Upcoming Train Show

We have an upcoming train show to attend very soon so I was looking at photos from past years to help me decide which camera gear to bring with me.  Sometimes what I choose works, sometimes it doesn't so I wanted to see what had worked in the past and choose that gear again for this year.  Plus, it's been so long since we've been at a train show that I can't remember what worked for me in the past.  Train shows are rather dark and shooting photos of small models in less than good light can be tricky so, if you plan to come away from the show with some good photos, you need to have the right gear for the environment.

We haven't attended this huge train show since 2019 due to the pandemic as well as my own poor health due to actually having the virus so we're looking forward to getting back to the show for a change.

Unfortunately, the hotels filled up with train show groups very fast this autumn so we're stuck at a location we don't want to be this year.  In hindsight, we should have foregone the train show group rates and just booked a room where we wanted at the normal rates.  I think the group rate only saves us $25/night (it could be more though) and, to me, location, comfort and amenities are more important than saving $25/night.  Hindsight is 20/20 though so, this year, we're stuck in a rather crappy location.  Actually, truth be told, I would prefer to be at a nearby house on one of the ponds surrounding the Springfield area but that would probably be too expensive...  one extreme to the other.  

The last time we were at this show (January, 2019), we picked up Liza, John, Lukey and Kenzie at the train station.  Lukey and Kenzie seemed to really enjoy the show as seen in some of the photos below.

This first photo shows Kenzie and Lukey getting off the train in Springfield...

Lukey is clearly excited...  he got to ride on Amtrak and is now going to the biggest train show in the country!

Sheila always manages to find some sun...  (something I avoid like the plague now yet I'm the one with tons of skin cancer....  too many beaches and too much boating as a child)...

I shot a photo of this model scene because of the name of this diner...  "Miss Ellie's Diner"...  we thought our granddaughter, Ellie, would appreciate it.  Of course, at the time, she was only a year old so we'll have to remember to show her this photo the next time she visits us...

In the next series of photos, you can see that Lukey and Kenzie got to run a lot of trains at this show and they enjoyed it very much.  We did more of this than anything else so I don't think I even had a chance to do any shopping at this show!  

It just so happens that not only was one of the hundreds of model buildings named the same as one of our granddaughters (Ellie, as seen in a photo above) but we found a six foot module named "Mackenzie Dock" which Kenzie got to see.  I doubt she remembers seeing this section of a layout but she'll see it here in this blog entry now!

There is another train show that occurs in April every year at the same location but it is a show of only large scale trains like my garden trains.  This interests me too but getting to another show just a few months after this one is not likely.  

If I'm going to be honest, I'm getting kind of bored of this January show for various reasons and the only reason we're attending this year is because we've missed the last five shows.  We're also in need of socializing with some friends so that is another good reason to attend this year.  

Although this is the biggest show in the country every year, they really scaled back through the pandemic.  A lot of vendors had dropped out...  a lot of the model layouts had stopped coming to the show...  and, honestly, the hotels that support the group rates are not that great.  This show is only three hours away though and that is about our limit for driving in a day.  Anything longer than that in a car is brutally painful and exhausting and takes a lot out of my health.  The show has scaled back up this year but there are some clubs and vendors that no longer attend and we'll sorely miss them this year.  We'll see whether the show is still worth it in a couple of weeks.

The other problem...  and it really is a BIG problem....  this time of year absolutely sucks for a show three hours away!  First, it is January and the roads are often lousy which makes the drive even more taxing.  Then, it is January right after an expensive Christmas so there is little to no money to be spent on trains.  Consequently, I rarely buy anything at this show but I do shop and take note of what looks good and who sells it for when the money isn't so tight.  It really is a lousy time of the year though.

In the future, going forward, I'm thinking we might alternate years...  one year we go to this show in January...  the following year we go to the large scale show in April.  Hmmm...  we might even put an extra year in between each of those shows so we're only going to one show every two years and the same show every four years.  

As much as I enjoy model railroading and going to big train shows, there is only so much my health can take.  Each time we go out of town, I need a couple of months to recover.  We went out of town in September with far too much driving...  TWICE...  then we went out of town to Saratoga just before Christmas on a very snowy and frigid weekend...  now we're doing this train show in Springfield and I'm still not feeling like I'm recovered from the last trip.  Then, we're talking about another trip to Manhattan for a Broadway show in two months which is just three months before a very long, very hectic, and what will be a very taxing trip in a hot climate (my health does not do well in hot climates).  I'm exhausted just thinking about and writing about it.  So, the first thing to cut out in an interest to save much needed energy is some of these train shows.  We've done a lot of train shows over the years so this is the obvious first cut.

Actually, after writing about all these recent trips, it is obvious to me that we're trying to do too much traveling to make up for no traveling during the pandemic.  In the end, pertaining to our next trip out of town for the train show, if I feel like crap when it comes time to head out for the long weekend, we'll just have to cancel again. 

It was nice revisiting these photos from our last train show with the kids though!