Today there was a Pima County Great Train Expo. They hold this two day event every year here at the Pima County Fairgrounds in Arizona and I thought I would share what was seen. There was a Garden Scale layout with all types of equipment represented. Diesels, Steam, and Trolley Cars; although not my area of interest a nice layout was depicted. Pictures to follow tomorrow. N Trak Group had the largest display with a layout 70' x 120' just awesome. The layout depicted Winslow AZ and quite well I must say. (pictures below) Several small vendors were there from ABQ NM, Denver CO., NSC; they stated that over 10,000 Trains were there for sale. I was able to pick up a Rapido Caboose that I was trying to get but was sold out online(Cotton Belt) sweet model. There was also several Free Clinics; which I attended the one for DCC(NCE/Digitrax) were covered. But several others were offered throughout the day.
Post No2 for the Pima County Great Train Expo. I found that I would need two post to post all of the pictures
your second picture is a modual we bought from a defunct PHX club, the third one is Stu Drapers Thomas modual. The third on is Gary Copus's. the 6th one is Les clark's. and the 7th one is Bills town. I helped build most of those moduals.
I didn't realize they were still having those here in Tucson. I may need to visit one of those again in the future. Thanks for the report. :tb-biggrin:
It's a shame they didn't get the word out as I would have come down to Tucson for it. Also, I wish they would hold one in the Phoenix area again.
What do you mean, "didn't get the word out?" It's been listed in MRR for months, they've been posting about it on the Yahoo N scale groups, and it's likely they've also posted here about it. I had provisionally planned on going, but my employer decided to send me to Shreveport for two weeks. Hope that there was a good enough turnout, as there's been rumbling it will go the way of the Phoenix show otherwise.
I no longer subscibe to MRR, and based on the dropping numbers, less people are too. I did not see any postings in any of the Yahoo N Scale groups I belong to and I did not see a mention of the show on here. Also, at least two of the three train related LHS in the Phoenix area didn't have anything posted, I don't go to the 3rd but if the others didn't, they may not have posted anything. I did not seen an ad for the show in either n scale related magazine and the 3 LHS in my area that carry some model trains in addition to their larger selections of ship and airplane models and RC items didn't have anything posted. I have gone to the Tucson show in the past and was on their mailing list because I received post cards about the shows. This time I didn't receive anything. This was also discussed at the informal n scale group I belong to when we had our monthly get together last night and no one in the group had heard anything about this show. Most of us would have got together and driven down to Tucson for it and had money with us to spend. We would have also gone to the Ace Hardware store with the train section and dropped some money there. Not to mention all of us having lunch somewhere in Tucson and also purchasing some gas. We also would have stopped by the UP yard in Tucson and followed the Sunset Route back to Casa Grande and stopped for a break and snack in Picacho Peak or Eloy.
Have to agree with the word not getting out on this. I live in southern Az and would have gone if I'd known. Not a member of any Yahoo groups, but do read this forum and several others almost daily and don't remember seeing it mentioned. I'm willing to believe I just missed it in the forums, but I check the MRR Schedule of Events every month, and there's been nothing about it. Just to make sure I re-checked my Jan, Feb, and March issues, and there's no mention of it. If it was an ad somewhere else in the magazine, then OK, but it wasn't in the schedule located in the back of the magazine. Not trying to be critical of the organizers, just letting them know they have an untapped audience out there. Anyway, I really hope there was a good turnout, as I look forward to these events and hope they continue. Thanks for the pics, and the update. If possible, I'll head up to Winslow in April, but that's a much longer trip so it won't be quite as easy. Cheers, Harlan
I was there and IMHO the crowd was less than adequate. Some vendors had decent sales, others did not. My guess is this group will not return next year ? ? ?
