The Woodbury Train Show
As far as I know the Greater East Area Model Railroad Club (aka Newport Club) has been around since the early 1980s. I recall visiting their layout sometime in that period but do not remember much. My attempts at modeling in HO were rather clumsy, but what do you expect of a kid. I had little knowledge of the craft of modeling.
I recently visited it a few years ago and they were beginning a new update to the layout. Quite an impressive railroad.
This entry is about the shows they put on in Woodbury. More accurately they are fleamarkets since there are no layouts on display but mostly vendors and citizens with train items to sell. 4 times a year the club sponsors the show up at Woodbury High School in the cafeteria. From some archival footage on the YouTube, it appears these fleamarkets have been going on since the late 1980s. Check this footage out.
Look at that line, this appears to be one serious fleamarket. According to the poster it was one of the largest at the time perhaps only surpassed by the Twin Cities Model Railroad Club's fleamarkets.
What variety and stock of Lionel stuff. Look at all those highway crossing signals! You would be lucky to see 1 at a show these days. Even funnier, I got my highway crossing signal in Sioux Falls for the same price I saw on one of those tags in the video- $10.
Fast forward to 2017. In January I dropped by the Woodbury fleamarket. Actually spent a lot of time there. Little has changed but much has stayed the same. For one, the entry cost did increase. But that is inflation. It still is held in the cafeteria although the it has been renovated a bit. It is still a standing room event for a few hours. I arrived after opening so I can not tell if there was a line but certainly crowded. Hard to tell if there was less Lionel. I would say it was nearly the same with plenty of HO, a smattering of N, and a handful of the unusual or rare gauges like Standard and G. I recognized vendors from my other show exploits in St. Cloud and Sioux Falls.
How about some pictures? You got it.
A few additional observations. Somebody really wants to offload older Atlas Ore Cars. I saw quite a few vendors with multiples. I also encountered a vendor with a whole lot of O scale 3 rail used passenger cars which had been painted. They had average paint jobs but no one was buying.
I got a few cars at the sale including a Lionel NP Piggyback car, a combo car Andrew Pickens, and a few O scale vehicles. Pretty good show. If I am in the area again I would return.
I recently visited it a few years ago and they were beginning a new update to the layout. Quite an impressive railroad.
This entry is about the shows they put on in Woodbury. More accurately they are fleamarkets since there are no layouts on display but mostly vendors and citizens with train items to sell. 4 times a year the club sponsors the show up at Woodbury High School in the cafeteria. From some archival footage on the YouTube, it appears these fleamarkets have been going on since the late 1980s. Check this footage out.
Look at that line, this appears to be one serious fleamarket. According to the poster it was one of the largest at the time perhaps only surpassed by the Twin Cities Model Railroad Club's fleamarkets.
What variety and stock of Lionel stuff. Look at all those highway crossing signals! You would be lucky to see 1 at a show these days. Even funnier, I got my highway crossing signal in Sioux Falls for the same price I saw on one of those tags in the video- $10.
Fast forward to 2017. In January I dropped by the Woodbury fleamarket. Actually spent a lot of time there. Little has changed but much has stayed the same. For one, the entry cost did increase. But that is inflation. It still is held in the cafeteria although the it has been renovated a bit. It is still a standing room event for a few hours. I arrived after opening so I can not tell if there was a line but certainly crowded. Hard to tell if there was less Lionel. I would say it was nearly the same with plenty of HO, a smattering of N, and a handful of the unusual or rare gauges like Standard and G. I recognized vendors from my other show exploits in St. Cloud and Sioux Falls.
How about some pictures? You got it.
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| MPC Era on 1 table |
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| Plenty of N scale |
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| Familiar Accessories |
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| Marx passenger cars |
I got a few cars at the sale including a Lionel NP Piggyback car, a combo car Andrew Pickens, and a few O scale vehicles. Pretty good show. If I am in the area again I would return.
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