Someone was posting that there was a noticeable decline in internet chatter following the October 2016 York meet. So here are some observations, rumors, hearsay that can possibly be used to increase the York internet chatter. Keep in mind that most of these topics could be a separate thread so I am trying to minimize the threads but cover the same ground.
- Experience. Overall I had a great time. It's kind of a vacation experience and fairly relaxing for me. If you have never been, I highly recommend that you go at least once.
- Future York Shows. If the past two years are any indication then surely York won't last past 2017. Okay, I apologize, but I had to get that in there for the "York is doomed/ O scale trains are doomed" people.
- Hot. Drove up from the south expecting some cooler, or chilly, or cold weather. Most days were in the 86 - 87 degree F range.
- Rain. Very little compared to what the folks two mountains west of York were getting. We dodged a bullet on that one. Some rain on Friday at 3pm, heavy for just a few minutes, and that brought some cooler temperatures. Overall a very acceptable rain count. Worst I remember was the deluge in 1989.
- Layout. Man you should have seen that National Capital Trackers modular layout. 28ft x 117 ft, 3 levels. Most impressive I have ever seen. That layout alone was possibly worth the admission price.
- People. It did not seem to me to be as many people as October 2015 York or April 2016 for that matter. But we will know when the attendance numbers come out. Hopefully you enjoyed this last closed York, cause next April it's gonna be considerably more crowded in the parking lots and a couple of the halls.
- Sacks. I saw very few people carrying sacks of merchandise that they had bought and were carrying around until they could drop it off. In previous years I seem to remember having problems negotiating some points in the aisle due to people with bags of trains effectively blocking the aisle. This year, I made a point of trying to visually memorize some of tables with higher prices and kept checking those tables during the three days to see if items were gone (aka sold). As I expected, the merchandise on those tables didn't change and no increase in the gap space either. I am convinced some people just enjoy going to a train show and displaying their goods.
- Tables. There seemed to be more empty tables in all of the halls this time. I know some table holders will spread out over empty tables, but I am just going by the little tags that said "see the hall captain about purchasing this table" or something to that effect.
- Food. I've never eaten any of the fairgrounds food, but when you leave the Red Hall heading for the White Hall the tempting aroma is hard to ignore.
- Age. Wow, I think the average age of the York attendee was at least 65 and that could probably include those people in the middle school a couple of blocks away.
- Strollers. Did not see one. Saw a bunch of scooters and canes, but no strollers.
- Aisles. Had very little problem getting through the aisles of the member halls and no problem in the dealer halls.
- Kneelers. Didn't see anyone taking a knee during the national anthem on Thursday or the opening music of the other two days. Saw some people not put their hat or hand over their heart, but maybe their heart really doesn't belong to this land, so that's understandable. Or it could have been bad manners or arthritis.
- Bargains. I was fairly pleased with the variety and prices of the merchandise. I always go with an open mind and buy things that are just too good of a deal to pass up. I did have a hopper car I was looking for. One member's table always has the same one for sale. But this York it was $95.00 instead of $90.00 ( I'm sure due to increased handling and table space charges). I later saw one for $75.00, but I eventually settled for the one at $40.00.
- Public. The announcements before the train show opening every morning included a notice that the meet will be open to the public in April 2017 on Saturday for the dealer halls only. Now this person said they were the President of the EDTCA. Probably some on the OGR are still doubters, but that was what he said. The dealer hall hours will go until 4pm on Saturday instead of 2pm. There will be no change to the member halls, at least per the president of the EDTCA.
- Announcements. There was no noticeable decrease in the number of announcements over the P.A. system concerning cars illegally parked, imminent towing, group meetings, Friday ice cream social, Saturday morning coffee/doughnut, York badge holders for sale, or future meet pre-registration opportunities.
- York RR. Best I could tell the York RR was on time every morning with the proverbial horn blowing. Very fitting considering the nature of the current fairground visitors.
- Shuttles. One shuttle was air-conditioned and the other one was not. So I usually waited for the air conditioned shuttle.
- Admission price. Bout the same as before. Still not going to be able to make those " I'm not going to York until it's free and someone else pays my travel expenses" people happy. Of course, this subject is usually a separate thread or sub topic in some York threads. If that's your train, then I think it just kept on rolling by, for this York at least.
- Advertising. I have read many complaints on the lack of advertising for the York show. Given it is a closed show, open only to members and guests, I pondered what could EDTCA do to enhance the advertising coverage. They do mail a multi page booklet to every past attendee, but could they do more ? The answer is yes.
