Train Show Time of Year

It's that time of year again. This is when we head south for our annual train show at the largest train show in the United States. 

A few other train shows around the country erroneously claim to be the largest train show but, when we check the facts, none even come close to this show. This is a show we look forward to all year long. 

Unfortunately, I am still exhausted from our past six months of hospital visits followed by a very eventful holiday season. Sheila is understandably exhausted too. She's having difficulty with this latest cancer treatment plan so far and it is cutting into her sleep significantly. Hopefully things will ease up soon since she has ten years of this last stage of cancer treatment. Regardless, we're both looking forward to getting out of town and strolling around the largest train show in the country. 

There really isn't anything on my "wish list" for purchases this year so we don't need to attempt to see the entire show grounds. This show is spread out over nine acres including more than 60 operating layouts and over 400 vendors selling all sorts of train stuff. Seeing every vendor who is jam-packed into a nine acre space is a difficult task even for people with boundless energy and two days of time. Considering we've both exhausted and have no specific plan in mind, we just hope to see the best the show has to offer in our time at the show each day. 

Since I don't really have anything specific on my wish list for purchases this year, I'll probably stumble across a deal or two that I just can't pass up! Isn't that the general rule? 

The last time I went to a train show with no purchases in mind, I came back home with a huge train... a steam locomotive in Fn3 scale, tender, gondola, flatcar, and caboose... and some track... for $40. I have no room for running model trains this large but this was a deal I could not pass up so we now have a nice train to display in our house. Naturally, if I find a deal like this again this year, I'll have to make a purchase.

One of the problems with this and any extremely large show is that if you do plan to make purchases, you are stuck carrying everything around with you because you are now nowhere near your car. That being said, sometimes a deal is too good to pass up though. Worst case scenario is we need to make a quick trip to the car to drop off a purchase or two. I should also point out that this show always prompts purchases when we get home. Seeing what the manufacturers have to offer and seeing how well these items work while also getting an opportunity to see and feel an item helps make a decision to purchase online. And, we always do.

If you've been following this blog over the past few years, you know that walking around this show has proven to be extremely painful and difficult for me over the past few years. Two days of walking on concrete... while dressed for winter... while carrying what we might need over the course of the day... is simply more than my spinal injuries can handle. The pain gets so intense that it takes my breath away. Every year, after we arrive back home, I swear I will buy a wheelchair for the next show. Of course, I still have no wheelchair. I know I'm going to drag my feet on this purchase (no pun intended) until a doctor or someone orders me to purchase one. This year, I hope to take it slow and easy and, if my spine can't take any additional abuse, we'll just head back to the hotel. 

You know... I'm now thinking about what affects my spine so much at this show as compared to other things we do... perhaps it is the standing and walking on concrete all day for two days that I find difficult and painful... perhaps it is the constant bending to look closely at products and model railroad layouts that gets brutal in short time... and perhaps it is the constant twisting around to look as many ways as possible so I don't miss anything that consistently intensifies the spinal pain. So it is standing on concrete, bending over, twisting, while also carrying a few things I'll need throughout the day that does me in each year. 

Regardless, Sheila and I are definitely looking forward to the show and some time out of town... away from doctors and hospitals (hopefully)... and spending some quality time together. Hmmm... that seems like a silly statement since our months at the hospital were also quality time and any time we spend together is quality time. So, maybe I should add relaxed in there... we're looking forward to some relaxed quality time together.

Maybe next year we'll have to insist that Lukey and Kenzie join us for the show too. They are long overdue for another visit to this show!

This photo, below, shows only one of four buildings that houses this immense show...

Are we there yet?