Jim,

I don't know if Oaks Expo Center has improved parking or not, but here is what
the World's Greatest Hobby on Tour had to say after their January show at Oaks
concerning needed improvements to the Oaks venue:

QUOTE:
Post Show Statement Regrading the January 3 & 4, 2009 World's Greatest Hobby on
Tour in Oaks, PA at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center

We want to apologize for the situation that some of you may have encountered at
our recent show. As you may be aware we were the very first event in the new
Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks, PA. Clearly our attendance on Saturday
overwhelmed the infrastructure that supports the expo center.

We have sponsored 20 WGH shows in the past 5 years and our largest Saturday
attendance to date was about 18,000 people, in Oaks about 25,000 people attended
on Saturday and thousands more couldn't get there because of the traffic. We
have discussed with the expo center the various items that need to be improved
for future public events, including Interstate access, traffic direction,
widening road access, parking, parking direction, washrooms, ticket selling and
lobby layout, concessions, and signage.

We had planned for the actual show to be able to handle 15,000-20,000 people in
attendance on Saturday, at 25,000 people the show becomes overly congested which
makes it difficult to enjoy the show. We are committed that our future events
will avoid these type of problems.

WGH on Tour
UNQUOTE.

In addition, WGHT management also put out a press release on the January 3-4
show which was as follows:

QUOTE:
January 6, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Over 40,000 people attend World's Greatest Hobby Model Train Show
The World's Greatest Hobby on Tour was the inaugural event at the new Greater
Philadelphia Expo Center on January 3 and 4, 2009. On Saturday 24,690 people
attended the show and on Sunday 15,562 people visited the show for a weekend
total of 40,152 people. This is believed to be the largest number of people ever
to attend a model train show in the United States.

The World's Greatest Hobby on Tour is a model railroad show designed to appeal
to the masses and to introduce the general public to the hobby in an exciting,
family-oriented atmosphere. The show featured over 20 huge operating model
railroads, all the leading Model Railroad manufacturers and retailers offering
everything needed to run a model railroad. In the 120,000 sqft. of exhibit halls
there were family oriented attractions including the Walt Disney Railroad Story
and trains kids could run and ride.

While the show was a raging success it did overwhelm the expo center and the
surrounding infrastructure. While almost 25,000 people attended on Saturday,
thousands more tried to attend but couldn't due to the massive traffic jam on
the roads to the show. Local traffic radio reported over a 5 mile back up on the
route to the show and patrons reported traffic delays in excess of 2 hours to
exit the interstate.

Show Chairman Dave Swanson said, "The amazing attendance of this show proves
there is still a tremendous interest in model trains". He further said,"While we
try to prepare for large crowds by having wide aisles and a large amount of
staff, we were totally stunned by the Saturday attendance."

The World's Greatest Hobby on Tour has now sponsored 20 shows and has had over
500,000 people attend. The remaining 2009 destinations for the show are
Nashville, TN., San Antonio, TX. Cleveland, OH, and Seattle- Tacoma, WA. For
more information contact Dave Swanson or Randy Bachmann.
UNQUOTE

Also, don't forget that several SGMA members, including yours truly, had
difficulty getting to Oaks on the second day due to traffic, and didn't arrive
until about an hour after the show had already opened to the Public. In
general, I would certainly want to know that the changes to the Oaks expo center
and area infrastructure recommended by WGHT management had been made before I
would recommend SGMA consider going back to that venue again.

Bob

--- In sgma@yahoogroups.com, Jim Kelly <kk3k@...> wrote:
>
>
> I see that the Greenberg Toy and Train show is going to be at the Expo Center
in Oaks in August. I wonder if they have made any improvements to parking
availability, and the access roads to allow for better traffic control at that
location?
>
> Jim Kelly, TCA 99-49842
> View My Blog: http://hardtoport.blogspot.com
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>