Hi!
I'm looking for some out of production HO locos that are off the shelves of the normal hobby shops and internet sites I deal with. I know - having dealt with them before - there is one store in Florida that carries a lot of OP stuff but can't recall their name.
Of course I've checked Ebay repeatedly but no luck there yet.
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
http://www.amherst-depot.com/trains.htm could be one site.
I'd be interested in hearing of more suppliers. I'm trying to locate some Bachmann Spectrum Consolidateds with DCC/Sound with western road (or undecorated) names. Anyone know of a source? I've been searching but mostly eastern road names or over $190 price tags. Thanks.
Raised on the Erie Lackawanna Mainline- Supt. of the Black River Transfer & Terminal R.R.
Do a Google search for Spectrum 2-8-0 undecorated or maybe Bachmann 2-8-0 dcc undecorated.
I did that and found some in stock. One was the Spectrum 2-8-0 with dcc sound for $150.00. Someone in the Bachmann forums had the same question.
Just do some homework. You might even find stuff you did not expect. I also save some of the links.
I do that a lot.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Two good sources for Bachmann are:
Peach Creek Shops - www.peachcreekshops.com
and Star Hobby in Annapolis Maryland. I don't think star hobby is on the web anymore but I'm sure their phone number can be found by a web search. They have a very large stock of Bachmann, often having stuff for a while after it is "current", and, they have great prices.
EDIT: UPDATE: Star Hobby has a new web site www.starhobby1.com , but they are still doing business by phone as there is no online store setup.
If I may say so, the very wording of this question by the OP says bad things about our hobby. And I have heard similar comments from others, as though, some how, as soon as a manufacturer stops making something, that all source of supply for that item dries up?
And no doubt many retailers today, mail order or brick and mortar, are adding to this by not keeping any depth of inventory.
Note to retailers - you cannot sell what you don't have, and many of us will not buy stuff just because it is the "new" thing out this month. We need/want what we need/want for the THEME of our layouts. If retailers want to know why sales are down, its because they don't have anything on the shelves to sell. It's all "preordered" and "sold out". Well guess what, many of us are not buying that way.
If a local shop does not have, or is not willing to order all the "bits" I need for a project, why should I shop there? Much simpler to just order them online from whoever has them.
Sheldon
Mobilman, what locos are you looking for?
A great many of my locos were bought well after they were out of production. Never seemed to be a big deal to me.
My first stop for OOP items is www.trainworld.com. They now have a modern web site, with a crappy search engine (like all modern web sites) and a shopping-cart ordering system.
I've also gotten some good stuff cheap at M.B. Klein, www.modeltrainstuff.com.
Both of these dealers are large and reputable. Trainworld is known for their fast shipping. They both have the items in stock, no "re-shipping."
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Well, probably not what you want to hear, but there are 8 Spectrum 2-8-0 listed on E-bay. At least 1 is listed as wiithout sound/Dcc, but you can always add a Tsunami I suppose: http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=spectrum+2-8-0+ho&_sacat=0&_dmpt=Model_RR_Trains&_odkw=spectrum+2-8-0&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313
mobilman44 ....I know - having dealt with them before - there is one store in Florida that carries a lot of OP stuff but can't recall their name.....
....I know - having dealt with them before - there is one store in Florida that carries a lot of OP stuff but can't recall their name.....
I have used Jay Cohen (Florida) in the past. He does try to get ahold of OOP items to sell.
You didn't say whether or not you were expecting to pay full retail. Since the OOP items I chase are usually not recent production, I don't expect discounts. This in turn opens up the universe to the better-stocked hobby shops as sources.
I started with the larger hobby shops advertising in the dealer directory of Model Railroader. I call them on the telephone during weekday working hours when they usually aren't too busy to enquire about an OOP item they might have in stock. And I'm prepared to order on the spot if they do have it. Some other names have come from Yahoo Groups for more specific interests. After several tries, I've narrowed the list down to about 5-6 hobby shops worth calling. The top couple of choices will depend on what the item is - the likelihood of finding new old stock at a given shop definitely varies with whether the desired item is HO or HOn3.
Fred W
....modeling foggy coastal Oregon in HO and HOn3, where it's always 1900....
It's a big planet. May I suggest you refine your search to individual countries. I have searched for things and have refined it to search all countries except Canada and the United States. You may be amazed at what turns up in that little Hobby shop in Slovakia. It's worked for me. And postage was only $3.00 more than if it came from Toronto. Good luck.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
ATLANTIC CENTRAL If I may say so, the very wording of this question by the OP says bad things about our hobby. And I have heard similar comments from others, as though, some how, as soon as a manufacturer stops making something, that all source of supply for that item dries up?
I've experienced this myself several times and as I noted the other day have a hard time finding some items. I have checked the sources listed by others here, but have been unable to locate some things. In my opinion, which is worth maybe something less than two cents, we are suffering from too much breadth and too little depth. That is at some time or another, there's a model of about anything, for just about any road name. But, once they're gone, they're gone and it's years before another production run is made. Now I'm willing do some kitbashing and painting myself, but in some cases even the base model isn't readily available. Even models of the famous Undec railroad are sometimes hard to come by.
I will second Trainworld, Modeltrainstuff (MB Klein) and Jay's Trains. Maybe you are thinking of Dans Train Depot in Ocala, FL?
Dante
Hi again!
YES, Dan's Train Depot is the one I was after!
I recently got a BLI HO ATSF passenger F7 set with DCC/Snd. BLI put out the sister set, and that's the one I'm looking for so I'll have an ABBA consist.
Thanks,
Shoot, I just want parts - mostly undec shells, but just parts in general.