March 20-22nd, 2009
Sheraton Chicago Northwest Hotel
Arlington Heights, IL
Largest Selection of O Scale Trains and Accessories!
Layout tours, clinics, Model Contest, vendors, and fun
The Chicago O Scale Meet is a 3 day gathering of vendors, customers, clinics, and fun held annually St. Patrick's Day weekend in the Chicagoland area. Hundreds gather to buy, sell, and trade their products to the public. This is the Chicago O Scale train show you've heard of. Anything the O Scale enthusiast could want to find and buy will be found here.
The 2008 show was held March 14-16th and was a lot of fun. You can see what you missed if you weren't able to make it by clicking the "08 Highlights" tab on the left. Five different clinics were held throughout the weekend, along with ten layout tours, an Illinois Railway Museum tour, Model Contest, and of course, a whole lot of buying, selling, and trading!
Planning is well under way for the 2009 show, which will mark our TWENTIETH year at the Sheraton. Send in your registration forms now as table space for vendors is limited and most registered for the 2009 show before they even left the '08 show. Click on the tab to the left marked "Registration" to attend the show or reserve tables.
A NOTE ON THE SHERATON: The waterpark addition to the Sheraton has been a lot of fun for O Scalers who wish to bring their families with them to the show. However, the increased traffic at the Sheraton has led to some concerns for our group. Several people noted that there were waterpark guests making noise in the halls last year and that there were long lines to use the elevators. We have addressed these issues with the Sheraton and they have worked hard to find solutions for us. The Sheraton will now group all O Scalers together on the same floors and will place security personnel on the floors. This will prevent any waterpark guests from entering our floors. The Sheraton will also offer our group use of their freight elevators, in addition to their regular elevators, to prevent any members from our group having to wait in line for the elevators.
In addition to unparalled product offerings in the O Scale and collectable train world, there will be lots to see and do at the 2009 Chicago O Scale Meet. As always, there will be a Model Contest complete with cash prizes, informational and hands-on clinics where train hobbiests can learn new skills and see what's new on the market. There are also numerous O Scale layout tours available every year where you can view some of the best working layouts out there, get tips from the masters and inspiration for your own layouts.
While this is a dedicated 2 rail O Scale show, we welcome the many modelers and collectors from the 3 rail O guage hobby that attend it. They find a variety of trains and related items for display and combined operations for their railroads.
The Chicago O Scale Meet prides ourselves on offering a show to the public that is fun and well run. The meet is held at the Sheraton Chicago Northwest in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It is an easy destination for all travelers with excellent airline, train, bus, and taxi services to make getting there a breeze. There is so much to do in Chicago, Illinois, that spouses and children will love attending the convention as well. Mark your calendars, the show is March 20-22nd, 2009!
The Sheraton Hotel website for online reservations is www.sheraton.com . The reservation phone line is 1-888-627-8093, toll free in the US. The Sheraton Hotel in Arlington Heights, IL, direct line is (847) 394-2000. Room are $89.00 per night if reserved under the Chicago O Scale Meet rate. Prices good thru 2-15-09 or until room block is sold out. The Sheraton also boasts a 65,000 square foot indoor water park for the more adventurous guests.
