Large Scale Central

Local annual train show will not return this fall Ottawa Ontario

General Discussion
#1

Hi guys:

An OVAR friend of mine has informed me that the Algonquin College OVAR multi scale train show will not return this Fall. Too bad as it was a good opportunity to sell off excess trains. Glad that I had liquidated my HO scale stuff a few years back at the show. Ebay will now be the only future toy train liquidation option.

This show had lasted around 30 years, but had grown stale. The excitement of the live steamers was gone as liability insurance was later required. All of the familiar aging faces were running the show year after year with few new younger faces and with the gradual disappearance of many faces, volunteers and dealers, each year as these folks literally slowly died off! A yearly depressing reminder of my own mortallity!

I guess the dealers found that they were no longer earning sufficient sales to make the show worthwhile. In addition, I guess the volunteers finally clued in , after 30 years, that their volunteer work was aiding train dealers to earn money with none of the train dealer profits flowing over to the volunteers. The dealers should have offered some compensation to the show volunteers as a thank you for their efforts. I never could figure out as to why folks volunteered to work the show to help train dealers earn money with the sale of trains ???

As well, each year the individual hobby train displays became fewer and fewer with the show slowly simply becoming a venue for train dealers.

Oh well, the show was fun while it lasted. During the early years of the show it was exciting to wait for the opening day and it was a mad rush on opening day to get to the used train table to see what discontinued out of stock items one could buy. Of course, those were the days before ebay. Those were the glory days to be a toy train dealer.

Norman

#2

That is a shame that they are cancelling the show after 30 years. Train shows seem to come and go and go through different stages but it is always sad to lose one entirely. There is a dieing show about an hour from where I live that I remember getting excited about months in advance back in the eighties when I was into HO. It was a great show with many dealers, deals and people attending. Then I got away from trains for about 20 years and now I’m back in and into large scale and guess what the old show is still going on. Over the last 3 years that I have gone to it it has gotten smaller and smaller. I think there was 5 tables there last time and only about 3 pieces of G scale. Sadly the next time it comes around I don’t plan on going to it.
Train shows are alot of fun to attend. It is when I realise I’m not the only weirdo but that I have plenty of company in this little hobby of watching trains go around a track.
I too remember the glory days.
Todd

#3

When one door closes; another opens.

(http://ottawatrainexpo.com/images/EnglishWithText_350x481.png)

http://ottawatrainexpo.com/ Many of the faces of the volunteers are the same OVAR members. The Ottawa Valley Associated Railroaders have been around since 1961 (51 years), and will probably be there long after we have gone. OVAR is a multi-scale model railway club, and acts as an umbrella group for everyone interested in railways and model trains. http://www.ovar.ca/ When I was the Chairman a couple of years back we averaged about 135 members at each of the monthly dinner meetings. Fred Mills, the Dinner Coordinator, can probably provide the current figures. The web site includes the last decade of the club newsletters “The Interchange” which are full of interesting modeling and railroading information.

#4

Hi Paul:

  1. I like the advertising logo

  2. the big negative is there is no used section table for hobbyists to sell their used trains, will this be addressed?

Norman

#5

The person that started this thread, is not well informed of things going on in his own community. He could easily dispose of his junk, like everyone else does, at the OVAR Annual swap meet, if he cared to join OVAR, or kept himself otherwise informed.(It is open to the public)

OTTAWA TRAIN EXPO is designed to be an up-to-date show, in a new venue.....a show to appeal to a very large area of Quebec, Ontario, and Upper New York State......it is NOT a junk show, and he will not be able to sneak in.

The old Railfair served its purpose for 31 years, but it was very tired, and it’s volunteers did not want to change venues, or make any other needed changes. OVAR always provided seed money for Railfar, and was prepared to continue, but the people running Railfare, even after being offered a partnership in TrainExpo, decided to end the old show.
OVAR even while offering to continue helping to fund Railfair, is involved with funding seed money to Ottawa Rail Expo.
The two shows would not have been in competition, as the new one is In May, while Railfair was in the Fall.
RAIL EXPO is also completely run by volunteers, in a very business like manner.

The person who started this thread, is NOT a member of OVAR, and does not take part in any community rail activities that I’m aware of, and should not be commenting on these matters if he does not get his facts straight before posting doom and gloom notes…besides a positive approach is much more constructive.

Although this whole thread is a local mater; it stated out giving the impression that the hobby of Model Railroading, or the intrest in Railroading, in the Ottawa area was dying…

 THIS IS FAR FROM THE TRUTH......it is alive and well, with OVAR starting its second 50 years of success. Even the local LS part of Model Railroading is alive and well.......with a very friendly and sharing group of people, having fun.
#6

BY the Way…The dealers, that had booths at Raifair, always paid their share…it was NOT a freebe…more dealers wanted booths, but there was no room… one of the main problems with the venue, over the years, was that there was nowhere to expand. Not even more room for display layouts… The college where the show took place was always causing problems in the later years, with new building taking place, and other ubstructions.

#7
Fred Mills said:
....a positive approach is much more constructive.....
Total agreement from here in the Big Smoke... where the warmer weather and the FUN has started again! :)

Fred - you’ll be interested to know that Ian Mooney and I met up at his place yesterday and went off together to the year’s first meeting of the Backyarders - a great time.

At my place, new trackage, several new industrial spurs under the breezeway, also other preparations in the backyard for my open house at end of May, all now in full swing.

I trust & hope trains are running up your way again now.

BTW, I haven’t been able to commit to the invasion - I’d like to come up - but my wife’s planning for a family reunion in the 'States - that’ll be a Canadian invasion - , and it looks 80% sure now that her date will coincide with the coming of the Yankee hoardes. If not I’ll motor up your way for sure. :slight_smile:

#8

John;

You will be most welcome…

#9

Wed, April 18, 2012.

Mr. Fred Mills:

Your comments:

  1. “He could easily dispose of his junk, like everyone else does, at the OVAR Annual swap meet, if he cared to join OVAR, or kept himself otherwise informed.(It is open to the public)”

  2. " it is NOT a junk show, and he will not be able to sneak in. "

  3. " The person who started this thread, is NOT a member of OVAR, and does not take part in any community rail activities that I’m aware of, and should not be commenting on these matters if he does not get his facts straight before posting doom and gloom notes "

Reply to your comments:

  1. I do not own junk trains nor would I ever attempt to misled anyone to misrepresent a junk train as a saleable item.

  2. I have never “sneaked” into the RailFair shows but rather I have always paid the full admission price over the multiple years that I have attended.
    The one year of exception being that, as an employee of Hobbyland Ltd. , for which I worked at the show.

  3. I do not need to be a member of OVAR to comment that the Algonquin College train show has been cancelled.
    I do take part in community rail activites. I do not take part in community rail activities with yourself.
    I do not require the permission of yourself, Mr. Fred Mills, prior to posting my thoughts related to model railroading on either of these two forums.

Mr. Fred Mills, I have generously ignored and let your previous bullying and intimidation postings on both the mylargescale and the largescalecentral forums against myself go unanswered.

Mr. Fred Mills, your slander against my personal character of " it is NOT a junk show, and he will not be able to sneak in " has now gone way too far to ignore.

Mr. Fred Mills, do you comprehend what you write and that your writings posted over the internet are readable across North America and WorldWide?

Mr. Fred Mills, I am here on largescalecentral to enjoy myself and not to be bullied or slandered.

Mr. Fred Mills, I expect your immediate online retraction and apology on this forum.

Without prejudice,
Mr. Norman Bourgault

#10

In the video, it sounds like Chris Lyons interviewing those two guys…I know that guy…:wink:

#11

Not a personal attack but these are great “talking” points imho

“…is there is no used section table for hobbyists to sell their used trains, will this be addressed?”

Out west in the region of “SUPERTRAIN” the used trains issue is ‘addressed’ the month previous at the combo CMRS spring mini-meet/ CMT Fleamarket where both private and dealer entities unload the surplus MR/rwy related product. Shucks, this year a local dealer even had a large selection of their USAT’ stock on sale ex. 4 bay hoppers $75… hinting this new mint factory fresh shelf queens would be seen at ST’12 quite possibly at similiar pricepoint since the boss was either selling off his stock, and any remaining would be use don his own upcoming shortline . . . . . . (go figure !)

A lot of people even out here (where ST has been successfully run by volunteers for almost 2 decades) not directly involved with the MR/railfan community thru membership with a local club or society, quite often express personal views that are totally wrong to the actuals … and my response to them is get involved, volunteer, be happy, help promote the hobby, or be quiet/fester in your basement or if applicable – bkyd shortline empire!!

If you have ideas to ultimately enhance the hobby as a whole - step up - volunteer to implement them !! :wink:

“…that their volunteer work was aiding train dealers to earn money with none of the train dealer profits flowing over to the volunteers. The dealers should have offered some compensation to the show volunteers as a thank you for their efforts…”
Hmmmm we do what we do to help promote the hobby shucks the host society CMRS each year implements a ‘formula’ that depending on final ST gate receipts a $-value is … I’ll call it ‘rebated’ back to the majority of exhibitors to offset their show participation costs. Quite often small but any little bit understandably helps the exhibitors !

As a show volunteer be ya in any of the positions to be filled to fulfill this show (exhibitor or show managing position), you acquire free entry to the show and the last few years a coupon to offset a purchase at the venue food concessions. And still only about 120 members (and a few not even as some spouses volunteer to spend the time ) of the CMRS avg annual membership of 375 volunteer either because of other commitments or as I hinted at, misunderstanding or misconstrued ideas of what our/(a) hobby is or possibly can encompass . . . .

If you want to find out more details volunteer for a position for SUPERTRAIN 2013 ya don’t have to be a member of CMRS although it is only $10/yr :wink:

http://www.supertrain.ca/About.html

nuff said ?! ,
doug c :slight_smile:

ST security volunteer 2 shifts 2 hours ea. plus always there with eyes/ears open to assist when 'n where I think I can !

#12

Hi Doug:

Yes that is my concern. The main attraction of the show is the display layouts which brings in folks to whom dealers sell to. The dealers of course pay a table fee to help cover the show costs. Year after year folks setting up the displays are making the same physical effort as dealers do setting up their tables to sell product. I think after a few years it gets a little grating to the display folks for not receiving any compensation, from the dealers selling product, for their display efforts which have brought in customers for the dealers.

The train displays of the later years were no where near as good as the initial years.

Fred Mill’s comment: " he will not be able to sneak in " is totally unacceptable as I have monetarily supported the Ottawa show for years since its opening through both my gate admission and my purchases from several specialty out of town dealers. I have been an excellent supporter of the local show over those many years and I am not here to take abuse from Fred Mills. For many years I have assisted two separate dealers with loading up their unsold inventory at the end of the Sunday show for no compensation but simply to be helpful to them due to their aging health.

Given Fred Mills unwarranted personal attack on myself, as a representative of OVAR, I will likely now not attend the May show.

Norman

#13

Fred: I’d like to see you and Norman make up.
Norman: I’d like to see you and Fred make up.

Maybe you both took something the other said too personally or too seriously. Maybe you both jumped to judgement when no harm was meant. Couldn’t you both agree to wipe the slate clean, both apologize to the other for past misunderstandings, and both agree to sit down together over a beer or a coffee somewhere and tell each other the best or dumbest joke you ever heard?

Anyway, you can’t change another person, as by now life has certainly taught you both. You can change your underwear. You can change your mind. You can change yourself and your attitude towards another person, and you can decide to change your own responses to any given situation. This can be hard, but it can be done. Why not give that a try?

Jeeze, it’s only toy trains, for Heaven’s sake! Act like age 12 and have some fun, the pair of you! You can both come over and play with my trains any time; I’ll sort you out.

#14
Big John said:
Jeeze, it's only toy trains, for Heaven's sake! Act like age 12 and have some fun, the pair of you! You can both come over and play with my trains any time; I'll sort you out.
I'd pay big money to watch that! :lol:
#15
Steve Featherkile said:
Big John said:
Jeeze, it's only toy trains, for Heaven's sake! Act like age 12 and have some fun, the pair of you! You can both come over and play with my trains any time; I'll sort you out.
I'd pay big money to watch that! :lol:
Steve,

You need to brush up on the local customs: head banging is a sanctioned sport in Ottawa! :lol: :lol:

#16

OT - @Steve F - where DID you get that great gif of #700?

tac, ig & The OMSI Boys, lately The Brooklyn Roundhouse Boys

#17

tac said:
OT - @Steve F - where DID you get that great gif of #700? tac, ig & The OMSI Boys, lately The Brooklyn Roundhouse Boys

trainweb dot org / rrgifroundhouse / SPS-E1-4-8-4 dot gif

(http://www.trainweb.org/rrgifroundhouse/sps/SPS-E1-4-8-4-R.gif)

As usual, put http colon // and www in front of trainweb, and take out the spaces. Browse around, there’s a whole lot of neat stuff there.

#18

Today was the first day of the NEW train show in Ottawa…OTTAWA RAILEXPO…It has been proven to be a TOTAL SUCCESS, in spite of detractors and first show teething problems…
The Venue was bright and cheerful; BIG and freemoving aisles…happy people (Even the guys that used to run the old show) AND A TURNOUT OF AT LEAST DOUBLE WHAT WAS HOPED FOR…in spite of great weather…and this was just the first day…It was pleasant to walk on carpeted floors, and enjoy great people…vendors and buyers…ALL SMILING…
It looks like OTTAWA RAILEXPO is on the map for a very successful future…and yes…OVAR will again have their annual swap meet, to make up for the lack of a “Junk Show”
“Junk Show” is, by the way, the common term in the show market, as a show that is heavy into the old saying that “One person’s junk, is someone elses’ treasure”, where anyone can sell his/her used “Stuff” and can purchase someone elses discards…
OVAR runs a sale once a year, for members and the public, so this market is well looked after in OTTAWA.

 OTTAWA RAILEXPO is registered as a NON-PROFIT organization, and donates all profits to community organizations....it is supported by "Seed money" from OVAR....a group of railroad interested hobbiests, in the Ottawa Ontario area.(Average attendance at monthly OVAR Dinner meetings is 132........with a 50 year success story....

Ottawa Ontario, has for many, many years, been known as a MODEL RAILROAD hot spot.......great people....great model railroads, and lasting friendships with great sharing of knowledge and talent.

   YES....I'm bragging......and am proud to be in OTTAWA, and have the opportunity to take part in this great hobby....HERE.....with great friends.   They even put up with me.......in spite of what some may have heard....!!!!
#19
Fr Fred said:
They even put up with me.......in spite of what some may have heard....!!!!
They must be saints! :P
#20

They are…!!!