Train Show Pickups: A-Train Show in Auburn Hills, MI

Earlier today I made it out to the 10th annual "A-Train" Railroad show in Auburn Hills, MI. There were nearly 400 tables at one of the local high schools, so there was definitely a lot to look at. Unfortunately, most everything seemed to be Lionel until I found the last section of the show that had a ton of HO stuff. The overall layout was actually pretty confusing. There were tables set up in all of the hallways, in the gyms, and in the cafeteria. I'm used to everything being in one big area. 

As usual I went in looking for more Detroit & Mackinac stuff for my collection and/or future layout. I was lucky enough to come across an older D&M boxcar from Bowser. Got it for just $12.

D&M boxcar #3438 from Bowser

Up next is something D&M related. It's a DMIR (Duluth Missabe and Iron Range) center flow hopper car from Atlas. The reason I bought it is that this car in real life came under D&M ownership at some point. All they did was paint over the "IR" and left the rest the same. This one was $6.

DMIR center flow hopper #5008 from Atlas

The only thing that bugs me about this one, and I didn't even realize it until after I got home, is that DMIR 5008 is actually a 3-bay hopper car in real life, not a 4-bay like I bought. Here is a look at the real 5008 after it had been acquired by D&M:

The real life version of DMIR/DM 5008

So at this point I'm not sure if I'm happy or disappointed with this purchase. On the one hand it's a great looking piece of rolling stock, but on the other it does not match the prototype at all. Oh well, I will definitely hold onto it for now and decide what to do with it later on down the road.

Last but not least was an excellent lot of track I was able to snag for only $9. There are a ton of curved pieces and a bunch of straight pieces. I still need to go through and see what exactly is in all four of the bags. Also, I was told they are code 83, but I need to confirm that. If it is, then that's likely what I will be doing moving forward for whatever project this track gets used for. On the plus side, I like realism so the code 83 should fit perfectly with what I want to model.

Four bags of track, some curved some straight

So all in all it wasn't the greatest bunch of pickups, but still some good stuff nonetheless. I made sure to grab all the flyers for other shows on my way out the door, so hopefully I'll be able to hit a few more of them in the coming months and get my hands on some more great stuff for the D&M and my office shelf layout project.