MARCH 2002 INDEX

Clem's York Primer* — e-Train Edition
TCA Eastern Division Meet: Friday and Saturday, April 19 and 20, 2002
by Clem Clement

INTRODUCTION

The dates for the total York train extravaganza this spring are April 16 through 20, 2002. All meet activities are in, and around York, PA. The York Fairgrounds (TCA Eastern Division) trading portion of the week is on April 19 and 20, 2002. The Train Collectors Association National Toy Train Museum, in nearby Strasburg, PA, is open all week.

HIGHLIGHTS

• In my view, this York is much more than a train meet. It is about the gathering of families, friends and acquaintances. The world has been thru unspeakable horrors, and, as war continues, we need to reassure one another of our strength, and that we are there for each other. This wonderful hobby gives us all great support. If I had my way, the official greeting at York would be a hug. America hugs.
• The US Postal Service has agreed to set up a booth at the Fairgrounds to accept, wrap, and mail trains for us. I think this will be a great convenience for many of you. The location, again, will be under cover at the entrance to the Blue/Silver Halls. Our Post Office contact is Erin Fitzgerald (717/848-2381). The hours at the Fairground are Friday, April 19, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and Saturday 10:00 am to 2 pm (Remember Uncle Clem's secret plan: Mail your expensive goodies to your office so that when you are inspected by your significant other, you are clean).
• There will be no auction this spring.
• The restrooms will have attendants manning them full time. We do not pay them; they work for tips only. Please help them out. This new procedure gives us much cleaner restrooms and a helpful attendant.
• State Route 30 construction continues to be a challenge. I just visited York, and Route 30 in York is finished and beautiful. There is extensive construction between York and the Museum (around Lancaster), so plan for it. Allow plenty of time to go to and from the Museum. The Pennsylvania Department Of Transportation web site will give you the most current Route 30 construction information.
• Preregister even if you aren't sure you can come to York. This will preclude you from standing in the long registration line. Guests cannot register in advance.
• Read your York Meet Notice thoroughly. It is the official document providing guidance for this event. There are many special activities this year. Don't miss 'em. Bring your Meet Notice with you as reference. This time, the entire Meet Notice is on our web site. Why not print it and bring it with you?
• Cellular phones may be carried, but not used in any of the trading halls.
• Photography is prohibited in the trading halls. (Bob LeBras)
• Thursday TCA National Toy Train Museum events will be super. Be there!
• Table holders can unpack Friday/Saturday morning 8:30 am to 8:50 am in the trading halls.
• KIDS KORNER @ TCA SPRING YORK: The WB&A Chapter will, again, bring Kid’s Korner @ York to the open space between the Blue and Silver Halls. Please plan to visit it and stay and play. WB&A is a very active Chapter and conducts the 2 meets each year near Baltimore as well as 2 mini-meets. WB&A is Eastern Division's only Chapter and this will be part of their contribution to supporting the Division's York Meet. Uncle Bud Ritter, Kid's Club Chairman and Dan Tomasian, king of the Mighty Casey’s, both of the WB&A Chapter, will be bringing ride 'em trains that will circle the perimeter of the area. They will also bring a small train loop. I will bring the famous windup layout that has received so much playtime at the annual Fairfax Station Christmas show. All of these trains will need playing with! Loans/donations will be welcome as well. The Kid's Korner @ York will be open throughout the York show, Friday 10:00 am until 4:00 pm, and Saturday. 9:00 am until 12:00 pm. Bring your kid (Age 0-110), and join in. There ain't no age limit. There will be lots to do: Track to assemble (probably plastic type), trains to run on the rug, windups to run, sharing concepts to learn, teaching and learning to be done, and fun for all. Just holding a train car may be super fun for some little tikes, and isn't that grand? We will have a box of chalk so the kids can draw houses and people. We do ask that you not leave your kids alone here. We are not a nursery. I have found, in my experiences, that the adult who gets down flat with the kids and learns/watches/helps the play activity, gets, by far, the most enjoyment (oh, and it is OK if Grampa gets down flat too and plays, if he wishes). The kids get to learn, to share, help each other, lead and follow, and function in a group in order to have the most fun and make the trains go. Photos may be taken in this area. We are seeking volunteers to help make this activity a success. COME AND PLAY TRAINS WITH US AT YORK.
• We continue to seek new volunteers to help with the York Meet. Thursday at 6:30 PM there will be a briefing at the registration desk for those who can help us. This event requires a huge amount of members to make it happen. Please volunteer; it's your show!
• City of York and cell phones: A new law takes effect in the city of York, PA. Drivers can be arrested for using handheld cell phones while driving within the city limits. The fine is $75.

  For those of you who have heard York repealed the cell phone law, you are correct. However, according to the rumor mill, (read inside police department, but not released to public)if a police officer sees you driving with a cell phone, they will stop you, and give you a ticket for reckless driving which carries a fine of $95 and points. (Gene Anstine)

• From Ron Morris: Ron, again, confirms he will not be singing.
• There are shopping tours Friday, but no tour to Lancaster outlets.
• Mail Boxes Etc., has an office on 2180 White Street, York. That is just past the Fairgrounds on Carlisle Road (Route 74), and to the left at the Burger King.
• Traffic at the Carlisle Gate can be horrendous. Please be careful. I recommend that you don’t use that entrance. Go to the far end of the fairground. That gate is always open, and you can turn left or right easily.
• The In York web site contains all kinds of information about York.
• Click here for York weather information.
• B&E Junction, the train shop in New Oxford, has moved to York. I hear it is on Market Street.

  True, and a positive improvement (unless you live closer to New Oxford than York!). The new store is in the "revitalized" area of downtown, and the store itself has all of the charm of an old-time toy train store. Steve (the owner) has a huge selection of MTH in stock, along with an abundant supply of Lionel and K-Line, along with several working layouts. Actually, there's a little bit of everything at B&E Junction for everyone. He's not offering any "blow out" prices, but he'll "work with you," just the same. It's worth the trip across town just to see the store and gab with Steve. (Marty Cook)

To get to the York area, I travel to the Baltimore Loop and then go up I-83 North. Take I-83 (hard right turn) around York to State Route 30 and exit. If you are going directly from the Washington area to the Fairground, take I-83 Business to left on Philadelphia Street, then right on Carlisle Street to the Fairground on left. An alternate route from the Washington area is to take Route 15 North to Route 30 East to York, then Route 74 (Carlisle Street) south to Fairgrounds. If you come Route 30 from the West, New Oxford is a neat town to visit with lots of antiques.

As an alternate, heading northbound on I-83 from Baltimore, as you near York, exit on Business I-83N. Within a few blocks, you'll see a Fairgrounds sign that will direct you to make a left turn on Country Club Road. Stay on this road and you will see another sign that will direct you to make a right turn onto Richland Avenue. You'll soon come to the intersection at Market Street where you make a left turn. The fairgrounds is only a block away on your right.

State Route 30 brings you into the area from east or west and Interstate 83 from the north (north/northeast).

I leave New York via the New Jersey Turnpike, south to Exit 6, the Pennsylvania Turnpike extension (I-276) which becomes the Pennsy Pike (I-76). Exit 21, Route 222, which takes you south and west to Route 30. Continue West on Route 30 through the road construction zone (this has been going on for years and looks no different now than it did when I first went to York!). You can pick up Clem's directions from there. (Chris Zizzo)

The Bus: If you don't want to drive, and you hail from New York City, Long Island or New Jersey, there is a chartered bus that will take you to York, get you to breakfast locally (at your cost, but cheap), and bring you home with an included, all-you-can-eat buffet on the way. It all happens on Friday ONLY and gives you one big day to cruise the official Fairgrounds show. Cost is $53 from NY, $48 from NJ. Call Lester at 631/587-5183 or Carmelo at 631/666-6855 to make reservations. Pick up points are located in shopping centers with all-day parking included. Sleep on the way down (bring your own pillow). Usually, on the return, there is a movie onboard. They run train tapes (I Love Toy Trains, and other stuff.) You could bring your own favorites! Rent a movie like Runaway Train or Silver Streak and bring it along. Lots of good camaraderie aboard. I've done it three or four times, and it's great to not drive. (Chris Zizzo)

The Train: For my first two trips to York, I took the train to Harrisburg. While definitely not the fastest mode of transport, it is, by far, the most civilized. The ability to relax in relative spaciousness, walk about the train, and visit the Café Car for food and refreshments makes the trip an enjoyable experience. The affordable roundtrip fare from Pittsburgh cost approximately $60, and is available on two scheduled east/west trains: The Pennsylvanian and The Three Rivers. Visit the Amtrak web site for schedules, prices, and to make reservations. (Bob LeBras)

OTHER TRAIN MEETS

There are four different train shows held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday prior to the Easter Division meet at the York Fairgrounds on Friday and Saturday. These are at the Billy Budd Holiday Inn at the confluence of Route 30 and Interstate 83 (334 Arsenal Road), at the Best Western Motel just off of Route 30, at the Holiday Inn Holidome at West Manchester Mall north of Route 30 on Carlisle Road (1400 Loucks Road), and at the Reliance Fire Hall, 1341 W. Market Street. Entrance to these meets is free and not restricted to TCA members.

The Holiday Inn at the confluence of Route 30 and I-83 is known as the Billy Budd Holiday Inn (for some reason we all call it the Billy Budd, but there is no sign to that effect). When you exit from I-83 onto Route 30 going east, make a right at the next intersection (Arsenal Road) and the Billy Budd is on your left. The train meet is held outside in the parking lot, inside the main meeting room, and across the street on private lawns. Also, many of the guests display their trains inside their rooms.

From the Billy Budd, if you go back west on Route 30, you will pass several traffic lights and blocks of stores and restaurants, and then come to a traffic light with an Olive Garden Restaurant on the left. If you make a right turn at that light, you will come to a Best Western motel within a half a block. This property has a local train show Wednesday and Thursday inside and outside in the parking lot.

The Holidome can be reached two ways: 1. If you turned right at the Olive Garden to get to the Best Western, you should continue North and turn left at the next light onto Loucks Road. This will take you to the back of the Holidrome in two long blocks. 2. You can also reach the Holidome by continuing West on Route 30 and exiting right on Route 74 (Carlisle Road), turning right at the next light, and then left onto the Holiday Inn back driveway. The train meet is held in part of the parking lot that surrounds the Holidrome and inside the main banquet room. Parking is now controlled at the Holidrome, and you may be required to park in the West Manchester shopping center parking lot about two blocks away and walk.

If you exit the Holidome and turn left on Route 74 and travel towards York a mile or so crossing under Route 30, you come to the York Interstate Fairgrounds on your right. This is where all the action is Friday and Saturday. No trading Wednesday or Thursday (there are meetings on Thursday; read your Meet Notice).

To reach the Reliance Fire Hall, you need to go the Market Street side of the Fairgrounds and go west just past the Fairgrounds to 1341 W. Market Street. If you come down Route 74, you can turn right before the Fairgrounds, cut over to Market Street and turn left.

ACCOMODATIONS

Hotels vacancies are tough to find during the York week. Plan early. Sometimes you can find rooms at the last minute North of Harrisburg.

Contact the York Chamber of Commerce for Bed & Breakfast referrals. Call Christina Woodward at 717/848-4000.

DINING

• A phenomenal place to explore the flavors of the Deep South is at Prudhomme's Lost Cajun Kitchen in historic Columbia, PA. You can savor a nice peppered steak, or sink your teeth into a big platter of frog legs. Wash it down with a few cold beverages, and it all tastes like chicken! (Bob LeBras)
• Coomb's Tavern, 475 Pennsylvania Avenue, York, is a welcome stop immediately after a day of Yorkin'. Grab a cold drink, a crabcake sandwich, and relax with other like-minded train folk. (Bob LeBras)
• Comfort Inn Sherwood Knoll, 500 Centerville Road, Lancaster, has a nice bar and restaurant with good food. It gets loud and crowded on the weekends with music and dancing all night. (Bob LeBras)
• Although the name escapes me at the moment, there is a great little diner in Salunga, PA right on Main Street. Nothing like a hearty breakfast to prep for a long day of toy training. (Bob LeBras)

• York County's web site has a tour map.
• Not much to tour at the CAT plant since they moved most of their operations to Illinois.
• The Harley plant is a different story. One of the most interesting tours I've seen. Great museum.
• A museum in York that might interest some people is the Industrial and Agricultural Museum on Pershing Avenue. York had many interesting factories including car manufacturers.
• I haven't been to the Police Museum yet.
• The Fire Museum has limited hours and just joined the trust that includes the other museums to make them more visible, and assist with getting grants (this will also help their hours). It is located in an old station up the street from the Fairgrounds at the intersection of Carlisle and Market Streets, and is manned by volunteers, mostly firefighters. All of the stations in York County donated items to be used in the museum. The displays are rotated, and they are restoring a few old pieces of apparatus. (Thanks to Gene Anstine, Chief, Glen Rock Hose & Ladder Co. "Change your clock. Change your battery.")
• The TCA National Toy Train Museum, located in Strasburg, PA, is a toy train collector's Nirvana. Not only does this building contain operating layouts and a wonderous collection of toy trains in virtually every gauge, and from every era and manufacturer, it houses an excellent research library. Of equal importance to TCA members, the Museum is the headquarters for the National Business Office serving as the hub of operations for the entire Association. (Bob LeBras)
• Nextdoor to the National Toy Train Museum is the famous Red Caboose Motel. Here, you can rent a real caboose for your overnight accomodations, or just walk around this amazing collection of prototype crummies painted in a variety of liveries. Catch a meal in an authentic heavyweight dining car. (Bob LeBras)
• Just up the road from the National Toy Train Museum is the Strasburg Railroad. This working steam shortline, called "The Road To Paradise," is a unique and well-preserved railfan dreamland. (Bob LeBras)
• Across the street from the Strasburg Railroad is the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The museum's superb collection of historic prototype locomotives and rollingstock, many of which have been meticulously restored, are displayed in the large structure and adjacent outdoor lot. (Bob LeBras)
• The Choo Choo Barn in Strasburg is a miniplaza that's home to a large operating layout, a toy train store, and gift shops. Here, you can get a treat, or a train, or both. Out back, there's a static prototype train to explore. (Bob LeBras)
• If you're tired of hoofing it, this is Amish Country, so let the horses do the walking. Take things at a slower pace, see the sights, smell the smells (well, some of them aren't that great), and enjoy the sound as you meander in a horse-drawn carriage. Rent your coach just outside the Red Caboose restaurant. (Bob LeBras)

• MONDAY: The Reliance Fire Hall opens from Noon to 6 pm for trading.
• TUESDAY: Reliance Fire Hall is open 8:00 am to 6:00 pm for trading. The Billy Budd Holiday Inn opens around 5:00 pm for load-in into the small inside hall. Last spring they had a "dealers only" open time from 3 pm to 4 pm. This concept went over very poorly with us regulars. Tuesday evening only there is a $5 charge just to walk around. Trading does occur. A few guys set up Tuesday afternoon outside in the parking lot of the Billy Budd. Many guests open their rooms and display trains. This is a good time for reunion hugs and greetings. The Holidome ballroom will open around 10:00 am until 7:00 pm. The outside parking lot trading area is closed.
• WEDNESDAY: The Billy Budd opens around 6:30 am for setup and trading, both inside and outside. Bring a flash light to see the good stuff, and get there real early to find a parking space. They do give out tickets if you park dumb. Trade until 4:00 pm. Unwrapping time is mega-exciting! They serve breakfast inside the Billy Budd at 5:30 am. Coffee and donuts outside at 7:00 am. The Holidome parking lot trading area opens around 10:00 am (sometimes earlier) for booth setup and trading. Trade until 5:00 pm. The inside opens around 7:00 am and may stay open until 7:00 pm. Unwrapping is super! Clem has a booth location at G-2 outside (alphanumeric painted on asphalt). I stay at the Holidome (717/846-9500). Reliance Fire Hall and Best Western Motel meets open Wed 8:00 am until 6:00 pm (I’m not positive on the times for the Best Western Show). Usually there is a special bus between the shows @$1.00 a ride. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings at the Holidrome lounge is one area where the serious lie tellin' and braggin' goes on. Don't be acomin' in there with your hat on and touting some green scout engine you cheated some gramma out of. You better have found red blue comets and yellow state sets and Flyer girls trains and Marx one gauge streamliners to stand the gaff from that bunch of pros. An 8x10 signed glossy of Cowan won't be enough either, but we might let you buy a round. We leave the bar at 9:00 pm as the music drives us out to the front lobby for more ramajama. Lou’s absence this time will be deafening.
• THURSDAY: The Billy Budd opens around 6:00 am for more trading and closes around 3:30 pm. Holidome opens at Dawn for trading outside and about 7:00 am inside. Their breakfast smorgy is OK and opens at 6:30 am. Meet Closes around 3:00 pm. Reliance Fire hall and Best Western are 8:00 am to 3:00 pm. Clem has a booth in the parking lot at the Holidome (G-2). Load-in at the Fairgrounds begins at 7:00 pm. NO TRADING. The TCA Standards Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, 7:00 pm in the old auction area of the Silver Hall. There are other interesting meetings, as well. See your registration package or the TCA web site.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES ON THURSDAY: The hotel trading is not the only game in town. TCA activities start on Thursday. The National Toy Train Museum, in nearby Strasburg, PA, has a big day planned. It is an excellent, full day of special activities on Thursday before the big Friday/Saturday York Easter Division meet. See the recent National Headquarters News, your Meet Notice, or the TCA web site for current details. You must attend! Load-in for table holders at the York Fairgrounds is from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Boxes may be put on tables, but no unwrapping. NO TRADING and the Registration counter is closed. The following special meetings present information for education and fun:

• Wooden Toy Train Collectors: 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm in the west end of the Silver Hall.
• Standards Committee Presentation - "What To Look For When Shopping.": 3 pm to 4 pm Silver Hall auction area.
• Toy Train Paper & Memorabilia Meeting: 4 pm to 6 pm in the rear of Silver Hall.
• Marx Show & Tell Meeting: 7:00 pm Liberty Fire Co. 50 East 11th Avenue, York (please note that this schedule is 30 minutes earlier than published in your York Registration pamphlet).
• Gilbert Meeting: 9:00 pm to 11:30 pm at the Four Points Sheraton behind the Round The Clock Diner off Arsenal Road. TCA Members, and their guests bring special items, meet new friends teach and learn about Gilbert history, etc. Bob Tufts usually attends, and helps chair the meeting.
So, you see, there's a lot to do WITHOUT spending money on that piece that YOU really didn't need or want.
• FRIDAY: All four motel meets are closed. TCA Toy Trains Mailing List (TTML) subscribers meet for "Breakfast At York" from 7:00 am to 9:00 am in the Fairgrounds Restaurant. The Eastern Division train meet opens at Fairgrounds at 9:00 am, but table holders can setup between 8:30 and and 8:50 am. You can bring boxes in during this time, as well. I suggest that you get to Fairgrounds around 8:00 am or earlier and park. Parking is free. Huge crowd! If you can't get to the Fairgrounds early, as suggested, you may have to park at the far end of the Fairgrounds and walk abit. The premeet buzz around the outside of the halls is toooooo much to miss. If you don't have a registration badge, go the entrance between the Blue and Silver Halls. The roof is red, I think, but the hall is not blue in color (red brick on the outside). Ask someone to point out the registration area. Onsite registration opens at 9:00 am. Then, you register, and all of the buildings are yours to visit. The badge admits you to any building, but you can only register at one place. If you are a TCA member, you don't need a member to sponsor you. Bring your TCA membership card! There is a shuttle bus around the Fairgrounds, but it is quicker to walk (wear comfortable layered clothes and shoes). The shopping tours to the local shopping areas and historical sites leave the Market Street Gate (just outside the Blue Hall) on Friday every hour from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. My table is in the Blue Hall D 11. The Yellow, Purple, Gold, Green and Black Halls are where the new production stuff is located. Replacement train parts are available in Yellow and Purple Halls. For your convenience, virtually all of the halls have arrows on the floors to indicate that the walking paths are ONE WAY. Restrooms are in the Blue Hall, Registration Area, outside the Yellow Hall, on the north side (outside) of the Red Hall, and next to the Gold hall. Lunch can be obtained on the fairgrounds at several locations including the Fairgrounds restaurant and numerous food stands setup on the blacktop parking area.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES ON FRIDAY: The following is a list of special meetings scheduled for Friday. Check your Meet Notice for additional details:

• Compuserve TrainNet - now ModelNet - Forum Group Meeting: For several years, this group has met for lunch and good fellowship at 11:30 am by the Fry Stand near the Red Hall (Carlisle Avenue side).
• AOL On Line Train Gang: Meet at the Lionel display, wherever it may be, at Noon. They kibbitz a bit, and then go separate ways, until the AOL'ers banquet. It's held at the Viking Club, a few blocks outside of the gate by the grandstands.
• IVES Train Society Meeting: From 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm at the old auction area in the Silver Hall. We usually have about 50+ members show up. We bring trains to display and someone does a presentation. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend, and there's usually some sort of goodies to eat. (Dave McEntarfer)
• IVES & Litho Group Meeting: 3:00 p.m. in the Fairgrounds Restaurant. This is a more informal group, and, although it started out as IVES, it is now more Lithograph oriented. Usually about 15 to 20 guys show up, and bring in rare lithographed pieces that they've picked up during the meet. The IVES name has stuck over the years, but you'll usually see more foreign, A.F., Hafner, etc. at this meeting. Again everyone is encouraged to show up. (Dave McEntarfer)
• "OO" Gauge Meeting: 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm at the old auction area in the Silver Hall.
• Cast Iron Floor Toy Trains: 4:00 pm at its new Location in the White Hall Meeting Room.
• O Gauge Railroading Forum Meeting: 1:00 pm in the grandstand atop the Yellow Hall.
• SATURDAY: TCA Toy Trains Mailing List (TTML) subscribers meet, again, for "Breakfast At York" from 7:00 am to 9:00 am in the Fairgrounds Restaurant. Trading Halls open at 9:00 a.m. and trading comes to a close around 2:00 p.m. when we all pack up to go home. Sometimes, there are bargains on Saturday. Also the pushy crowds are gone. The Eastern Division General Membership Meeting is at 11:00 am in the Silver Hall auction room.

There is so much to see and do at the York Fairgrounds on Friday (let alone other events earlier in the week), that it is tough to do it justice in one day. Although there are thousands of tables to view, a lot of us just enjoy the opportunity to socialize with the membership. This means that time management is critical. As an initial suggestion, I would recommend that, if your interest is mostly new stuff, start at the Gold/Yellow sector of the Fairgrounds, and move clockwise from building to building; i.e. Gold/Yellow, to MTH tent to Purple to Black, etc. BUT if you're more of a collector into pre- and postwar, I'd start at the Blue Hall and work counterclockwise to Green, Silver, White, Red, etc. If you are more interested in a specific spare part, head directly to Purple or Yellow. As one gets more experienced with the event, you will be able to chart your own course to your favorite buildings. I let the "inner feelings" direct me to the goodies.

One final thought is in $$$ management. This meet is the male version of window and outlet mall shopping. Without control, it is easy to see enough things to drop Y2K in one building alone! (Y2K = Your two thousand dollars). From the outset, you may want to set a dollar limit on yourself, or, at least, do all of your transactions in cold cash so your wife won't see all the damage you've caused when looking at the checkbook or next month's credit card bill. I start hiding money two months prior, and don't usually get caught. Don't forget couch change, the kid's piggy banks, and Mom's jewelry box for coin of the realm. For years, I had a bucket of change with me. The kids would hide at Mickey D's when I dumped it on the counter. Hey, it paid the bill.

Remember: Trains are about people. So, meet some new friends, and, for sure, greet some old ones. Also, thank any volunteers you see. They work very hard for your show. Hope you have a great time!

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES

Have Not Been To York?
by Jere Pugh

It takes place on a Friday and Saturday, every year during April and October. The people that organize this show are members of the TCA Eastern Division. It is held at the York Fairgrounds in York, Pennsylvania. Plenty of parking for everyone. Doors open at 9:00 am. The Fairground has a race track and football-type stadium on one side of the track. Inside this stadium the building is called the Yellow Hall. This is where most train manufactures are located, along with dealers like Charles Ro. In the Yellow Hall there is also a mixture of other type dealers, like parts, train boxes, Kalmbach Publishing, etc. Now, add to all this about six or seven other large, covered buildings the size of football fields. Each one is lined from wall to wall with tables covered with toy trains of all kinds. There are walkways inbetween rows of tables with arrows on the floor to point the direction for you to walk, run, jump, crawl, or whatever. Scattered around and among these buildings are food vendors, like the ones you see at just about any State or County Fair. Add about 40,000 train nuts frothing at the mouth, money bulging out their pockets, buying guides protruding from their back pockets, nap sacks on their backs, and running back and forth to their cars to unload the loot they just got through wheeling and dealing, plus cramming down a funnel cake in big chucks so they can get back quickly to the deals before they miss something. There is an ATM machine, in case you run out or money. Now, all this is leaving out the fiascos at the local hotels that start on Wednesday, prior to the meet. You will see lots of cars trucks, tables, carts, tents, shacks, and trains displayed, even on the ground. Take all this, and you have a taste of what York is about.

Geography Lesson
by Steven J. Serenska

Anyway, I was also recounting how much I enjoyed last Fall's York. It was the first trip since 1990 during which I was a pure "pedestrian". Before that, I had always attended as a vendor.

One part about York I always dread, however, is the 840 mile round-trip drive from Rhode Island to central Pennsylvania. I began surfing the web to look for ways to avoid this and hit upon the idea of taking Amtrak down to Philly and renting a car from there. I was just cozying up to the concept of working on my laptop during the six hour train ride down, when I ran the approach by my wife. She responded by asking, "Why don't you just fly Southwest Air into Baltimore and drive up from there?"

Am I the only idiot in New England who hadn't figured this out?

I'll be flying from Providence to Baltimore (BWI) on Thursday the 18th. Southwest offers eleven daily non-stops and the fare is $39.00! Southwest also flies directly to BWI from Manchester, NH, Albany, NY, and Hartford, CT for the same fare. At BWI, I'm renting a car from Hertz for $21.50 per day (also unbelievable) and driving the 65 miles up I-83 to York.

I'm forwarding all of this information on the off chance there are one or two other New Englanders who are somehow flunking grade school geography as I was. Also, if anyone thinks this is something they'd like to do, I'd be happy to hook up with them at the airport and maybe even share the rental car. There's a nip in the air up here this weekend that reminds me of York in October. Gawd, I'm psyched.

*Note: The information contained herein is presented for information purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the TCA.