pcrrtx Hate to tell you this but Dallas Model Works is a guy working out of his garage. Little or no on site inventory.
Hate to tell you this but Dallas Model Works is a guy working out of his garage. Little or no on site inventory.
That would explain why there is no Athearn listed on his web site. Horizon requires a storefront of its dealers.
MB Klein, Trainworld, and Micro-Mark are the 3 I use the most. No problems with any of them.
Enjoy
Paul
tin can Tony's Train Exchange
Russell
I use three online shops; for different reasons, although I spend serious $$ at each every year.
I love the fact that M.B.Klein (ModelTrainStuff) has an online inventory tool that shows me whether an item I want is in stock, and how many they have in hand. I'll admit that I have been the guy who buys the last piece of stock...
I use Caboose Hobbies in Denver, primarily for their advance reservations. I've got 4 Athearn Topeka cab Geeps on reserve; and they let me make payments towards the reservation. Hopefully, when they arrive, they'll be paid for.
I use Tony's Train Exchange for DCC; mainly decoders...
My largest online supplier is Caboose Hobbies in Denver followed by either Litchfield Station and Tonys train exchange.
Caboose has by far one of the best selection of in stock detail parts of any store I have been to.
They also have a very good selection of everything at reasonable prices.
I do get the majority of my sound decoders from them because I can get speaker and decoder for less that $100.
One thing they don't have on a regular basis which I get at litchfield station is 100 packs of intermountain wheelsets. Since i do block detection and signalling I make resistor wheels etc for every car and every car has metal wheels.
Tony trains have everything else I need in terms of DCC supplies namely rrcirkits product from my block detection system.
Colorado Front Range Railroad: http://www.coloradofrontrangerr.com/
I'm N Scale and in this order; M.B. Klein, Caboose Hobbies, Fiffer Hobby Supply. I have found that if you want D&RGW as I do, you better jump on it when you see it or it's gone. I always keep a close eye on these items. Doug
Hi and a big fat hearty
You left out some details: what scale do you want to model; what are you looking for {trains, modeling craft supplies for scratch building}; what era you wnat to model; what livery you want to model. etc.
Those things can become VERY important when seeking those items as to who is "best online E-tailer". WHy? because not ALL carry ALL the train supplies/items you may want/need. You may need to shop around just to find what you are looking for.
Walthers is a great supplier of many things train...in many scales and the HO catalog is always about 1"-1-1/4" think, printed/released annually.They also carry the other comon scales:
http://www.walthers.com/
As mentioned, M.B. Klien is a good supplier of several common scales:
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Default.asp
One not mentioned yet is wholesaletrains.com They offer lower prices on most train items {i.e. wholesale prices}. They DO sometimes charge higher on the shipping/handling,Key word handling.;
http://www.wholesaletrains.com/Default.asp
ALL are good. The thing most people argue over is the shipping/handling costs/proceedures of each suppplier. Some charge a flat fee for shipping only; some charge shipping based on actual cost to ship; others charge for handling as well..that includes a person'wages to pull inventory, get a box, peanuts/bubble wrap, pack and lable your package to ship to you, plus the cost of shipping; some offer free shipping on orders over a certain amount.
When I was last in the shipping business UPS charged our agency $4.35 for 1LB of product{ books} and added up fees on top rounded up per nearest pound.That was what, 5 years ago?
wholesaletrains.com has been argued over as they offer a wholesale price for a loco, then add shipping and handling on top,and don't tell you till the end of the order completion or when they ship it. But i have demonstrated with links to products over and over that even a loco, weighing 1lb bought through them, even with an "outrageous" shipping/handling costs of say $25 over a shipper whose cost is only $9.99 to ship flat rate, but with a higher price for the loco, that wholesaletrains.com will still win out as overall cheapest.
hope this helps you.
again,
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
hon30critter I use Tony's Train Exchange for DCC. http://tonystrains.com/ Ngineering has lots of interesting stuff mostly electronics related. http://www.ngineering.com/index.htm Dave
I use Tony's Train Exchange for DCC.
http://tonystrains.com/
Ngineering has lots of interesting stuff mostly electronics related.
http://www.ngineering.com/index.htm
Dave
For track Cherry Creek Hobbies
Bob D As long as you surface as many times as you dive you`ll be alive to read these posts.
skagitrailbird I would add Hiawatha Hobbies to the list. And I second the suggestions for M B Klein, Litchfield Station and Caboose Hobbies.
I would add Hiawatha Hobbies to the list. And I second the suggestions for M B Klein, Litchfield Station and Caboose Hobbies.
I've ordered from Hiawatha Hobbies a couple times - they had some items I wanted that were sold out at less expensive dealers and my experience was good.
I'd also add that Spring Creek Hobbies was great to work with. I was able to pick up around 6 engines engines I needed that were sold out at most other stores and they were great to work with!
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I have had good service from MB Klein, Walthers, Toy Train Heaven, Micro-Mark and The Favorite Spot (An Ebay Retailer). At this point I shop on total price Inc. Shipping among them.
Joe Staten Island West
rrinker Well, that and the fact that Eastern dealers tend to order as few western roads as they can get away with, and vice-versa. I should probbaly move to California, probably have PLENTY of Reading stuff all over the place. --Randy
Well, that and the fact that Eastern dealers tend to order as few western roads as they can get away with, and vice-versa. I should probbaly move to California, probably have PLENTY of Reading stuff all over the place.
--Randy
Normally I'd agree with you but MB Kleins seems to be popular with folks nation wide, so I don't think they are as eastern concentric as most eastern situated train stores. They normally do stock western items in similar proportion, but most of those sell out fairly quickly. For example, they got in the latest run of D&RGW SD40T-2's, but they were gone literally within an hour or a few hours of posting. Since their notification system was broken and didn't work, and I wasn't checking at "just the right time", I totally missed out on the most recent run from Athearn - thankfully Caboose Hobbies still had what I needed, albiet at a modestly higher price.
I've watched MBK closely for the past 5-6 years and they don't avoid western roadnames like many eastern LHS's. Also, I've noticed that SP and D&RGW seem to sell out in general, no matter what store I check (geographically), assuming the discount is fairly good.
I haven't had any problems with Toy Train Heaven but due to the fact they are very slow to ship, and they charge more for shipping, they are lower on my list - I only go to them when other better vendors are out.
I've also had good luck with Lombards and of course Caboose Hobbies.
Here's another vote for MB Klein..That's my "go to shop".
Since I'm not sure the rules allows this I won't name the 5 e-bay stores I use that has competitive BIN prices and fast shipping.These are B&M hobby shops.
Toy Train Haven,Train World and First Hobby is good shops as well.
For N Scalers Brooklyn Locomotive Works,Fifer Hobby Supply, MB Klein and N Scale Supply is hard to beat.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I like M.B.Klein.
Trainworld advertises minimum shipping 9.95, but charged me 17.75 shipping on a single Athearn Genesis loco to Michigan. Silly me. I thought a single loco would ship for the minimum charge.
I'm done with Toy Train Heaven. Last winter I ordered from them and had it shipped to my daughters house in Florida, where I was staying. In July, I ordered from them again, and entered my correct Michigan address. I removed all traces of the Florida address from my account info. They sent me an Email order confirmation showing my correct Michigan shipping address. A week later, I got a call from my daughter in Florida, saying a package had arrived for me. I had her reship it up to me in Michigan. I sent Toy Train Heaven an Email at the Customer Service address provided on the invoice, and pointed out that they had shipped my order to the wrong address. They never replied! I know some people say a phone call is better. But their invoice says to report any problems to Customer Service and the address. They should have at least refunded the shipping and handling. Now they've lost my business for good, and I've spent over a thousand dollars with them in the past year and a half.
Hello,
I have bought from Otter Valley Railroad Model Trains and M B Klein. Both great experiences purchasing from them, but because I live in Canada I prefer Otter Valley, no taxes to pay for importing the item into the Canada from the US.
Frank
"If you need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm."
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Agree, Kleins is great. The down side to them is they they are often sold out of trains I am interested in buying. I guess thats the down side to liking popular railroads and/or freightcars!
Welcome to the forums.
I have used several of the ones mentioned above. My suggestion is shop around. By doing so with an order that was going to total a little over $200 I saved about $15 by splitting my order. Yes, I paid two shipping charges (some places ship free), but still saved the money by finding the lowest prices for each item. There were a couple of items that I didn't pay the absolute lowest price for, but ordering from another dealer would have added another shippping charge, negating the saving. Spend a little time and save yourself some money.
I primarly use Modetrainstuff (MB Klein), Trainworldonline and Walther's (sale prices), but will look at others such as Toy Train Heaven, Yanke Dabbler, Internet Trains and Caboose Hobbies to see how their prices on the items I am looking at, compare.
Have you checked for hobby shops listed in Resources in light gray above right and the ones listed on the Walthers site?
Good luck,
Richard
Metasine,
There are a lot of good online stores. I use:
Caboose Hobbies
Model Train Stuff
Train Time Hobby
Trainworld Online
Micro Mark
Fifer Hobbly
I also use Walthers (great selection) but a little pricey. I also buy from Ebay (you can find almost anything for the hobby) and Amazon (more limited selection, but good pricing)
A word of caution on Ebay. If you are new to the hobby, I would wait until you become more familiar with products, or know exactly what you are looking for (manufacturer, model number, etc.) before buying thru them. And, check out the sellers before buying! Ask specific questions of the seller. There are some very reputable sellers and train hobby folks, but there a few who shall we say, "stretch the truth" a little. Ebay does a good job protecting buyers but if you have to send something back because you didn't get what you thought you were buying, it can cause delays in your project and be frustrating.
You can also buy online direct from manufacturers. I buy from Micro Trains, Kato, Grandt Line, Chooch, etc.
Hope that helps!
Tim
Online retailers I use are generally Trainworld and Walthers'.
I also do a lot of shopping on Ebay.
My favorite on line stores
MB Kline Aka (Model train stuff)
Trainworld
Hobbylinc
Micromark
Walthers
I have had good experience with Highball Graphics Decals who also sells a lot of detail parts and has reasonble shipping costs compared to others like MB Klein and Toy Train Heaven. Also buy from Hogtrainz and Trainmaster Models (Atlanta GA, free freight over $75.00). In addition I purchase my Plano Roofwalks and Detail Parts direct as he has reasonable shipping costs also.
I do not use MB Klein for pre-orders as his notification systems SUCKS!
Rick J
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
I use MB Klein almost exclusively. Excellent prices and service. You can't go wrong with them.
I will not "bare" with you but I will "bear" with you. Google the terminology.
Best will depend on what you experience. I have used MB Klein and Micro Mark.
A few times, River Valley Railroad.
For DCC, Litchfield Station.
There is a lot of online competition.
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.
My favorite online hobby shop is Brooklyn Locomotive Works they sell only N Scale equipment and some Z. But I like them.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Trainworld www.trainworldonline.com in New York is my go-to place for online orders.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.