Fall 2023 Train Show Calendar for upstate/central/western New York

Back for the fall. As usual, the same shows are confirmed some months out, while others have yet to post any specifics and I have posted a date based on the weekend they've run in previous years. As always the ones not confirmed will be in italic and you should either check for updates here or check directly with the show promoters before heading out.


September -

Weekend 9/9-9/10 - Clayton NY - 36th Annual Thousand Islands Model Train Fair, Cerow Rec Park Arena

Weekend 9/23-9/24 - Hemlock NY - Hemlock Train Show, fairgrounds

Weekend 9/23-9/24 - Massena NY - Train, Toy and Collectible Expo, Massena Arena (confirmed per Railserve calendar listing)



October -

Sunday 10/8 - Buffalo (Depew) - TTCS Buffalo Falling Leaves show, Polish Falcons (confirmed via web post)

Sunday 10/15 - Batavia - GSME Great Batavia Train Show, GCC Call Arena (confirmed via website)

[b]Sunday 10/22[/b] - Kingston - Kingston NY Model RR & Hobby Show, Midtown Neighborhood Center. (Currently not updated, cannot pull up the show webpage via search)

Sunday 10/29 should be the Trainorama in Lancaster but I haven't found any confirmation yet.

Appears the Upstate club in South Glens Falls is not even attempting a show this year after canceling one last year.

I used to include the Scranton shows here because they're an easy reach for Southern Tier guys. That show has been replaced with the Great Northeast Model Train Show, held at the Holiday Inn in Dunmore PA on October 8th. That's only a few miles from where it used to be; looks like they're aiming for the first or second Sunday in October each year. (there also is a spring version of this show)


November -

Weekend 11/4-11/5 - Syracuse, Great New York State Model Train Fair, NYS Fairgrounds Expo Center (new building)

Sunday 11/5 - Poughkeepsie - Hyde Park Station Annual Train & Hobby Show, Mid Hudson Civic Center (back to regular weekend)

Weekend 11/11-11/12 - Fulton - Oswego Valley Railroad Association Holiday Express show, Volney Fire Department (I don't have a flyer or website yet but I'd be absolutely shocked if this was any other date)

Saturday 11/11 - Binghamton - Binghamton Regional Train Show, Legion Post 1645
(the same goes here, promoter told us last year he'd booked the venue for these shows through 2029)

Saturday 11/18 - Albany - Albany Train Show, Polish Community Center Washington Ave. Ext. (per center webpage)

Weekend 11/18-11/19 - Buffalo - WNYRHS Train & Toy show, Erie County Fairgrounds (Here again they don't have anything posted yet but this show is always on this weekend)

There is typically a TTCS show in Rochester the last weekend of November but as of mid-August they haven't booked one yet.


December -

Sunday 12/3 - Buffalo (N. Tonawanda) - TTCS Trains in the Tonawandas show, Knights Of Columbus Erie Ave

Sunday 12/3 - Albany - Great Train Extravaganza, Empire Convention Center

Weekend 12/9-12/10 - Rochester - RIT Tiger Tracks, RIT Gordon Field House

There's been a little show at the Broadway Market typically the weekend following RIT, but they won't have anything out for it until later in the fall.


That's pretty much everything; in checking for TCA shows I found a post noting a November 2022 show was postponed and nothing for any fall 2023 shows.

I am debating doing like a gentleman in Utica did in the spring and hold a train only yard sale around the start of October in Syracuse. It literally would be a yard sale under popups, though. I have a ton of stuff that never makes it to shows or never makes it out like built buildings and boxes of parts and pieces and it would be nice to sell some of it.

For any other shows, check Railserve.com. Consumershows.com, and calendars hosted by Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman magazines.

Saturday, September 9: Posted "on another network" was word of a Train and Toy Show at the Arcade Fire Hall in Arcade (145 North Street). $5 Admission (free if you ride the A&A there, it is said!)* with hours from 10-4. About 40 vendor tables noted. I am not affiliated with the show.

*Quote from the post from "elsewhere": "They will be dropping passengers off on the return trip, then coming back to pick them back up. "

Listed in the Schedule of Events in the October 2023 Model Railroader (a paid listing):

September 30, 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM - TCA Upstate NY Chapter Toy Train Show, St Mary's of the Lake Church Hall, 4737 Lakeshore Road (NY Route 5), Hamburg NY. TCA Members get in free and early at 9AM, $5 otherwise for adults, $3 for children 12-17, under 12 free with paid adult.

I have no affiliation with TCA.

Haven't been to the Massena show for several years, but they seemed to have reasonable attendance today (Sunday).

As per ArtCraft Toy Trains hobby store TCA TrainShow in Hamburg

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=88 ... 8582718834

I saw a flyer at the Hemlock Show this weekend that the TTCS Show in the Rochester area on the weekend after Thanksgiving was going to be at Roberts Wesleyan. I didn't take the flyer so I don't have the details.

Not exactly a "train show" by the usual Operational Definition of one here, however... the weekend of October 6-8, a local N Scale Club. the Genesee and Ontario Model-N-Gineers, will have a display at Eastview Mall, just off Exit 45 of the Thruway in Victor, NY. G&O used to be a fixture at local malls until local malls decided they didn't want displays (or closed down entirely in the case of Irondequoit Mall... don't ask...)

Eastview Mall has a page with the announcement:

https://www.eastviewmall.com/event/model-train-show/

The Fall Great Batavia Train Show will be next Sunday, Oct 15th at the Richard C Call Arena located at Genesee Community College from 9:30 to 3:30. Over 250 tables of model train and railroad related items. Free parking and a snack bar available. Admission is $6.00 for adults with under 18 $3.00 and under 13 free.

I also saw flyers for the TTCS Rochester show, Sunday Nov. 26 at Robert Wesleyan.

Since the initial post I've seen confirmation on all the dates I wasn't sure on when I put it up.

I also have a couple new dates for shows.

Sat 12/9 - Cortland - Homeville Museum Model Train Sale. 10a-3p. Displays, activities for kids, plus dealers

Sun 12/10 - Sanborn - Chuck's Train Room show at the Sanborn Fire Hall 9a-2:30p. For those asking "where the heck is Sanborn, NY?" it's roughly halfway between Lockport and Niagara Falls, has been billed as a NF show in the past.

Cortland is per flyer seen at Syracuse, Sanborn I heard from a vendor but it's also listed on the Chuck's Train Room web page. These are both opposite RIT and are going to pull some dealers away - for instance for me I can save 100 miles of driving and a night in a motel by going to Cortland, plus I can buy two tables there for less than the cost of one at RIT. I've been through the issues with RIT in past threads, so I won't repeat, but I am hearing the same comments from other vendors about access and sales there.

Syracuse was very busy Saturday, less so Sunday but I was well above average at the end. I picked up flyers for next year for Utica, March Kingston and believe it or not next September's Massena show.

Next up for me is Binghamton, but also coming up is the Fulton show.

Roberts Wesleyan University
11/26/23 Sunday
9- 3
There will be operating train layouts items for sale, model trains of all scales, vintage toys, Aurora Slot Cars, tin toys, robot toys, books, scenery and more!

We do not operate a retail location, and we do not offer online appraisals of toy trains. This event is not sponsored by Roberts Wesleyan College.

I've done well at the shows I made it to. Did not get to Hamburg, they sent my money back no explanation and I had to find out at a different show that they sold out early because they lost use of the second small building. I didn't mind not driving out there though. I would have tried to do it as a one-day because of a home Bills game Sunday which from past experience the show dies about 1 and you could ride motorcycles up and down and not bother anyone.

This weekend is the GTE show and I'll be there, also the TTCS show in North Tonawanda is the same day.

Just as a preview for 2024 I see most of the usual shows however no Greenberg show in Rochester, and no Keenan show in April per the TTCS website. The latter, somewhere I will see Bob and ask about it but I'm not sure when, maybe not until Utica or even Feb. Hamburg. TTCS isn't showing anything yet for the Shamrock Show usually held mid-March in Rochester, either. But that could get put together yet. Greenberg, not sure what's up but probably because last February was kind of a bust with a half full room from what I heard. Email from them said no Rochester next year. I'm still not sure they knew they were opposite Hamburg, they seemed surprised when I explained that and that I did it because they already had my money.

Clayton and I think Massena both had 2024 flyers out at Syracuse. I can almost do one post for the entire year at this point, the larger shows usually know a year ahead and the smaller ones rarely move more than a week one way or the other. It's just a matter of they won't have a confirmed date until a lot closer to their event.

I'll do a real posting for it later but tentatively you have -

Utica Jan 21st, confirmed
Springfield Jan 28-29
Trainorama Jan 29th
Hamburg Feb 17-18 most likely
Depew TTCS maybe the 25th. Website says 20th which is a Tuesday
Binghamton spring March 9
Albany (Polish Center) March 9 probably but March 24 has 5 weekends and last time that happened they did it a week later.
Camillus March 10
(Rochester TTCS ?)
(Kingston ?) (March 24?)
Batavia spring show is April 14th
Tonawanda spring TTCS April 7th (which is a Sunday)
Amsterdam will probably put theirs on the 14th too - here's hoping they read this and make it the 7th or 21st instead. Or even March 24th. (31st is Easter)
No Keenan/Lockport
Illion probably the 20-21
Spring Fulton April 27-28 or maybe the week after

Probably will be a Chuck's Train Room show in there or something else I missed, this is mostly just off the top of my head. TCA is a wildcard, too.

I can confirm that Greenberg at the Dome in Rochester was a half full show... but they had no problem charging full price!

Never again. After subtracting all the non-train items, the show would have fit neatly into my one-car garage.

The wife and I are going to the show at the Plaza this weekend and I'm quite looking forward to it. I was really disappointment with the Amherst show this year, so this will be fun. Even though the Albany show is smaller, it's brighter and easier to navigate. Plus my wife works for the state, so parking is free! LOL

More on the Cortland Show... https://www.facebook.com/events/428272062689946/

Or if you don't do Facebook (and I can't blame you...)

The Homeville Museum in Cortland, NY, is having its annual Model Train Day on December 10th. The Homeville Museum is one of three museums in the Central NY Living History Center, focusing on militaria, local history and trains. In addition to O-, HO- and N-gauge layouts and display cases full of model trains and railroad memorabilia we have about 140 boxes of locomotives and rolling stock in storage, which leads to this post.

This year, the museum will be holding a sale as part of Model Train Day. We've gone through our collection and pulled out over 300 duplicate items to sell - with more being added each week as I dig deeper. There are a few items in boxes, some new - but most are used and unboxed. There are a lot of HO trains and a few N, but more than half of them are O-gauge, plus accessories and scenery, tons of O-gauge and O27 track, and bags full of original Lionel boxes.

Everything will be going cheap - we really need to get the collection weeded out and we need the space. In the end, we're hoping to wind up with a collection which is more focused on local railroad lines from Central NY, with fewer duplicates. How many Union Pacific flatcars does anyone need? The answer has to be less than the fourteen we'll have in the sale... Come and see what we've got to offer, and go home with bargains!

The admission is a little confusing: I see a flyer with a $10 charge and a different version of the flyer with $15 for the entire Central New York Living History Center which includes Homeville Museum (where the train show is), Brockway Museum, Tractors of Yesteryear, and the Antique Firehouse.

I never got a chance to check ahead on what the story was, spent most of the week sick. I think it was $15 for full museum admission, as they had all five of us dealers positioned around the museum (one no-show also). But it's a nice museum and there's plenty to look at.


I did well enough considering how small it was, they were happy with the turnout. Now that I've done it once and know what to expect I can tailor what I put out there better - this is a good show to bring the inexpensive used things and dump them. That's what the museum did, as the day went on their prices got cheaper and cheaper and I brought home way more than I sold. One of the other vendors said they didn't sell anything, but he had mostly mid range newer HO.

I think the only way I would have done better by going to RIT would be if my sales were like twice the average for there. A lot of shows have been high this year but not 100% over average, high. So I will do this show again if they have it.


Among the displays in there, they have a Lackawanna steam locomotive bell, headlight and marker lights. To display it, someone built them a life-size replica of the front few feet of the engine, and the bell is rigged up so you can ring it.


I hope the guys who did the Sanborn show today did well there. I haven't talked to anyone who went to RIT yet enough to know how the dealer turnout was, if they made up the at least five of us who went elsewhere. The attendance may not have been bad given at least it's not freezing cold.


I think next week there may be a show at the Broadway Market in Buffalo, they usually have one but it's small like the Homeville show was, three or four dealers. I didn't see anything on it but I wasn't anywhere they'd have put flyers out. Other than that, that's it for 2023.