Rappahannock Chapter

We were lured to this joke of a model train show based on its falsely advertised ad on the events page for Fredericksburg, Virginia (
). The best way I can sum this up — I feel like I’ve been robbed. The «show» is advertised as a Christmas model train show, and even boasts itself as a way to, «Get everyone in the Christmas spirit.» I guess by that they mean that people should be ready to be disappointed with what they get.
We were charged seven dollars per person for nothing more than a small room, probably the size of your average person’s house in square footage. Inside there were a whopping three displays set up, only one of which appeared to have had any thought or effort put into it, with the other two just being circular tracks with anywhere from one to four trains running. The remaining six to eight tables were for train hobbyists who were pedaling their wares. The only thing remotely geared towards Christmas/​the holidays was the lone Christmas tree with various junk items underneath it. At first I thought these items were just a poor attempt at showing gifts under a tree. I later found out that this was actually intended for something more insulting.
What was intended as an incentive, but turned out to be a laughable joke was the event’s raffle prizes. Every person who attended was given a raffle ticket, and every thirty minutes they would write down a winning number on the white board in the lobby. Every winner would be allowed to pick one item out from under their Christmas tree mentioned above. The laughable part about this — All the items were clearly junk dug out of someone’s closet, such as used neck ties, metal signs, and other train related items.
As a comic book and toy collector, I know what I expect from a show/​event/​convention, and if I went here as a train collector, not only would I be angry, I’d be offended too. Heck, I’m not a train collector, and I’m still angry and offended. Nothing here appeared to have any value to it, and this was made even more so apparent by the lack of sales transactions taking place.
This was a very disappointing way to spend the afternoon. Especially considering the three hours it took us to drive there and back. It was time and money wasted, and like I said, I feel robbed. There was nothing about this show that got me in the Christmas spirit.