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Post by mdvle on Nov 29, 2021 16:46:58 GMT -8
So far it is proceeding, the head organizer was recently on the Modelers Life podcast talking about it.
In September the big agricultural fair was held again at the same facility, with 1.5million visitors they had no Covid outbreaks that could be traced back to attendance.
They are running a video preview "talk show" with live audience on December 8th at 6pm EST
Also on December 8th they will be releasing a free phone app to help attendees navigate the show.
(all above from the podcast episode).
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Post by lvrr325 on Dec 12, 2021 2:02:02 GMT -8
I wonder what shape things will be in by then. I just had to contend with a show at a college and the college wanted your vaccine proof to set up as a vendor. The catch is if you were only there one day they didn't need it. I guess nobody considered a guy could buy a ticket and come back the second day and walk around.
Normally this show sees around 4000 in two days; they got like 800 on Saturday which normally is the busier day. Lousy weather but it didn't seem to stop people going to the mall and so forth when I drove by there. Probably half a dozen vendors were no-shows too.
So I would suspect if they start going nuts with restrictions it will put a big dent in attendance. I know I'm certainly not showing people my medical records just to go buy trains.
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Post by mdvle on Jan 4, 2022 18:28:24 GMT -8
They keep updating the show website, as of December 29th there were still no restrictions being imposed by the local or state authorities.
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Post by valenciajim on Jan 5, 2022 16:55:20 GMT -8
I wonder what shape things will be in by then. I just had to contend with a show at a college and the college wanted your vaccine proof to set up as a vendor. The catch is if you were only there one day they didn't need it. I guess nobody considered a guy could buy a ticket and come back the second day and walk around. Normally this show sees around 4000 in two days; they got like 800 on Saturday which normally is the busier day. Lousy weather but it didn't seem to stop people going to the mall and so forth when I drove by there. Probably half a dozen vendors were no-shows too. So I would suspect if they start going nuts with restrictions it will put a big dent in attendance. I know I'm certainly not showing people my medical records just to go buy trains. In California, once you are vaccinated, you can get proof of vaccination information downloaded to your iPhone and save a proof of vaccination to your Apple wallet. Many restaurants in the LA City limits will not admit people unless they have a proof of vaccination. When we were in Hawaii, it was the same thing. IMHO, it's not like you are showing confidential medical information contained in medical records. I have to attend monthly board meetings and I need to show proof of vaccination in order to enter the building in which the meetings are conducted. So, for me showing proof of vaccination is no big deal. I am not so worried about catching the omicron COVID variant, but I have to have surgery later this month on my hand to remove a painful blood vessel and I don't want to have the surgery postponed because I tested positive. The prostate surgery I had last month was postponed nearly a year because of COVID. I suspect that things will change considerably as time passes. The new variant is more contagious-may be less dangerous. I read somewhere that 40% of the population is expected to be infected by the end of March. If that is the case, then there will be less concern about showing proof of vaccination as a larger portion of the population will have herd immunity regardless of vaccination status. I know several people who have tested positive in the past week. Most are asymptomatic, but two have severe sore throats. All were vaccinated. Those with the sore throats were vaccinated but not boosted. My wife and I have tickets to see a play about Simon and Garfunkel at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood on Saturday. When I looked online a couple of weeks ago, the theater is only about 30% full. The show has not been cancelled, but the Hamilton show at the Pantages Theater on the same day has been cancelled due to COVID. Both theaters are operated by the same company and are few blocks away from each other on Hollywood Boulevard. The Dolby Theater is modern and may have better air conditioning than the Pantages which is much older. I hope that everyone stays safe. |
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Post by brammy on Jan 6, 2022 6:13:52 GMT -8
I wonder what shape things will be in by then. I just had to contend with a show at a college and the college wanted your vaccine proof to set up as a vendor. The catch is if you were only there one day they didn't need it. I guess nobody considered a guy could buy a ticket and come back the second day and walk around. Normally this show sees around 4000 in two days; they got like 800 on Saturday which normally is the busier day. Lousy weather but it didn't seem to stop people going to the mall and so forth when I drove by there. Probably half a dozen vendors were no-shows too. So I would suspect if they start going nuts with restrictions it will put a big dent in attendance. I know I'm certainly not showing people my medical records just to go buy trains. I live in Mass. Our Governor, Baker, has pretty much caved on imposing any sort of restrictions. He has mandated -- state wide -- that remote learning is not permissible, for example. At this point, there is no way any state or local restrictions will impact the Springfield show. Especially when they are still packing them in at the Garden for the Bruins and Celtics. The show site pretty much says that unless the state or town says no (they won't) the show will go on. I do imagine that attendance will be very light. Greenburg and the Hub show the attendance felt light, but it's hard to tell. The only way the show gets cancelled if if enough vendors back out this week, or ticket pre-sales completely tank. I would imagine Scaletrains and Athearn have a plan B already in the works if the show is cancelled. |
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Post by valenciajim on Jan 9, 2022 14:10:33 GMT -8
I saw the Simon & Garfunkel play and if you are my age (69), you might like it when it comes to your town.
Hollywood is normally jammed with people, but it was rather quiet. There was little to no traffic getting there. Once we got there, we had to show proof of vaccination and we had to be double masked. The air conditioning was going full blast—not quite like a wind tunnel, but you could feel a gentle breeze throughout the show.
The theater was about 50% full. We sat near the back and there were very few people around us.
We saw a matinee performance and after the show we went to an early dinner. We had to show proof of vaccination to get into the restaurant. That is generally required within the LA City Limits. I live in Santa Clarita (about 35 miles northwest of downtown LA) where vaccine mandates are ignored.
Based on what I have read, on the rate of infection in South Africa and the UK, it appears that the omicron variant spreads rapidly, hits a peak and then declines rapidly. If that is the case, perhaps infections will be declining when the Springfield show is scheduled. I saw that they posted the following on their website on January 8th,
"Covid-19 Announcement (as of 1.8.2022) * As of this writing, there continue to be no restrictions in West Springfield, Mass., either from the city or the Commonwealth. The Amherst Railway Society continues to follow all local and State guidelines as they are updated. The Amherst Railway Society is recommending that all visitors wear masks inside all buildings."
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Post by riogrande on Jan 9, 2022 14:38:24 GMT -8
Hello darkness my old friend ... My sister is 66 and she had most of the S&G albums so I grew up listening to them. I know many of the songs well; I even got Art Garfunkles record with 99 miles to LA.
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Post by valenciajim on Jan 11, 2022 11:48:01 GMT -8
Hello darkness my old friend ... My sister is 66 and she had most of the S&G albums so I grew up listening to them. I know many of the songs well; I even got Art Garfunkles record with 99 miles to LA. The guy who played Paul Simon looked and sounded like him. The guy who played Art Garfunkel looked like him but could not hit the high notes. The played the Old Friends/Bookends song just like it is on the Bookends album. In the song, Paul sings, "How terribly strange to be 70." He was 26 when he wrote that song. He is 81 today. Unfortunately, today, I woke up with a runny nose, sore throat, cough and fatigue. I was supposed to have a preoperative physical exam tomorrow, and the doctor told me he will perform a COVID test then. My wife, who attended the concert with me is fine, or perhaps I should say asymptomatic. |
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Post by riogrande on Jan 11, 2022 11:58:59 GMT -8
Yeah, it's going round. My daughter was with a friend up near Binghamton NY a week ago who turned out to be asymptomatic. My daughter ended up catching it from her and she was fully vaccinated and boosted so assuming it's Omicron, it may reduce changes of hospital but seems it breaks through too easy. I'm supposed to go see her on Saturday so hopefully she will not be contagious by then and be over it. I think she should be.
I thought it interesting that there would be a play about S&G as they are still alive.
Tom .... get your plane ride on time. I know, that your part will go fine. Flyyyyyy down to Mexicooooo. Do do do do and here I am, the only living boy in New York.
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Post by NS4122 on Jan 11, 2022 16:12:22 GMT -8
While it isn't mandatory, The Amherst Railway Society is recommending that people wear masks. They keep updating the show website, as of December 29th there were still no restrictions being imposed by the local or state authorities. |
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Post by valenciajim on Jan 13, 2022 17:06:47 GMT -8
Yeah, it's going round. My daughter was with a friend up near Binghamton NY a week ago who turned out to be asymptomatic. My daughter ended up catching it from her and she was fully vaccinated and boosted so assuming it's Omicron, it may reduce changes of hospital but seems it breaks through too easy. I'm supposed to go see her on Saturday so hopefully she will not be contagious by then and be over it. I think she should be. I thought it interesting that there would be a play about S&G as they are still alive. Tom .... get your plane ride on time. I know, that your part will go fine. Flyyyyyy down to Mexicooooo. Do do do do and here I am, the only living boy in New York. It is all about $$$$$. By the way, they explained the song your lyrics are from. The song is on their final album, Bridge Ove Troubled Water. The song title is The Only Living Boy in New York. Paul Simon wrote the song to Art after they decided to break up. In the late 1950s, they released a commercially unsuccessful song calling themselves, Tom & Jerry. Art was Tom and Paul was Jerry. After the release of their final album, Art was going to travel the world, starting in Mexico, while Paul was staying in New York. The song refers to Garfunkel as Tom. |
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Post by riogrande on Jan 13, 2022 19:48:50 GMT -8
What I read was Art started acting and he flew to Mexico where Catch 22 was being filmed. Art had a part in the movie.
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Post by valenciajim on Jan 14, 2022 18:56:06 GMT -8
First of all, the good news-I tested negative for COVID and I am feeling much better now.
Jim-you are correct, Art went to film Catch 22 in Mexico. Catch 22 was directed by Mike Nichols who also directed the Graduate for which Simon & Garfunkel recorded the soundtrack. Art hoped to become a movie star, and Nichols gave him a chance. Art later had a part in another Nichols directed film, Carnal Knowledge. He was a better singer than actor.
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Post by islandmodelworks on Jan 18, 2022 6:23:36 GMT -8
As a vendor, we receive updates about once a week on the show. As of Sunday, 1/16, not only is the show on, but pre-sales have been through the roof! Several vendors have backed out, however, they also have well over 30 new vendors to replace the ones that backed out. There are no mask mandates, however, they do recommend them.
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Post by canrailfan on Jan 18, 2022 11:51:03 GMT -8
My Railroad Model Craftsman arrived last week with the Amherst Show Guide bound into the middle of the magazine. Floor plans are much like previous years. List of vendors includes most of the ones from past shows although this may be changed by some late drop-outs. Spacing is still tight so if the turnout is high there won't be much chance to 'social distance.' They are recommending masks be worn inside all buildings.
I and several friends were planning on making the trip but have had to cancel due to the Canadian government's COVID testing and isolation rules for returning to Canada.
Maybe circumstances in 2023 will be better.
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Post by NS4122 on Jan 19, 2022 16:14:48 GMT -8
Per Shane Wilson's post on another forum...Athearn, Rapido, and BLI have all pulled out and will not be at the show.
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Post by unittrain on Jan 22, 2022 6:45:22 GMT -8
The BLI website has a small red alert at the top of their page that due to covid their not open to the public so they hunkered down in the bunker so hence why they won't be there probably 🤔😬
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Post by lvrr325 on Jan 22, 2022 10:09:11 GMT -8
I'm almost shocked that the People's Republic of Massachusetts is less restricted than New York, where the same weekend the governor's last serious opponent for the nomination to run in the fall dropped out, she enacted indoor mask mandates state-wide. Which tells me it's not about any science, it's about politics.
Prior to her mandate, it was "recommended" the same as the show was saying. Almost nobody wore them. If you want to, if you think it does something, then enjoy I guess. But I would expect the same at this show, very few will bother with it.
I've gone places and done my usual thing, even coughing my way through what probably was Omicron given I see a lot of people reporting similar symptoms to what I had. Nobody cares, I think most people are just over this nonsense and see it for what it really is.
As I noted in the other thread, you can probably expect potential drop outs right up to the show opening as people may test positive or what have you. I do agree the crowd will be a little lighter, based on past shows I've done here most of them have been somewhat down on attendance but the only one that was really bad was that RIT show with the vax passport nonsense and metal detectors and just too much hassle to bother with. The TTCS Utica show was a little lighter than some past years, but it also was bitterly cold in the morning.
I actually don't mind attendance being lighter there. The year it snowed bad Saturday and we braved some barely plowed stretches of I-90 through the Berkshires was well worth going because it was easy to navigate.
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Post by ChessieFan1978 on Jan 22, 2022 20:14:42 GMT -8
Tangent just Announced they're NOT attending but will still announce something
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Post by brammy on Jan 22, 2022 20:50:18 GMT -8
I am planning on going, but masking up and using a ton of hand sanitizer.
I am starting to be more on the fence on going.
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Post by elfan on Jan 23, 2022 6:51:19 GMT -8
Where are the cancellation announcements be deceminated… officially? Tangent for example. I just went to their website, snd then the Amherst show site, and saw no announcement of their cancelling, unless I just completely overlooked it. If so, it’s not obvious.
Tom
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Post by brammy on Jan 23, 2022 7:06:26 GMT -8
The Amherst site was updated yesterday with the vendor list. The Tangent announcement came after they updated the list.
They aren't showing who cancelled so you have to dig through the vendor list.
I don't blame the exhibitors for not going. While it's nice to see some stuff they have on display, the trade show portion of the show hasn't been something I pay attention to.
Tangent, though, I was looking forward to buying something from.
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Post by ambluco on Jan 25, 2022 16:49:13 GMT -8
The large winter storm Friday and Saturday will impact.
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Post by elfan on Jan 25, 2022 19:05:03 GMT -8
That pretty much seals it for me this year. I don’t think I’ll drive up from here in a snowstorm. Always next year…I hope!
Tom
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Post by lvrr325 on Jan 26, 2022 0:16:38 GMT -8
If it snows bad I may pass too. Half the reason for going just cancelled. Snow doesn't scare me but I'm not driving, and while I could drive I found out last week I have no heat if it gets below around 25' (probably a thermostat) which has been too cold to fix the right way, heck it's been too cold to mess around stuffing some cardboard behind the grille.
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Post by unittrain on Jan 27, 2022 11:35:51 GMT -8
Exactrail canceled too, this show is downsizing quick wondering if this could impact future shows if they loose too much money.
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Post by brammy on Jan 27, 2022 12:17:18 GMT -8
Exactrail canceled too, this show is downsizing quick wondering if this could impact future shows if they loose too much money. It's an interesting question. The draw for me has never been the trade show portion of the show. Sure, it's nice to see what Athearn etc. are working on, but it's not like I can buy any of it. With Athearn and Rapido stepping up their online presence with the pandemic, I wonder if it's worth the expense to send people. The vendors, I still think being part of the big show is worth it. Edit: Their website is just saying "2-4 inches." LOL. they are the only ones saying that. |
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Post by riogrande on Jan 27, 2022 15:53:24 GMT -8
Edit: Their website is just saying "2-4 inches." LOL. they are the only ones saying that. Down playing the snow a little or picking the mildest forecast? |
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Post by brammy on Jan 27, 2022 16:32:07 GMT -8
Probably both.
The prevailing forecast for the area is 3-6. I've seen one for 2-4 there late today.
This thing does seem to be tracking further east, which would mean less there.
I feel bad for them. Saturday is the busy day for the show, and people may just say screw it for the weekend if they are digging out.
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Post by brammy on Jan 28, 2022 5:38:20 GMT -8
The other challenge for this weekend is Baker is likely to declare a State of Emergency during the storm.
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