2021 DFW/Red River RPM – Our First Trade Show!
The first-ever Red River (DFW area) RPM was held in Forrest Hill on Saturday, June 26, 2021! This would also be the very first trade show in which Home Shops would participate as a vendor!
Many thanks to Greg McComas of MacRail LLC who shared some trade secrets on display setup techniques. Designing the banner, business cards, and other display literature was a fun task indeed!
Of course the stars of the show for Home Shops were our Ambassador Fleet cars. Most of them were out and about when we called them home for the show. Many thanks to Michelle Kempema, Dan Munson, and David J. Rodriguez who answered the call and shipped the Ambassador Fleet cars in their possession back in time to make the display.
David J. Rodriguez has made one of the Ambassador Fleet cars famous…Copper State Railway 100125! He accomplished this by posting progress photos on his Agnes Street Spur Facebook page as he spectacularly weathered the car. Equally as remarkable as the quality of his work is the number of views and likes that his posts received. This car was a head turner at the Home Shops RPM display! After the RPM, CSR 100125 and two Copper State Railway siblings were shipped to Kansas City for a photo shoot on John Rost’s fantastic Santa Fe Peavine Line model railroad.
Another car that was an attention-getter was freshly painted Crescent Lines 86’ boxcar 29021. Not previously announced, our second major release of factory-painted Freelance Model Railroad freight cars will be Tangent Scale Models 86’ boxcars. One of the road names we will produce will be the Crescent Lines, which is the Freelance Model Railroad belonging to the Crescent City Model Railroad Club in the New Orleans area. Named “Carl Turner” the CL 29021 is the first car to painted as part of a designated Home Shops “Founders Fleet” where individual cars are named after a founding or influential club member. A master list of names has been created for all of the cars in this series: CL 29001-CL 29053. We believe this is a tasteful nod to the generations that have carried the torch for this great Freelance Model Railroad.
Also making the rounds at this RPM was Tim Blackwell of Cowcatcher Magazine. It was a pleasure to see Tim again after many years! Thanks Tim for your support and the kind press you have given us in Cowcatcher!
The Ambassador Fleet concept is starting to take on a life of its own. As the show was winding down, four Ambassador Fleet cars made it into the hands of Devin Jackson, owner of the Mesquite Belt freelance model railroad. Home Shops is eager to see what Mr. Jackson does with these cars!
Hats off to Jacob Damron and Kevin Leddy who saw the potential for an RPM meet in the DFW area. These two gentlemen really invested some time in getting the show launched! Without them Home Shops would not have had this opportunity to meet some great people.
We look forward to seeing the RPM concept thrive in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and we look forward to adding other events to the Home Shops itinerary!