March 2003
|
Pomona
Model Railroad Trade Show *** On Track Productions,
producer of the highly successful Large Scale Train Show each June on the
Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA conducted an All-Scale Model Train Show at the
Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, CA on March 1st and 2nd. Such a show happening in the Los
Angeles area was so significant We decided to delay the March issue of the
Trolleyville Times a few days to include a report of this show. We are glad
we did because we think that this show is the greatest thing to hit Los
Angeles model railroaders since last National Train Show was in Long Beach in
1996. Because this show is run by other than Great American Train Shows, LTD,
we thought it would be interesting to see how these promoters approached the
conduct of a show. We were very pleasantly surprised. Just before tearing down after a fun
two days, we realized that for the first time in any Trolleyville vendor¡¯s
recent experience, they had heard no one complaining about anything,
especially vendors who are known to do exactly that. In fact, when the 2004
show dates were announced, there was a mad rush by vendors to sign up for
that show, including both Trolleyville vendors. One noted brass model importer has already committed to
the 2004 show. The unanimous conclusion of the Trolleyville vendors was
that this was the best and most enjoyable train show ever attended.
We estimated that over 4,000 visited the show on Saturday, March 1st.
First,
to ensure quality displays for the visitors, set-up was allowed on Friday
from 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM. If any vendor could not get his display honed for
for public in 15 hours, well, that vendor needs a new display. Second, to
ensure that the public actually gets to see the items, every vendor was met
at a special gate set up for Model Train Expo vendors. Every vendor was checked against a
list, given a wrist bracelet and a name badge. The wristband was to be worn for the entire weekend. No
one was allowed through the gates initially unless they were on the list and
after that only if wearing the blue wristband. Brian Curry, shown below, the
owner of On Track
Productions, demonstrated
his personal, hands on style of management as he was at the gate and
personally out a wristband on this Trolleyville vendor. Second,
the tables provided were high quality, relatively new, solid and lightweight
as shown below.
The
show aisles were large (15 to 20 ft) and crowding around vendor booths was
minimal making it easier for the patrons and harder for the ¡°shoplifters¡±. Brian
did his homework on show thievery and had security in the high vantagepoints
during move-in and during most of the show hours to keep an eye on
¡°undesirables¡±. Lastly,
as a vendor, it was good to see the show close at 4:30 PM on Sunday, giving
that extra half-hour to tear down and get ready for Monday¡¯s activities. Tear
Down was organized and as pleasant as such can be. Trolleyville
was represented by Alpine Division Scale Models, Custom Traxx and the
Southern California Traction Club.
Vendors reported that sales were excellent to ¡°out of this
world¡±. One vendor reported that
they had their best show sales in six months. So make sure that you
reserve some space and
time for the February 2004 show. It is worth your time. We will be there! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡®Final?¡¯
Sahuaro Central Swap Meet *** After years of successful
indoor swap meets. The Sahuaro Central Railroad Heritage Preservation and
Society hosted what was supposed to be its final ¡°indoor¡± swap meet on
February 15, 2002 at the North Phoenix Baptist Church in their Family Life
Center. Custom Traxx had been participating in this meet since 1992 both in
this location, the Postal Union Hall prior to this location and the BCI Bingo
Hall before that. The meet was normally held three times each year, in
February, May and October. Last year, when the costs of the hall at the North Phoenix Baptist Church rose close the club¡¯s budgetary limits, the club decided to take the gamble and move the swap meet nearer to their Railroad Park facility. However, the club has decided to have one more indoor swap meet at the North Central Baptist Church on May 17, 2003. Barring, further developments, this will be the last indoor meet. This meet will be held in the roller skating rink. This is a nice facility but not as brightly illuminated as the meeting hall. Anyway, if you are near Phoenix, Arizona on May 17th, get over there. There are some unusual items not normally seen elsewhere at that meet. It is surprising how many small model train vendors live in and around the Phoenix area. |
¡°What¡¯s Really Wrong with the hobby?¡± An Editorial*** For some time now, no model railroading magazine
publishes too many issues without an article about ¡°¡what is wrong¡¡± with the
hobby or what ¡°¡ needs to be done¡¡± Looking at this from the electric railway
modeling perspective, it becomes much clearer to see as electric railway
modelers are a distinct minority in a minority hobby. We are known as the
¡°...crazies¡¡± as the great majority us string up overhead wire and supply
electrical power to our operating cars from it. As difficult as most
non-electric model railroaders feel that operable overhead wire is to erect,
one can become a Master Model Railroader (MMR) or even a Grand Master Model
Railroader (GMMR) without ever hanging one foot of it. A
standard sentiment expressed is that model railroad hobby participants are
aging. It does not take a rocket
scientist to figure that one out. Just attend a local model train show. There
are many more Preparation H users than those carrying Boom Boxes. One recent
study concluded that the average model railroader is over 50 years old. These
now elderly modelers started modeling with what they saw when they were
younger and moved toward other areas. The business end of the hobby knows
this. That is why there are fantastic HO scale models of Union Pacific Big
Boy 4-8-8-4 steam engines, Alco DL-109 Diesel Engines and soon a GG-1
Electric with full sound. When
Lionel began their serious advertising program after World War II, it picked
the target population and went to them with models of the current trains of
the day, namely the Pennsylvania GG-1 Electric Locomotive, the Santa Fe F-3
Diesel Locomotive, the New York Central Hudson 4-6-4 Steam Engine. Most of us
have seen the picture of the freckled-faced boy with the Santa Fe F-3A in his
hands, drooling at the sight of the red and silver engine. Every one of these locomotives were
capable of being seen daily and even hourly in their operating areas. But trains were everywhere and took
you everyplace you needed to go. TV was black and white and there was usually
only one in the home. Times have changed. There are now computer games,
internet, Sony Play Stations and all the other items that youth embrace
today. Trains are harder to find in many areas. In the Los Angeles area,
there is only one rail activity between my workplace and my home, the MTA
Green Line. That would not have
been the case early in the 20th century. I would have to cross Fe and the Southern Pacific to get
home, assuming I was driving a car, otherwise I would have been riding a
trolley or taking a bus. Trains now run in very select areas. The
demographics of the young people who see them are not the same as those fifty
years ago. Many
cities have some sort of electric railway service from their airports. There
have been numerous light rail lines opened in the last 20 years, almost all
of them with different vehicles. To mention a few, there are Los Angeles, San
Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, and Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Denver and
Saint Louis. Almost everyone who goes to LAX sees one or more of these
vehicles on the MTA¡¯s Green Line. Yet not one ready-to-run model in HO scale
of any of these highly visible vehicles exists. Many young school students
received tours and rides on these new systems as they were opened. The
response to these systems was the same as when some of us took our first
rides on the then new PCC cars.
Meanwhile, some of these PCC cars, themselves over 50 years old, have
re-emerged in at least two cities and are extremely popular in one. They
stand neck-and-neck in popularity with the famous cable cars in San Francisco
today. There is no ready-to-run model of these cars in HO scale, the most
popular of the railroad modeling scales. Wouldn¡¯t one light rail vehicle with a circle of track and throttle make a neat starter train set? Maybe even a station with automatic stops? Yes.
There may be many problems in the model railroad hobby but most of them would
be solved if it became them the model railroad business and marketed to those
young persons who still like and appreciate trains! If you market to young people, you get them. Just ask Nike! GLH Port of Los Angeles Holds Open House on the San Pedro Trolley line The Port of Los Angeles held another Open House on February 22nd to show the excellent progress being made on the San Pedro Heritage Trolley Line. The line is completed. Car 1058 is operational. Car 501 shown below is inches away from its first run. Car 500 is coming next. The only ¡°cork in the a--h--e of progress¡± is none other than the California Public Utilities Commission. They just continue to thwart the dedicated management and workers of this very efficient organization from completing their desired task, running a simple 1.5-mile trolley line.
In the photo above, car 501 is almost ready to run, lacking only trolley poles, trolley retrievers and seats. Seats for all three cars are being built by the dedicated carpenters working on the San Pedro Trolley project. One of these seats is shown below.
Those of us on the West Coast have always been reminded of the excellent restorations that have been done on the East Coast where they use winter to work on the cars. We are willing to wager that car 501 will out shine any of them. Make us wrong and make sure to see the car in the next two months. Before you know it the ¡°corks¡± will be removed and the line will be running. As is usually the case, members of the Southern California Traction Club were on hand to assist the Port of LA in getting their message to the public. Below is the SCTC operating mini-layout with a model of a Brooklyn car rounding the nearest corner.
There
will be another open house on March 22nd at Pier 155A in
Wilmington. Check the web site, www.railwaypreservation.com
for more information. |
