The March Meet was a success for me on all accounts. I sold some things that I no longer used which were then replaced with things that I can use (like a PRB ATSF stock car which are very hard to find) and came home with more money than I left with. The Rockford O Scalers open houses went well. As expected, the Saturday night open house was a small crowd but that just means it was more relaxing and easier to talk to the attendees. Sunday's attendance started out slow but by 3:30 there were more than 30 people in the basement. At 20 people, it starts to get crowded and hard to move around. Hopefully it didn't bother too many people and they just decided it was more people to talk to. For the most part, things ran pretty good. One decoder may have overheated (after running for four hours) and shut down and there were a couple of other minor issues. It was so much fun that we going to repeat it again tomorrow when a couple of people from Colorado are visiting before they head back home.
Had the opportunity to visit John's layout Saturday night and enjoyed it very much. The roundhouse, turntable and fan tracks, filled with interesting steam power, was a delight. Nice scenery, busy town, many Die Cast Direct vehicles, totally cool full length passenger trains, like the F3 powered California Zephyr and E6 powered Illinois Central Panama Limited. If you get a chance, do visit "Rockford O Scalers". Friendly group, too!
John - might you post some video footage of the layout, as a separate topic?
Oh, there was some scuttle butt that the Hill's might not continue hosting the March Meet. Anyone have additional reconnaissance?
The only operating layout was an On30 approximately 4' x 6'. Single loop with one passing track which doubled as a spur. The excuse of 'I don't have enough room for a layout' doesn't hold water. You may not have enough space to run an articulated with strings of hoppers and reefers, but there is certainly room for a free standing or wall mounted(fold up) or under-the-bed narrow gauge railroad. Proper placement of buildings, trees and land contour would allow half the layout to be folded to the vertical or with two piano hinges folded over onto itself. The layout was being readied for this year's narrow gauge meet. Like most layouts, it resulted in smiles from all who saw it. John in Lansing, ILL
mark s posted:Oh, there was some scuttle butt that the Hill's might not continue hosting the March Meet. Anyone have additional reconnaissance?
That's been kicked around for several years now. One can only realistically expect that it will eventually come to fruition.
Dear Forum Members,
A tremendous HOORAH!!! to Melissa Hill and her family/volunteers which makes this event happen.
A venue as large as this or as small as our Strasburg shows takes dedication to promoting our wonderful 2 Rail scale fraternity.
John P.Dunn Sr Scale2Rail Promotions
Lead, Follow or Get the Hell out of the way!! - George S. Patton Jr.
Excellent coverage of an interesting meet. I am NOT an O scale modeler, but I always appreciate seeing O scale models.
An aside:
I do not understand the vitriol toward Eddy G. Some of those comments concerning him were below the belt. However, I was raised to respect my elders, and that means RESPECT them, and not insult or belittle them.
If you have a navel, and I highly suspect you do, then you're aging too. As we age, it would be great to do so with a little respect and understanding from those that are not facing the hassles of advancing age as yet.
IF those statements toward Eddy G were made in jest, it was in poor taste. IF not, then in my opinion, those making such snide comments need keep their crap to themselves and let those of us that CAN show respect, do so.
Andre
jdunn posted:Dear Forum Members,
A tremendous HOORAH!!! to Melissa Hill and her family/volunteers which makes this event happen.
A venue as large as this or as small as our Strasburg shows takes dedication to promoting our wonderful 2 Rail scale fraternity.
John P.Dunn Sr Scale2Rail Promotions
Lead, Follow or Get the Hell out of the way!! - George S. Patton Jr.
John, Well said. The scope of the 2 rail scale fraternity was shown at The March Meet when several of the seasoned veterans helped two brothers who brought more than seven hundred kits to the show. None asked for a special price, none expected a gift, they just jumped in and helped two novices set fair prices and decent groupings of items the sellers had no idea about. John in Lansing, ILL
mwb posted:mark s posted:Oh, there was some scuttle butt that the Hill's might not continue hosting the March Meet. Anyone have additional reconnaissance?
That's been kicked around for several years now. One can only realistically expect that it will eventually come to fruition.
Jim Canter passed down the Indy Show, Mr. Hill passed The March Meet to Mike and Milissa. If it becomes a burden, they may pass it. I cannot remember the last event I attended which had such a large percentage of attendees smiling. Vendors were smiling, buyers were smiling, volunteers were smiling. John in Lansing, ILL
Thanks for the posts on the meet and the pix. Would like to attend, but it's smack in our busiest time of the year at work. And, even though I wasn't there, kudos to the organizers.
David
I want to add my 2 cents on the March Meet. I left S Scale and model railroading 20 years ago. Six months ago the RR bug bit when I saw some 2 rail O Scale locomotives. I was blown away. I modeled Great Northern and DM&IR. Try finding much stuff for those roads in S Scale. This was my first March meet and I cannot believe the quantity and quality of the models at this show. I also took a layout tour of Gary Engles GN layout-awesome. The Organizers are to be commended for putting on such a great show solely for 2 rail O scale. It is only two day since the show , but I am already planning on attending the 2020 March Meet.
Pete
I really enjoyed the March Meet. Talked to a bunch, bought some stuff, ate too much.
Thanks to the organizers.
Dick
I miss it as a source for archbar trucks, which have dried up, but this was a great show. I found stuff! I think the March Meet is a "fur piece" from Eddie, who travels by train!, but he might find stuff he can use, as l do. I use any source that works...and l try not to be provincial, but sometimes fail.
OK...I had to spend considerable time editing and deleting the personal posts about another member. I have been warning you all about this so one last time....stop the crap. Stay on topic and don't respond or pile on the personal attacks and attitude. I will be emailing some of the worst offenders very soon....no need for this kind of non-sense!
To laming..........what a gentleman you are!!!! My comments to help Eddie would've been more acidic............as Eddie is just Eddie, his mild question was the same that I was about to ask. And I am GLAD he did, since Lombard, Illinois, isn't far from where I grew up, and I have an elderly Aunt who lives in Addison
( yes Eddie she is SINGLE...lol) . So the location question what appropriate also to me............elderly loving Aunt Lorraine, free place to stay...although helping her chore-wise is involved ...NP.....and the Lombard meet is probably a hop n' skip away!
It's Eddie who as a Forum member really livens up this Forum in a positive way...........
Thanks Laming & REDJIMMY1955 for your kind words. It means a lot to me. Thanks.
Check out Lee Marsh web site for latest pics and info of this superb model, leemarshmodelco-usa.com
The March Meet:
Thank you Carrey, Dave, and Engineer-Joe for posting pics.
Though I am in HO by virtue of my sets of "Givens n' Druthers", I so enjoy seeing O scale models. IMHO, O scale models have a "heft" that is unique among the scales. Also my opinion, but I feel O scale makes for better looking detailed models in detailed scenes for some reason rather than going larger. I don't know why I perceive it that way, unless it's the settings I typically see in a well done O scale layout compared to a well done larger scale layout. The O scale layout can typically not appear as cramped or as characterized via compression perhaps?
Oh, and I love seeing pictures of vintage O 2 rail, too. Some of those older models look very nice, even by today's standards.
I often check on the O scale 2 rail forum for promising threads!
RedJimmy:
Thank you for you kind words. In the upbringing in my home, respecting elders was taught. I was instructed by Mom and Dad both that elders were always referred to by "Mr. & Mrs" followed by their last name, and a reply to a question they may ask was to be followed with "Yes Sir" and "Yes Ma'm". I struggle with today's kids and when I see some from their ranks display irreverent attitudes towards our elders. Seems to me, that as we enter the advanced aging phase, being treated with dignity and respect is one of the few things we have left as individuals. So ingrained was this teaching, that during my pastoral years when we had one of our church pot luck fellowship dinners, I would always insist that we allow our elders to go first in the line as a sign of respect, along with providing them the ability to not have to stand in line so long. This also had the side effect of teaching our church children that elders should be respected.
All fer now.
Andre
Hello Eddy G!
You have earned the right to be respected, because you're still kickin' life in the tail end! 
I doubt I'll ever be in a location to meet you in person, but I highly suspect I would enjoy hearing some of your experiences in life, trains and otherwise. I have done so many times with many of the elders that I've been around over the decades. I used to enjoy visiting with my elders that were a part of the churches I pastored for the 25+ years I was pastoring. Wow, some of them had amazing life experiences, as I'm sure you have as well.
Take care and keep on kickin' life's rear!
Andre
