The 2024 Railroad Hobby Show has come and gone. We will update this page, for the 2025 show, next January.
By Steve Pfarrer | Daily Hampshire Gazette | February 11, 2023
Everything you need to know to take a real train to the Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show.
What
The 56th annual Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show
When
Saturday, January 27, 2024 | 9 am – 5 pm
Sunday, January 28, 2024 | 10 am – 5 pm
Where
The Eastern States Exposition Fairgrounds (home of The Big E) in West Springfield, Mass.
Show website
railroadhobbyshow.com
Contents
Taking the Hartford Line to the show
Taking the Valley Flyer to the show
Free shuttle bus between Union Station and the show
Show details
Adults | $15 per day
Children 15 and under, FREE if accompanied by an adult
The Railroad Hobby Show is the largest railroad-themed trade show in America. The event occupies 370,000 square feet in four buildings on the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds.
The show covers all facets of railroading hobby sector – model railroads, railroad art and photography, railroad history and preservation, tourist railroads, railroad artifacts, and railroad books and videos.
Commercial vendors and hobbyists will be selling model railroad equipment, parts and supplies — books, DVDs, ephemera, postcards, timetables and all sorts of railroad memorabilia.
As they say, “there’s something for everyone!”
Show stats
| Show size | 370,000 square feet (which is about 6 ½ football fields of area) |
| Expected attendance | 20,000 people |
| Operating full-size model railroads | More than 60 |
| Registered exhibitors | Over 300 |
2024 floor plan
The best options for traveling to the show by train are the Hartford Line and Amtrak’s Valley Flyer. (details below.)
If you can spend the night there are train options available on Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited (Boston – Springfield – Pittsfield – Albany – Chicago) as well as Amtrak’s Vermonter (Washington – New York – Springfield – Vermont) service.
Five reasons to take the train to the show —
- The shuttle bus service between Springfield Union Station and the show is FREE
- Up to four children (ages 2-12) can ride the Hartford Line for just $1/each with an adult1
- Let someone else do the driving and avoid paying for parking at the Eastern States Exhibition grounds
- Traveling by train is more environmentally friendly than driving
- Who wouldn’t want to take a train to get to a train show!
1 For the $1/child fare on the Hartford Line deal you’ll need to purchase your ticket using the CTrail app or a CTrail ticket vending machine.
Taking the Hartford Line to the show
You can take a Hartford Line train from New Haven, Wallingford, Meriden, Berlin, Hartford, Windsor, or Windsor Locks to Springfield Union Station, and from there catch a free shuttle bus (details below) to/from the show.
Scheduled connections between the Hartford Line and Metro-North’s New Haven Line are available at New Haven Union Station.
Current schedule
Please visit the Hartford Line website for the current schedule —
hartfordline.com/fares-schedules/
Sample Hartford Line fares
One-way
Hartford – Springfield | $6.25
Berlin – Springfield | $8.25
Meriden – Springfield | $9.75
Wallingford – Springfield | $10.75
New Haven – Springfield | $13.25
50% discount for senior citizens (65 and older) and people with disabilities
Children (one-way)
Up to four children ages 2-12 with a paying adult – $1 per child
Parking at Hartford Line stations
Berlin, Meriden and Wallingford | Free on the weekend
Windsor and Windsor Locks | Free
Taking the Valley Flyer to the show
You can take Amtrak’s Valley Flyer from Greenfield, Northampton or Holyoke to Springfield, and from there catch a free shuttle bus (details below) to the show.
Here’s the schedule for doing this on either Saturday or Sunday:
Valley Flyer train 461 (southbound)
9:15 am | depart Greenfield
9:40 am | depart Northampton
10:23 am | arrive Springfield Union Station
Northbound trains
Vermonter train 54
3:15 pm | depart Springfield Union Station
3:57 pm | arrive Northampton
4:22 pm | arrive Greenfield
or
Valley Flyer train 488
6:45 pm | depart Springfield Union Station
7:27 pm | arrive Northampton
7:53 pm | arrive Greenfield
If you take the 6:45 pm train you’ll have time for dinner at a nearby restaurant and/or have a closer look at the recently restored Union Station building, before stepping on the train for your trip home.
Restaurants in Springfield can be found on this TripAdvisor link.
Amtrak tickets can be purchased on the Amtrak website [Amtrak.com], or on the Amtrak mobile app.
Free shuttle bus between Union Station and the show
The free shuttle buses1 will loop between Union Station and the Railroad Hobby Show starting at 8:30 am on Saturday and 9:30 am on Sunday.
The plan is that a shuttle should depart from each location on the route every 15 – 20 minutes.
Pickup / drop off locations
Springfield Union Station
at the main (north) entrance of the station on Frank B. Murry Street
ARS Railroad Hobby Show
at the Ticket Booths at Door 7 of the Better Living Center
(please check with your driver to confirm your pickup location and time)
Please be sure to allow enough time to make your scheduled train departure.
115 passenger vans
Further information
Amherst Railway Society Hobby Show (Official website)
Hartford Line (official website)
“Behind the Scenes at the ARS Railroad Hobby Show” (59m)
MassBay RRE | September 16, 2021 | via YouTube
Page last change: January 28, 2024
Page last reviewed: January 4, 2024