I just returned from Trainfest 2022 in Milwaukee WI. This was my first Trainfest, and it probably won’t be my last.
Around 1999/2000 I went to the York PA train show, and with its combination of hobby shops and manufacturers, Trainfest reminded me a lot of that York show I went to. What’s great about shows like this is that you can often see prototype models and models that are about to ship, and with as much as I purchase off the internet, it’s always need to see in person the items that are about to hit my “WANT TO BUY list.”
So by vendor, what did I see?
RailSmith Models:
The first actual vendor I spoke with was Lowell Smith of RailSmith Models. Lowell bought tooling from Walthers and is making some really nice passenger cars. Lowell’s philosophy is that he’s building cars specifically to allow modelers to model named trains. For example, if you’re a Pennsylvania RR modeler, he’s building the consist for The South Wind that ran from Chicago to Miami. I didn’t buy anything from RailSmith at the show – but only because I was watching my budget, if I had cash left over after making my rounds I definitely would have added a few of his cars to my layout.
I didn’t take any pictures of what Lowell had on offer, but he only sells direct so check out his website.
Kato:
Kato is one of my preferred brands. The Centreville Railroad is built on Kato Unitrack, and most of my engines are Kato. I’ve been eagerly awaiting their release of the ALC-42 Chargers, and while they’re still a few months away Kato had the prototype model on display…
I’m looking forward to seeing these once they’re painted.
Also on display in Kato’s booth were there latest release of P42s in Amtrak’s commemorative liveries…
Personally, 203 is the most eye catching of the bunch, but I’m not a fan of the Operation Lifesaver scheme.
Kato also had one of their upcoming Big Boys on display… I’m not a UP modeler and the layout isn’t really designed to accommodate something as large as a Big Boy so it’s hard for me to get excited by it.
Bachmann:
So, I might need to rethink my opinion of Bachmann. They had on display their “about to ship” SC44 Chargers, and honestly I was very impressed by what I saw.
I hadn’t been planning on getting Bachmann’s Chargers but honestly after seeing them in person I want to add IDOT (Amtrak Midwest) and WashDOT versions because they look great.
I was also impressed with the latest release of Amfleets that Bachmann had on display. I still have some Amfleets from Bachmann’s release of them 20+ years ago – and I hate them. They look like they have oversized trucks and that the ride higher than they should. The ones that Bachmann had on display today looked every bit as good as what Kato had.
Also on display were several N Scale GG-1s. I’ve been circling these for a few months now, but the Bachmann name was giving me pause, but after seeing them in person I’ll likely be adding one or two to the collection soon.
Lunde Studios:
I’ve been looking at the buildings from Lunde for about a year now. If you used to be a fan of DPM building kits – Lunde has picked up the banner from the old DPM. As an added bonus, you don’t necessarily have to paint Lunde’s new kits which is always a winner in my book.
I picked up two kits from Lunde – The Snailways Bus Depot and Midas Trust Building. If they go together well there’s a good chance that I may slowly replace the unpainted DPM buildings on the layout with ones from Lunde.
Other Vendors:
Also present were Atlas and Athearn – I didn’t spend much time with them because all they had to show were freight cars which really aren’t on my list. The same with Rapido who were showing prototypes of their newly announced barrel ore cars.
Broadway Limited was there showing off their Big Boy model which is supposed to include smoke – although it wasn’t smoking when I saw it.
ScaleTrains had their whole lineup on display – including their GTEL engines. Like I said, I’m not a UP modeler, but a ScaleTrains GTEL is something I’d love to put on the layout.