York, Complain, Complain, Complain!

LOL, great pic scale rail. Made me chuckle.........Paul

It was great for shopping. You could actually stop, look, and deal, without getting pushed along. 

 Funny thing is:

The manufacturers that weren't there announced that they wouldn't be there.

Spring York is the "end of train season " and typically less eventful.

****ed if you do. ****ed if you don't I suppose.

And fewer "crop dusters"!  LOL! What is there not to like?

Trust me, Don, there were still plenty of people there. It's true that attendance throughout the 90s and into the early years of the current century was much higher, but a number of factors account for what it was then and what it is now. York still is the biggest and best toy train meet on the planet, frequented by some of the most devoted and supportive hobbyists.

From what I saw from the Purple hall, Thursday the crowds came and went at different times of the day. Friday crowd kept me busy most of the day and Saturday, well Saturday the number of people seemed to be sparse everywhere from what the people I talked to and my helpers were saying. The few people that came into the Purple hall seemed to be passing though for the most part. Friday was my best day ever for sales and Saturday was by far my worst. 

Don,

I thought complaining was just a symptom of "OlFarts Disease". It is quite evident at my Senior Golf League and not just confined to the train hobby.

Scale Rail,

This year York was an easy flight to BWI + 1 hour drive. 4,500 miles round trip from the Golden State.

Make the pilgrimage at least once if you can.

The complainers follow a consistent pattern.  There's one forum member who is a former member of TCA and loves to bash the way that York is run - I was actually a bit disappointed that he showed up later than usual in the York threads this year, but just like the sun rises in the east, there he was.  There are others who only talk about the ease of buying stuff online - IMO making it all about the "stuff" is shallow, shortsighted, and sad.

Yep.....refer back to the 'shrinking' thread.......   the York equivalent in the model car world is going to be no longer held after the OCT 2019 meet.  There are still two big York events yearly........count your blessings and don't take things for granted. 

 The first time I went to York in 1979 I was a 20 some-year-old kid sitting in the backseat of a station wagon 

 A bunch of the local “old guys” decided to take me along and  basically told me to just sit there and shut up and maybe you’ll learn something 

 The only thing they did for two hours both coming and going was complain about everything -  mostly the prices and the people 

 Nothings changed  😊🚂 

Ah yes, York.  It was up and it was down and it was bad and it was good and it was well attended and it was poorly attended and it was better than its ever been and it was the worst its ever been and it was this and it was that and, in spite of all of this and more, I had my usual great time...so what's keeping October. 

I stood at my tables the entire 3 days. I thought Thursday and Friday foot traffic was the same as always. My sales were down slightly, but I blamed that on Monday being tax day. That said, The show is basically over at 2 on Friday, when the OGR Forum meeting happens. Most attendees leave for home then. You can see a noticeable drop in traffic at that time. Its always been like that, since the three day format began.  As a seller, my head-scratcher happened Saturday when a gentleman was enamored over a prewar 027 locomotive (with 3 passenger cars) I was offering. He says, "I want the engine. How much?" "The set is $115", I say. He says, "I don't want the cars. I saw that same engine alone for $200 in the blue hall, but this one is in better shape." I said, "Well then this is a deal for you!" He replies, "I only want the engine. I'll go get the other one." "You understand I'm selling you a better engine for $115 in essence giving you the three passenger cars for free?" 
"But I DON'T want the cars!" and he leaves empty handed.....  

We don't know the true numbers but I like April York. For business reasons and with fall in full bloom October can be a no go for some. The meet was a little early this year maybe because of a late Easter but us Michigan guys look forward to a nicer breath of spring that only teases us here. April York? only time and the Eastern Div. will tell.

I'm pretty disappointed with the low level of whining this year. Of course letting the hoards of public in has reduced it some.

Especially miss the "I'm not a member of TCA cause i dont believe in dues, and never been to York, but I know its a bad show".

As with most things in life, different things will appeal to different people, so one should do what makes one appreciate life and things before the smiling mortician steps in.......(loosely quoting Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who just recently turned 100!)

aussteve posted:

...Especially miss the "I'm not a member of TCA cause i dont believe in dues, and never been to York, but I know its a bad show".

Go check the "shrinking York" thread for that post.

Jim Battaglia posted:

I stood at my tables the entire 3 days. I thought Thursday and Friday foot traffic was the same as always. My sales were down slightly, but I blamed that on Monday being tax day. That said, The show is basically over at 2 on Friday, when the OGR Forum meeting happens. Most attendees leave for home then. You can see a noticeable drop in traffic at that time. Its always been like that, since the three day format began.  As a seller, my head-scratcher happened Saturday when a gentleman was enamored over a prewar 027 locomotive (with 3 passenger cars) I was offering. He says, "I want the engine. How much?" "The set is $115", I say. He says, "I don't want the cars. I saw that same engine alone for $200 in the blue hall, but this one is in better shape." I said, "Well then this is a deal for you!" He replies, "I only want the engine. I'll go get the other one." "You understand I'm selling you a better engine for $115 in essence giving you the three passenger cars for free?" 
"But I DON'T want the cars!" and he leaves empty handed.....  

I've been this route before at motorcycle swap meets I used to attend a long time ago.  You need to learn to have fun with people like this.

I'da said, "Well, I could let you have the engine by itself for $150".  He'da said "$150?  But you only want $115 for the engine and 3 cars!  I only want the engine.  That doesn't make sense!"

I'da replied "It makes PERFECT sense.  Buy the engine AND the 3 cars, and save yourself some money!"  He probably still would have walked off empty handed, of course.  But you would really have had some fun watching him walk off!

Mixed Freight posted:

I've been this route before at motorcycle swap meets I used to attend a long time ago.  You need to learn to have fun with people like this.

I'da said, "Well, I could let you have the engine by itself for $150".  He'da said "$150?  But you only want $115 for the engine and 3 cars!  I only want the engine.  That doesn't make sense!"

I'da replied "It makes PERFECT sense.  Buy the engine AND the 3 cars, and save yourself some money!"  He probably still would have walked off empty handed, of course.  But you would really have had some fun watching him walk off!

Maybe he was this guy, and he had no where to put the cars for the ride home ?

Or maybe he had limitations from his SWMBO to bring home no more than one train engine, and nothing else (but the purchase was within $$ he could spend). 

While it seems silly from an economic sense to all of us, I can see odd situations that might drive such a behavior.  If you aren't thinking of throwing the part you don't want in the dumpster on your way out, you have to find something to do with them.

-Dave