In a press release sent to Kalmbach Media, Great American Train Shows has confirmed the dates and location of the 2024 Trainfest show. The event will be held from November 23-24 at the Baird Center, located at 400 W. Wisconsin Ave., in Milwaukee, Wis.
According to the GTS website, consumer tickets will go on sale this summer.
Trainfest is America’s largest operating model railroad show with up to 200,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space and has featured up to 70 operating model railroads. The most recent Trainfest was held in November 2022.
Great American Train Shows produces over 40 model train shows annually of various varieties including Greenberg’s Great Train & Toy Show, Great Train Show, Great Midwest Train Show, and World’s Greatest Hobby on Tour.
There are many, many, many questions that need to be answered for both the public and vendors/exhibitors. The fact that the web page (1 page) has no useful info and keeps missing the dates to inform everyone does not bode well. The venue will be nicer, warmer and better lit: so that’s a plus. There are parking structures, so no “walking from the cornfields” to get to the event. 2022 had issues due to the late planning start and by the time things got moving it was too late for many vendors to change their schedules and participate. No show in 2023 was supposed to give time to regroup and fix that problem for a 2024 show, but here we are again. I hope it comes together soon: I’ve been a participant since 1995.
What’s the charge for parking? Is there a ramp?
While I realize that Kalmbach and the model railroad industry has a preference for the upper Midwest, have they completely forgotten that there are modelers out here in the West (So Cal, in my case)?
As excited as I am to hear about a 2024 Trainfest, I can’t stop thinking about the additional costs for a visitor with the location being downtown instead of the fairgrounds. The 2022 Trainfest show was smaller than previous shows. If the new venue doesn’t improve the experience I had in 2022, I would think twice about making the trek to Milwaukee for a future Trainfest.