For those of us in the National Business Office and the National Toy Train Museum, the Eastern Division meets at the York, Pa. Fairgrounds pose significant operational challenges. They also make for long weeks for some of us. As many members of various committees are in town for the Meet, the list of meetings gets to be quite extensive. The reality is they are held morning, afternoon and night. We do manage to get quite a bit accomplished at some of these meetings so it is time well spent for TCA.
"York" brings a lot of members to town, so I get an opportunity to see people I have not seen since the last Meet or possibly the Convention and now, the cruise. I get the latest news on layouts, collections, grandchildren, travels, you name it, I hear about it and to be honest, I enjoy it. The majority of the TCA members I know are nice people.
While not a collector, earlier in my career I identified myself as an HO "Shake the Box" model railroader, I do enjoy walking through the Halls and looking at some of the trains and related items that are for sale. After eleven years as your Operations Manager, I have learned a bit about trains and now, I can appreciate a Lionel State Set, a Carlisle & Finch mine train, or an Electoy locomotive. It does add a new scope to one's knowledge.
As the years, go by I am continually amazed at how "York" provides old friends an opportunity to reconnect with each other. In one of the many meetings I attended through the week, I heard someone refer to TCA as a "Social Network." When you think about it, that is true. TCA is a Facebook or MySpace without a computer.
Once you separate out those few people who are never happy with policy, or who are never happy with the prices asked or offered for trains, you have a large group of people who get together to look for something for their collections and see and talk to their friends.
Someone called it "Playing Trains" during this past week and there is nothing wrong with that. I enjoyed seeing, talking and listening to almost all of you and I am hoping that all of you returned home safely.
While, if, I have your attention I would urge you to register for the 2009 Convention in Scottsdale, AZ, right outside of Phoenix. I have seen photos of the resort where the Convention is to be held and I know the tours are fascinating, fun and, dare I say it, educational.
See you in Scottdale!
