Kohs & Company was participating at the 14th Convention for American Railroad Fans in Switzerland in October 10/11, 2009






10/14/09 - Having just returned from the American Railroad Fans in Switzerland show, I want to thank Werner Meer and the entire organization that makes that show possible for their great hospitality and assistance during my visit. I was greatly honored to speak at and to receive special recognition during the awards dinner on Saturday evening with more than 300 guests in attendance.

I was overwhelmed by the number of customers that made the effort to come and visit with me at the show, this was a rare opportunity to see many of the customers that seldom or ever visit the states. Customers came from: France, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Austria, The U.K., and of course, Switzerland. This was a great opportunity to share ideas and get feedback about project scheduling and general future planning. I will go into detail on some the ideas and suggestions that arose from these discussions in a future post.

The show was a very unique experience when compared to the typical show held in the United States, there were no tables full of models being offered for sale, they were all consigned to one area of the show and sold with great care and efficiency. The four buildings used for the show were filled with layouts, dioramas, custom models and workshops demonstrating modeling techniques. Many of the participants are highlighted in the show program for which I posted a download link on 8/29/09. The lack of social interaction about which I have lamented in the past regarding shows stateside was certainly not an issue at this show, that is basically all the show was, an opportunity for approximately 3,000 people to share ideas during the two days of the show. It would be great fun to organize a tour of modelers from the states to visit the next show in three years. This leads me to another interesting aspect of the show, that it is only held every three years. I was curious why such an extended schedule, but it was explained that it takes the participants approximately that long to develop new models, displays or workshops for presentation at the show. As a result, the show is always fresh and exciting to attend. There was another show in the Zurich area on this same weekend, a show strictly for brass and it also was a unique experience compared our typical shows. More on that in coming posts.

The trip was short and there was a lot to digest in just two days, much of what I experienced I am still processing. Let me know if the idea of organizing a tour for the next show is of interest to you.

I have received a great deal of feedback about the show in Switzerland and what people have seen in the photos and videos posted on web, the bottom line question has been, why isn't there a show of the same type here in the states? That's a great question and I believe that it is something worth looking at.

There will be new updates posted to several of the project sites in the next couple of days so be sure to check back for the lasted information.

11/04/09 - There are several issues that I have not addressed since my last posting related to the show in Switzerland. As a matter of interest, after discussing the UP Challenger sample that I had on display, the three most often asked questions related to when our 'Big Boy' will be produced, how soon will our cab-forward reservation process start and will I ever consider producing high-grade HO scale models?

Copyright by George W. Kohs, Jr., Clarkston, Michigan 48347 USA

Official Web Site of Kohs & Company:  click here

Official Web Site of the 14th Convention:  click here

The 14th Convention Guide (92 pages) is online as a PDF (15 MB) - click here

Updated - September 26, 2010