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Post by boxcarwilly on Apr 14, 2017 10:20:40 GMT -5
Well Supertrain 2017 is just a week away and I'm all ready to go. I'm just taking one module with me this year so I will have a very small display. It's getting increasingly difficult to find people to help move and set up so this is my last year taking part. It's too stressful when people including family members say they will help only to have them come back later and say they can't for some stupid reason. I can't afford to hire helpers and trust them to be careful when moving my stuff. I suffered some minor damage last year because some jerk wasn't careful enough to watch what he was doing. Fortunately it was repairable. After the show, and my layout goes back together, I'm just going to concentrate on completing my empire and only show it during the CMRS layout tour every February. As for Supertrain, it's been fun but a hell of a lot of work especially when you have to do everything yourself. And the sad thing is z scale isn't taken seriously so we are left out of any competition for best in scale, best in show, best fun display and all others because the judging staff and my fellow modellers still consider z scale to be nothing more then a toy or passing fad. Oh well, that's life I guess. Next year I'll be just another paying spectator. At least I'll get to see what everyone else is doing. www.supertrain.ca |
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Post by boxcarwilly on Apr 24, 2017 12:58:00 GMT -5
Well it's over for another year and Supertrain 2017 was quite busy despite the ugly weather. Actually the rumor has the numbers about 2500 more then last year for attendance. That would really be good. It seemed like there were more people there this year. Oh well, this is it for me. Next year I'll just be another face in the crowd.
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Post by boxcarwilly on Apr 24, 2017 18:19:00 GMT -5
Outside of still not being taken seriously, and listening to derogatory comments from modellers in other scales, and it being very exhausting, NO.
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Post by boxcarwilly on Apr 25, 2017 11:07:12 GMT -5
Not to put too fine a point on this but there were 2 z scale modellers there this year, he was set up less then 15 feet away from me, and during and after the show, we had a chance to chat and he feels the same way I do. Z scale just isn't taken seriously here. We who model in Z, bare the brunt of jokes, and insults, and comments like, " Z scale may catch on when it grows up." and "Too small to really be noticed." Frankly I'm sick of it. The sad thing is, most of derogatory comments come from HO, and N scale modellers, especially the big clubs with upwards of 20 members. They seem to forget that HO and N started out the same way and eventually caught on to be as big as they are now. Well, I'm resigned to the fact that I will never live long enough to see Z scale be as big here and it is in the States. At least I can take comfort in knowing that the empire I'm building in Z scale, will be something I'll be proud of, if and when I finish it. What makes it even harder is manufacturers at the show, like MTL and Intermountain had no Z scale at all. Even the retailers from B.C. and Ontario who usually stock Z scale merchandise, had none this year. No wonder we are not taken seriously. If anyone wanted to get into it, they can't buy any Z scale anywhere on the Prairies, so they would have to go to B.C. or Ontario, or get it from vendors in the States. It's really a tragic thing when you think about it.
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Post by QcKraag on May 1, 2017 7:35:00 GMT -5
I went to Springfiled earlier this year and it is considered the largest train show in north america with over 400 booths and tables, a few were selling Z, intermountain brought nothing, mtl had a few grafitied reprints and Atlas gave us some juice about turnouts... Other than that, the closest layout to Z was an Nn3. We just have to keep on fighting, I am sure AZL sales rise constantly... And they can confirm if more units are being produced abd sold, as a gauge to our scales increasing popularity?
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