Inside our Hillside, New Jersey facilities, there’s a bustle of activity at this time of year, as employees scurry about, carrying teetering piles of product boxes and hurriedly packing up the latest Atlas products. Santa’s helpers? Well, there’s a few of those around here, too, but the staff we’re referring to are Atlas’ ambassadors to the greater model railroad world – those who regularly attend trade and consumer hobby shows.

The fall and winter seasons, traditionally the very times modelers hunker down with their layouts to enjoy their latest gifts and inevitably add more, are the busiest times on the show circuit. While Atlas’ representatives attend and display at shows throughout the country all year long, during this season, it seems folks are always wandering about wheeling their suitcases behind them around here! Newark International Airport is just minutes away, and our vehicles seem to know the way.

Atlas has displayed at such shows for over 20 years, dating back to when our “booth” was little more than a single table, adorned with rudimentary signs. During the 1980’s and 90’s, that display grew, and we now have the shiny lights, glass display cases and classy backlit signs to showcase the latest in O, HO and N Scales from Atlas.

Bob Lawrence, left, National Sales Manager for Atlas O, and Len Deichman of Deichman’s Depot, right, stand in front of the Atlas display at Len’s sales area at the York, PA show in October. Len, a York resident, makes shopping at the show convenient for Atlas O customers who ask, “Where can I get that track?” Atlas O reps just point customers across the floor to Len! Other distributors who follow the same clever plan include Norm Pullen of Norm’s O Scale and More in Maine, and Andy & Julia Petersen of Peterson Supply Company, Oregon.

In this ongoing column, we will show you where we’ve been, where we’re headed and what visitors saw or will see in our booth. Perhaps you will discover a show near you, and visit us in person! If you do, you are invited to say hello and view first-hand the Future of Model Railroading!

We Just Returned From…

Trainfest – Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The newest O and HO Scale Atlas Trainman™ products were a huge hit in the Badger State, where almost 17,000 visitors walked through the Wisconsin Exposition Center at State Fair Park for the 34th Annual Trainfest; up some 700 attendees from last year.

According to Jarrett Haedrich, Atlas’ Marketing Department Coordinator, the increase was attributed to the hiring of a professional advertising firm this year, which produced radio spots and local television commercials to promote the event, along with coordinating promotions with local hotels. A mailing list was used to send out postcards offering a $2 discount on admission. Jarrett reports that visitors at the Atlas booth were four and five deep all day Saturday, and Atlas representatives gave out some 5000 catalogs.

“There were many positive comments on our HO Trainman™ products and our new signal system,” Jarrett said. “There was even buzz heard on the food line during set-up night, sending people to our booth that night!”

Sponsored by the Model Railroad Division of the Hobby Manufacturer’s Association, (HMA), the Wisconsin Southeastern Division, Inc., NMRA and the Model Railroad Industry Association, (MRIA), the show included displays by over 40 manufacturers, more than 50 running layouts in various scales, clinics, displays and a retail section featuring over 40 dealers and sellers. Museums and historical societies also participated.

At the Atlas booth, visitors enjoyed seeing the very first Trainman™ products, as well as other new O Scale freight cars, track and accessories, 26 new HO products, and 24 N Scale items, including the new MP15DC locomotives in both HO and N Scales. In all, six new N Scale locomotives were featured – the MP15DC, the GP-7/9, the Dash 8-40B/BW & 32BHW, the SD 7/9, the RS-11 and the GP-30/35.

There was additional excitement as well for Bob Lawrence, our Atlas O National Sales Manager, who was the subject of a rather unique interview for a local travel-oriented television program. Bob gamely answered probing questions from Travel Dog, a hand-puppet reporter. Of course we have photos!

In case you missed it, mark your calendar for next year, when Trainfest is scheduled to occur at the same location, November 11 & 12, 2006.