Next to Galesburg RR Days in June, this is my favorite show, and since its in Massachusetts, getting New England stuff for the layout is easy. Here is the link for this weekends show: http://www.railroadhobbyshow.com/index.php This is probably one of the biggest train shows in the United States, and well worth the drive to see this show and get some deals. I have been going to this show off and on since 1994 and it has grown despite the hard economic times. So who is going? I met up with Grey One (Steve) and Laura last year. Always good to see fellow Trainboard members. I'll be there for both days, stocking up on stuff before my move.
I'll be there this year. I just checked the weather, and there may be some rain on Saturday, so I'll drive down on Sunday. My plans are flexible, though. It's just a bit over an hour for me. I'm not looking for anything in particular, but even if I come home emptyhanded it will be a day well spent.
We go every couple of years for a day trip on Saturday. Going this year. Compiling a list of questions to ask the Tam Valley folks.
At four buildings, the show is too big to see in just one day. So this year my son and I decided to attend both days, staying overnight in Springfield. The show was jam packed, and there was plenty to see (and buy). As a Z-scaler, I made sure to visit and make a purchase at both Time Machine Hobby and Jim's Hobby for my yearly z-scale fix (Marklin 88122 loco and Marklin 87106 passenger set). I've posted 180+ photos from the show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/58704541@N00/sets/72157629101571013/ Still, even at two full days, I couldn't cover everything I was interested in, but had a blast. Noticed a very friendly vibe at the show this year - the warm weather helped (45deg F.) and great to see many familiar faces. Cheers, Mike
We did it on just Saturday, but made the mistake of sleeping in a little bit before driving out and got there an hour after it opened. That cut things pretty close! 10-5, with about 15 minutes total sitting for a coffee break and lunch break, and pretty well sprinting through the big Living Learning building in the last hour and a half! That allowed completing 2 time-involved shopping missions. A long list of questions for Tam Valley answered, yay, definitely going with their system! And comparision shopping for scenics -- noting a bunch of Silflor/MiniNatur packs at one booth, going to the MBS booth to pick and purchase their packs, then back to fill in with Silfor. It was really handy to see the botanical stuff in person, especially for using it in N scale where we could pick out sizes that looked best for us. Doing the Mallory Complex first, we spent plenty of time on the layouts there, including the Narragansett and also the European group ones. Come the final building, we only had time to focus in on a few modules of the big layouts, but did fully take in another favorite, the Central New York group's. The Narragansett and New York ones are our favorites -- the unifying geography and time period combined with topnotch modelling really make those spectacular group efforts.
Another vote for the Narragansett Bay layout. This is an ON30 modular layout in the free-mo tradition. The sands of Cape Cod and the old narrow gauge steamers belong together. The free-mo standard allows the viewers to move around the whole layout, without the "inside" and "outside" restrictions of conventional modular setups. I got there late in the day, and I was pretty dead on my feet by that time, but my eyes lit up when I saw it.
