The West Springfield Report

[NE4449]

I know it is only the first day, but I figure anyone who went to the show both days can post their thoughts here. For me, the first thing I noticed was that attendance seemed down, and you finally had breathing room when walking around. The layouts were great, including a Lego Trains layout setup in the Mallory Complex which featured custom built trains such as a New Haven F-Unit and matching passenger cars. The N-Trak layout in the Better Living Center was by far the best, and included notable modules such as the John Deere manufacturing facility, and a mock-up of the Bunker Hill suspension bridge in Boston. I also walked away with an N Scale version of Providence & Worcester B23-7 #2201 for $50! Overall, I thought the show was great.

Josh

[CBQ Fan]

Is this a show where you might see new product announcements?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

First, they expanded the 4th bulding and the show is about 20% larger then last year. Every major manufactuer was there and many brought their A game. A good example is a story one of the reps told me. He stated that his company was looking to trim a few shows from the busy schedule and asked about canciling Springfield. The owners of the company went to the show last year and saw how large and busy it was and this year the company has a display about four times the size of last year.

With the 20% increase in capacity, the rows were as crowded as ever. I think attendance is up this year for Saturday.

That being said, there is little news.

1. Exactrail had the 65' gondolas on display. They looked great.
2. Rapido said the response to the N scale cars was fantastic! They may be doing a baggage car next (make mine
AMT phase III please).
3. Walthers reported N scale passenger sales have been good and they will continue introducing a new body style a year. Some of their older freight cars may be released again but only ones that are nicly tooled or can be retooled easilly (this means no PD5000). There will be a new diesel sometime in the next year.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

4. Intermountain reported they are putting the U18 on the back burner. The cab forward was able to opperate down to about 10 scale miles an hour without a hitch. VERY nice model. The SD40-2Ws look good. The handrails are a little sturdier. The major new anouncment was R70-20 refers INCLUDING the modern open ended with removeable refer pack. This is not Red Caboose tooling but all new.

5. Not much from Atlas, nothing new to report.

Deal of the day: old Con-Cor/Kato SW1200 cor and calf for $10.

[CBQ Fan]

First, they expanded the 4th bulding and the show is about 20% larger then last year. Every major manufactuer was there and many brought their A game. A good example is a story one of the reps told me. He stated that his company was looking to trim a few shows from the busy schedule and asked about canciling Springfield. The owners of the company went to the show last year and saw how large and busy it was and this year the company has a display about four times the size of last year.

With the 20% increase in capacity, the rows were as crowded as ever. I think attendance is up this year for Saturday.

That being said, there is little news.

1. Exactrail had the 65' gondolas on display. They looked great.
2. Rapido said the response to the N scale cars was fantastic! They may be doing a baggage car next (make mine
AMT phase III please).
3. Walthers reported N scale passenger sales have been good and they will continue introducing a new body style a year. Some of their older freight cars may be released again but only ones that are nicly tooled or can be retooled easilly (this means no PD5000). There will be a new diesel sometime in the next year.

That is good news to my ears.  I really hope Rapido does all three CB&Q baggage schemes that they have done in HO.  A nice NP diner or observation from Walthers would fit in nicely with my plans.  Did they hint at what might be next?

Anyone see any info on MT next heavyweight cars release??

[ljudice]

Exactrail IS doing the 65' gons in N????????

[James Costello]

4. Intermountain ..... The major new anouncment was R70-20 refers INCLUDING the modern open ended with removeable refer pack. This is not Red Caboose tooling but all new.

This is good news....

[H Lee]

1. Exactrail had the 65' gondolas on display. They looked great.

Did you mean ESM's 65' gons or is ExactRail doing their HO Thrall Mill gon in N?

[NE4449]

I forgot to mention I stopped by the Kato booth as well. They had a couple samples of their upcoming CSX SD70ACe, and they look great. I also got my first look at the FVM GEVO's, and they looked great as well.

Josh

[bsoplinger]

I was there today. I'm not the most mobile person so had a somewhat limited view of things. I took pictures of the upcoming Atlas releases and Exactrail and a company that does a very nice city elevated rail lasercut system. They've moved to N with the basics for now, just stairs, passenger platforms and basic elevated rail sections. That's all I got pictures of. I wanted to see the Traincat stuff but apparently he was unable to attend at the last minute. I also missed the Intermountain table so didn't get a chance to see the AC-12. Photos aren't great and I've never shared Flickr photos before. So in case I don't have a good link, its bsoplinger there and set Springfield 2010-01-30:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45286673@N03/show/

[GaryHinshaw]

Exactrail IS doing the 65' gons in N????????

It would appear they are N scale, and they do look great:  



This is from bsoplinger's slide show.  Follow his link for a better quality (larger format) view.  Thanks for posting them.

[John]

Exactrail IS doing the 65' gons in N????????

It would appear they are N scale, and they do look great:  



This is from bsoplinger's slide show.  Follow his link for a better quality (larger format) view.  Thanks for posting them.

ooohhh .. someone is going to get a lot of my money

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Oh, a few more thoughts. The Mallory building was expanded this year. Because it is a livestock building (the Big E campus was a military complex converted to a super-regional fair ground), you have a exhibition hall then the main hall down a long, narrow corridor. This is the new, expanded area and its roughly 20,000 square feet. This is where Rapido, MTH and City Classics was located. City Classics was the company doing the laser cut structures (large buildings) and the elevated railway, which I plan on using parts for my Worcester station project.

After exiting the hallway, turn left and you will find Island Model Works. You may be familiar with them, they are the ones who produce resin models of modern passenger equipment. I ordered a few Comet II cars from them a few years ago and ran into a lot of problems. They redesigned the models and the Comets are vastly superior to the originals. I still recommend using a Bachmann or American LTD floor, but the shell is very nice.

I bought a few "rejects" for $5 as well as some of their new Kawasaki bi-level cars. Man are these sweet. They are still resin, so there is a lot of cleanup and work to be done, but they seem very well thought out and the truck sideframe detail is pretty good. I will be ordering more.

[ljudice]

Wow - on those gons!!!  Must have been that email I sent them!   

But seriously, look in the bottom corner - there is a SECOND gondola model - the "CP RAIL" marked car in Action Orange.  What the heck is that - looks like more new tooling, ,eh???

[central.vermont]

The best news for me was when Cory Rothlisberger handed me the new Winter 2010 catalog opened up to the page with a new run of GP7/9's and low and behold there they where Central Vermont Geeps in the as delivered scheme of olive green and yellow!!!!!!!!  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
They are due to be released September along with there close cousin GTW.

Here's a link to the scanned page.
http://www.n-scaler.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10003/Scan000469.JPG

Cory you made my day!!!!!!!
Thanks, Jon