# Vendors & Folks @ BTS & SWGRS, Pt.1



## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

The local hardware store finally got in a fresh supply of round tuits, so I can start posting some of the more interesting people and things I saw at the BTS & SWGRS shows a few weekends ago. There's no particular order or organizing principal here other than my whim, but I'll put in a (SWGRS) or (BTS) so you'll know where SWMTP took the pictures.


I'm pretty sure that Accucraft was the only vendor that showed up at both SWGRS and BTS. Fred and Cliff took turns manning the tables at each site.










(SWGRS)










(BTS)


Y'know, it's sorta ironic. While so many of us have been waving the flag of 'Large Scale Exclusivity', Accucraft has been quietly developing lines in a wide range of scales -- probably more than Bachmann! Take a look -- Here's a 1:19 British narrow gauge engine, a live steam "Caradoc."










(SWGRS)


The K-36 No. 480 at the top is 1:20.3, while the S.P. 3680 and the new Canadian Hudson are both 1:32 scale.










(BTS)


Although Accu does make 1:29 engines, I couldn't find any pix of one from the shows. But here's one of the new additions to their "American Mainline" series of 1:29 freight cars.










(SWGRS)


And here's some of the On30/On3 pieces of their "True to Scale" AMS line!










(SWGRS)


Accucraft makes some wonderful live steamers, but they're usually out of my league, price-wise! An exception is their very affordable new Forney. It's been greating great reviews, and I think they've learned a few things from their Ruby series -- such as making the cylinders larger!










(BTS)


As far as I'm concerned, it ain't a real train show until Bob & Jackie Starr show up with their steam track! That didn't happen this year, and I missed them a lot. But Mark Johnson of Silver State Trains brought along Eagle Wings' steam track. Kudos to Johnson & Hoag for doing yeoman duty and points to SWGRS for keeping the steam tradition alive!










(SWGRS)


Tom Sava's Forney illustrates my point about the engine. With fuel ganged up in a following car like this, the little Forney just ran and ran and ran...










(SWGRS)


Of course, besides the steam track, Dan brought along a goodly sample of Eaglewings offerings, including bridges, buildings and signs.










(SWGRS)










(SWGRS)


It seemed to me that I saw an awful lot of people walking out of the show with an Eaglewings sign tucked under their arm. One of my favorites showed a silhouette of a train crossing a bridge, and the phrase "Just Build a Bridge and Get Over It."










(SWGRS)


One of my happiest surprises was running into our own Lawrence -- better known as Yogi -- Wallace! Yogi's graced the threads of MLS for years now, and a more generous sharer of time and talent can't be found! I'd never met him in person before, so when I walked up to a table at SWGRS without any banners or boxes behind it, my first reaction was "Okay, so what's this guy selling?" I don't know that Yogi was selling anything at all, he was just giving clinics with tips and advice on how to make practically anything with, well, practically anything!










(SWGRS)


Yogi's table was full of 'stuff', and whenever anybody came by, Yogi or his wife, Lois, seemed happy to show them how to make something magic out of it in three easy steps.










(SWGRS)










(SWGRS)




That's all for now, but there's more to come. How soon will depend on how much time I have to spend in the dentist's chair this week! (Ugghh!)


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## bottino (Feb 7, 2008)

Excellent pictures, very well done.Yogi drove a long way to California, he is a gold mine of information, and the centerpiece of many a show. 

Paul


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

We got to sit with Yogi and Lois in the lobby of the hotel and talk a while They sure are fun to be around.


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