Cal Stewart TTOS 2016

Lots of very old stuff... 

I think the highlight was the s-gauge layout and scenery. If I was ready to restore my 2 post war sets, there were plenty of parts to get it done. I must admit I'm an Atlas and Sunset guy, and saw maybe two or three blue boxes in the entire hall (2 #5 switches at full retail $90). Plenty of orange boxes, as expected for a TTOS event.

Got there at 2PM, and they were nice enough to let my son and I in for the Sunday price of $15. But there were vendors already packing up at that time as well.

The bright spots (for me) was finding two Walthers Cornerstone horse head oil pumps for 1/4 retail. Also saw a couple nice Sunset models steamers (but alas both were 20+ years old and asking full retail). Also as a Woodland Scenics Morrison Door Factory building for $90 (which I think is a good deal).

Most entertaining thing was an obnoxious auctioneer berating the elderly bidders for not speaking loudly enough or clearly enough for him to hear.

So, $10 to park, $15 to get in, $30 for a pair of oil pumps, $5 for a pair of milk shakes (at the local In N Out)... $60 all in and walked away with a good deal and a good time with my son.

lionel1946 posted:

Lots of very old stuff... 

I think the highlight was the s-gauge layout and scenery. If I was ready to restore my 2 post war sets, there were plenty of parts to get it done. I must admit I'm an Atlas and Sunset guy, and saw maybe two or three blue boxes in the entire hall (2 #5 switches at full retail $90). Plenty of orange boxes, as expected for a TTOS event.

Got there at 2PM, and they were nice enough to let my son and I in for the Sunday price of $15. But there were vendors already packing up at that time as well.

The bright spots (for me) was finding two Walthers Cornerstone horse head oil pumps for 1/4 retail. Also saw a couple nice Sunset models steamers (but alas both were 20+ years old and asking full retail). Also as a Woodland Scenics Morrison Door Factory building for $90 (which I think is a good deal).

Most entertaining thing was an obnoxious auctioneer berating the elderly bidders for not speaking loudly enough or clearly enough for him to hear.

So, $10 to park, $15 to get in, $30 for a pair of oil pumps, $5 for a pair of milk shakes (at the local In N Out)... $60 all in and walked away with a good deal and a good time with my son.

Thanks, so basically don't expect much?

Thats an understatement Tim 

we went up on sunday and found some items we were able to talk the people down a little.

attendance was light to medium.

Had thought about going, but work up late. Looks like I didn't miss a whole lot.

bigdodgetrain posted:

we went up on sunday and found some items we were able to talk the people down a little.

attendance was light to medium.

Big dodge  the 3 rail bridge looks great.  But some scenery was falling in slot. Might want to clear coat it. And. Maybe put in a micro switch with sound indicating bridge is up. Along with a sign push down on bridge.

Usually I score at this show big time but only bought 1 car and all the big sellers left after Saturday 

I did forget to mention it took 15 minutes to walk through the show 

I was there working with the TTOS Southern Pacific Division layouts all weekend so I was very busy. I did get a little bit of time to walk the hall later but I had volunteered to run and watch the layouts so others could go and shop. When I did there seemed to be a bit more variety of things to buy than last year and I did see some modern stuff. I really did not spend a whole lot since my wife is still undergoing her cancer treatments and surgery is scheduled in about 2 weeks. Yes, there are a lot of older trains and those things are eclectic, but as a friend said "once you get some rust under your fingernails there is no going back." Shows alone in Southern California have become difficult due to lack of venues, costs, and social changes. I firmly believe social changes are a big part. People ask me how do I have time for work and what I do with trains and I tell them it is for my sanity.

Of course, I might have looked like I was almost insane on Sunday since the layout gremlins appeared with my GP35 Lionel Christmas engine deciding to throw all four traction tires, Oh well. I also figured out on my little 249e Lionel Corp/MTH engine that the retaining metal pin does not stick up far enough to hold the wireless tether in place so it would act up. After discussing this with my club member friends who build some wonderful Christmas displays for the Muzeo Museum in Anaheim their 249e engines are doing the same. 

Now, beyond that, I also saw some sellers pack it up on Saturday and some new ones arrive on Sunday which I do not understand. If you are a seller that truly wants to sell then you as a business operator should commit to doing everything you can to refer people to a show and help yourself. I know that the Southwestern people went to a lot of clubs in the are to promote the event and did what was within their budget to promote the show. I hear a lot of people complain about the cost of parking, show entrance, etc.  I understand but yet often these same people will throw a lot more money at something with less value or entertainment. Everyone at this show is a volunteer and takes the praise and complaints in stride.

From what I understand Cal Stewart started as a collectors show and in many ways that shows through in the show. I like being able to see my friends and spend some time around trains and just talk. These venues bring us together to be able to do so. I would challenge those who are not happy to ask what could you do to help? Talk to the show organizers and have a discussion. How many readers here have their layouts open to the public or do home layout tours? Out here in Southern California it seems so many people are so paranoid about getting their trains stolen that they never open up their home so no one knows they even have trains. I think also the argument of their trains being stolen holds little water since there were several vendors at this show and others that even with aggressive pricing could not give their trains away so I can almost guarantee that no once could ever make any money stealing trains. No one would buy them.

Finally, I want to say thank you to all of those that did work and help to put on Cal Stewart. I enjoyed the show and being able to be with like minded friends for a nice weekend! I am attaching some pictures from the show.

Thanks Jeff, I plan to talk with Larry Pearson in December at the AGTTA meet

I was there running trains both days. Overall, more variety and better selection of things to buy than last year.  Many sellers were dealing, but  the hall was not crowded most of the time. I thought the show was better than last year. As far as the prices to attend, about the same as they were in Pasadena. Many folks have just gotten older, have health conditions, or have passed on. Southwest did promote the show, but I didn't see a lot of sellers from surrounding western states as in years past. 

I found several items that needed a new home.

The need for getting more people involved is a driving force. Maybe open to the public on Sat after 11???  or contact Southwest with your ideas. It is still the best show in So Cal.

I want to thank all the people that made the show a success!!! 

Bob

I can only imagine the cost of a venue for a train show in cali.  I was shocked at the venue costs here in Texas.  Some shows are as high as $60 per table.  It is getting expensive to put on a train show these days.   In the old days, the high gate attendance would drag in more vendors which reduced the allocation of  the fixed costs.

In regards to captain cog's comments on getting your trains stolen:  good thieves work on the premise that if you can afford expensive toys, then you probably have other nice stuff also, jewelry/electronics/etc.  Same goes for driving an expensive car, it signals your taste.  They don't do a current market analysis of MTH vs Lionel.

And the intangible costs of someone breaking in your home probably deters people from opening their home layouts as well.  Wasn't there a thread in the past year or so of someone getting an engine stolen during a local open house?

I was there with Mark Boyd (TCQ Editor).  I was helping Mark sell his things.  We both bought some items.  Mark seemed to know just about all the sellers and many of the buyers.  I met sellers from Washington, Arizona and there were several from Northern CA.  Attendance was light on Saturday but picked up on Sunday.  Mark sold about 75% of the stuff he brought and I sold the one item that I brought.  We were both happy with our sales.

I thought that it was a good show in an excellent venue.  It was easy to move stuff in and out of the hall through wide roll up ground level doors. The hall lighting was excellent.  This is one of the few train shows when it has been bright enough for me to fully see the trains and modular layouts.  The bathrooms were clean and modern and were constantly kept clean by the Fairplex staff.  The breakfast burrito from the food vendor was excellent and was reasonably priced for fair ground food.  Parking was a long way from the hall.  This was not a problem for me but it could be a hike for those with mobility issues or people that were carrying trains.  I found out at the end of the show that the Fairplex was running a shuttle tram from the parking lot to the hall.  

I want to congratulate the TTOS volunteers who organized and staffed the show.  They did an outstanding job.  Everything from checkin to tear down was perfect.  

The Park Inn, the convention hotel, was better than many others that I have stayed at especially for the price.  It was a easy and short 10 minute drive from the Fairplex.  My room was large and very comfortable.  The TV in Mark's room didn't work the first night but was fixed the next night.  The free breakfast was fresh and very good.  I would stay there again.  

The modular layouts were wonderful.  I especially enjoyed the all the operating Christmas trains.  There were all kinds of Lionel and MTH Christmas trains running.  All the steamers were really smoking.  There were a few O gauge Christmas cars that I would like to add to my collection.  

One small layout had three trolleys operating on a single track line with automatic station stops.  It was very cool.  There was a fantastic display of what seemed to be about 200 (?) Lionel Scout engines. I have never seen such a large collection of one engine type.  It was impressive.  Another fellow was displaying a super detailed live steam coal fired New York Central hudson.  This was a ride on engine and was awesome.  I believe he said that the track gauge was 3 1/2 inches.  I have forgotten the scale.  

Since I am into garden railroading (see the G&O Story on this forum), I was especially pleased that the Fairplex Garden Railroad was just a few steps from Cal-Stewart hall.  It was open and running trains.  This display is the size of a football field and was running six trains at once.  These were very long G gauge trains.  Each one was pulled with multiple unit diesels or double headed steam engines.  There was a full length 11 car CZ train and another train of about 50 PFE reefer cars.  All the garden railroad volunteers that I spoke to were very nice and cheerfully answered my questions.  This railroad is maintained by a group of about 80 volunteers.   It gets about 50,000 visitors during the LA County Fair which is held in September.  Visiting this world famous garden railroad was a Cal-Stewart bonus.  The Fairplex grounds has a display of real trains including a UP 9000 class engine that I hope to visit someday.

Mark and I had a very good time.  I got to meet many people in the hobby that I hope to see again at future Cal-Stewart shows.  I will post some of my photos at a later date.

NH Joe