To Dmac844, I highly recommend you go to Winterail and decide for yourself. I have been to 25 Winterails dating back to my first in 1985. Some years the shows have been spectacular, some years average, some years so - so. As others have noted however, I always see and learn something new at Winterail. The recent show on streetcars in Portugal was GREAT and quite an eye - opener. As others have noted, the theater at Scottish Rite Temple was becoming a bit shabby, and ventilation was always an issue. As for the swap meet, it was originally a 50/50 split between model railroad stuff and railroadiana; now it is about 90% railroadiana. Lotsa RR books and timetables, RR - themed clothing too. My suggestion is to either bring five hundred dollars, or else leave the wallet at home.
For those from SoCal and The Bay Area who are unsure about the distance and travel involved, consider the new places and railroads you can experience in the Pacific North West : Central Oregon and Pacific, Albany & Eastern, Willamette & Pacific, Coos Bay Rail Link, Oregon Coast Scenic, Shortline Sammie's Oregon Pacific. Check out the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation's Portland facility, home of several tea kettles on wheels and a certain ALCo passenger diesel. Railfan U.P's Cascade Line and/or BNSF's Oregon Trunk, Ride Amtrak's Northwest Talgo -- the Mud & Moss train !!! Maybe CORP will be running over The Siskiyou Line again by then ?!? Visit Faber College of Animal House fame, ( University of Oregon in Eugene ), as well as downtown Faber itself ( Cottage Grove ). Drive up to Astoria, endpoint of the Lewis & Clark Expedition and site of the Goonies home. If you do visit Portland, be sure to go to the other Whistle Stop Trains hobby shop; BTW Oregon has NO state sales tax !!!