Evenin', folks. It's 94F and 46% on the patio today, and I'm enjoying it.
I went to the train show...
I had a lot of fun...
My wallet...
did not!
Seriously? These events are flat out dangerous, and I'm glad I found out about it far enough in advance to budget for it. I might have gotten just a
tad carried away, even so. I'll post the haul on the "what I bought this month" thread...
It was a good time, though, other than general people overload. I was already partway overloaded by the time I got to the show (Austin traffic plus scads of pedestrians? No thanks!), and then the place was
far more populated than I was expecting. I wouldn't be surprised to learn there were 500 or so show goers in the vendor area when I arrived. Plus the crowd from some other thing going on at the venue that one had to wade through to get into the place.
Seriously, I did not need a "how to be an activist" flyer from the people in front of the other thing that was going on... But I digress.
I only went to one clinic, which was so-so. They were doing it in an unsegregated area in a hallway, which was... not ideal. It was often hard to hear, let alone to focus. The content was okay, but not what I was hoping for; leaned more toward a layout showcase, rather than "here's how you use the techniques that went into it".
I assume it was a volunteer thing, though, so can't really complain about the content. Besides, it takes guts to get up there and present!
Unfortunately I didn't really get to connect with anyone in any meaningful way; there was way too much overload going on. In other words, par for the course for me.
I'm considering going back tomorrow, if only to look closer at the layouts and get some good pics (the latter of which I mostly failed to do today), but we'll see. I know my tendencies, and I don't know if my bank account can withstand another visit...
@TLOC: On vendors, there were maybe two dozen or so? Some very good ones, and a few that seemed more "half ass hobbyist" types. Only one actual
manufacturer type vendor that I'm aware of; I think it was Scale Trains. Just a basic booth, and I didn't get the impression they were actually selling stuff there, just showing it off. Could be wrong though; I didn't really talk to them.
There were a few hobby shops (Harris Hobbies, Brad's Trains, a couple of others), and those seemed to be the place to be -- well, that and
two a few other guys who were selling used merchandise, one of which was an estate sale type.
There was a surprisingly good amount of N scale stuff, but it felt like HO was better represented (which will surprise approximately nobody). There was also a fair bit of O, and even some Lego. Come to think of it, I don't recall seeing much in the way of G, though I might have missed it amongst the O; I'm not as naturally familiar with the sizes in the larger scales.
Almost no Z scale products that I saw, though there was one Z layout there.
All in all, it was a worthy shopping experience. I felt like the pricing on new gear was kinda... normal, where I (probably unrealistically) expected it to be at least a little discounted. Not sure what the norm is for shows like that. Used stuff was well represented though, and if you hunted, there were some really good bargains.
Hope that satisfies your desire for knowledge on that score.
In any event, I'm going to go post in that other thread, and then... figure out what I'm going to do with all this new stuff!
Hope y'all are having a nice Saturday.
