Kevin: Where? (Not in or around Orlando -- that I know about) Thanks.
There's several in Florida in your area, more or less.
Colonial Photo and Hobby, 634 N. Mills St, Orlando. 407-841-1485
www.colonialphotohobby.com Maybe you know about that one?
Moving down the Gulf Coast...
Zitnik Trains 5193 73d Ave. N. Tampa Bay-Pinellas Park 727-201-9668
www.zitniktrains.com I haven't been to this one.
Gulf Coast Model Railroad 3222 Clark Rd. Sarasota 941-923-9303
www.gcmrr.com I've been to this one, very impressive.
Metro Trains and Hobbies 12951 Metro Parkway Ft. Myers 239-332-0422
www.metrotrainsandhobbies.com I was there last week, a bit light on the O gauge this time, but maybe the infusion of Christmas stock hasn't happened yet? Great guys in there, by the way. I always stop in when I'm in the area visiting family.
Well that's a start, at least the ones I know about.
Firelock76: Thanks for your reply.
I am familiar with Colonial ( It's been around awhile) and there is H&R Trains in Pinellas Park with repair service.
My question to Kevin was that he mentioned a few NEW shops.
I appreciate your list.
Traindaddy does not travel too much anymore. The Gulf Coast is, at least, an hour and a half away. Was hoping that the new ones Kevin was talking about would be closer.
Again, thanks.
Anytime Traindaddy, glad to be of assistance!
I don't blame you for wanting to limit your drive time. We drove through Orlando on Route 4 week before last. GROAN! The traffic's gotten worse every time we've gone through on our way to Estero and the road construction's never finished! Never again! We made our way back to Route 95 cross-country, 80 to 29 to 27 to 70 into Fort Pierce and then north on 95. A whole lot easier!
The Internet has caused many retail businesses to close. First, it was the bookstores. Many of my train books have come from stores we used to visit frequently, and are gone. There is only one bookstore chain left here in LoCal.
Most recently, it is the Home Improvement stores that are closing. Only Home Depot is left.
Most of the Train stores have closed, including the one where I bought most of my Lionel.
But, I will say it is there is still room for a great Train store, if located in the right location, which is what I see in the ones that have survived. In a somewhat upscale area, seems to still work out.
Paul
There’s not many Hobby Shops in my area.. the closest one that does O gauge is in Springfield Ma, and I stopped going there several years back, because they don’t stock any used/affordable equipment anymore, the new stuff is too expensive for my budget, and their service just didn’t feel very friendly to me. Once I learned how to repair my own trains, there was no longer any real reason for me to drop by since it’s roughly an hour away. I absolutely LOVE the environment of a “real” hobby shop- but I generally don’t like to spend big bucks, since my budget isn’t a lot. I just can’t justify $50-80 for a generic freight car, when I have all the skills to just wait for a vintage car I like more, buy a few old cars with some issues, and repair them. In addition, it seems like it’s much harder to find truly ”friendly” service in stores. What ever happened to going out of one’s way to keep a customer? A lot of us forget it, but impressions make a huge difference. I’m generally much more inclined to visit a store with friendly staff, people who seem to really want me to walk out of their store feeling happy and eager to come back again. If there was a local ”Brick and Mortar” hobby shop in my area, particularly if it offered used equipment, I’d certainly visit it regularly, and probably buy something if they had the right item for the right price. But probably not, if they had unfriendly staff.
I remember when I was little, just dying to visit a hobby shop and look at trains, so my dad sat down with the phone book, and we tried calling numbers, but every single hobby shop we found in the book had a dead number.. they had all gone out of buisness 10-20 years ago.
"Unless bought from a known and trusted dealer who can vouch otherwise, assume every train for sale requires servicing before use"
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