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woodone

Member
Feb 7, 2007
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Phoenix, AZ.
Hi out there.
Just ran into this forum the other day. Been reading some of the posts that have been made, so I thought I would join in. Model in N scale only. Been in N scale a good many years, mid 60's. Collect Western Pacific.
Why is it that here in Phoenix ( the 6th largest city) we never see any train shows?
There was a time when you saw GATS, but I have not seen one for a few years.
BTW great site!
Jerry:wave:
 
Jerry,

Welcome to the Gauge. Glad to have a fellow N scaler aboard. You are right, we have not seen a "national" train show here in years. There are two smaller shows scheduled for March, one is out at the Armory on McDowell Rd., and there's another one at a church on W. Camelback Rd. There is a number of us Gaugers that meet at these local shows, one comes down from Prescott Valley, another from Wellton, so let's hope you can make some of them.

BTW, what part of Phoenix are you in? I'm up here in Surprise in the far NW corner of the Valley just off of Bell Rd.
 
Thanks Don,
I am located by the I-10 and 101 freeway (Tolleson).
I see by a post or two that you have seen the new An Affar with Trains store.
It might not be the best hobby (Trains only) shop but the new owners have sure cleaned up the place. My wife would not go to the store with me most of the time. Now she will go with me no problem. The other day she went to the North East Valley for some reason, did not find what she was looking for, but she stoped at the hobby shop and got me some new books!
Now that is a differance a clean store will make. :thumb:
Jerry
 
Really, no GATS in phoenix for the past few years? I wonder if it has to do with convention center renovations.

I couldn't agree more on hobby shops being scarce. I live in central phoenix with all kinds of interesting stores and restaurants near me, but an affair with trains is probably the closest hobby shop. Bummer. But it is not just hobby shops, anything except the big boxes seem to be on the decline these days. For brewing supplies, I have to go out to tempe. Ebay seems to be as popular as ever, though. i wonder if there is a connection.

kevin
 
Hi Kevin,
I can't recall the last GATS that was here in Phoenix. It has been 5 or more years as I recall. They used to have one per year, then they went to twice a year. Next thing you knew there were none. The last GATS that I went to was at the fair grounds, not good. It was way to hot for most people.
I don't think the convention center remodel had any thing to do with the no show of GATS, I think it was the $$ they had to pay for the rent.
You would think that there would be some type of train trade show or something, with Phoenix being the 6th largest city in the US.
Jerry
 
Welcome to the mix, Jerry! Haven't been to the Phoenix area in years (since long before Roy's took over the McCormick Park store), even though my dad's family was in Mesa and Chandler. (Most, if not all, of them long gone by now.) Always great to see another N-scaler. BTW, how does a Phoenix resident develop an interest in WP? Or did you start out in a more northerly clime?

-- Paul
 
coaster said:
Welcome to the mix, Jerry! Haven't been to the Phoenix area in years (since long before Roy's took over the McCormick Park store), even though my dad's family was in Mesa and Chandler. (Most, if not all, of them long gone by now.) Always great to see another N-scaler. BTW, how does a Phoenix resident develop an interest in WP? Or did you start out in a more northerly clime?

-- Paul
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Hi Paul,
WP comes from my long time living in norhthern California. Traveled up the Feather River many times.
 
woodone said:
Hi Paul,
WP comes from my long time living in norhthern California. Traveled up the Feather River many times.
Click to expand...
Spent 17 years in Sacramento myself, back in the day, Jerry. At one point, I lived just east of the WP yards on Freeport Bl. Went to sleep most nights to the sound of boxcars being slammed into one another. Loved it!

-- Paul
 
coaster said:
Spent 17 years in Sacramento myself, back in the day, Jerry. At one point, I lived just east of the WP yards on Freeport Bl. Went to sleep most nights to the sound of boxcars being slammed into one another. Loved it!

-- Paul
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I spent over 40 years in the Marysville, Yuba City area. Sacromento Northern had an electric line that served the WP.:thumb:
Saw a lot of the WP in Oroville too.
I use to travel to Sacramento to get hobby supplies for the trains. Boy that was a day or so back.:D
 
woodone said:
Thanks Don,
I am located by I-10
Click to expand...

Welcome. Thats cool, I live right off of I-10 too...but about 1500 miles east in San Antonio. Im new to the area so I will take a train day and go visit the hobby shops around town.
 
Welcome to The Gauge. Sounds like it is up to you and Don to get things rolling in Arizona again. Good luck with that.

Up here in Canada we NEVER get a GATS. However our local shows (and there is one in Barrie on Feb. 17-18) are well atended, about 1000-1500 each.

There are 4 main ones in this area every year.
 
woodone said:
I spent over 40 years in the Marysville, Yuba City area. Sacromento Northern had an electric line that served the WP.:thumb:
Saw a lot of the WP in Oroville too.
I use to travel to Sacramento to get hobby supplies for the trains. Boy that was a day or so back.:D
Click to expand...
I missed out on the Sacramento Northern, unfortunately, arriving in Sacramento (from San Francisco) in 1970. By that time, the only Sac Northern power to be seen were geeps painted up in WP-styled "Perlman green" and orange. Interestingly enough, though, the former Sacramento Northern depot in Sacramento -- on 12th Street, I believe? -- retained its signage for many a year.

The place you went for your hobby supplies wouldn't have been over on Marconi Avenue, would it?

Regards,
Paul
 
Yes that would be the place, it was call Gill's if I recall. I also went to a place that was called Lyman E Cox or something like that, out on Arden Way? It has been a number of years back. That has been way to many years ago.:oops:
Had to drive about 1 1/2 hours to get to Sacramento from where I lived. Still we made the trip at least 6-8 times a year.
 
Gill's it was, Jerry! Then, in the 80s for a time it became The Whistle Stop (and if I recall correctly, there was an affiliation with The Original Whistle Stop in Pasadena). Nowadays, it's Bruce's. I was up there last September and it's moved from the end location to the center of that strip mall. Bigger store. Better. Not that it does either of us much good, unless we're in the mood for a really long drive!

And you got the other store right as well. Lyman Cox actually had three locations once upon a time -- Arden Way, Downtown (12th & K), and Florin Center in the south area. The Arden Way store was the main one for trains. Cox himself was always more into the doll and dollhouse miniatures arm of his stores' hobby sections, but he usually had at least one or two sharp people in the trains department.

Regards,
Paul
 
Paul,
I see that you have a SP logo, I have chased a SP train or so, the 4449 and the Freedom train to name a few.
Back in the day the Sacramento Northern had electric steeple caps, they ran in some of the streets of Yuba City. They served the local companies, like California Packing Corp.
That was back when Yuba City was known as the peach bowl of the world.
Did you ever get to the Railroad Museum in Old Sacremento? Great place.
As far as making a trip to the store in Sacomento, I would think that you have a lots of shops in the L.A. area to get railroad hobby supplies.:thumb:
Later Jerry
 
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