All about the community of model railroading and rail enthusiasm
January 14, 2025 / Updated February 13, 2025
By TIM BLACKWELL/Cowcatcher Magazine
See the March/April 2025 issue of Cowcatcher Magazine for a recap of the show.
The Railroad Hobby Show 2025, one of model railroading’s top train show, is marking two industry anniversaries and will don a new look as manufacturers take their displays to new heights.
The Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show kicks off the year’s circuit of major model train shows Jan. 25-26 at the Eastern States Exposition (Big E) in Springfield, MA.
The event, which began as a small swap meet in the 1960s, has become maybe the premier model railroad and hobby event in the country, attracting just about everybody who’s anybody, and then some.
More than 350 manufacturers, clubs, vendors, historical societies and others from across the U.S. will converge on four buildings and 350,000 square feet filled with model trains and memorabilia.
Railroad Hobby Show 2025 chairman John Sacerdote promises attendees a little extra flare from manufacturers.
“Exhibitors are building some high-tech beautiful display areas,” he said. “We’re finding that the manufacturers especially are going more toward booths than tables, and it really spruces up the show. It makes for a different look, and we’re just loving it.”
Among those featuring upgraded displays is Lionel, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. The company toted a massive display at Trainfest in Milwaukee in November and plans to bring a similar version to the Railroad Hobby Show.
Lionel’s Trainfest booth featured shelves bulging with products and a three-rail layout with elevated track spanning the width of the floorplan. The booth at the Railroad Hobby Show will be in the Mallary Complex.
Atlas, Athearn, Rapido Trains, ScaleTrains, ESU, Märklin, Soundtraxx, Woodland, Bachmann, InterMountain, Walthers and others are expected to bring large displays. Most will be in the Better Living Center. The Hobby Manufacturers Association/Model Railroad Industry Division will have a display there honoring its Hall of Fame members.
While the booths are adding pizzazz, it doesn’t mean Amherst is straying from its table-top displays that have been the standard since before the show evolved from a swap meet into the Big Railroad Hobby Show in 1979.
“I don’t want to get rid of the tables, the garage sale type, because that’s a big part of the show,” Sacerdote said. “There are people crawling on the floor looking at boxes under the table. That’s a big part of what the show is about.”
Still in a birthday mood, the National Model Railroad Association will celebrate its 90th at the show and again host its annual board of directors meeting. NMRA leaders from across the globe are expected.
The trains just keep on rolling and the party never ends. Lionel and NMRA will commemorate their anniversaries with cake, singing, special displays and giveaways.
Women in Model Railroading (WIMRR), which organized in recent years, will play a significant role at the show by hosting two gatherings, the first a special operating session Saturday 6-8 p.m. on the Dry Hill Model Railroad in the Mallary Complex. Women of all ages will have a chance to learn more about the hobby, meet others who share their interest and just have fun running trains.
WIMRR also will sponsor an educational session in the Clinic Room in the Young Building at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
Sacerdote hopes for enough good weather to beat last year’s attendance of 26,157. Had it not been for a Sunday snowstorm, that show would have topped 30,000, he said.
To encourage attendance, CTRail will offer a Railroad Hobby Show pass for train rides between Springfield and New Haven both days. Tickets are $10 a day. Springfield Union Station is about two miles from the Big E.
The show launches a U.S. circuit that typically attracts manufacturers. This year’s schedule includes the World’s Great Hobby on Tour in Costa Mesa, CA, and Sacramento, CA, Feb. 15-16 and Feb. 22-23, respectively; the Rocky Mountain Train Show, April 5-6 in Denver; and Trainfest.
NMRA announced in December that Trainfest will return to its former home at Wisconsin State Fair Park on Nov. 8-9 in Milwaukee and under operation of the organization.
The WISE Division/NMRA operated the show in 1972-2019 before the pandemic. Since 2020 the show has operated twice under other organizations.
