On the Road with Lionel

TCA Museum

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:53:00 -0000

We had a great presentation at the TCA museum yesterday.

Jerry Calabrese was on hand to talk about our VISIONLine and its great features. More important to Lionel is what VISION signifies about our company’s history and future. As Jerry puts it, this is us going back to our roots for the newest and greatest features available to the industry.

Also at the event, J. Don Reece and Matt Ashba did demos of some of the new VISION features. We were able to show models of the CC2, GENSET and GE Evo trains that are the centerpieces of our VISION Line.

As we’ve seen all along the way with our Product Showcases, our new features and trains are exciting fans all across the country. It’s really something exciting for us to be a part of here, and we’re excited to see what our reception is at the tent we’ve put up at York.

The Lionel Product Showcase is coming to York!!!

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:50:00 -0000

This Spring, for the first time ever, Lionel ran a traveling Product Showcase to introduce our new products to fans and collectors all across the country. After visiting 15 different cities with our demonstrations, we're now bringing it to the TCA's Spring York Meet. Our Product Showcase features live demonstrations of our new products (including VISION Line), interviews with key Lionel employees involved in bringing you these great trains, and a live Q&A.

Under our brand new Lionel tent (look for us near the Grandstand!) we will be hosting 10 sessions and handing out giftbags to all who attend. Space is limited, so be sure to pick up your ticket at our booth in the Orange Hall!

Kirkland, WA

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:13:00 -0000

After a week of rain, the skies parted and a beautiful day shown on Lionel and Eastside Trains April 4th for the "Lionel Product Showcase" event. Eastside Trains is located in Kirkland WA a suburb of Seattle.

Steve Suskin (owner) and his team made sure the store was packed with customers. From 10am to 3pm there were well over 150 people who stopped by to listen to the video, see the blow down, steam whistle and playable bell features and ask a lot of questions. Over the course of the day Lionel re-played the Vision DVD multiple times as new people came into to store. Rich Moser was continually running Legacy demonstrations or showing customers all the never before seen in O gauge features of Lionel's steam engines while J. Don and Bob were answering questions.

With Seattle behind us, it's onto Los Angeles for Monday's event at the Train Shack in Burbank, CA.

Newark Showcase

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:54:00 -0000

Hi, it's Jason here, back yet again.

The Product Showcase this past Sunday at the Newark Airport Marriott had about 140 people, our largest Showcase yet, and with good reason.

First of all, as you most of you know, Lionel spent a great deal of its history (1920s-60s) in the neighborhoods around Newark, so it's exciting for us to get back to our roots. Additionally, being so close to our offices in New York made it easy for us to get a lot of staff to the event.

Jerry Calabrese, our CEO, gave opening remarks and received a very warm welcome. Everyone was excited to see Jerry speak, a few people even asked for his autograph!

Our VISION DVD was well received and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. We broke at about noon for a tasteful lunch and, after lunch, Tom Nuzzo did a LEGACY demonstration. Quite a few people stuck around for the demo and were amazed at the features available with LEGACY.

Overall, this was really good show and we had a great experience!

Until next time.

About those Demos

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:07:00 -0000

Without a doubt, the stars of our showcase have been our demos of the Pennsylvania 0-8-8-0 Locomotives. Due to the intricacy of this new item, there are actually two demos on the road. One is a dummy unit to demonstrate design, the other is a souped up USRA 2-6-6-2 Nickel Plate Road, which is showcasing the new technologies in use. As noted elsewhere, this train is notable for its new effects of a smoke whistle, realistic blowdown from the engine and a bell synchronized to sound.

Each of these trains is literally one of a kind and built from hand. So this presented an interesting challenge for us – how do we get these unique items from our offices in New York to the 13 Product Showcases across the country?

We were concerned by the cost and tumult of using FedEx. Similar concerns existed in trusting the baggage handlers on airplanes...so we decided to hire a driver for our engines.

A friend of Lionel's, Kristine, volunteered for the job and set out on a journey. As you can see from the map above, it's been an intense trip. Jason drove the car on the first two legs, getting it out to Cleveland and then Indianapolis. After that, Kristine took over and drove the engines from Indianapolis through to Dallas, traveling over 2200 miles with the trains in about 8 days. Along the way seeing a good deal of our country.

Dallas to Newark was too long of a trip to drive, so we purchased a couple of heavy duty suitcases and had Bob Kerekes trek them back on a plane. After yesterday's show in Newark, Kristine is getting ready to get back on the road (after a much needed day off!) and will stop in the offices with the trains this afternoon before heading back to Boston.

The trains (and Kristine!) have been on quite a voyage, and we'll keep you updated on their exploits.

Product Showcase DVD, Now Online!

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:44:00 -0000

Lionel just decided to post the DVD from our actual Product Showcases online.

This is the video being shown at every location on the tour, so now we can see what everyone else is seeing On The Road.

The video includes interviews with CEO and President, Jerry Calabrese and Chief Technical Officer, Jon Zahornacky as well as video and information on all our product lines.

Please Check Out The Videos Here!

And just to be clear, there's plenty more at the Product Showcases besides the videos. Real demos of upcoming products, Q&A with Lionel employees and experts and giveaways are all part of the fun at every stop. To find out about upcoming shows, Click Here!

Chesterfield, Michigan - Lionel Offices!

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:22:00 -0000

Hi, I'm Remy Convery. I work at Lionel in Michigan and I've been here over a decade. Over that time I've had a lot of different opportunities, but currently I mainly work in marketing and product development.

Last night, the Product Showcase came to our offices here in Michigan, and it was a really great show. As at all our stops there were refreshments available and gifts handed out at the door, as well as a raffle.

It really felt like a townhall meeting to me. There were about 60 people who showed up, and they were a mixture of dealers and customers. It was very informal and although there were presentations, it really felt intimate. I really enjoyed getting to hear the questions from our fans and answering them.

I also had the pleasure of describing the Pennsylvania CC2s to the gathered crowd. It was a great chance to meet and mingle with some of the wonderful people that make working in this industry such a fantastic experience.

Hope to see you next time!

Indianapolis, Indiana

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:17:00 -0000

Hi everyone. This is Bob Kerekes from the New York office. I work in sales, but I don’t always get to interact one-on-one with our collectors, so the Product Showcase really is an opportunity for me to get to know you.

I left New York yesterday on a flight into Indianapolis. It was rainy and nasty when I got in, and I headed right to the hotel that Jason had left our demos at. We got the show set up, and despite the conditions, I think it was a big success.

We counted nearly 70 people at the show and everyone seemed very into our new lines.

We showed our DVD of all the new products and technologies that our team had been working on over the previous months. There were then copies of the DVD distributed to everyone in attendance along with catalogs and the VISION boxcar raffle. We do these things at all our Showcases, so if you want to come join us, please check our upcoming schedule here.

Once again, the demos of our technical prototype and sample of the Pennsylvania CC2s engine got a lot of attention. I can't wait until the real thing is on the market later this year!

Special thanks to Larry Pfost of Train Express in Indianapolis who really helped make this event a success. If you’re ever in the Indy area, you should definitely stop in.

I got back to New York this morning, but the show continues on tonight at the Lionel Offices in Chesterfield, Michigan!

Driving to Indianapolis...

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:09:00 -0000

Hi, Jason back again.

The second leg of my trip began Sunday night at 10 pm after break down of our display at World’s Greatest Hobby in Cleveland. I hit the road again to drive the show material to Indianapolis, where our next Showcase is scheduled for Wednesday, March 18th.

After, a much-needed Red Bull and pizza, I did the 5 hour drive without stopping, arriving at the hotel around 3 AM. I secured the engines and materials for Wednesday’s show, and headed to my hotel to catch some shut eye before my flight back to New York.

I woke up at about 5:45 am and quickly got my things together for my 7:30 am flight. I checked out and plugged in my Tom-Tom GPS (which has never failed me) to take me to the airport. Now here’s the funny part: I get to the airport to discover that the entire airport has moved, literally. I now realize why the woman at the front desk gave me a paper with the directions to an airport that my GPS was unaware of. I later learned that about 6 months ago the entire airport moved 5 miles away.

Good thing I generally check in online for my flights, I made it just in time and was the last passenger to board and made it safely back to New York. I hope to rejoin the Showcases on the road sometime soon.

Stay tuned!

Cleveland: A Great Start!

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:02:00 -0000

Hi All!

This is Joe Fea, Director of Special Projects. Anytime you see Lionel at an event, I probably organized our presence there. I also have had the privilege of putting together the Product Showcase. I’m real excited about getting out to the shows and meeting our fans.

We held our first Product Showcase in Cleveland tonight and it was exciting to see a room full of train enthusiasts. People came to see the Lionel new product line and especially the VISION Line products. I can tell you that folks got especially excited for our VISION Line Boxcar raffle, and we’ll be doing another one at each stop on the tour.

We showed video clips showing innovative train features like the Blow-Down effect with real steam, a new steam whistle, and the most realistic model train bell ever. But, best of all, everyone was enraptured as we rolled out these features live on a train layout.

You can see how the train worked live at:

(Please keep in mind this is not the finished product, just a modified engine that we used as a demo for the shows, you’ll find out more about the care we take with these items in later posts)

Although the event was scheduled to end at 8 PM many stayed much later asking questions about Lionel's new products.

This was definitely a great start to our tour, and I can’t wait to see you all in the coming months. Join us for our next show, Wednesday, March 19th in Indianapolis, IN.

More Info Here.

Driving to Cleveland...

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:57:00 -0000

Hi, my name is Jason Jeffers, I work in the Lionel New York Office. Some of you may know me from working many of the trade shows.

My Product Showcase experience started out with a road trip. I had the privilege of driving our VISION Line demo and samples to the first road show in Cleveland. I hit the road at about 11 PM on Thursday night; for my 8 hour drive. Somewhere along the way (can’t remember where) I stopped to take a nap for about an hour.

When I arrived at 8 am, I went directly to the International Exposition Center. The World’s Greatest Hobby show was taking place this weekend in Cleveland as well, and I was on hand to begin set up.

At about 4 PM I headed to Cleveland Hobby with Joe Fea and my precious cargo. The Lionel team had a good presence there including: myself, Tom Nuzzo, Mike Reagan, Mike Braga, Rich Grutzmacher and Joe Fea.

There were approximately 60 people in attendance and I feel the show went smoothly and was well received (Joe will have more details on this later). I must also say a special thanks to Mike Pachasa and his staff at Cleveland Hobby who hosted our first show and were so helpful in getting things going.

Welcome

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:44:00 -0000

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Lionel’s 2009 Product Showcase Official Blog. I’m William Finkel, Lionel’s Manager of Business Affairs. I’ve been with the company for almost a year and work in New York, where I was born and raised.

As many of you have no doubt heard, Lionel has launched a Product Showcase to bring our new products and offers to our customers, in their own backyard. Many of us who aren’t going to the events are jealous and curious about life with the Lionel Product Showcase, I’m sure you are too. So we decided to launch this blog as a forum for Lionel employees out on the road to report back to us about what’s going on.

I’ll be keeping tabs on things from here at NYC Headquarters, and updating you as often as possible. We hope that you’ll get to learn about our new products through this blog and feel like you’re part of the action at each stop.

The first show is on Friday, March 13th in Cleveland, Ohio and the last show is scheduled for Denver, CO on April 6th. You can get the full schedule here. We invite you to join us if any of the shows are in your area.

Hope you keep coming back to hear about our adventures on the road!