News & Reviews News Five things I loved about Trainfest 2024

Five things I loved about Trainfest 2024

By David Popp | November 27, 2024

Model Railroader’s hometown train show was back and better than ever

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Let’s face it, I love Trainfest. I’ve lived in the area for more than 20 years now, and I’ve been at every Trainfest they’ve held during that time. So, when it was announced earlier this year that Trainfest was back in 2024, it really didn’t matter to me who put it on or where it was held, I was going to be there! 

Since I work for Model Railroader magazine and Trains.com, I ended up being at the show from load in to load out and most all points in between over the four-day period. It was a great experience from start to finish. Along the way I saw a lot of old friends, did some very fun things, signed a lot of copies of my new book, and managed to do a bit of shopping as well. It was definitely a Trainfest to remember. 

If you missed this year’s show, here are my five favorite high points from Trainfest 2024 in no particular order.

Watch video of the action at Trainfest 2024 on Trains.com Video

1 – New Location: The Baird Center, downtown Milwaukee

Located at 400 W Wisconsin Ave., in Milwaukee Wisconsin, the Baird Center was an excellent venue for this year’s show. The facility was clean and well organized. Our booth was right by the main entrance, and there was a huge bank of windows along one wall that allowed all sorts of great natural light into the hall and an excellent view of downtown. It really gave the show an open, modern feel, and it made it easy to be in the space for long periods of time. 

view of high-rise building
Downtown Milwaukee was an inviting location for Trainfest 2024, and its yellow show banners and holiday decorations made for a festive atmosphere.

If that wasn’t enough, there was just something cool about being in the city. The streets were decorated for the holidays, and there were banners welcoming Trainfest attendees to the event, making it all very festive. As an added plus, the Baird Center is just 4 or 5 blocks from both expressways, making it very easy to get in and out of the show. Parking, which was a concern for many about the location, proved to be a piece of cake, thanks to Spot Hero. Maybe the best part was that we got to rent a big truck to haul our booth, and MR associate editor Bryson Sleppy proved to be a competent truck driver.

Trade show booth set on red carpet with black tables, red and black backdrop, and assorted gray bookshelves stocked with book all in a large, brightly lit convention hall filled with people.
Our Trains.com booth was near the big windows in the brightly lit convention hall. This year we featured a retail section, a full video studio, and a demonstration area, including portable workbenches and two Model Railroader project layouts. Lucas Iverson photo

 

Young man with beard in blue shirt sitting in the cab of a white delivery truck with blue lettering inside a convention hall.
Model Railroader’s own Bryson Sleppy enjoyed himself immensely at the wheel of our rental truck during load in and load out.

2 – Live demonstrations: Chat with us while we build model

There was a time decades ago when MR’s staff would build project railroads at shows, but for all of us, that was a distant memory. However, that all changed this year when we decided to do live demonstrations at our booth using three portable workbenches. Bryson Sleppy, Eric White, and FineScale Modeler editor Aaron Skinner joined me in doing modeling projects for two new T-TRAK modules for our N scale layout. 

Two men, one young with a beard and one older with a mustache, both wearing tan aprons work together applying light green model grass on a small railroad diorama set on a black tabletop.
David Popp and Bryson Sleppy demonstrate adding scenery materials to a T-TRAK module in the booth at Trainfest. They worked in small patches at a time, so that they could repeat the technique for many show visitors.

There was no set schedule, and we didn’t promise we’d finish anything during the weekend, so there was no real pressure. We simply worked on projects from show open to close. People of all ages came to watch, ask questions, or just chat with us while we worked. I’ve never been at a show where the time flew by as quickly as it did this year. And during the course of the weekend, we talked to hundreds of people about nearly every aspect of building models and model railroads, answering just about every question they had. We were all energized by the experience, and you better believe we’ll be doing something like this again next year!

A seated older gentleman wearing a light blue shirt and a tan apron looks intently at a small square plastic building that he is painting white using a fine paintbrush with an orange handle.
FineScale Modeler editor Aaron Skinner is show here painting a Walthers interlocking tower for the T-TRAK junction project. In addition to model railroaders, there were a number of scale modelers at Trainfest this year as well, and Aaron was very popular.

3 – Scavenger hunt: Discovering hard-to-find products

One thing that Trainfest has always been a great help with is coming up with hard-to-find model railroad products and tools. Two years ago, I’d found a single, very nice tree from MBR Models that I’ve since planted on my Olympia & Sand Creek On30 layout. These are highly detailed models handmade in Poland, but they cost a fortune to have them shipped to the US, so I’d pretty much given up hope that I could get a few more. However, in walking around the show, Bryson spotted a vendor in one corner (Reynauld’s Euro Imports) who had a few more. I was over there like a shot and picked up the couple of trees I needed to finish my layout and saving the shipping costs.

At past shows I’ve also purchased a variety of hand painted metal figures from scalefigures.com. While not at the show this year, this vendor’s selection of figures at train shows goes far beyond anything they have listed on their website. By shopping at their booth a couple of years ago, I ended up with a wealth of unique people for my layout I couldn’t have gotten any other way. These are just two great examples that Google only can find it if it’s listed. I love the scavenger hunt aspect of being at a train show – there are treasures everywhere if you look for them!

Trade show scene with blue drapery backdrop showing long tables with assorted model train products covered with blue clothes and a white sign with green lettering in front of assorted model trees in clear display boxes.
David’s big find at Trainfest 2024 came from the Reynauld’s Euro Imports booth, a US distributor that stocks MBR Models handmade trees from Poland. Bryson Sleppy photo

 

Two highly detailed model trees about 12 inches tall each with fine brown bark and green twigs in two clear rectangular boxes.
David’s two prized MBR Model trees, a willow (left) and an oak (right), now await installation on his On30 layout.

4 – Mini David Popp: A visit with Mini Prints

Speaking of figures for the layout, while at the show, MR personality Gerry Leone and I visited with Bernard Hellen (Dr. Mini) at the Mini Prints booth, and we both got scanned to become scale sized figures. 

After signing up for the program, Dr. Mini places you on a small turntable. You have to hold the pose you want for 4 minutes, and as you spin around in circles, he scans you so the computer can make a 3D image of you. You can bring props along or wear costumes. I knew ahead of time we were going to do this, so I brought a book to read and a jacket and hat from home that would allow me to fit into my 1900s Olympia logging layout. Gerry came dressed as he was, but Bernard assured us he can add various period items to an outfit so the finished figure fits the scene. 

We got to see the scans before we left, and it was amazing how the detail stands out. In a few weeks, Gerry and I will have miniature versions of ourselves roaming around our layouts. Bernard made it very fun, and we laughed like idiots, which made it even harder to keep still during the scanning process. This proved to be a huge highlight of my 2024 Trainfest adventure! You can learn more about it at miniprints.com. 

Three older men, one wearing a white coat and gray hat, one wearing glasses, a tan coat, and a grey hat, and one with gray hair and no coat or hat, all smiling while taking a selfie photo.
David Popp (right), with contributor Gerry Leone (left) and Bernard Hellen, a.k.a. Dr. Mini of miniprints.com (center).
 Older man with gray cap and tan coat holding a blue and white book while seated on a stool in front of a computer screen with a blue, green and gray computer-generated identical image of him.
David had to sit perfectly still while being slowly spun in circles and scanned in the Mini Prints booth for his O scale figure. The computer screen shows the area being scanned in green. Diane Martin photo

5 – Layouts all around: We brought two to the show

It’s been a while since we took a layout to Trainfest, and this year we took two. The N scale T-TRAK project layout is a series running in Model Railroader from January through March 2025. And since we’d planned to demonstrate modeling by building T-TRAK modules, it was a natural for the show. We answered questions almost nonstop about the little railroad, and many people who had never build a layout before were interested in getting started with T-TRAK, so it proved to be a perfect fit! The local T-TRAK group even came by to see if they could use some of it in their display for next year, so look for our two junction modules to appear again at Trainfest 2025. 

We also brought our HO scale Freemont Free-Mo module with us. Freemont Mills ran in the January 2024 issue. It proved to be a good example of what you can do with HO scale modular railroading, and we talked quite a bit with people about how they could use Free-mo modules to build home layouts. You can learn more about T-TRAK at Ntrak.org and Free-Mo at freemo.org. 

In addition to our layouts, there were many wonderful model railroads on display at the show, from Z to G to Lego. We filmed a few of these for Trains.com Video, and members can see them as they are posted to the site in coming weeks.

Highly detailed oval-shaped miniature railroad with green grass, blue sky, gray and silver track, and tiny houses resting on a large, white table with a blue banner in front of it.
Model Railroader’s N scale T-TRAK layout was a big hit at the show and help generate interest in using modular layout systems as a great way to get started in the hobby.

Model Railroader’s N scale T-TRAK layout was a big hit at the show and help generate interest in using modular layout systems as a great way to get started in the hobby.

MR’s Free-mo module, Freemont Mills made an appearance at Trainfest 2024 as well. A few of the previously mentioned large convention hall windows appear in the background, giving the show floor a spacious feeling.

Great fun for all!

While I haven’t heard final attendance numbers yet, in my experience at least, Trainfest 2024 was a rousing success. The rest of the staff and I had a blast at this year’s show, and we’re glad it was back. We also enjoyed meeting all of you who stopped by to visit, buy a book or calendar, or just hung out with us while we built T-TRAK modules. For more about Trainfest, watch for additional video coverage, including layout visits and manufacturer interviews to be released in coming weeks on Trains.com. And as soon as we hear anything about Trainfest 2025, we’ll share it with you too. I hope to see you there next year!

3 thoughts on “Five things I loved about Trainfest 2024

  1. After reading this and watching some video from the show, I might just have to make a road trip from Lowcountry SC next year to take in this show, the only big shows I’ve been to have been in Britain so this should be an experience. Thanks for the articles and the idea to travel.

  2. My complaint is that it’s the same weekend of opening season for Rifle Deer Season in Milwaukee. Some folks have more than one hobby.

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