Greetings,
I will be visiting the Indianapolis area next month. What good HO scale shops, for rolling stock, would you recommend in the city or in the central Indiana area?
Thanks in advance,
Mark
I got out to Big Four Hobbies on Main Street in Plainfield (west of Indy) earlier this year when I was in town for an ops event. The selection was decent, given the drought of new material coming out. I think it's worth a stop.
It's at 1005 E. Main Street (US-40).
I didn't make it to any other shops in town on that trip.
-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.http://www.pmhistsoc.org
Hobby Town in Castleton just off of 82nd Street.
Train Central at 6742 E. Washington Street
Roger Hensley= ECI Railroad - http://madisonrails.railfan.net/eci/eci_new.html == Railroads of Madison County - http://madisonrails.railfan.net/ =
Roger hit the highlights. There's a paucity of train stores in central Indiana. If you're willing to drive some, Hawkins Rail in Lafayette is about an hour north of town and it's one of my favorite places on the planet.
Jim
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
I was able to visit Hawkins for the first time this summer when we dropped off our son at Purdue. Great store, lots and lots of inventory, new releases, old releases, parts and more parts. I can't wait to go back. As it looks like he is going to redshirt, I'll have reason to go back to Hawkins many times over the next five years. Boiler Up!
Your original query was 4 years ago and a lot has changed since then. Now, as well as back then, your best bet is Train Central at 6742 E. Washington St., 46219. Four hobby shops closed in Indianapolis since your question was raised. So please visit the local shops in whatever town you're in. The brick & mortar stores can certainly benefit from the patronage.
PNCROSE Your original query was 4 years ago and a lot has changed since then.
Your original query was 4 years ago and a lot has changed since then.
Five year thread necro!
please visit the local shops in whatever town you're in. The brick & mortar stores can certainly benefit from the patronage.
I regularly have tried to visit many shops over the years but most just don't carry what I need and usually their prices are near MSRP which on a limited budget don't help me; sure, they can order stuff for me but I can do that myself and save time, money and the items are delivered to me.
The plee's I see to support the LHS almost feel like requests to donate to a charity or tithing to a church, but I can't afford to do that and if I am going to help a charity, it's cause there are people who are truly in-need.
Basically sales models have been rapidly changing so that brick and mortar hobby shops in many cases are simply not a sustainable business model. Heck, neither are other store types in this day of online shopping. Sears is just one of the latest examples to be in the process of secumbing to the shift in b&m shopping to online shopping - it's likely the Sears that I have known and loved for all my life may go bankrupt in the next 1-2 years. Many retail stores are closing left and right as other online alternatives subplant them.
Sure, it's "nice" to have a LHS and support them if you feel morally obligated to, but is it a dying sales model? Is it an effort to keep something on life-support which cannot survive more than just a few months or maybe another year? I'm not saying all LHS's are non-sustainable but in many cases, they simply aren't - at least not without a strong online presence to extend their reach far beyond the local walk-in's.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Simple fact is, you can't have it all.
Selection. Inventory. Price.
No more than 2 out of 3 can co-exist in the same shop is my theory.
If selection is what you want, you may also get price, but it's unlikley that's all in inventory.
If inventory is what you want, i.e. on the shelf for you to buy now, then you get selection, too, but it's unlikely to meet price expectations. Someone has to pay for keeping that inventory conveniently in one place for the customer.
If price is the bottom line, you may get inventory, but selection will be limited. Yes, maybe the latest and greatest locos and cars, but get them now, they buy what sells and won't be holding more for inventory. And you'll likely not find good selection of inventories of most of the rest of what's needed to build a layout, as it moves too slowly and spottily to hold in iventory.
That's the simple logic that either sustains small businesses like the LHS -- or causes them to fail if they ignore it. Bringing expectations that somewhere there exists that magical shop -- brick-and-mortar, shows, or online -- is just going to lead to cosntant disappointment. If you want all three, you'll need to do a lot of legwork to go to the vendors that specialize in each aspect of the retail experience. And, except for fast moving locos and cars, yes, you may have to search a long time to find somethings if you want cheap.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Of course, the "L" in LHS stands for Local.
Train Central in Indianapolis carries a good supply of locos and rolling stock that a person would consider local. CSX, Conrail, some NS, Pennsy, NYC, and Monon. You won't find much B&M, Rio Grande, UP, GN...etc...
You get the drift.
Some nice older structure kits show up from time to time, and the store always has a lot of detail parts on hand.
Jack Hawkins is a UP fan, so Hawkins Rail in Lafayette has a good supply of UP stuff and more western road names in general than what you might find in an Indiana LHS.
- Douglas
Doughless Some nice older structure kits show up from time to time, and the store always has a lot of detail parts on hand. Jack Hawkins is a UP fan, so Hawkins Rail in Lafayette has a good supply of UP stuff and more western road names in general than what you might find in an Indiana LHS.
Jack Hawkins must be ancient by now. I visited his shop a couple times back in the early 1990's, some 25 years ago when I was in graduate school down the road at Purdue's rival - Indiana University (go big red)!
He had a reputation that he could get hard to find items for customers and he had must everything available at that time instock, but at full price of course! He also had a layout that he could run 100+ car trains in the shop.
Jack Hawkins must be ancient by now. I vistied Hawkins Rail supply a couple times back when I was in graduate school at Indiana University in the early 1990's.
riogrande5761 Doughless Some nice older structure kits show up from time to time, and the store always has a lot of detail parts on hand. Jack Hawkins is a UP fan, so Hawkins Rail in Lafayette has a good supply of UP stuff and more western road names in general than what you might find in an Indiana LHS. Jack Hawkins must be ancient by now. I visited his shop a couple times back in the early 1990's, some 25 years ago when I was in graduate school down the road at Purdue's rival - Indiana University (go big red)! He had a reputation that he could get hard to find items for customers and he had must everything available at that time instock, but at full price of course! He also had a layout that he could run 100+ car trains in the shop. Jack Hawkins must be ancient by now. I vistied Hawkins Rail supply a couple times back when I was in graduate school at Indiana University in the early 1990's.
Hey. My daughter attends IU in Bloomington.
Jack Hawkins is slowing down, but his inventory is as deep and diverse as ever.
Doughless Hey. My daughter attends IU in Bloomington. Jack Hawkins is slowing down, but his inventory is as deep and diverse as ever.
I have dropped some serious $$$ at Hawkins in the 5 years we have been making the trek to Purdue. Mr. Hawkins is still going strong, although he spends most of his time in his office "nest." Hope to make one more visit in May when son graduates with his civil engineering degree; a nice accomplishment considering how much time he has spent on football and its related activities.
Jacks hours are becoming very erratic as his COPD has gotten really bad. I do not see him with us much longer at the rate he has slid down hill in the last year. A real shame, been going to Jack's for years. Not so much now that I am mostly G/16mm narrow gauge, but still go for paint and supplies. Also, Zionsville Train Depot down on 106th street on the north side of Indy just off Michigan Rd is a nice little shop. Has a mix of estate items in all scales from Z to G and can order most anything in G scale. Also expert repair service for G including decoder installs and repair in smaller scales when parts can be found. Cheers Mike
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
Train Central on Washington is my go-to when I am in Indianapolis on business. If you make the trip up to Hawkins, it seems to be a 50/50 bet on whether or not they will be open. I still make the trip every time because I have friends on the faculty at Purdue, so the trip is never wasted for me.
.
Jack's health is a big concern. He has not recognized me the last two times I have seen him. Granted I only get there once or twice a year, but I have been going there for 25 years. He used to always ask me how the SGRR was coming along.
-Kevin
Living the dream.