I attended my first SuperTrain this year! SuperTrain is Canada’s largest train show, and is held in Calgary, Alberta every April. This year it was in the Genesis Centre, a spacious facility in the northwest part of the city.
My friend Brian Schuff and his lovely wife Deana offered me a lift to the show, so we drove from Winnipeg to Calgary in one very long day. I didn’t drive at all but I was the navigator! We met a friend of Brian’s for dinner Friday night, then retired to a nearby hotel.
On Saturday morning, we arrived bright and early.
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My first impressions of the show… overwhelming. Busy. Huge.
The Genesis Centre has two hockey rinks in the centre, with large gymnasiums on either side. The show occupied them all.
I appreciated that the rooms were fully occupied but they weren’t jammed full. There was enough room in most cases to walk around. One of the gyms had a few child-related activities in one end, so it was pretty jammed with families most of the time.
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I spent a lot of time at the CNR Historical Association booth. I knew a few people there from submitting articles for publication in CN Lines and from other correspondence. It was great to meet them in person and also meet a few new people there.
The Canadian Pacific Historical Association was also present and I had a good chat with them.
On to the layouts!
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This layout came all the way from Thunder Bay, Ontario. I thought we drove far. They drove in a bus!
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There were several Free-mo layouts at the show. This one had some nice scenery on it. I have to say that it was a little disconcerting to see “plywood Pacific” layouts at a train show of this size.
![](https://modeltraingeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_3699-1024x768.jpg)
This was a very popular layout. I snapped my photo near the end of the show when the crowds were thinning out.
![](https://modeltraingeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_3693-1024x768.jpg)
This Prairie convert really liked the grain elevators that graced many layouts.
![](https://modeltraingeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_3695-1024x768.jpg)
There were several British layouts and vendors selling British trains, which was surprising – and great! This was from the Calgary British Railway Modellers Club. I also noticed a Japanese (?) layout.
![](https://modeltraingeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_3641-1024x570.jpg)
Vendors
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There were many vendors at the show! Some were manufacturers, like Rapido or ScaleTrains, some were hobby shops like Trains N Such and Otter Valley, and some were private individuals. You could buy almost anything there…
![](https://modeltraingeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_3654-1024x563.jpg)
I managed to avoid buying too much. I bought a couple of equipment boxes from NAFTA Scale Models and a pink Gunderson boxcar from Aurora Miniatures.
LEGO
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I was really enamoured with the LEGO displays at the show. There were a few that were really extensive. This one by the Calgary LEGO Train Club looked a lot like a “real” model railway, and I guess it is – just in LEGO.
![](https://modeltraingeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_3628-1024x768.jpg)
Not Trains
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I was glad to see that non-train modelers were represented at the show too. They were doing some modeling live, and I had a good chat with a few of them. Bravo!
Conclusion
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I loved SuperTrain 2024 and I’m glad I went. I met a lot of people, talked with a lot of old friends, and saw a lot of great layouts. It’s well worth a visit.