Has anyone attended any of the "National Collector's Association" train shows listed on railserve.com? They're run out of local club halls (e.g. P.A.L.). Are they worth driving 45 minutes to get to and the $6 they charge to get in? Do they get a decent turnout amongst dealers and attendees?
Know of any other good train shows in the New Jersey area (other than the Greenburg shows that show up here quarterly)?
To me, train shows are good for killing off a few hours, maybe picking up some ideas from viewing the sights and perhaps looking/finding something that you are looking for that is extremely hard to find and have not been able to locate elsewhere. But to me, the downside to train shows, especially when traveling any significant distance is cost. Cost of gas, cost of parking, cost of entry fee. Also, since payment for most items is in cash, there is next to no consumer protection if you buy something that turns out to have something wrong with it, particularly bad if you buy something the last day of the show, get home a distance later and find out you bought a lemon and by that time the show is over, packed up and gone. For my shopping, I go elsewhere. My 2 cents. :)
All true, I don't expect to find anything there that's a bargain. Even at the big shows I rarely find anything worth buying; by far the best deals are the tools that sell for $4 including tax when I'd have to pay twice that plus tax and shipping from an online retailer. I'm more interested in whether there's even enough to entertain me for an hour or two or if there will just be a few old guys with old layouts running old trains....
there are good deals to be had at train shows as long as you have done your homework and know what you are looking at. I once got 2 Bachmann dcc gp40s for $25 each, and a roundhouse old time 2-8-0 for $60 another time.