The National Train Show - 2014 in Cleveland

I knew something about the National Train Show in Cleveland but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go.  As I was heading towards the park, I saw a sign for it and pointed it out to my friend.  The weather was looking pretty ominous and it was looking like we were going to miss the train.  We decided that if we missed the train and if it was still raining, we'd go to the Train Show instead. 

 Well, we ended up at the train show and I'll have to admit it was pretty cool.  This picture is just to give an idea of the scale of it.  I believe they had every model train producer here (except for Lionel) and quite a few other periphery businesses.  If you are into model trains at all, I would recommend attending one of these.

I think they had every type of model train imaginable.  And it was kind of cool watching the kids wide eyed looking at them.

 This was part of the Kato display.  They are the makers of the better engines I have.  This is a turntablele they were demonstrating. 

 But the really cool thing was all the train displays.  I was amazed at all the detail that people put into them.

 I'd swear that some of these displays look real.

 Just loved all the different engines.  A great number of them fall into the category of "fallen flags".  These are railroads that are no longer around.  Santa Fe is not one of those though but they currently exist as part of BNSF.

 A collection of z-scale engines.  When I was looking to get my train stuff, I was thinking of getting z-scale but many pictures of them don't do them justice.  I was amazed at the level of detail on them.

 One of the cool things was how some people made their buildings light up.  I would be tempted to try this.

 One of the more popular "fallen flags" is the Pennsylvania Railroad, I think.  I saw quite a few trains wearing this regalia. 

 This plane was pretty cool.  Someone put little motors in the propellors so that they would spin.

 This is definitely not a fallen flag.

 I think this may be a quarter scale engine but I am not sure.  As I said, they had models of all sizes and scales.

 I thought this was kind of cool.  Someone made a z-scale tobacco farm inside a humidor.

 Conrail emerged out of the ashes of the disastorous merger between the Pennsylvania and New York Central.  The Penn-Central looked like it was about to go bankrupt and rather than having pretty much the entire Northeast without rail service, the government set up a holding company (apparently the Erie-Lackawanna was part of this too) so that they could wind down the companies and let the other rail companies absorb the train and locomotives.

Again, I was amazed all the detail.  I realize that many of these are kits but a kit can only take you so far.

A Great Northern steam engine pulling a load.

I was more interested in the Operation Lifesaver aspect of this train than anything.  Operation Livesaver is a group that was put together to highlight rail safety.  In particular, rail safety by the general public.   Since they were formed, accidents have gone down considerably but there still is a long ways to go.  So remember, trains are not to be trifled with.

I kind of liked the way this Santa Fe engine looked in the stream.

The Bessemer and Lake Erie was a Class II railroad that operated between the port of Conneaut, OH and Pittsburgh, PA.  It began in 1897 and it's cargo was mostly iron ore and coal that was delivered to the port.  In 2001, it became part of Great Lakes Transportation (which is the company that owns the Blough) and later in 2004 it was acquired by CN.

The Lego trains were pretty cool.

Another view of the Lego set up.

I'm not sure what kind of train this was but I liked the way it looked going through the autumn scene.

And I leave you with a picture of a smoking steam engine.  I was amazed at how some of the trains had built in sounds.  The steam look was pretty cool.  These are features that are on larger trains though.

 

I'm glad I went to this.  I even got a couple new things for my layout and I'll post those at some point.