Ogr account disabled

[healey36]

Didn't indulge in any Italian Ice, so can't comment, and I have no interest in the evening gas-bagging events. Peel it back to its core buying/selling/trading gathering and York is always fun.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

......buying/selling/trading............

Just how much of that was really going on comparatively to past years?

[healey36]

......buying/selling/trading............

Just how much of that was really going on comparatively to past years?

I got there around 0945 on Friday and saw folks hauling huge armloads of stuff out of the Orange Hall. Seemed early for that, but whatever. Experienced a bit less "exchanging" going on in the member halls. A number of my go-to member-dealers no longer come to York, so that's out the window, but still a crap-ton of stuff to wade through. Seemed to be more than a few "I just need to get rid of this stuff, so make me an offer" table-holders. I was really disappointed that very few parts dealers were on-hand; that was a primary motivator for going this time. In all, it certainly seemed better than last April, if a slight bit smaller. However, if you were going for the manufacturer displays, than you were sorely disappointed.

People lament that York "ain't what it used to be", but neither is the hobby. I think it's a bit early to declare it (York) dead, but I definitely sense the demographic tide is going out, especially in the segment I find of interest (prewar tinplate). Seeing hardcore guys like John DeSantis make an untimely exit is sobering indeed. I hope I have another ten years of crawling around under the layout, but I've come to the realization that it's time to get the stuff in order and have fun with it.

[G3750]

Have to say that I had a blast! Friday was my birthday - what better way to spend it than at York?

I thought Thursday's crowd was pretty good for a Thursday in April. Friday was less crowded than I expected, but the meet was competing with 2 car related events (there is some overlap between train guys and car guys). One of the events was the Spring Carlyle swap meet (we passed it on the Turnpike it was absolutely jammed with tents and people)! The other event was the auction of the 100th produced 1953 Corvette by one of the big auction houses. So I expect those 2 things drew people and some of the food trucks away from York.

I thought prices were a bit high for April, but there were a number of bargains available if you did some digging. I certainly came away with more things than expected (didn't really have a shopping list). And of course, I got to see friends. I did more laughing than I've done in awhile, too.

This April was definitely much better than a year ago.

George

[gregj410]

and I have no interest in the evening gas-bagging events.

Right and you know there’s plenty of that going on

Peel it back to its core buying/selling/trading gathering and York is always fun.

We’ll said. It’s always fun when you discover something you’ve been looking for or even discover something you weren’t looking for.
My problem is with fewer vendors attending there’s less to see. Combined with the fact that I’m not going to continue to be a TCA member at 75$ or whatever the annual fee is just to attend the York meet. I pay 10$ at the door to the orange hall(when I do go) and I think I’m allowed to attend the purple hall too. Others halls are off limits. It’s not worth 2-1/2 hours of driving each way to see everything in less than 2 hours.

[bluelinec4]

The Italian Ice absolutely SUCKED

I did buy a ton of stuff at great prices including my first Vision Line locomotive Best buy was a 5 car Jersey Central passenger set for $200

[gregj410]

including my first Vision Line locomotive

I’ve always wondered why it takes MTH guys so long to finally get a VL engine.

[bluelinec4]

Because I can buy two mth engines for the price of a Vision Line and they work better

[Neil]

"they work better"

Not everyone's experience, particularly when comparing the performance and ease of use/trouble shooting for DCS vs. TMCC/Legacy.

But there's no denying one should buy what makes one happy and is satisfying.

Of course, now one has the additional concern of how long DCS equipment and MTH parts will be supported, considering that the company's founder is largely divorced from day to day operations/semi-retired, and the concomitant drastic downsizing in personnel/development resources. If one is 80 years old, perhaps not a factor, but for younger folks in the hobby, something of concern I'd think.

[gregj410]

Because I can buy two mth engines for the price of a Vision Line and they work better

We’ll at least 1-1/2 now the work better part is debatable, guess it depends on the position of the moon

[bluelinec4]

You guys really lead a sheltered life Its not everybodies experience that troubleshooting is so easy with TMCC We have signal strength cars, scopes, signal amplifiers and ground wires up the ying yang and it still has dead spots Tell me again how easy it is As for working better we have a club with 75 members that all own engine from every manufacturer Some members owning hundreds of engines Quality control on big L is abysmal on new products. Smoke units and parts falling off is the big hitter . So yeah from what I am seeing in the real world they work better

[gregj410]

I haven’t bought any engines for a while, however I’ve been hearing more about qc issues with Lionel lately. Oddly enough I run my MTH quite a bit and when they run they do run well. I always feel like that crappy remote is going to crumble in my hand especially when I get some god forsaken error message that makes me want to squeeze it a little harder.

[Neil]

Not arguing with your personal experience, but the New Jersey Hirailers are not typical of the real world. A bazillion square-foot layout in a bazillion year old building is not the real world. My basement is the real world for me. DCS was not a great success there and TMCC was—with no quality problems to speak of during the last 30 years.

We can come back as ghosts in 20 or 30 years and see which system, if either, is still in use, and which company has survived. My money would be on Lionel. But I don’t believe in gambling.

[bluelinec4]

I really dont care which one people think is better I just care that both work at our club as we have gaggles of engines from all the manufacturers to worry about Lionel was just at our club the other day Beta Testing the Base 3 Had a good time and was impressed with that new fangled device

[J. S. Bach]

Because I can buy two mth engines for the price of a Vision Line and they work better