2016-2017 Upstate New York Train Show Season

lvrr325 wrote:First of all, anything in blue on the first page was, as noted there, not confirmed at that time and could outright be a guess based on the weekend the show had previously been held; obviously I meant to mark the WASPS show as April 8-9.

Friendly advice- you should post corrections and changes to the information you share. I take ownership of any mistakes or changes because I do feel a responsibility for what I post... regardless of the original source. One would also think that you'd want to keep the information accurate so interested parties can attend these shows. I'm not a moderator here, but I hope you take this suggestion seriously.

lvrr325 wrote:I also said *IF* you use Route 14 as a divider - simply because it lets me include Horseheads and Palmyra in the show count. The majority of these shows are all such that they draw from the same dealer pool. It was not my interest or intent to start a geography debate. Someone based in Batavia has the option of going to at least 20 of those train shows within one hour's drive, give or take a few minutes.

Understood. The "western NY" tag for greater Rochester is a pet peeve, and not intended as a personal shot at you.

lvrr325 wrote:As to the selection and variety at the WNYRHS show, I don't know where you were looking but there were plenty of things there of all vintages.

As I stated previously, my interest is primarily RR books at this point. My current house is too small for a RR layout. I tend to look for specific books when I go to a show. They are common for the most part, so there's no need to go to each show. Again, those who collect model or tinplate trains may feel differently. I didn't go to the WNYRHS show because I think I'll be able to get what I want locally, without having to sacrifice valuable time away from being trackside.

I do agree that some shows should consolidate. This scenario reminds me of the local music scene. Certain bands have been known to have weekly or bi-weekly residencies at a particular venue. The show tends to go well at first, but the attendance tends to fade away after a while and eventually either the residency ends or the venue closes. Likewise, the organizers of the train shows need to understand there are a finite number of train collectors, which is slowly shrinking for the reason I stated earlier. They need to figure out ways to grow the size of the proverbial pie, instead of slicing it into ever smaller pieces.

You can only edit a post here for so long.

That's why the bright blue color and the denotation that the date is not confirmed.

That's why later posts note when show dates are confirmed and correct them then.





There's actually so many WNY shows I can barely keep up with them all, I happened to notice the Train-o-Rama flyer again yesterday and I'm not sure I counted that.

Just in the greater Buffalo area there's three big two day shows, four one day TTCS shows, at least two one day TCA shows, the NFO Train-o-Rama - do they do two of those? and at least one show at the Broadway Market that also runs two days.

The guys in Oswego would like to do a train swap show to go with their Fulton show, but when can they do it that it's not opposite something else? They also have to contend with the possibility of being snowed out up there.

Same problem with Ithaca since they gave it up, with Easter moving around, plus Batavia and Rochester Greenberg shows to contend with, the old March date is iffy. And that presumes you can even find a place to hold it on the date you want. When they proposed reviving it they tried for Thanksgiving weekend, but couldn't get any layouts to come. The only plus is they're not as susceptible to lake snow.

lvrr325 wrote:You can only edit a post here for so long.

That's why the bright blue color and the denotation that the date is not confirmed.

That's why later posts note when show dates are confirmed and correct them then.

In the case of Rochester, there had been no update or correction for the WASPS show. You have chosen to the post the list of shows, because you sell products at some of these shows. I assume you are doing so to boost your own sales, and that's a good idea. (I'd do the same thing if I was in your shoes.) The consumer will forgive a vendor if they take ownership of an error. On the other hand, the consumer will walk away if they can't get accurate information before the event happens and the vendor offers a weak excuse. A schedule of twenty shows should be easy to manage. My posts are advice as a professional who comes from a 25 year+ background in sales.

Time is valuable. I am putting together my weekend plans for the next couple of months, and I'm trying to squeeze in a show to get a few books. No doubt there are others who are looking at the train show schedule to figure out which show(s) they can attend. What you post can affect show patronage. I think I've made my point here, so this will be my final comment regarding the accuracy of your information.

Eastwood show is today, the 26th, 10-3 at the Legion on James Street.

Dealer count is good, three rooms, one new vendor, one regular off on vacation this year.

Matt Langworthy wrote:
In the case of Rochester, there had been no update or correction for the WASPS show. You have chosen to the post the list of shows, because you sell products at some of these shows. I assume you are doing so to boost your own sales, and that's a good idea. (I'd do the same thing if I was in your shoes.) The consumer will forgive a vendor if they take ownership of an error. On the other hand, the consumer will walk away if they can't get accurate information before the event happens and the vendor offers a weak excuse. A schedule of twenty shows should be easy to manage. My posts are advice as a professional who comes from a 25 year+ background in sales.

Time is valuable. I am putting together my weekend plans for the next couple of months, and I'm trying to squeeze in a show to get a few books. No doubt there are others who are looking at the train show schedule to figure out which show(s) they can attend. What you post can affect show patronage. I think I've made my point here, so this will be my final comment regarding the accuracy of your information.

Not even sure why this is an argument, the initial post noted clearly which information may not be accurate, that you chose to overlook that is not my fault. It's not that hard to check when the information becomes available to verify for yourself - but for as many shows who know six and twelve months out when the next show is, there's just as many who don't plan or worry about it until perhaps 8-10 weeks prior. So it has to wait. That's why I generally start the thread in August or even September, after the first few shows have taken place.

No reason someone else can't post updaed info here for an event they have an interest in. I would presume someone interested enough in an event to plan to go to it weeks in advance would check directly with the hosts for the full details, anyways.

This is just a favor to the folks who put on these shows to provide a little free promotion in an easy to find spot that lots of people look at. If it so happens someone buys from me because of it, great, but I'd post it just the same regardless. I also do it so people know well ahead of time to try to prevent conflicts, like when Greenberg ended up in Syracuse at the Fairgrounds opposite Batavia. No one was that happy with that one.

Most shows get a weekend and stick to it year in and year out, making it easy to predict when an event will most likely be based on those who already know. These WASPS guys decided to change for some reason, and clearly no one looked at anyone else's calendar first. But their show strikes me as more of a display for the one tinplate club, so maybe it doesn't matter. It would be interesting to hear how they do, though.

Hi Guys!

I have to agree 100% with lvrr325 on how frustrating it is making a calendar with accurate information. I've been doing it for over 8 years on the WNYRHS site and it takes a lot of time to fact check dates with websites that have not been updated for over 2 years. I won't name names but even some of the updated sites have the incorrect dates that contradict what their flyers have printed. If its a group that the WNYRHS has a relationship, I might take the time to email them to get the correct dates, but that becomes a real pain. Some of them will not even take the time to respond so I just delete their date from last year.

Like lvrr325, I do it as a courtesy to other groups to help get the word out. I have no skin in the game and the WNYRHS gets nothing in return. Shame on them if they do not want free advertising. Waiting to post an update until one week before the event is not my problem. Many others rely on Facebook posts that get buried in a few days if they are active.

There are many organizations that do a great job like Chuck from the TCA. I have no problem working with them when they reach out to me with updates. There is an old saying that goes "Don't shoot the messenger!"

I'm working on a review for our show from last weekend right now but here is a link to our calendar if you care to take a look.

http://www.trainweb.org/wnyrhs/calendar ... ource1.htm

Sincerely, Scott H.

Eastwood update -

Just shy of 400 people through the door and most of them spending, this is the third year in a row I've sold as much or more than at Hamburg with about a tenth of Hamburg's attendance - this year specifically higher by almost 25%. And this even with a couple of vendors dumping things. Everyone I talked to seemed to be happy. If every show was like this, had the sales dollars per attendance percentage, no one would ever complain again.

Still not sure what the future holds for the club, the Legion has been debating whether to sell the building, or keep it and rehab it - a big problem is it lacks an elevator - and it's not 100% what they will do yet.

My initial listing page missed a TCA show in Rochester that was Saturday 2/25. We're getting up to 24, 25 shows in the Rochester-Buffalo market here, for anyone else keeping count, I forgot to check the TCA's listings when I initially put this together.


The remaining shows for this season look like this - as before unconfirmed dates are in blue. Confirmed dates taken from flyers, club websites, other calendars and direct communication with promoter, some notes follow.

March -


3/4 - Elmira - TCA Toy Train Show, American Legion Post 154, Elmira Heights
3/5 - Scranton - Scranton Model Train Show, Lackawanna Station Hotel
3/11 - Binghamton - Binghamton Regional Train Show, American Legion
3/11 - Albany - Albany Train Show, Polish Community Center
3/12 - Buffalo (West Seneca) - TCA Toy Train Show, Ismalia Shriners Temple
3/18-3/19 - Rochester (Webster) - W.A.S.P.S. Model Train Show & Sale
3/19 - Rochester - TTCS Rochester Shamrock Train Show, Eagle Club
3/19 - Kingston - Kingston Model Train & Railroad Show, Murphy Midtown Center
3/26 - Batavia - GSME Great Batavia Train Show, Quality Inn & Suites Palm Island


April -

4/1-4/2 - Rochester - Greenberg Train Show, Dome Center
4/9 - N Tonowanda - TTCS Spring Into Summer show, Knights Of Columbus
4/9 - Amsterdam - Alco T&HS Rals Along The Mohawk show, Riverfront Center
4/? Greene - Green Spring Train Show
4/?-4/? - Ilion - FUNTrak Valley Rail Sights show
4/29-4/30 - Lockport - TTCS/NOME Lockport Train & Toy Show, Keenan Arena

May -

5/20-5/21 - Buffalo - Flea Market At The Depot, Williamsville LV depot


There is an Erie, PA show also on March 5th which will draw some Buffalo area vendors.

BIG NOTE on the 4/9 N. Tonowanda show. TTCS page and Railserve show it as 4/2. Email from promoter to me in December says April 9th, so it's not opposite Greenberg. Going to take Bob's word on it.

Bob also says 4/29-4/30 for Lockport, I have seen some pages saying a week earlier (including TTCS's page).


Note 2 - I have seen a flyer for the Ilion show, but I can't find *anything* online for it - no Facebook page, Funtrak's own web page has not been updated in over six months and latest newsletter is May 2016; last year it was the week prior to Lockport so I presume it will be again.

Greene's show is usually about this same time but I'm not finding a current website for it either.


FWIW, I rechecked TCA's schedule and a couple of others. 22 shows in the general Buffalo-Rochester area in 32 weeks, plus Jamestown, Olean, Palmyra each close for about half the market. Of that there are nine one day and four two day shows in Buffalo, three one day and three two day in Rochester, and the other three are in between. There's a one-day in Hamburg in October I missed on this post, put on by Artcraft Hobby.

Just a reminder for Elmira Heights on Saturday and Scranton on Sunday.

I probably should have made a weekend of the two.

Appears Rochester Model Railroad club had some sales tables at their open house, saw some photos on Facebook but could not find out specifically what they were for, someone posted them to the wrong page.

Found a flyer for Valley Rail Sights (Ilion) and it shows dates of April 22-23, at the Masonic Temple 118 Morgan St. IIRC Easter is the 16th so this is the only week it could be. Contact is Brian King, (315 presumably) 292-7066.

One month countdown to the ALCO Historical & Technical Society's "Rails Along the Mohawk" train show in Amsterdam, NY. Still time for vendors and exhibitors to sign up. Shaping up to be a good show again this year.

Binghamton was excellent for me, although others didn't do as well as they'd have liked. Like at Eastwood, I sold more there than at Hamburg last month, by a good percentage, even though it's a much smaller show and doesn't see near as many through the door. To me that just points back to not having near as many shows for people to go to in that market - although some of the same guys will go to the distant shows.

This is a nice show because it gets a mix of vendors from Pennsylvania, some locals and some from the usual circuit up here. About the biggest issue I had was lousy weather between Cortland and Syracuse on the drive back.

I picked up a flyer for Greene; it's April 8th (Saturday) from 9-3 at the Berean Bible Fellowship Hall, 109 County Route 2.

Apparently there is also a spring Norwich show of some sort, guys talked about it but nobody had any idea when it would be and I didn't see any flyers. Some talk that the fall Norwich train show might go away because it doesn't do very well - probably would help if they did a little more to promote it.

Found out the WASPS show has a whopping 7 vendors, per a friend who called to find out about it. That and the Shamrock Train Show were this weekend.

The Batavia Spring show is next Sunday March 26th at it's usual location at the Quality Inn. Doors open at 9:30AM and admission is still only $5.00. All vendor tables are sold out. Details at http://www.gsme.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

lvrr325 wrote:Found out the WASPS show has a whopping 7 vendors, per a friend who called to find out about it. That and the Shamrock Train Show were this weekend.

I went to WASPS and yes, there were just a handful of vendors. None of them were selling RR books of any type, so I went home and ordered what I wanted online.

With that being said, the O gauge layout at WASPS did look good, especially the EL RS3.

My guess is most of the vendors went with the other show, the TTCS at the Eagle Club, but this WASPS show has always struck me as more of an excuse for the Flower City folks to set up that layout for a weekend and run it. If they raise some money for that organization, great.

When you move your show up against a long established one, you end up odd man out for dealers. Perhaps the venue was only available this weekend, who knows.


I figured I will see all the same guys at Batavia this coming weekend, or Greenberg the week after, so there was no need to rush out to either of these little shows, and all the same guys who might have bought from me at these can come to the others.