Milwaukee Train Fest

Something I've always wanted to do is attend the Milwaukee Train Fest - one of the largest model train shows in the US.

We used to have our Ft. Worth Train Show the same weekend as Train Fest, but this year the fall show was held in September. This started me thinking about making the trip north. When I heard that Lionel Strang and Jim Rindt from A Modelers Life were going to be there, I sent an email suggesting that we plan a meetup and immediately went online and booked the flight, car and hotel.

I didn't hear anything from Lionel and Jim for a couple months, so I started making plans for Saturday evening. Lance Lassen told me he was going to be in Milwaukee the same weekend for the Trains 75th Anniversary Gala, which sounded fun. Also, by NP buddy Mike Morse who live in Appleton, WI was going to be there, so I made plans to hang out with him on Saturday.

I arrived on Saturday a half hour before the doors opened and it was like attending a Rock Concert. There were several thousand people in line - luckily inside.

Joe Fugate was a busy guy. The first time I went by the Model Railroad Hobbiest booth, he was being interviewed by some show with Youtube stickers on their equipment.

 We decided to have lunch there. I had what they called the Lionel Strang Special. I guess his reputation preceded him.

Walthers is painting their DM&IR caboose up like an NP 24 footer, which is a closer stand in than let's say Athearn's Santa Fe model. I have several Laserkits to build of the more accurate prototype, so I'll undoubtedly get at least one of these. However, the $49.98 price is ridiculous.

 Kadee had a cool poster with the history of their couplers.

They had at least 5 garden layouts on display. I lied this one because they took the time to put down the rubber mulch.

The clinics were top notch... I was having too much fun on the show floor to see any of them.

A second building had nothing but layouts on display.

This traction layout was very nice.

Unfortunately, my battery in my cell phone didn't last all day. I did finally get to meet Lionel and Jim.

Here is a photo from the Model Railroad Hobbiest Facebook.

The Trains Gala was interesting, but I only knew one guy there: Lance.

The next morning, I was back at the show. Rivarossi had their new U28Cs, which look a lot like the U25C.

Here is the video that Lionel recorded with me on Sunday.

Since I flew in and out of Chicago, I left Milwaukee with enough time to stop at Lou Malnati's near O'Hare on the way back. Worth the trip in itself.