I haven't gone for the last two years and have been pretty much out of the hobby due to the craziness of my job. But, I'm slowly dipping my toes back in the water and what perfect timing as the gigantic Amherst show is only 3 weeks away. I checked their website and it seems to be on but I'm surprised that there's no talk of it here or on the A-Board. A sign of the economic times? Has the show changed much since the last time I went 3 years ago?
I went last year and it was great, unfortunatly I no longer live in the area. If I was there, I'd be going again that is for sure.
Over the last few years they have added another building to the show, but I believe it's because of building and fire codes that require more isle space between vendors. I don't think that the economy will effect the number of vendors present but it may effect the amount of spending by customers. Although if you have enough to pay for parking and admittance you should have something leftover for spending on the hobby. I worked there with a friend who was a vendor a few years ago and I couldn't believe the amounts that were being spent. I prefer to go on sunday as it's not as crowded then.
I have been a vendor at the show for the last three years. Although the attendance was great, the lack of spending last year has caused me to re-think my show attendance this year. I am going to do TrainFest this year instead.
Thanks guys. I might consider going this year as I need to be in the Boston area for the week for work. A very slight detour on Sunday.
I'll be there, but only on Sat. I was planning on going the whole weekend, but my wife talked me out of it. heh, heh... ehhhh in any event, i was hoping to buy some traincat auto racks. Bob, will TexNrails be there with those in stock?
I just returned from the Amherst show and was pleasantly surprised at the size and attendance (over 20,000). There were numerous new vendors and LOTS of new products being launched for all scales. There were also several VERY nice layouts on display. Miles and Fran Hale were doing some excellent clinics at the show that seemed to be drawing people, especially new people. Many vendors had mini clinics at their booths. I attended a hands-on airbrush clinic by Leslie Eaton where we weathered a freight car, weathered a piece of track, and even weathered some scenery (which was very cool). She demonstrated how to do three dimensional weathering, creating clumps of mud and rust on items and also helped us make an uprooted tree with exposed roots and an Aspen tree in N scale. What a clinic!! I came home with an Iwata Eclipse airbrush, a compressor, and one of the Real Deal Weathering Kits. I've never airbrushed before, but Leslie made it very easy to do and I had instant success. I also purchased a box of Supertrees from Scenic Express to build more trees for my layout and a laser cut building from Imagine That! models. All in all, a very nice show.:thumbs_up:
Amherst I was in attendance at the show and it was great. Found some good deals to expand my new N scale collection. I did manage to take some pictures of manufacturer booths. Tons of new stuff out on display
