how early make reservations

Hi "$00", it's never to early to make reservations at York. You may find that most of the rooms are already taken up by the dealers and regulars.

As for the best town to stay in that is a good question. If all you wont to see is York then that is the best place to stay. But you did mention that your wife wonted to see a few museums. In that case I would look to stay in Lancaster, PA. on Route 30 near the outlet centers.

From there you are only about a fourty-five minute drive to York going west on Rt 30. The RR Museum of PA is only about a couple of miles away, along with the Strausburg RR and the Toy Train Museum.

Another option, though a little more expensive is the Baltimore Inner Harbor. It too has alot of shops and reastaurants but it also sports the Constellation sailing war ship and the National Aquarium. The B&O RR museum is only a mile or two way. I think the drive time from Baltimore Inner Harbor to York is about 3/4's to one hour.

As for the best York to go to I would say that would be the fall show. This is only my humble opinion because others will say differently, but I always felt that the fall screams toy trains. I go to spring meet as well and I enjoy it but the fall is my favorite. I think it has to do with when I was kid, the fall was always the time of year when we would ride our bikes to the stores to see what was new from Lionel.

Well I hope I was of some help to you. hope to see at York.

You will be better served staying in the Strasburg Area in the old country instead of trying to stay in another Metro area such as Baltimore. The reason I state this is the traffic is quite challenging to and from Baltimore. And also, on Friday nights to weekends, crowds of unemployed kids make trouble etc.

Baltimore is not that bad, but given the choice I will stay in Strasburg.

Gettysburg is another alternative you might seek.

This assumes you are driving to York. If you are flying in you will want KBWI and rent a car there.

The last time I stayed in Strasburg, the silence was golden, punctuated by a blast of one of the strasburg engines in the distance after sunrise. That I remember like yesterday.

Make your reservations as early as possible, although there are now plenty of new hotels around the York and Strasburg areas, and these days it's not hard to get a reservation somewhere even fairly close to the York Meet date.  It is not like the "old days" when you needed to make a reservation six months or more in advance.

Strasburg is something of a "Train Mecca" in the eastern U.S. and is a beautiful area of the country as well.  Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Strasburg RR, Toy Train Museum, Choo-Choo Barn, and various other great things to see.  The downside of staying in Strasburg while you're attending the York Meet is the extremely crowded and rather boring drive on U.S. 30 to get between the two places. 

I prefer the fall York as a kind of fitting prelude to the holiday season, but usually can't attend in the fall because of the magazine's publishing schedule.  As it is anywhere else in the country, the weather can be bad or good at either meet...something of a crap shoot in that regard.

Horseshoe curve is near Altoona, about 154 miles from York (about a three-hour drive).

Be sure to read "Clem's York Primer" (link is featured at the top of this forum) and it will give you most all of the information you might need.

When I started attending, folks renewed their reservations for the next show as they were checking in or out. Some places even required a cash deposit.

As has already been posted, there are more places to stay now, so there is less pressure to reserve early.

That said, some of the more popular  establishments haven't had an open room in years.

If you want a "chioce" motel/hotel, you may as well make one now. Since your wife will be with you, I'd avoid the "cheapos" I stay at, although they are less than 2 miles from the fairgrounds (I stay at the Rodeway Inn, and book 2 weeks in advance).

I'm not sure if Horseshoe Curve is worth the trip. I think spending time in the Strasburg area would be a "must". Your wife, and probably you, would love the  www.nationalchristmascenter.com , just a few miles from Strasburg.

Thanks to all for your input will look at Clem's corner and look at a map of pennsylvania. Sounds like both Lancaster and Strasburg are more central to getting to what were interested in

The only reason I mentioned horseshoe curve is we like to watch trains too we have stood at a main switching yard for four hours and enjoyed every minute.

Dont think will make this year but were looking at doing a train trip from Phoenix,az to California  up the coast across northern USA and onto PA. And ultimately Florida.

We did this trip 13 years ago and it was the best time we ever had.

I hope to see some of you next fall at York until then have a great day run some trains and happy rail fanning.

$oo

Keep in mind, too, that Baltimore is a short and easy hour (more or less) drive south of York.  Lots to see and do in that area, including the B&O Museum, trolley museum, Inner Harbor, etc.  You can even park on the outskirts and take light rail into downtown if you care to.

Every year I dream of going to York.

Then I have some reservations.

my group makes reservations for the upcoming York upon check out of the current meet, so 6 months

That's how it's normally done once one finds suitable accommodations.