Atlas employees were out and about during the post-holiday season, attending hobby shows across the nation. The four World’s Greatest Hobby Shows, (WGH), took place in January and February, with the Big Railroad Hobby Show in Springfield, Massachusetts in between. Atlas representatives met modelers, discussed new products and distributed literature to thousands of people in five states. Here’s a recap:

Model RR Fun at the World’s Greatest Hobby Shows

The Atlas booth stands ready for action at the WGH Show in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The action-packed World’s Greatest Hobby Shows drew tens of thousands of train enthusiasts and newcomers with stops in Houston, (33,400), Salt Lake City, (23,000), Chantilly, Virginia, (20,000 – in a snowstorm!), and St. Paul, Minnesota, (27,000). With its ride-on trains, children’s hands-on play area, operating layouts, presentations, seminars and aisles of vendors and manufacturers, it was a kaleidoscope of model railroading excitement! Atlas reps manned displays at all four events, bringing their message that Model Railroading is Fun!

“It was a very positive experience,” said Dan Waggoner, Atlas sales consultant. “You would see three generations of families attending and everyone having fun and enjoying the trains. The kids were ecstatic, especially with our continuing demonstrations of the HO sound locomotive.”

Rob Pisani, Atlas HO Research & Development, is ready for showtime in Chantilly, Virginia at the World’s Greatest Hobby Show (WGH).

At the Atlas booth, Trainman™ products in HO and O Scales were popular draws, as were beginner items such as Starter Kits and instruction books. New structures, locomotives, freight cars, (especially the new O Scale Gunderson Stack cars and containers), and accessories were showcased. Washable tattoos of the Trainman™ and his trusty sidekick, Traindog, were very popular with the younger set.

“WGH Chairman Dave Swanson does an excellent job of organizing the shows,” said Jarrett Haedrich, Atlas Marketing Coordinator. “Children are admitted free and there’s significant advertising and promotion. Model railroading appeals to families who want to undertake and continue a fun, educational experience together. Attending the WGH shows allows Atlas to interact with new and long-time customers, raise awareness, and be part of that excitement and tradition.”

In Chantilly, Jarrett handed out Trainman™ and Traindog tattoos to enthusiastic junior modelers.

John Cicero, Atlas’ advertising division director, attended his first show at the St. Paul WGH, and was impressed with the crowds, as well as the visual excitement in the booths. He saw a mix of families and serious modelers, and answered questions about Atlas track and the HO MP 15 sound locomotive running at the booth. In his spare time, he experienced another first – railfanning with his fellow employees!

“The show was very busy,” said Atlas Research and Development’s Dave Casdorph, an avid HO and N Scale modeler, noted author and former teacher who joined Atlas last year and was attending his first show as an Atlas rep. “Some people, including kids as young as nine, were quite knowledgeable about our products and had questions about the tooling of our new locomotives, the HO MP 15 and the N scale RS-11. Serious modelers had questions about parts and gave their suggestions and input. The WGH Shows are a two-way street allowing manufacturers to have contact with modelers and vice-versa. I gave out lots of business cards so people could contact me in the future.”

Families came to the WGH Shows in droves, like this bundled up group, who braved eight inches of snow to make the scene.

More information on the World’s Greatest Hobby Show, visit their website at www.wghshow.com.

Big Railroad Hobby Show

At the annual Big Railroad Show in Springfield, Mass., Jarrett Haedrich, center, Atlas’ Marketing Coordinator and Steve Horvath, O Scale repair specialist, await the crowds.

This annual Springfield, Massachusetts event is the biggest show of the winter in the Northeast. Sponsored by the Amherst Railway Society, (www.amherstrail.org), it was held Saturday & Sunday, January 28 and 29, 2006. Highlights included over 35 operating layouts in G, O, S, HO, N and Z scales, manufacturers, displays, dealers, a flea market, clinics, related art and photography, collectibles, and more. Approximately 21,000 people attended.

According to Jarrett Haedrich, Atlas’ marketing coordinator, the most popular items in the Atlas booth were:

• HO: HO Signal System Display, (the signal system display was built by Atlas’ Steve Horvath and features prototypical signal operation), HO Articulated Auto Carriers, HO Laser Cut Micro-Plywood Garage Kit, HO GP-38-2 Trainman Locomotive, HO Maywood Station, HO B30-7 & 23-7, HO MP15DC
• N: N Signal System, N Laser Cut Micro Plywood Garage, N Maywood Station, N B23-7 & 30-7 locomotives, N MP-15DC locomotive (2nd Run), N SD-7 & 9 locomotive
•O: O Gunderson Stack Cars, Search Light Signal System, O GP-15 Trainman Locomotive, Trainman Freight Cars, C-628 Locomotive Phase 1, C 424/425, GP-9, SW Series.

Generating significant excitement at the Atlas booth in Springfield were the new Gunderson Stack Cars, now available with additional road numbers.	A new Atlas Reading HO MP 15 locomotive rides the rails to the delight of spectators young and old at the recent Big RR Show.

York Show Preview

Atlas O's Steve Horvath, hard at work in March on the new modular O Scale layout he's building for the Train Collector's Association York Show in April, where Atlas will have a larger booth this year.

An all-new, 16-piece modular O Scale layout, with two continuously running trains will be the centerpiece of the Atlas booth at the Train Collector’s Association annual show in York, Pennsylvania April 20 – 22.

Steve Horvath, Atlas repair specialist and a member of the Independent Hi-Railers of Central New Jersey, has been working on the layout on and off since last year, and has already built the special racks to transport it. Steve describes the layout as a folded dog bone with reverse loops at each end, featuring a three-track mainline and utilizing Atlas’ 7.5 and #5 and double slip switches. The completed layout will measure 28’ long by 10’ wide, and includes our new automatic non-derail circuit board. Two trains will run continuously, but the layout can accommodate more.

“I originally designed this as a test layout for our track products and switches to supplement what we already had,” Steve said. When we left him hard at work in the Atlas’ basement, he was making painstaking modifications to the track geometry.

For the first time at York, Atlas will be showing all its product lines – HO, N and O scales, with catalogs, literature and new items available for consumers, including locomotives, freight cars, track, structures, accessories and the popular new Trainman™ lines, currently available in O and HO scales. This is possible as Atlas has acquired a larger booth space this year, increasing our display size to 68 feet in length, the largest booth Atlas has ever occupied at a hobby show.