2015 Van Wert Model Railroad Show & Swap

[bnsf8000]

This July 11/12, 2015 is the 12th annual Van Wert Model Railroad Show and Swap. We have over 120 vendor tables and are sold out. We will also have the very popular layouts and timesaver switching layouts. New this year is a FreeMo HO scale layout of at least 127' of modules. Other layouts are the Peninsula Model railroad group and their 16' x 36' HO scale layout; The HOBO crew is back with their beautiful HO scale modular layout; the Northeast Indiana N-scalers and also T-Trak; Jeff Fausts T Trak; Hawkeys Lionel layout; the Maumee Valley Railroad Club HO scale modular layout; Ellen's Trains for Tots; Shane's G scale trains and the ever popular Timesaver switching layouts of Bill Wemhoff, Bob Hanna and Rick Witteborg. Admission is still $3 and children 12 and under are free. Plenty of good food and drink will be available. It is at the Van Wert County Fairgrounds US 127/1055 S. Washington St. Van Wert, Ohio in the Commercial Building and new this year we have expanded to the Junior Fair Building for some of the layouts. So make sure you get to see both buildings! Hours are Saturday 10AM-4PM July 11 and Sunday 11AM-3PM July 12. This couldn't be possible without the help of our sponsors. Hope too see you there!

PW

[GreatLakesRailfan]

Sponsors? Who's sponsoring the show?

[bnsf8000]

All are local sponsors in the Van Wert area. From individuals to many businesses, which allow us to bring in the layouts. It isn't easy for the model railroad modular groups to come for our 2 day show. This is where our sponsors come to action. Many thanks to each and every one them. Also, the Van Wert County Historical Society thanks each and every one them, which is how this show started.

PW

[GreatLakesRailfan]

Ok. Thanks. With the $3 admission charge, I wondered how you'd cover all your costs and make money on the show.

Our local show is running into some major issues and ideas like getting sponsors for the show are kind of neat to read about as we discuss what options we have, including a likely change of venue and helping the one guy who's been organizing the show for years. My apologies, I'm really not trying to hijack your thread, but the idea of getting local sponsors is something I hadn't thought of before.

[railcarman]

Charles - Contact me off list for additional information about our show (as to why it is successful). Ours is a team effort. Having only one person handle everything sounds impossible. We are also very fortunate to have our local Historical Society as a sponsor.
Chuck White
railcarman@frontier.com

[fmilhaupt]

It was a really nice show today. Mostly second-hand stuff, but at good prices.

I picked up an older, HO Kato-powered Atlas RSD-5 for $30, and a whole bunch of sets of fruit box castings to detail a fruit warehouse for $2-3 per package. A friend picked up a nicely-assembled Walthers power plant for $25, and a dealer had several small, completed scenes with multiple structures for $50 and under.

There was a fair amount of 1990-vintage HO Kato power (SD40s, GP35s, NW2s) for sale at quite good prices. Having reached a point where storage is becoming an issue, I was trying very hard to avoid bringing too much home, so I turned down a number of HO Kato NW2s at $59 apiece - which is well below my usual "buy" threshold for those locomotives.

Given where the show was, I was surprised to see rather little NS and Nickel Plate stuff. Not a lot of modern stuff, either.

If I didn't already have a copy of The Evening Before the Diesel (the Charlie Foss book on GTW steam), I would've been all over the copy that a seller had for $60.

Combined with a stop at the Iron Triangle Park in Fostoria afterward, the show was definitely worth the trip from SE MIchigan. But then again, I'm always looking for an excuse for a road trip in the summertime.