Who's attending and/or selling at TCA's National Convention this week in Philadelphia (actually Cherry Hill, NJ)?

Since I live about 10 miles East of Phila., I thought I'd walk to my nearby train station and ride to the downtown station. Then I found out that the "Philadelphia" event was actually in Cherry Hill, NJ...which is a "pain in the can" drive, especially during "rush" periods. I also realised that I have already visited many of the tour sites. I'm sure you will all have a great convention  visit. Philadelphia is a great place to visit and live. I've been in the area since 1960.

I won't be there.  I'd like to be but I just could not fit it in among everything else I have to do. I also would prefer it to be on the other side of the river, but, okay, that really didn't have anything to do with my decision.   I will pay attention to what is said and what happens there.  

I wish I knew about this sooner. Maybe next year I will have income to rejoin the TCA. it's the layout tours of the convention that make it worthwhile!

Diff'ent strokes, diff'ent folks.  Did not realise it was not in downtown Philly, but the

one time I tried to visit the historical sites there, on a weekday when in the SE. Pa.

area, no parking near them, so I had already written it off.  And with trips to all the

Yorks, SE Pa. has been explored well (except for downtown).  Some go for the layout

tours...I just go for the train shows, and they, lately, at least at the last conventions

I attended...location, location, location...were kind of sparse.  (train show should be better, though,  in the Philadelphia population center of collectors)  If the guy who

lives in Jersey won't drive it, I think I'll just take a relaxing drive around the LA

Freeway system at 5 PM on Friday .

As Past President I will certainly be there.  Don't forget my post of a few days ago concerning A Forum meeting that I will be hosting on Friday 27 June, 7:00am, door prizes.  Must be early not to interfere with tour bus departures and other tours.

Paul Edgar

Very much looking forward to attending. The Atlantic Division has been hard at work organizing the activities and issuing a number of commemorative club cars, mostly themed around Tastykake. Philly sits in the heart of Train Country. Since most of the activities are on the western side of the Delaware River and the headquarters hotel is in Cherry Hill, NJ, my one concern is the bridge traffic. I guess that is what tour busses are for. We'll see. 

Bob 

I would love to go on some of the layout tours but I was told I need to board the bus at the convention and am not able to meet the tour at the first stop and follow along in my car.

Why I didn't debate the point it is frustrating because some of the layouts are in my proverbial backyard but I just can't justify going 2 hours out of my way just to get on and off a bus from the point of origin.

I hope everyone who attends has a great time!

--Greg

Anyone else going?

I will be there on Saturday, and am looking forward to a great time.

For those who didn't know about this year's convention, next year's convention is in northern NJ and I'm told one of the layout tours will be a small layout in Paterson.

Gerry

Due to my work schedule I will be there on Friday and Saturday.  I will be part of the Metropolitan Division contingent promoting the 2015 TCA convention.  stop by and say hello.  all the best to the Atlantic Division for a great convention. they put a lot of hard work and effort into this.   see ya in cherry hill.  

Kevin Quinn

METCA VP

Rich Melvin, will OGR be officially represented there?

Trading Halls only.  Seemed to me that most of what was going on, from the agenda, were trips away from the hotel.  Perhaps I wrongly viewed this as an educational event/communication of info/seminars.  It has some of that, but not what I expected.  My expectation, my opinion, my decision, so I passed on the rest.

These things are a challenge to organize, so kudos to the folks that are doing it.  Many thankless hours, for sure.

Great opportunity for folks that might only get to see their train buddies one time per year, so I get that. 

As I live less than an hour from the area, I figured it's right in my backyard...why not? I am going Wednesday through Saturday. Good opportunity to see the many great layouts around my area, some of which I never knew existed. Hope to connect with these folks for some possible future running sessions.

I can see that it makes logistics easier to manage, but it's also frustrating for local folks who just want to visit a local layout.

Not all train conventions work this way.  I seem to recall visiting the O-scale National Convention many years ago in Washington, DC... and certain local layouts had more of "visiting hours" in an open house style set-up.  So folks could come and go as they pleased via their own transportation.  That's how I saw Tony Lash's layout for the first time... among others.

If the TCA managed their layout tours that way, I'd visit the big Standard Gauge layout in Macungie in a heartbeat.  But I, like you, am not gonna drive down to Cherry Hill, only to pass my house on the way back up to the Lehigh Valley.  Ain't gonna happen.  But I can see where having a tour bus is very convenient for folks attending the convention itself.

David

I'll be at a friends house on Thursday to help him with one of the tours.

Not sure of going to the train meet on Saturday. 

A couple reasons I see for insisting on riding the bus:

The host will know exactly when and for how long he will be displaying his layout. Remember that the host is a member too and may not want to be tied down for extended preiods waiting for visitors who may or may not show. He wants to avail himself of the convention events too.

The bus "chaperone" will take care of checking badges of riders to be sure they are registered conventioneers. Otherwise the host would have to check credentials of visitors himself while at the same time trying to keep trains operating smoothly despite the fact that "Murphy" shows up at all open houses.

The buses have bathrooms and conventioneers are instructed to use them rather than the facilities of the host and stay only in the train room. Car riders invariably would rely on the host and end up wandering around the home looking for them.

This comes from experience of having "been there, done that" as a host on a number of conventions. It is, however, fun to host these events.

One involved three separate tour bus loads of 55 each during the course of the day. My neighbor had just moved into the neighborhood that week, and stood in his yard wide-eyed in disbelief all day. I assured him that I "only did this on Fridays!!!"

Jim

The particular one you are interested in is in fact included in the list of 15 (some such as this are duplicates of earlier major tours during the week) that one can pursue on their own on Sunday 6/29.

It's on Page 50 of the HQN for May 2014.

As to the original question, I will only be at the trading halls and displays on Friday.   An uncertain (until very recently) potential for business travel this week caused me to not be able to commit to signing up early for the rest of the tours, so I passed.

-Dave

Dave, thanks for pointing that out.  I may, indeed, look into the Standard Gauge "open house" on 6/29.    I completely missed the 6/29 DIY open house itineraries.  

David

Stop by and say hi to the North Penn O-gaugers, we'll have a modular display there.  It won't be as big as some we do, they didn't have the space for about half our modules.  I'll be setting up Tuesday, running on Thursday and Saturday.  Obviously, other folks will be there from the club on all days.

Well I will be there Saturday with the North Penn'O'Gauger.

Have to work all weak.

Cherry Valley Model railroad club will be open from Wednesday to Sunday. We are minutes away from the TCA convention. More details are under the Annoncements forum. Free beverages and snacks will be provided by Scale2Rail Promotions. 

We can also give some suggestions on local eateries,etc.

Major cudos to these guys running the convention !!!

Regards, John P. Dunn Sr #71-3781,Pres. CVMRR

John's right! We are literally just a couple miles from the host hotel. We'd be really pleased if you made the effort to stop by our open houses.

Details in the attached flyer:

I'll be there.  Come check out the 2015 Convention store/promotion booth.  Anyone up for New York, New York next year!!!!

Stu

For those of you who have never been to Philadelphia before......a good side trip is Penn's Landing where the USS Olympia resides.

This was Admiral Dewey's flagship at Manila Bay and is one of only 2 ships of the Pre-Dreadnought era still afloat (the other is Admiral Togo's Mikasa in Japan).

Peter

Are non TCA members able to attend the convention

Franky,

Yes, if you are the guest of a TCA member, you can do all of it, including going on any of the trips/tours and to partake in any of the other activities (parties, etc.).  You just have to register for the convention with your TCA member friend.

If a non-TCA member going without a TCA member, then you may still attend the public display area (where the layout usually are) and the trading hall swap meet.  You just have to pay a nominal entrance fee.

Stu

I wonder whether an individual can join the TCA right at the convention in order to attend.

With the current policies, I'd be amazed if you can't join on the spot at any TCA event.

Yup, join on the spot if you want.

Stu

My wife and I have attended many TCA, and LCCA national conventions and we always enjoyed the camaraderie, chances to visit new areas of our country, and the many lasting friendships we formed. Our layouts are part of the Thursday Media area layout tour and if you are a forum member, be sure and introduce yourself! Although we are from the local area, we will be attending the welcome party, dinner cruise, trading pits, and banquet. We are looking forward to spending time with our friends and perhaps making new ones too. As mentioned above, there are self-guided tours on Sunday with a guide book available for a nominal fee to cover the printing. The self-guided tours are free. 

Eric Hofberg

TCA, LCCA      

Can anyone advise the dress code( if there is one) for the welcome party Wednesday night. Is it casual?

 I assured him that I "only did this on Fridays!!!"

That Jim is really funny...straight outta my playbook !

I'm curious about the dealers who will have tables there at week's end. Albeit, I'm not assuming this is a mini-York type selling affair, since ince the TCA info I've perused there's no indication or listing of who the dealers will be and so I'm wondering are they mainly private TCA members selling from their own collections or will larger and non-local dealers such as Charles Ro, Trainworld, Patrick's Trains, Marios's Trains, Mercer Junction, Henning's Trains, Grybowskis Trains and many of the other sponsors of this forum be selling there? Also, will Lionel, MTH, Atlas, Miller Engineering, Cargraves, OGR Publications (and that other 3-rail magazine) be represented there? Would appreciate information from someone on TCA's convention committee regarding my questions.

Thanks in advance.