What Did You Find At York This Time?

great deals in the back of the blue hall near the emergency exit doors 

Got there at 9 am today (Friday) and finished all the halls by 12:30. Weather was perfect. I bumped into two old friends, John Devlin and Chuck Jenna. They look younger every time I see them...as do I, when I look in my mirror. Bought all I needed...a Lemax shooting gallery to replace my busted roller coaster. I wanted to buy a book I saw, but the Red Hall dealer could not be found (twice). In my opinion, all halls were very crowded (including Purple). Did the Blue Hall always have such wide aisles? They were a pleasure to walk in. They kept announcing that you could purchase a April 2018 badge in the Silver Hall. At 75 years old, why push my luck? I'll wait until March.

Spent yesterday and today trying to decide how to power my Christmas tree layout, settled on an MRC Pure Power Dual. Not really what I was after, but couldn’t argue with the price. After that, the only things really jumping out at me were all too big for my layout. May go back in the morning for a last lap, not sure yet.

I picked up couple of Lionell scale F3B units at great prices. Problem now is I don't have the AA units to Go with them  so the quest continues.

Had a nice visit with Rick Batista and bought his new DVD 

 I mainly wanted to meet some of you guys who I've only communicated with and enjoyed very much so. Also met Toni Lasch who I had heard so much about    All in all a great trip 

I actually found out some interesting things about people. (Warning: I think if you can't laugh at yourself, you are missing the funniest show in town, so if you have problems enjoying our foibles, stop reading now.)

As a seller for only the second time, I was struck by the virtually constant parade of people walking  the aisles, glancing here and there, but almost always in constant motion. I wondered, are they looking for something so special that they don't see anything else? Or, is York so overwhelming in volume that things just get blocked out? One other seller said to me that he thought a significant number of people just walked the aisles so they could say "they'd seen it all."  A third seller said: "heck, I could put a sign up saying "free" and people would walk right by."

I did wonder myself how so many of what I thought were great deals would go unnoticed. Legacy diesel for $200 for example, K-Line die cast stack car for under $40, K-line box car with die-cast trucks for $10, Lionel spine car for $25, etc.  Then again, If it is not something you want or are looking for, maybe no deal is good enough.

So, we decided on a test. I made this card and put it in a common hopper car, next to the price sticker ($5). Lettering same size on each.

One guy said the car would last about 2 minutes. Another said, no it will be there all day.

The answer: 1 and 1/2 hours of people constantly moving past in a virtually constant stream, , heads swinging left and right, and finally one guy stops, picks up the card, and says "is this for real?'' He took home a free car.

I suspect the same phenomenon happens at any type of show. I guess it does help to know what you are looking for.

York is great fun, and I do confess to have spent lots of time walking the aisles, head swinging left and right.

I can tell you I was one of those people. I was looking for a specific locomotive, which I didn’t find, and trying to find answers to my transformer dilemma. I saw other things I liked, but I didn’t stop to really look at them. Of course, after I got my transformer, I couldn’t remember where I saw the cool stuff.

 I was also caught off guard by the one way aisles. I always scour one side, then turn around and do the other side. Got to the end of my first aisle, started to turn around, then happened to look down and see an arrow. Had to change my whole approach on the fly.

Joe Hohmann posted:

Got there at 9 am today (Friday) and finished all the halls by 12:30. Weather was perfect. I bumped into two old friends, John Devlin and Chuck Jenna. They look younger every time I see them...as do I, when I look in my mirror. Bought all I needed...a Lemax shooting gallery to replace my busted roller coaster. I wanted to buy a book I saw, but the Red Hall dealer could not be found (twice). In my opinion, all halls were very crowded (including Purple). Did the Blue Hall always have such wide aisles? They were a pleasure to walk in. They kept announcing that you could purchase a April 2018 badge in the Silver Hall. At 75 years old, why push my luck? I'll wait until March.

Joe your funny. I like that last line. John

BANDOB posted:

 K-Line die cast stack car for under $40,

 

Are these yours? And do you still have them?

This was one of my more successful York’s yet. I’ve been looking for these for a few years. Sure they’ve been available on eBay and here too but missed out on them for one reason or another.

Lionel Legacy Post War Scale NYC F3 ABA with the powered B unit. Grey lightning stripe. 

Lionel TMCC Scale NYC F3 powered B unit in the black freight. 

Lionel Legacy NYC GP7 in black lightning stripe  

And a more recent quest:

K-line 28th Anniversary NYC Heavyweight 5-car set. 

Mall were excellent buys. 

Mike 

MO985: you will just have to look tomorrow!  LOL.

Didn't locate this at York since due to recent major eye surgery I was unable to attend but I found this on the the internet.. Being a diehard SRR fan, I purchased it and guaranteed - it'll have a prominent place in my train room.

BANDOB posted:

 

As a seller for only the second time, I was struck by the virtually constant parade of people walking  the aisles, glancing here and there, but almost always in constant motion. I wondered, are they looking for something so special that they don't see anything else? Or, is York so overwhelming in volume that things just get blocked out? One other seller said to me that he thought a significant number of people just walked the aisles so they could say "they'd seen it all."  A third seller said: "heck, I could put a sign up saying "free" and people would walk right by."

York is great fun, and I do confess to have spent lots of time walking the aisles, head swinging left and right.

Even though I was not "looking" for something, my brain is on the alert for Lionel postwar metal cabooses in excellent condition (like 2457, the one that lights up). So while I walked the entire meet in only 3 1/2 hours, I can say I did not see any. Not even rusted or chipped ones. I did see at least 8 that were the "cheaper" model...non-lighted. Last Oct. I found 2, and other times, none. I find this amazing since they certainly are NOT rare.

I think that if I carefully looked at everything at every table, I'd need 5 days to cover the meet. Also, there were many things I would not want for free, so I WOULD walk by. No room, and no desire to store or sell them. In fact, if someone told me that I now owned everything at the meet, I'd run away in terror.

BANDOB posted:

MO985: you will just have to look tomorrow!  LOL.

Sadly, I won't be able to make it tomorrow either. Such is life.  Let me know if you end up taking it back home, K-line intermodal is what I look for!

Mine were small simple finds but pleasant for me. A brand new two-pack of lighted bumpers for my maintenance car, Some B&O stock. And the deal I left behind that I'm still kicking myself for was a couple of Lionel B&O sentinel cars for $10 each. Why I didn't walk out with them I'll never know.

BANDOB posted:

 

As a seller for only the second time, I was struck by the virtually constant parade of people walking  the aisles, glancing here and there, but almost always in constant motion. I wondered, are they looking for something so special that they don't see anything else? 

Bob,

If you blinked while I was passing your table you would have missed me.  I only look at what is on the table and maybe sometimes under it if readily visible, so I probably walked right by you.

Since I model a very specific era and locale, and only want scale sized models, I do look for very specific items.  Atlas O, Weaver, and MTH Premier boxes only (if the box is not visible I will miss it).  The member halls have very little I am interested in, but ever now and then I find a gem (not this year, though).  Even a free car would only interest me if it fit in with the rest of my stuff.

I did find three items this year that were on my buy list.  These complete my express train.

Atlas O PRR X-29 Express Boxcar.  Paid a little more than I wanted for it, but it was only one of two I saw this year.

Weaver PRR B60 Baggage/Mail.  Hesitated on this one because it does not have the round roof but he gave me a good deal.

3rd Rail brass PRR R50.  My first brass freight car, and now my most expensive non-passenger car model.  The picture doesn't do a good job of showing off all the detail.

I did very well. I spent way more than I should have. I'll be looking for a second job come Monday...

MTH Premier Light Mikado and G5 steam engines

Lionel Legacy Challenger with Whistle smoke. 

Lionel 1950 Postwar 773 Hudson

Several pieces of rolling stock from MTH, Lionel and Atlas. 

MTH Z-4000 transformer to run the lights on my layout

BCR

Mega Steam

Legacy 990 system

...and probably a few things I have forgotten about.......

Found one of the three Lionel Norfolk Southern "ginormous gondolas". The rest were ...

...

..."gondola with the wind"

There was the usual MTH York boxcar

--and five pairs of K-Line die-cast trucks (with metal armatures)...just as spares.

--A set of AtlasO streamline passenger trucks to (possibly) replace the RailKing-style ones under one of the MTH baggage cars I'm using in my future Amtrak exhibit train 

---PCJ

Came home with a little bit of everything - lots of figures including funeral procession set from MetalFigures (really nice folks - owners, not pall bearers), a couple of diecast cars for the layout, MTH Irish Green Ale reefer for St Patrick's Day, K-Line Southern Crescent TMCC steam engine ($100 - thanks Ron) to pull some MTH Christmas passenger cars, yard light tower, Polar Express black girder bridge, MTH subway trestle set ($15), book and a few electrical items. 

It's all stuff I could have bought online, but I just like being there, seeing so much stuff including things I didn't know about, and walking around. Went through all the halls twice just because and hated to leave on Friday afternoon. Met a lot of nice people, and learned a bit more about setting up DCS at the users group meeting on Wednesday evening. Fun couple of days.

I did see a couple of items I put on a wish list that I hadn't seen before. Just ran out of funds for this year.

What I found at York was something I already knew I had......the best wife ever.....

Let me tell you why.......yesterday, Friday, October 20th was my 33rd wedding anniversary.....l went to York with her blessing and we’re celebrating today.

Peter

I picked up the complete K-Line American Freedom Train Set.  18 Aluminum Cars and the GS-4 engine.  I was going to pass (not enough cash on hand) but in talking to the seller he mentioned he took Paypal.  Darn it, I thought I was getting out of York cheap this year!

RailRide posted:

Found one of the three Lionel Norfolk Southern "ginormous gondolas". The rest were ...

...

..."gondola with the wind"

There was the usual MTH York boxcar

--and five pairs of K-Line die-cast trucks (with metal armatures)...just as spares.

--A set of AtlasO streamline passenger trucks to (possibly) replace the RailKing-style ones under one of the MTH baggage cars I'm using in my future Amtrak exhibit train 

---PCJ

The gons seem to have gone fast. Especially the NS ones. I was after the CSX one and had no trouble on thursday getting one for a good price. On friday a buddy of mine went looking for the NS one and the pickings were pretty slim. He did find one, but not for the bottom dollar.

I also got a couple of atlas reefers, some Lionscale hoppers and a forest of trees from scenic express.

I know what I want to buy when I walk the aisles, at least this trip

It amazes me the number of "dealers" who have all these items in manufacturer's boxes and expect you to look at all of them.

Please make a simple list of what you have. Hand writing is fine.

Joe Hohmann posted:

... They kept announcing that you could purchase a April 2018 badge in the Silver Hall. At 75 years old, why push my luck? I'll wait until March.

I'm surprised to read that, Joe. I figured you were more like 65. Truly .

FrankM.

Moonson posted:

Joe Hohmann posted:

... They kept announcing that you could purchase a April 2018 badge in the Silver Hall. At 75 years old, why push my luck? I'll wait until March.

I'm surprised to read that, Joe. I figured you were more like 65. Truly .

FrankM.

Thank you. Many say I don't look a day older than 74. My 10 grandchildren think I'm going on 100. A great thing about this age is that almost everything you buy comes with a lifetime warranty. A special thanks to the 3 TCA members who offered to help me cross the driveway into the parking lot in front of the Orange Hall.

I went with the Polar Express theme this York. Bought some scale PE freight cars and a few traditional size cars I like to display at Christmas.   I also picked up the LCCA PE operating billboard. 

Went to the red hall and got a case for my VL GG1 so I don't have to put it back in the foam. Too hard for this engine. 

Stopped and talked to Derek and picked up a copy of the MHS. Glanced through it last evening. Looking forward to reading it. 

I also was helping Al Z at the Millhouse River Studio booth incorporate the LCS iPad app with his turntable. After some initial WiFi interference, just ask GRJ how bad, we were able to operate the table from the app.  Unfortunately for me spending so much time there probably is going to cost me. What an amazing turn table and transfer table. Holy snikies. Will be contacting Al for a spring delivery. I have a whole new respect for those who man a booth for 3 days especially Saturday.  I thoroughly enjoyed the experience though  thanks Al for having me and Dave.

Unfortunately I also found more than a few folks tiring of the negativity on the forum. Both vendors and members. Most if not all didn't mind critical post but just the tone. I just hope we don't loose some of the 1 on 1 we have with some of the vendors and some members. 

Here's my haul....

I picked up the Lionel Amtrak Tie Car #67 from Trainworld and the MTH Railking Christmas Flat Car w 40' Trailer from Just Trains and as always picked up the MTH York Club Car at the MTH Booth.

Picked up some parts, railking Y6B from train world, and the railking Xmas tree car with LEDs from Dave at Nickolos Smith. 

A great show IMO, very crowded

one young girl of 17 who was with a friend of mine said that the trains was not interesting but the scenic stuff was.

she ended it by saying it looked they emptied all the nursing homes in the area to come to the show. She's not far off, I guessed the average age of attendees was about mid to late sixties. 

BANDOB posted:

 Legacy diesel for $200 for example

What diesel was it? 

I was so bad,but so good 

Bought about 8 of the Lionel 89 foot Hy Cube auto parts box cars for 45 each,  An MTH F3 A for 100  , Two of the Lionel Mill Gondolas for 52 each, a K-Line gondola, a Long Island RR Caboose, some HO cars, 2 Atlas PS1 box cars for 30 each , an MTh Coil car and a partidge in a pear tree

david1 posted:

 

one young girl of 17 who was with a friend of mine said that the trains was not interesting but the scenic stuff was.

she ended it by saying it looked they emptied all the nursing homes in the area to come to the show. 

She's correct on both counts. 

MartyE posted:

Here's my haul....

How good of a deal did you get on the dog food?!  LOL

The negotiations were ruff but I did manage to get a better price than flea bay. 

Best find was seeing a friend from the Navy I hadn't seen in many a year.

Also found some parts. Hoping to build a PRR S-1 with them, using 2 - 027 Torpedo bodies, 2 - 1666E motors, and 671 S-2 trucks. Will be guided by OGR (OSR then) how-to articles from 1988 for the PRR T-1. Should keep me busy for some time to come (like my retirement next year ).

bluelinec4 posted:

Bought about 8 of the Lionel 89 foot Hy Cube auto parts box cars for 45 each,  An MTH F3 A for 100  , Two of the Lionel Mill Gondolas for 52 each, a K-Line gondola, a Long Island RR Caboose, some HO cars, 2 Atlas PS1 box cars for 30 each , an MTh Coil car and a partidge in a pear tree

Any room left for you to drive home and not sit on a box.......

It was very productive  with all of my success coming in the orange and red halls.

• four weathered Atlas cars from Tim Coyne including a wood-sided Virginian caboose that is off the chart good
• two new atlas tank cars (soon to get weathered)
• Several pieces of Gargraves track for upcoming layout expansion
• 200 feet Wire from the orange hall tool guy
• LED lighting for a building and car I have as upcoming projects
• two MTH New Haven 2 bay coal hoppers
• Lots of details from Scenic Express.
• Pick up of some cars that I shipped earlier for weathering from Harry Hieke
• Timeless Treasurers video from OGR

My trip was weird. I had planned on my normal drive up Thursday morning and I found myself having to drive to Kentucky and back instead. I still managed to leave Friday morning. Joshua wasn't feeling well so I left without him. I got a call from my wife when I was 70 miles from York saying he now wanted to go, so I turned around to go get him. After traveling about 30 minutes I got another call telling me to turn around again, saying Joshua changed his mind again. So I got to York just before 1:00 Friday. Went to the forum meeting and started looking for any American Freedom Train cars. My son has been wanting these for a long time. I settled on the MTH cars from Grzyboski"s in Orange Hall. other than than I got some Megasteam smoke, a fuel oil truck and some people from Scenic express. I also bought a firetruck and a Virginia State Police Car, both with flashing lights in Orange Hall for the VMT.

I really missed not getting to the OGR event Thursday. The whole meet seemed out of sorts to me between missing the OGR dinner and Joshua not being with me. Calling Saturday dead is an understatement.

Scott Smith

BANDOB posted:

I actually found out some interesting things about people. (Warning: I think if you can't laugh at yourself, you are missing the funniest show in town, so if you have problems enjoying our foibles, stop reading now.)

As a seller for only the second time, I was struck by the virtually constant parade of people walking  the aisles, glancing here and there, but almost always in constant motion. I wondered, are they looking for something so special that they don't see anything else?

I did wonder myself how so many of what I thought were great deals would go unnoticed. Legacy diesel for $200 for example, K-Line die cast stack car for under $40, K-line box car with die-cast trucks for $10, Lionel spine car for $25, etc.  Then again, If it is not something you want or are looking for, maybe no deal is good enough.

I suspect the same phenomenon happens at any type of show. I guess it does help to know what you are looking for.

York is great fun, and I do confess to have spent lots of time walking the aisles, head swinging left and right.

I've had K-Line cars with die cast trucks on the tables for $10.  One young man asked if I had any  K-Line die cast trucks, he was looking for several pairs but not for more than $15 per pair.  I showed him the cars, all he had to do was remove the trucks.  He passed!  John

Am I the only wanted that wanted to buy some Megasteam wacky weed scent and spread it around for the K-9 unit outside of Orange Hall?

Scott Smith

Well, this was my first trip to York, and I must say it was unbelievable!  The most important things were that I met so many of you great people for the first time in person!  Second, some of the Pittsburgh Independent Hi-Railers took me under their wing, giving advice and a place to room.  Also, the weather was fantastic!

Yes, I got some great deals as well!  I was looking for specific things, so I passed a lot of tables with a glance, where I would have lingered at smaller shows.

First, I was open for a first generation hood unit diesel, PS-2 or PS3, TMCC or Legacy in Western Maryland livery.  Here is a Legacy GP-7 that I found for an amazing price.

Next, Atlas O Steam Era Classics billboard reefers.  A&P was high on the list.  Lo and behold I found one, at another great price!

Well a K-Line Heinz Pickle car sure fit the bill too.  I got a plastic Heinz pickle pin when I went there on a field trip in grade school.  My wife did too, when her school went.  I bought this car from one of my favorite Forum sponsors.

I was looking for an N&W caboose to go with my Legacy N&W Train Master.  This car fit the bill perfectly!

I have been looking for some short Western Maryland passenger cars for a long, long time.  Well a FaceBook group friend had an MTH PS-2 Western Maryland Berkshire on display.  His sign said he had 6 cars as one big package.  I asked about the cars, '60 foot Railking.  He didn't want to break up the set with the Pacific, but I had spent the money I had planned to spend.  He offered I pay a deposit, and pay the rest later.  So here is the add on car I took with me.  I sold a RailKing B&O SW-9 later, so I have half the money to pay him for the set.

I also bought the last Ross Custom Switch I need for my track plan, bought a couple types of glue, a set of trucks for a car I like that has a damaged truck. 

Last, I spent time talking with a number of manufacturers and dealers talking about products and the hobby in general.  I picked up information on two products I want to research in more detail before making a commitment.  Lastly, I want to say again, I was really glad to meet so many for you from this Forum!!!  I love the Forum, and consider all of you my good friends!!  It was a great time indeed!!!

scott.smith posted:

Am I the only wanted that wanted to buy some Megasteam wacky weed scent and spread it around for the K-9 unit outside of Orange Hall?

Scott Smith

Lol, you could have tried, Scot, but I guarantee K-9 dogs are so well trained and have a nose disciplined to overlook and ignore such imitation and wannabe scents. Those smells might trick our feeble olfactory cells but not the ones those dogs have.

This York was the first time that I made it out for the bandit meets on Wednesday, and I, along with a couple of my fellow PIHR members, made it to all four of the meets.   I almost couldn't believe how nice the weather was!

I sold a bunch of stuff off my tables in the Blue Hall (people seemed to be in a buying mood from what I could tell) and made room in my truck to bring home some more goodies:

• A Corgi Heinz box truck (found this at the Wyndham bandit meet)
• A LOTS 2010 State of Maine Boxcar
• An Atlas PMCK&Y Boxcar
• A Weaver PRR Flat Car with Containers
• 200 unpainted Circus Craft seated boy and girl figures (which will eventually be painted and used to populate my Polar Express coaches)
• Rich Battista's new Blu-Ray
• The new "Steamed" Blu-Ray from OGR
• And last, but not least, a Jack Pearce custom-lighted PRR dining car (been wanting one for nearly 10 years, and now I have one! )

Overall, this was one of my best Yorks so far in terms of how good a time I had.  I'm already ready for the countdown to begin for the next York. 

Another thing that made this York into a real memory-maker for me was that I had one of the PVP Three Mile Island boxcars for sale on my table, and after rejecting a *bunch* of low-ball offers from other dealers for a day and a half, I sold it to a gentleman who works for the company that owns or operates TMI.  He was tickled to be able to get it and told me he was going to be the envy of all his co-workers when he shows it off to them before it goes to a prominent display in his man-cave.  It feels so good to find a forever-home for those special pieces.

Andy

Andy,

That is great that The right person got the TMI car you told me about!!!!  

Also, I want to thank you publicly for coaching me on my first trip to York!!!!  You, Scott, and Dave made me feel like an old pro!  Hats off to the Pittsburgh Independent Hi Railers once again!!

I bought a few things this time:

-Atlas LV Milk car (though I couldn't find the Philadelphia and Reading one I'm hunting for)

-Atlas Reading Hopper

-Four Atlas undecorated gondolas (saw one, and the guy offered 4 for $100, so how could I say no)

-Lionel prewar Flying Yankee whistle

-MTH LNE cement hopper

-Lunch

2 Kline Pennsylvania heavyweight passengers cars from Eastern Depot to go along with the 6 car sent I have.

Lionel Conrail U30C dummy #6838 to go with the Legacy #6837 engine. This dummy is hard to find but a guy in the red hall had 30% off everything. 

I always start in Silver at one particular vendor who I became friends with him and his brother over the years, then off to red and white halls. Always find some great deals in those halls. Another guy there had 50% off everything on his tables but nothing I needed.

Bought 3 pieces this time around at York. I figure this to be about #50 or so consecutive Yorks since first attending in 1992.

Still the best train meet, show, whatever you want to call it.