The End Of The Hamburg Train Show

e*Train Issue: Apr 2025 | Posted in: Collecting, Combined Eras, TCA Adventures

By Richard Sappelli, TCA #70-3365 Spring 2025 e*Train

Video Courtesy Of YouTube Content Creator “dagryffyn hobby”

I am very saddened to submit this article. The great PA Dutch Hamburg Train Show has seen its last train lovers as of Sunday, December 3, 2023. Held in the field house behind the Hamburg Fire Co. since 1972 according to Ralph Mauer the event’s founder, the show will not be going on into ·the coming years. The local fire company that owns the building, needing additional funds to continue its service to the town of Hamburg has negotiated with a local car dealership to utilize the building and adjacent parking under a long-term lease agreement.

With the signing of the lease the field house became unavailable to be used for the many events held during the past years. Some of these were the Dutch Hamburg Train Show, The Reptile Show a yearly circus and car shows just to name a few.

There were two different train shows at the field house but Ralph ultimately bought the second one from his friend’s family when Sam Leonard passed. The hall was able to host about 250 plus 8-foot tables. The food area sold an authentic Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast with locally baked donuts, eggs, and pork patties. And there was always plenty of freshly brewed coffee. At the shows in June, Mrs. Mauer baked her famous shortcakes while her children and family cut and prepared hundreds of locally grown strawberries for a delicious springtime treat of strawberry shortcake.

**Great friends and great finds the author has made over the years at the Dutch Hamburg Train Show.**

Vendors came from far and wide to set up and show off their inventory of toy trains and their associated collections. Folks came from DC, MD, VA, W. VA, NY, CN, NJ, and even as far away as MA, to name a few.

Vendors and train enthusiasts alike were saddened to hear of the end of the Dutch Hamburg Train Show and wish the Maurer family the best in the days to come. We all will miss the show and its gracious hosts.

I started going to the Hamburg show when I still lived in New Jersey. Over the years, I enjoyed the trains, food, and fellowship while attending. It was always a great experience that everyone looked forward to. I am saddened that it is no more. But, we will all hold the memories we made at the show over the year dearly and these memories will always be with us.

Shop Amazon and Help TCA

TCA members who shop at Amazon.com can have each of their normal purchases generate a modest payment to TCA! And it won’t cost you anything!

The Train Collectors Association is now a participant with AmazonSmile, which is a special website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com.

The difference is that when customers shop at AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), the AmazonSmile Foundation donates 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organizations selected by customers.

The process is simple. Just search for and select Train Collectors Association when you sign up and shop at smile.amazon.com.

You use your regular Amazon.com username and password, but when you log in to smile.amazon.com, you’ll see that you are supporting TCA with your purchases:

Note that if you just log in to the regular amazon.com, this benefit does not operate.

There are no costs to either you or TCA, but TCA benefits!

This is a great way for TCA to earn extra cash to offset costs, so sign up today to help support TCA.

* Note: TCA is not a party to any of your Amazon transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors.

Helping TCA with your ebay purchases when you use PayPal

If you’re an ebay user and have a PayPal account you use to make payments, you can designate a donation for TCA when you’re checking out — any amount, small or large.
If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can pre-designate a percentage of your sales to be donated automatically in your name to TCA as long as the purchaser pays with their PayPal account.

In both cases, you will receive a donation receipt from the PayPal Giving Fund, and enjoy applicable tax advantages.

How to do it:

Click on the image above, or use this link. This will take you to ebay, where you will see the following page (log in to ebay if you are not already):

This offers TCA as an option. Click on the “Add to My Charities” button where indicated with the red arrow. Thereafter, when you make a purchase, at checkout you will be offered the option to make a donation to TCA in any amount of your choosing. Small amounts add up, larger ones are great! It’s always up to you!

The option will appear at the lower part of your checkout page, something like this:

If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can allocate a portion of your sales proceeds to be donated to TCA. Look at the green arrow marked “Optional” above to see how to do it. Details on how ebay calculates the donation may be read here. This is a wonderful way to share the financial benefits of your hobby with the organization that promotes it!

An added benefit to TCA is that these donations are not subject to normal processing fees, so that makes your donation work harder!

* Note. TCA is not a party to any of your eBay transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors. PayPal issues the receipts to you for your donation, not TCA.

The End Of The Hamburg Train Show

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