Author Topic: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures  (Read 3930 times)

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MK

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2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« on: January 31, 2023, 11:37:13 AM »
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Well, I finally was able to culled down some of my pictures.  It was an amazing and great weekend given that the two past years were either shut down by Covid or majorly affected by a huge snow storm.

Attendance was 11,922 on Saturday but Sunday was not announced at the end of the day.  Given my gut feeling, it was probably the same if not more than Saturday's so we're talking close to 25,000 people.

There were a lot of vendors, major and minor, and many many layouts of all scales.  I was part of the combined T-Trak layout over at the Young building.  I overheard someone saying more than 100 T-Trak modules combined to form a 32' x 32' letter "E".  Five clubs participated to create this layout, all Digitrax DCC.

Between shopping, running trains and Winterfest (separate N-Scale event), it was 24x7 dizzying N-scale trains...the way I like it!

I've included all the pictures I took, including whimsical ones, like the menu pricing for food.  One member had a (premium) beer and pretzel and it was $17.  Another couple had two burgers with fries and a single drink.  $35!  Not only that, you had to wait in LONG lines to order.



There was a new (to me) outfit called Mini Prints.  They specialize in 3D printing tiny figures and painting them.  They also have service where they 3D scan your entire body in whatever pose you want and 3D print and paint it.  I asked them about the cost but now I have forgotten.  Old age!  I would like to say $200 but that's a WAG.  They do allow you to print 5x from the scan for the price.





The Big Boys were out in force of course so I didn't take any pictures as you can find them all over the internet from their respective manufacturers.  Athearn did have a 13k gallon tanker with some really exquisite etched metal details.  $30-$35 street price available around May.



N-Scale Architect had some nice new kits, the most impressive was the iron ore dock, complete with two full sheets of etched details!  Pricing has not been determined yet.





There was a pretty big FreemoN setup at one of the longer buildings.  I *think* it was over 100' x however many feet wide.  That was pretty impressive as it felt like a model of true world railroading.  I heard some of the modules came from as far as Vermont and these are not small modules!

Another new outfits that I came across is Rock Island Hobby.  They sell lights, signals, etc.  What caught my eyes were the N-Scale cars with full head lights and tail lights with absolutely no bleed over!  They were nicely painted and can take 12-19 volts DC, AC, DCC!  Price????  $17 (MSRP) for FIVE!  That's right FIVE!!!!  They had some dealers there selling them and I was able to snatch a pack for...wait for it...street price of $14!  They had many other things on their pricelist but I failed to give them my attention until late Sunday afternoon when things were hectic because of near closing time.





And lastly to toot my own horn :), I came in second for the Winterfest Photo Contest - Model (vs. Prototype) with this photo.



The rest of the pictures can be found here:

2023 Amherst pictures


keeper

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Re: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2023, 01:07:00 PM »
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Whoah! Someone is doing an ore dock. Ok, I give up making my own. I need one!

It looks like they will be offering it in sections so that you can decide how long it will be. Is that correct?
It seems the info for the dock is not on the website right now.

 :D  :D :D
« Last Edit: January 31, 2023, 01:13:29 PM by keeper »
Thomas

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MK

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Re: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2023, 01:20:10 PM »
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Thomas, yes that is correct.  When I talked to Russ he mentioned exactly that concept.

No info on website because it's THAT new!  :D

pedro

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Re: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2023, 01:39:32 PM »
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[mentally calculates how much a 1000’ ore dock will cost]

But seriously, that is really cool. If we can get a scale lake boat and some (mass produced) Michigan ore cars that will really cause some re-evaluation of modeling goals. I’ve even got a perfect spot for it. Hmmm. 

tehachapifan

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Re: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2023, 01:45:24 PM »
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Thanks for the photos!

Those lighted cars look like they may be made from cars that I believe might be 1/150. At least they strongly resemble ones I got off the bay to fill my autoracks, where the scale discrepancy didn't matter too much.

keeper

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Re: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2023, 01:50:59 PM »
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[mentally calculates how much a 1000’ ore dock will cost]

But seriously, that is really cool. If we can get a scale lake boat and some (mass produced) Michigan ore cars that will really cause some re-evaluation of modeling goals. I’ve even got a perfect spot for it. Hmmm.

Well, there are two options for lakers.
The one from Pete Nolan and the one from Sylvan Scale Models.

As for the cost, it might not be cheap but a 3D printed one will anything but cheap. I'm expecting a few 100 dollars.
Thomas

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Philip H

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Re: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2023, 01:51:56 PM »
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Quote
There was a new (to me) outfit called Mini Prints.  They specialize in 3D printing tiny figures and painting them.  They also have service where they 3D scan your entire body in whatever pose you want and 3D print and paint it.  I asked them about the cost but now I have forgotten.  Old age!  I would like to say $200 but that's a WAG.  They do allow you to print 5x from the scan for the price.

You can even order your own @Ed Kapuscinski - https://www.miniprints.com/product/ed-k/

Philip H.
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Baton Rouge Southern RR - Mount Rainier Division.


CRR Chase

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Re: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2023, 01:54:19 PM »
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sorry I didn't come by. I was busy shopping and fending off the other shoppers.  It was a mad house.. I loved it. Spent a lot of money and met a lot of folks.

We left when we got hungry and went to friendly's.. It was unlike anything Ive experienced... I found some Mechanical reefers / hoppers / and others at Tom's so i was over there a while digging through all his freight cars. The Ore dock was impressive, but I was excited to find some bunk / company houses at other vendors.. Great time. 

Lemosteam

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Re: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2023, 01:55:58 PM »
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[mentally calculates how much a 1000’ ore dock will cost]

But seriously, that is really cool. If we can get a scale lake boat and some (mass produced) Michigan ore cars that will really cause some re-evaluation of modeling goals. I’ve even got a perfect spot for it. Hmmm.

Ahhhh, Marquette.  Said like Harrison Ford in "The Last Crusade".

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Marquette+Ore+Dock/@46.5796808,-87.4021209,2868m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x4d4e2716060cf413:0x62cfe7eda3fa70b5!8m2!3d46.5793444!4d-87.3880421!16s%2Fg%2F11j10q_vgk

thomasjmdavis

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Re: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« Reply #9 on: January 31, 2023, 02:02:01 PM »
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Great photos, @MK ! Thanks for posting.  Congrats on your ribbon in the photo contest.

And on this one....

I've included all the pictures I took, including whimsical ones, like the menu pricing for food.  One member had a (premium) beer and pretzel and it was $17.  Another couple had two burgers with fries and a single drink.  $35!  Not only that, you had to wait in LONG lines to order.



We need to have an economic perspective.  When I was younger, the $2 cost of a decent lunch was about the same as an Atlas boxcar.  In the modern day, a $15 lunch only costs 1/2 as much as an Atlas boxcar.
Tom D.

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keeper

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Thomas

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MK

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Re: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« Reply #11 on: January 31, 2023, 02:44:36 PM »
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[mentally calculates how much a 1000’ ore dock will cost]

But seriously, that is really cool. If we can get a scale lake boat and some (mass produced) Michigan ore cars that will really cause some re-evaluation of modeling goals. I’ve even got a perfect spot for it. Hmmm.

I did ask Russ for the price as I knew it ain't gonna be cheap.  He said he didn't know yet so he's figuring it out but I do expect it to cost hundreds as Thomas said.

Thanks for the photos!

Those lighted cars look like they may be made from cars that I believe might be 1/150. At least they strongly resemble ones I got off the bay to fill my autoracks, where the scale discrepancy didn't matter too much.

Ah, good point.  I didn't even think about that.  Things were labeled "N-Scale" and not an actual scale number like 1:150 or 1:160.  I'll have to check later as it's still in my bag of goodies from the show.  Haven't even looked at what I brought home yet.  :)

sorry I didn't come by. I was busy shopping and fending off the other shoppers.  It was a mad house.. I loved it. Spent a lot of money and met a lot of folks.

We left when we got hungry and went to friendly's.. It was unlike anything Ive experienced... I found some Mechanical reefers / hoppers / and others at Tom's so i was over there a while digging through all his freight cars. The Ore dock was impressive, but I was excited to find some bunk / company houses at other vendors.. Great time. 

No worries!  Did you hit up Shepaugh over at the Stroh building?  He was selling Atlas ESU Loksound diesels for $125-$130.  That's insane!  Bachmann SC-44 were going for $225, Bachman 2-8-0 with sound for $199 and all BLI at 50% off list.

Great photos, @MK ! Thanks for posting.  Congrats on your ribbon in the photo contest.

And on this one....We need to have an economic perspective.  When I was younger, the $2 cost of a decent lunch was about the same as an Atlas boxcar.  In the modern day, a $15 lunch only costs 1/2 as much as an Atlas boxcar.

LOL!  True!  So that means the cost of our hobby is increasing more than inflation/food costs?   :scared:

CRR Chase

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Re: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« Reply #12 on: January 31, 2023, 02:55:34 PM »
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was that the guy opposite side of building from Spring creek? I bought a couple cars from him.. I was probably too late on the locos... wish I would of known...

Jbub

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Re: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« Reply #13 on: January 31, 2023, 03:00:28 PM »
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Man I wish we had a train show like this around here. They seem to be getting smaller and smaller.
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CRR Chase

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Re: 2023 Amherst / Springfield show report and pictures
« Reply #14 on: January 31, 2023, 03:27:06 PM »
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Man I wish we had a train show like this around here. They seem to be getting smaller and smaller.

We drove 13 hours + to go. I can say I would do it again.. it was fun...

And i too wish there was a show like this in my area..