scale to varying extents. Obie's Trains out of Arizona stands out to me. All I can say is if you want a good deal at one of these shows try buying in bulk. The turn out on Saturday was quite good, but I think some of the people were stragglers from the two other shows in adjacent buildings. Also, before the public came in on Saturday KTLA did a live piece staring Bill Grove (show organizer) our own Bob, and Harold (Nland Pacific), and a young guy with the Del Oro layout in the background. Bob had built a small news van years ago with KTLA on it and they used it on three segments about the show. So Sunday there were many people that came in and wanted to know where the model news van was at. Sunday was light traffic even with the news coverage, but it was still fair. We had half the staff and only about 2/3rds the layout as everyone was reduced in size for the venue, but we still had fun. We don't plan to do Pomona in the summer next year, but will plan on the Big Train Show instead. Next for us is the GTE at Anaheim. Funniest moment of the show for us, long story kept short as possible. If you are not well trained in DCC do not try to program your loco on the main, especially if you are changing the DCC address. Ever see a yard full of trains wake up and jump like a cat in water? 'nough said.
But you see, that assumes there's a complex in the first place. There's no place that even comes close in The Valley. the hall I mentioned at Cal State Northridge was good enough for a small computer fair, but I couldn't see multiple layouts much less vendors much less space for that trackless kiddie train. I would like to see the show in Pasadena too, though it seems like GTE only wants to deal with a small number of exhibition facilities.
Re: A limited number of venues: For show operators, once you're in, it's much easier to re-up the next year. That means the same events are run regularly: people know how to get there, etc. That way, the site has reservations in hand. So then it is harder for a new show to get in, especially for preferred dates. BTW Super Bowl Sunday is usually always available, but are you as a vendor or show operator bound and determined to pay for a show where almost nobody shows up? Also the cost and requirements of each venue can be hugely different. I'd guess that GTE sticks to fairgrounds because they can get the size area that they need for whatever they consider to be reasonable, including having running room for that kiddie train. Though fairgrounds parking ain't cheap, would you rather pay hotel parking rates? Walking in LA? Walking in LA? Nobody walks in LA . . .
Here's the KTLA piece on their website: http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/8984b...-Model-Train-Expo-In-Pomona-Chip-Yost-Reports I was wondering about the newsvan until I saw the video and realized I did see the newsvan before. I assumed you were talking about a modern-day newsvan. Of course, I'm just fooling myself, because everyone knows that no one manufactures a modern-era van in N scale
It was a little slowm but a great show none the less. Didn't buy anything other than a SP book. Looking forward to Anaheim..
I went, not too bad, took lots of photos saw the big boys and the garden railroad except for the ripoff parking it was ok Thanks Jack B
