I was hoping to pick up some stuff at Timonium, but except for the Tichy display, the couple dealers that had parts had absolutely no organization, and I would have to physically look at every package of parts in multiple boxes to find what I was looking for.
Ordering online from the individual manufactures or from Fleabay runs into the problem of high prices for shipping which sometimes doubles the price of the part. The big mailorder places don't seem to have a big inventory of these kinds of parts.
Is Walthers the best place to buy a mixture of parts....diesel details, doors, relay shacks, other details? I've never ordered from them before, and I've read there is much they don't bother to stock
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Tichy parts: you can order them online from Tichy. Edit: Nevermind, you said that you dont want to do that.
Dont know how far this is for you.
Assuming you live in Maryland:
M.B. Klein, Inc. 243A Cockeysville Rd. Cockeysville, MD 21030 USA
if you plan ahead with your parts orders, and/or combine with other purchases, almost ALL ebay sellers do combined shipping. Which then makes the $5.00 charge to ship a part in a small box a lot more palatable when you have a half dozen other things that you need in the same box. All our local hobby shops are gone, so I get 95% of what I need online now. Occasionally I'll make a drive to one of the "big cities" where brick and mortar hobby shops still exist.
Well, actually Walthers would be one of the "big mailorder places", along with many others that carry such parts.
I live an hour from Walthers, and they carry a ton of stuff from a huge group of manufacturers, and on their web site, you can see all the manufacturers that they deal with, and look at hundreds of items from them all, or go to the individual suppliers and manufacturers web site, if they have one. The Walthers site will tell you if it's in stock, or not. They also have a great hobby shop.
I buy from various places, including eBay, and I try to group the peices together by seller, so I can make one purchase, from each seller who has what I'm looking for.
I guess if you don't have a LHS close by to order for you, your pretty much going to have to buy like all of the rest of us do. Order and pay shipping.
Mike.
My You Tube
Back when I had an LHS, I would always order through him from Walthers. I'd e-mail the shop the description and item numbers of stuff I wanted, he'd submit the order to Walthers and it would show up a few days later. Then I'd go to the shop and pick it up, with no shipping charge.
The big train shows will have vendors with detail parts. Springfield was great - numerous vendors with well-organized displays. The local shows are hit-or-miss, and none of the stuff is organized at all. Kind of fun to look through the bins, but if you want a specific part, good luck.
Sometimes, though, you just have to pay for the shipping. I like to remember that most of these are very small companies, one-man shows mostly, and by buying direct from them I'm helping to support the hobby.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Keep in mind things change through the era's including the way people dress, something to keep in mind.
Lynn
Present Layout progress
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/p/290127/3372174.aspx#3372174
BigDaddy Is Walthers the best place to buy a mixture of parts....diesel details, doors, relay shacks, other details?
Is Walthers the best place to buy a mixture of parts....diesel details, doors, relay shacks, other details?
That would depend on how you define "best". I certainly do not think they're the cheapest. But I bet they are the most broadly stocked of anyone. It's just that a lot of their broadly stocked stuff does nothing for me/us.
I've never ordered from them before, and I've read there is much they don't bother to stock
I have ordered from them. They do stock a lot. I go to their online website and check stock. Then I call up, because once in awhile, I screw up the online ordering process. With a real person, it's less likely. And more pleasant.
There are times, though, when Walthers says they're out of stock and the manufacturer says they've got the part. Then I have to decide how fast I want the part(s) and if there's an additional cost. One time, fer example, I wanted some Rix concrete block walls. Walthers was out of some, so I called Rix. The owner answered. We had a pleasant few minutes of chat, and he sent me some direct. Or consider Precision Scale. My local shop said if I went through "channels", it would take forever and a month. So I called Precision and they happily took my order and mailed my stuff right away.
Walthers, to me, is another resource. I buy mostly from my local shop. I do occasional direct ordering from manufacturers (say, Tangent, or Mococo). Sometimes Amazon has what I need (like a couple of pairs of trucks to be shipped tomorrow). I even have a parts order in to Athearn.
I am quite happy with Walthers as a supplier.
Ed
BD:
See my PM.
Tom
Hi Henry:
If I am looking for specific parts at a train show I ask the vendor if he has what I want. Most of the time they can pretty much go right to the item, or at least show you which box they are in. My back just won't tolerate bending over and sifting through hundreds of packages.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
BigDaddy I was hoping to pick up some stuff at Timonium, but except for the Tichy display, the couple dealers that had parts had absolutely no organization, and I would have to physically look at every package of parts in multiple boxes to find what I was looking for.
At past shows there has been a dealer in the south hall (left side after entering the main doors) which had a large table full of parts including detail parts like Details West etc. Organization I'm not sure about but if you really want parts, it seem logical to take 20 minutes thumb through a number of the trays. I was able to go through all the DW parts in 10 minutes or so to look for some items I was hunting for at the time.
You also can go directly to the Details West website; Details Associates doesn't have a website although it appears they are still producing parts. I recall seeing a new batch of Details Assoc parts come in stock at MB Kleins in the past month or so. Just go to their website (www.modeltrainstuff.com) search on Details Associates or Details West.
It is true that the parts availability isn't what it used to be and there is probably no magic bullet to easily get everything you need to it will require effort; it's something detailers have been lamenting in recent years, however if you really want/need parts, you will probably just have to commit to the hunt and work on the sources which work best.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Grandt line, SS ltd, Details west, Campbell, A Line, Micro-Engineering, Western Scale Models, Rio Grande Models, Central Valley, Bar Mills etc. The list is quite long.
Caboose hobbies has a very good selection of parts.
It can be tricky just learning about what is out there in terms of certain detail parts: who makes that generator? Window glass etc.....It is a very common scenario to have to go through parts bins looking at individual packages. I have found many cool parts this way, some of which are long OOP. Good luck in the search
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
Some of the detail part makers cater to specialty parts for narrow gauge, steam etc. while others may focus more on 1st & 2nd generation diesels, so it depends on what parts you are after if some of the above parts brands will be of use to the OP. I've looked at some parts lists that made my eye's glaze over because they were for a different genre than what I am into - just something to keep in mind.
hon30critter Hi Henry: If I am looking for specific parts at a train show I ask the vendor if he has what I want. Most of the time they can pretty much go right to the item, or at least show you which box they are in. My back just won't tolerate bending over and sifting through hundreds of packages. Dave
BigDaddyIs Walthers the best place to buy a mixture of parts....diesel details, doors, relay shacks, other details? I've never ordered from them before, and I've read there is much they don't bother to stock
Walthers is the place. They are the wholesaler who supplies the hobby stores so they have the biggest and best selection. I have bought detail parts from them for decades. I have never had any problems. If you buy several items at a time then the shipping will be spread out over those items.
If you don’t want to order from them on line or by mail, bring your shopping list to your favorite hobby shop and they will order it for you.
j.........
Never thought of Bowser. Someone invited me to a well stocked hobby shop in PA. That's what I miss, looking at a board of parts that I didn't know I needed.
Yes I'm cheap and would rather spend the money on gasoline, than postage from 10 different ebay sellers or manufacturers. The bending over a train show table with exhibit hall lighting doesn't work for my back or eyes either. My closest LHS was dealing with a leak in the roof and a landlord with voice mail when I was there this morning. Didn't get a chance to ask the owner anything.
trainnut1250 Caboose hobbies has a very good selection of parts.
I'll second this suggestion. Caboose Hobbies carries virtually all manufactures products. While I have the luxury of shopping in person, their staff is always busy filling on-line orders. When I retire to warmer climates (had a major blizzard today) Caboose Hobbies will be one of the things I'll miss most about Colorado.
Ray