Let’s face it, I love Trainfest. I’ve lived in the area for more than 20 years now, and I’ve been at every Trainfest they’ve held during that time. So, when it was announced earlier this year that Trainfest was back in 2024, it really didn’t matter to me who put it on or where it was held, I was going to be there!
Since I work for Model Railroader magazine and Trains.com, I ended up being at the show from load in to load out and most all points in between over the four-day period. It was a great experience from start to finish. Along the way I saw a lot of old friends, did some very fun things, signed a lot of copies of my new book, and managed to do a bit of shopping as well. It was definitely a Trainfest to remember.
If you missed this year’s show, here are my five favorite high points from Trainfest 2024 in no particular order.
Watch video of the action at Trainfest 2024 on Trains.com Video
1 – New Location: The Baird Center, downtown Milwaukee
Located at 400 W Wisconsin Ave., in Milwaukee Wisconsin, the Baird Center was an excellent venue for this year’s show. The facility was clean and well organized. Our booth was right by the main entrance, and there was a huge bank of windows along one wall that allowed all sorts of great natural light into the hall and an excellent view of downtown. It really gave the show an open, modern feel, and it made it easy to be in the space for long periods of time.
If that wasn’t enough, there was just something cool about being in the city. The streets were decorated for the holidays, and there were banners welcoming Trainfest attendees to the event, making it all very festive. As an added plus, the Baird Center is just 4 or 5 blocks from both expressways, making it very easy to get in and out of the show. Parking, which was a concern for many about the location, proved to be a piece of cake, thanks to Spot Hero. Maybe the best part was that we got to rent a big truck to haul our booth, and MR associate editor Bryson Sleppy proved to be a competent truck driver.
2 – Live demonstrations: Chat with us while we build model
There was a time decades ago when MR’s staff would build project railroads at shows, but for all of us, that was a distant memory. However, that all changed this year when we decided to do live demonstrations at our booth using three portable workbenches. Bryson Sleppy, Eric White, and FineScale Modeler editor Aaron Skinner joined me in doing modeling projects for two new T-TRAK modules for our N scale layout.
There was no set schedule, and we didn’t promise we’d finish anything during the weekend, so there was no real pressure. We simply worked on projects from show open to close. People of all ages came to watch, ask questions, or just chat with us while we worked. I’ve never been at a show where the time flew by as quickly as it did this year. And during the course of the weekend, we talked to hundreds of people about nearly every aspect of building models and model railroads, answering just about every question they had. We were all energized by the experience, and you better believe we’ll be doing something like this again next year!
3 – Scavenger hunt: Discovering hard-to-find products
One thing that Trainfest has always been a great help with is coming up with hard-to-find model railroad products and tools. Two years ago, I’d found a single, very nice tree from MBR Models that I’ve since planted on my Olympia & Sand Creek On30 layout. These are highly detailed models handmade in Poland, but they cost a fortune to have them shipped to the US, so I’d pretty much given up hope that I could get a few more. However, in walking around the show, Bryson spotted a vendor in one corner (Reynauld’s Euro Imports) who had a few more. I was over there like a shot and picked up the couple of trees I needed to finish my layout and saving the shipping costs.
At past shows I’ve also purchased a variety of hand painted metal figures from scalefigures.com. While not at the show this year, this vendor’s selection of figures at train shows goes far beyond anything they have listed on their website. By shopping at their booth a couple of years ago, I ended up with a wealth of unique people for my layout I couldn’t have gotten any other way. These are just two great examples that Google only can find it if it’s listed. I love the scavenger hunt aspect of being at a train show – there are treasures everywhere if you look for them!
4 – Mini David Popp: A visit with Mini Prints
Speaking of figures for the layout, while at the show, MR personality Gerry Leone and I visited with Bernard Hellen (Dr. Mini) at the Mini Prints booth, and we both got scanned to become scale sized figures.
After signing up for the program, Dr. Mini places you on a small turntable. You have to hold the pose you want for 4 minutes, and as you spin around in circles, he scans you so the computer can make a 3D image of you. You can bring props along or wear costumes. I knew ahead of time we were going to do this, so I brought a book to read and a jacket and hat from home that would allow me to fit into my 1900s Olympia logging layout. Gerry came dressed as he was, but Bernard assured us he can add various period items to an outfit so the finished figure fits the scene.
We got to see the scans before we left, and it was amazing how the detail stands out. In a few weeks, Gerry and I will have miniature versions of ourselves roaming around our layouts. Bernard made it very fun, and we laughed like idiots, which made it even harder to keep still during the scanning process. This proved to be a huge highlight of my 2024 Trainfest adventure! You can learn more about it at miniprints.com.
5 – Layouts all around: We brought two to the show
It’s been a while since we took a layout to Trainfest, and this year we took two. The N scale T-TRAK project layout is a series running in Model Railroader from January through March 2025. And since we’d planned to demonstrate modeling by building T-TRAK modules, it was a natural for the show. We answered questions almost nonstop about the little railroad, and many people who had never build a layout before were interested in getting started with T-TRAK, so it proved to be a perfect fit! The local T-TRAK group even came by to see if they could use some of it in their display for next year, so look for our two junction modules to appear again at Trainfest 2025.
We also brought our HO scale Freemont Free-Mo module with us. Freemont Mills ran in the January 2024 issue. It proved to be a good example of what you can do with HO scale modular railroading, and we talked quite a bit with people about how they could use Free-mo modules to build home layouts. You can learn more about T-TRAK at Ntrak.org and Free-Mo at freemo.org.
In addition to our layouts, there were many wonderful model railroads on display at the show, from Z to G to Lego. We filmed a few of these for Trains.com Video, and members can see them as they are posted to the site in coming weeks.
MR’s Free-mo module, Freemont Mills made an appearance at Trainfest 2024 as well. A few of the previously mentioned large convention hall windows appear in the background, giving the show floor a spacious feeling.
Great fun for all!
While I haven’t heard final attendance numbers yet, in my experience at least, Trainfest 2024 was a rousing success. The rest of the staff and I had a blast at this year’s show, and we’re glad it was back. We also enjoyed meeting all of you who stopped by to visit, buy a book or calendar, or just hung out with us while we built T-TRAK modules. For more about Trainfest, watch for additional video coverage, including layout visits and manufacturer interviews to be released in coming weeks on Trains.com. And as soon as we hear anything about Trainfest 2025, we’ll share it with you too. I hope to see you there next year!
