My First-Ever York Show! The Good, The Bad, And The Unexpected Finds!

Hello again, this is Mike with another episode of Toy Train Tips and Tricks. If you talk to any three-rail O-Gauge collector or operator for long enough, one single word comes up again and again. That word is York. Known across the world as the Mecca of Toy Train meets, the biannual Train Collectors Association Eastern Division meet at the fairgrounds in York, Pennsylvania is legendary. I've been in the model railroading hobby my entire life. I've run three rail O-Gauge trains for as long as I can remember, restored vintage Lionel, covered weekly product news on what's new in O-Gauge, and shared layout tutorials right here on Toy Train Tips and Tricks. But despite a lifetime in the hobby, there was one major bucket list item that I had never ticked off until now. Last week my father and I packed up the car and made our very first pilgrimage to the York TCA Neat. Today I'm sharing our first impressions, what blew us away, what aggravated us, and some essential tips if you're planning your own first trip to York. I'll also have a few suggestions for how the TCA can make this event even better in the future. My dad and I have shared a love for trains of all sizes for years, and planning this trip together made it extra special. We hit the road early, making a railfan stop along the way, watching a parade of Norfolk Southern Freight Trains struggle against mountain grades at Cresson, Pennsylvania. We arrived at our York Hotel late on Wednesday night, preparing for the final pre-show day on Thursday. When you first arrive at the York Fairgrounds, the sheer scale hits you before you even have a chance to park. The meet spans multiple massive buildings. The orange and the purple dealer halls, plus blue, red, and silver, and white member halls. You realize very quickly that this isn't just a local swap meet. It is a massive temporary city dedicated entirely to toy trains, complete with campers and tents for the most die-hard attendees, some with portable train layouts adorning their nomadic homes. As a lifetime hobbyist, here are my top takeaways from experiencing York for the first time. You can read all about rare post-war pieces, unique boxcar variations, or obscure parts in the books, but seeing them all in one place and in person is mind-boggling. I saw things that I'd only seen before in books, like Donald Duck and Pluto handcars, and original Lionel Mickey Mouse handcars. More standard gauge and pre-war O gauge than I could imagine, and even oddities like hoagie streamliner sets. It seems like if you looked hard enough and had the funds, you could find every item you had ever wished for. Navigating the halls as a first-timer was an eye-opener. The Purple Hall was like most of our local train meets in terms of size, but it was just one of the buildings in the show. As far as prices are concerned, some dealers seemed a bit high compared to our local meets, but most were in the ballpark, and if you looked hard enough, there were some real bargains to be found. My first purchase was a nice early post-war Lionel number 224 steamer with The wrong tender, but I really didn't care about the tender because, well, I have a collection of orphans here at home, so I gladly plopped down the $50 for this neat steamer. When passing another table in the Purple Hall, a Lionel box caught my eye, as well as the low price on the box. I asked the dealer jokingly, well, is that the price for just the box? What condition is the item in? The gentleman responded that he had just purchased the item at an estate sale just a few days before and he'd not really inspected it yet. He suggested I look through the box and let him know what I thought. Opening the box, I found a Lionel 175 rocket launcher accessory with all of the pieces intact, the original instructions, and some of the original box inserts. It does require a little bit of rewiring, but that's no big deal for me, so I quickly agreed to the marked price. $80. And here it is, an accessory that I fell in love with 35 years ago when I first saw an illustration for it. And well below the market price for this condition. I also picked up a couple of MPC era Lionel box cars with boxes for only $10 each. We left the grounds on Thursday with the car trunk half full and our wallets half depleted and we still had most of the halls still to go. The rest of the halls opened on Friday and Saturday for the real show. We could only attend on Friday because we needed to get back home for Sunday commitments. The Orange Hall features major manufacturers, custom-run dealers, scenery vendors, and big retailers showcasing the latest and greatest items, but also a good mix of used items. Dad and I both picked up a few repair parts, and he got a great price on a Jersey Central Trainmaster and aluminum passenger cars. The other halls are where the TCA members wheel and deal their collections, and there tended to be more pre-loved trains there, which is what we were really after. We continued hunting on Friday from the opening whistle until our bodies were too sore and our wallets were too thin to carry on, and we still had a haul and a half that we hadn't even visited. And I finally found a Lionel Berkshire in good condition at a price that I was willing to pay. It runs great, by the way. By far the best part of the trip was meeting you. I was humbled and grateful for every viewer who stopped us in the aisles to say hello, to chat about the channels, and to share their own stories. Getting to shake hands with subscribers and connect face-to-face reminded me why the O-Gage community is so special. And everyone was willing to share their accumulated knowledge whenever a question about an item popped up It's something that must truly be experienced to be appreciated. One thing that is seldom mentioned about York Week is that the action doesn't stay confined to the fairgrounds. The entire region turns into a model railroader's paradise. During our trip, Dad and I took the drive over to the Strasburg Railroad and caught N&W number 675 pulling the local excursions. We also spent time at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, and marveled at the 1,700 square foot animated O-gauge layout at the Choo Choo Barn, and even bought a few more items at the Strasburg Hobby Shop next door. There are also special events like dinners and ice cream socials and informal get-togethers both on and off the York site where collectors can mingle and share stories of their greatest finds and the ones that got away. Dad and I do not attend any of these, but I will make it a point of doing so if I ever have the chance to return to York. And if that's not enough, there are also informal mini-meets around York where attendees can do even more wheeling and dealing for their collections. If you make the trip to York, make sure to build in extra time to explore the surrounding We're founding Lancaster County Train Attractions. And take in some of the informal social events as well. If you're planning your first visit to York in the future, here are four critical pro tips my dad and I learned. Number one, wear comfortable walking shoes. The York fairgrounds are huge and it is a long way between halls. You will easily log three to five miles a day on hard concrete floors. Good shoes are non-negotiable. If you absolutely cannot walk that far, wheelchairs and scooters are available for rent. Number two, bring lots of cash and a durable shoulder bag. You cannot have too much cash. Now, Dan and I had heard that most tables would be cash only at York, but we thought that maybe that meant 70-30 or 80-20, because while many of the vendors at our local shows do accept credit cards, nope. Only about 5% or so of the dealers at York accept credit. Cash is strictly king in the member halls. And also remember that rolling carts and hand luggage are not permitted inside the pedestrian aisles for safety reasons. Carry a sturdy tote or shoulder bag for your haul. We found that parking in a central location allowed us to make multiple trips back to the car to unload our items as they piled up. Number three, pace yourself. Don't try to sprint through everything in the first hour, or even in the first day. Take breaks, drink water, and enjoy the experience. In fact, if I ever manage to return, I will be sure to attend both Friday and Saturday to ease the wear and tear on this old body. Number four, pay close attention to the schedule and plan ahead. Pay close attention to show days, pre-show schedules, and event days, and also the museum, open houses, and events, as their schedules can sometimes change during York Week. It's clear that we had a great time at York, and I will certainly return if I can, but it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. There were a few hiccups that I think with just a little tweaking, TCA can make the York show even more successful in the future. First, signage. The various show halls at York are color-coded. Purple, orange, white, silver, etc. But these colors do not coincide with the signage on the actual buildings. Memorial Hall, Horticulture, Old Main, etc. So the signs posted around the fairgrounds could tell us in what direction Memorial Hall could be found, but not the Orange Hall. There were some small color-coded signs at the entrances of the halls, but these could easily be missed, especially from halfway across the fairgrounds. On Thursday, the small 8x10 sign for the Purple Hall was on the ground outside the building, hiding behind a chair. Not a great situation for newbies. Now, for TCA members who register in advance, site maps are included in the paperwork for the show. But, the first problem is that the maps are really small when printed on a standard page, so while you have a general idea of direction, it's still difficult to find the correct building. Second, for those who are registering on site, well, they don't even have the maps to work with. When Dad and I arrived on Thursday, we first tried registration since he was my guest. We figured out that registration was in the Silver Hall, which is in Memorial Hall. But when we arrived at the main entrance, the doors were locked and there was no signage telling us that registration could be reached through a side door. It was only when a helpful gentleman exited that very door and yelled, it's over here, that the crowd of us hanging around the main entrance realized where we were supposed to go. My suggestion for the TCA is either provide more and better color-coded signage around the grounds Or abandon the color codes altogether and just use the names already on the facilities. Memorial, Horticulture, Old Main, whatever. This would definitely help newbies navigate the grounds. Second, one of the halls, and I don't remember the color, had directional arrows marked on the floor to control traffic. This is a brilliant idea, and I think it should be implemented in most, if not all of the halls, with the possible exception of the very wide aisles like in the center of the Orange Hall, for example. As train collecting hobbyists age, there will be more and more scooters and wheelchairs, and the one-way aisles really help with the traffic flow. Third, I heard several dealers complaining that, well, sales were down from previous years. Yet these same dealers turned down sales because they were cash only. My father and I both would have spent significantly more at York if the dealers had been willing to accept credit. Okay, I know there's the processing fees and all, but wouldn't getting 95% of your money from a sale be better than getting... None. So here's a suggestion. What if the TCA stipulated that dealers, or maybe just dealers in certain halls, had to accept credit? Or even select an official cash app for the show, such as PayPal or Venmo, that all the dealers would use? It's 2026, and not only do people not carry as much cash around, but banks are making it more and more difficult to access cash by closing branches and eliminating many ATM sites. It's worth considering. Attending our first York TCA meet together was an unforgettable experience for my dad and me. It lived up to every bit of the hype and reaffirmed why we all love this hobby so much. If you've never been, I cannot recommend it enough. I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. Were you at York this year? What was your favorite find or your favorite memory? And if you haven't been yet, is York on your bucket list? If you enjoyed this trip report, please hit that like button, share the video with your friends and neighbors, and subscribe to Toy Train Tips and Tricks. And don't forget to hit that notifications bell, so you never miss an episode. Thanks so much for watching, and as always, keep the trains running. We'll catch you next time with more toy train tips and tricks.