Your LHS

[frisco kid]

From the sounds of it or should I say from the replys, I feel lucky here in northeeast Indy. Hobbytown about 5 minutes away is excellent, then on the east side there is the Train Yard(if the owner hasn't lost his health battle) Big Four Hobbies in Plainfield, and the gem up in Lafayette, Hawkins Rail Service, and in  Kokomo I believe their name is the Train Exchange. These are all excellent and most discount on prices. If you are ever near Lafayette, Indiana Hawkins Rail Service it is a must see!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

My favorite haunt is Lin's Junction http://www.linsjunction.com/ in Lansdale, PA.  Great customer service.  DCC experts.   A large selection of scratchbuilding supplies, and craftsman kits.  Most prices discounted 10% off list, plus an extra 5% if you're a NMRA member.  And if they can find it, they will order it for you.

Nick

My Dad hits that place on his way home from work, haven't been but he says its good.  I live in Philly and have access to a shop downtown (3rd and Market) that sells SEPTA (local commuter) decals and has a good selection of equipment though they are pricey. As is the Septa Transit museum store which carries a few sets and other models.  The other LHS in Feasterville, (lower bucks county) is more in the lionel, G and S gauge business but carries some BLI and Marklin and lots of Bachmann stuff.  They do consignment but even then the prices are still stiff for used.

IHC and Bachmann also have their factory HQs in NE Philly about 15 minutes from my house so getting their parts and warranty services are easy.  I have a handful of Spectrum stuff plus the junky stuff from my childhood and can get parts easily.  This came in handy on my Shay which was flat out replaced due to a driveline bind.  It's cheaper to go to the mfg. then to send it back to the seller.

Boscov's gets some nice sets in before Christmas and carries some equipment but not much. The other shop in Bensalem looked like it closed last time I went by (Dave's Trains) mostly G and O-scale there at the time.  Aside from that there are other craft stores in the vicinity for paints and scenery things.

[grayfox1119]

RAY: Now that town of Webster brought back fond memories!! My wife and I stopped at a resturant in Webster, NY on our honeymoon when I was in the Army. It was an Italian resturant as I remember, and it was right on the main highway, on the left side of the road heading East. Is it still there Ray?
The CFO has been asking to go back to the Falls, so I might just stop by that place again, and of course stop at that nice LHS you recommended.

[Cannoli]

I have a few LHS's near me that are decent. The closest is Hobby Emporium in Tyngsboro, MA. They cater to just about everyone, including a decent MR section. The one issue I have with them is that there is really only one "train guy" and he's only there a couple of days a week. There have been several occasions where I've gone looking for a particular part or had a question and one of the guys working there took enough time away from the model tank he was building to hand me the Walthers catalog so that I could find it myself.

My new favorite is Maine Trains in Chelmsford, MA. It's a bit furhter away, still only a 25 min or so drive down the highway. Gerry, the owner, is great to deal with, knows his stuff and the shop is trains only. He also stocks many products that Hobby Emporium doesn't, such as Digitrax decoders. The other shop only carries MRC decoders which I won't touch, but that's a story for another thread.

When I visit my mom, closer to Boston, I go to Charles Ro in Malden, MA. They are also a trains only shop and carry a large selection for just about all scales. I haven't been there in a year or so but when I was a kid that's where I would always pick anything new for my layout.

[csmith9474]

I am fortunate to have Custom Railway Supply here in Colorado Springs. It is a couple of blocks from where I work (which makes every other Friday "dangerous" days). Mike and crew are very knowledgeable and always willing to help and answer questions. He has an excellent inventory, but if he doesn't have it, he will get it for you in quick order. I have been to some shops where the staff won't even lift their head to give a simple "hello", but you get just the opposite here. It doesn't matter whether you are a seasoned modeller, or just starting out, you will get the same excellent service!!

[Pathfinder]

Both Vancouver and Victoria have good shops, but both are 4 hours away (including a 95 minute ferry ride to Vanc).  Happily, the closest is a reasonably good one just 45 mins away, north of us, in Campbell River, called Adventure Hobby Craft..  Next closest is Liesure Time in Nanaimo, and he gets most of my business...in fact, I owe him Cdn $150 for some scenic material he shipped up to me a couple of weeks ago.

I won't purchase any more locos from these guys as they want too much.  But, they sure are handy for supplies.

When I lived in Nanaimo/Qualicum Beach I used Leisure Time exclusively, even when I lived in Victoria (where I grew up).  Now it is only when I am back on the Island.

The bulk of my orders go to Central Hobbies in Vancouver.  Great place to shop for train stuff.  But due to distance, it is almost all mail order now.

I also will pop into Kelly's Caboose in Kamloops now and then, it is my closest at about 90km away.  It is part of a craft mall, so does not have the selection the others do.

[howmus]

RAY: Now that town of Webster brought back fond memories!! My wife and I stopped at a resturant in Webster, NY on our honeymoon when I was in the Army. It was an Italian resturant as I remember, and it was right on the main highway, on the left side of the road heading East. Is it still there Ray? The CFO has been asking to go back to the Falls, so I might just stop by that place again, and of course stop at that nice LHS you recommended.

Would the restaurant be Proietti's Italian Restaurant?  It is on Ridge Road (404) in Webster.  I have never eaten there, but it gets some great reviews.  With the Bay and the lakeshore on Lake Ontario, Webster is a beautiful community.  I live about 50 miles South of there on Seneca Lake, the Trout Capitol of America. If you get down this way, let me know I'll give you a tour of the Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western RR.

[jbloch]

Local hobby shop in the Columbus, Ohio area here is Train Station.  Pretty big selection in HO, which is what I'll be modelling.  Hobbylands in town, one of the guys at my club works for them, though haven't been to the one's he works at on the east side of town which supposedly have a better selection of MRR stuff than the one near where I live.  Problem with the Train Station is as most of you would guess: price, though they are a little below MSRP.  I bought my first loco recently on sale from MB Klein (Stewart Baldwin switcher) for 1/2 off, and two loco purchases in the near future will be about the same, one from an internet store, the other on ebay.  There's just no way the LHS can compete with that pricing; turns out it becomes a little irrelevant since they don't carry my line (Frisco) anyway.  I have too many items to purchase in the future (rolling stock, flextrack, turnouts, etc.) not to make price the priority, and as discussed on other threads, there are enough choices in internet retailers with established reputations that I can't ignore.

Jim

[prospekt mira]

George's is the closest to me but thier selection of N scale is pitiful, under lock and key, and the boxes are misplaced half the time I've asked for something out of the cabinet. There are maybe 10 N scale structures and very little scenic details. They may be friendly but for service with N scale, not helpful. Last time I tried to bring a malfunctioning engine in for service, thier repair guy refused to look at it, he doesn't service N scale engines because he bends the frames too often.

I use Credit Valley in Mississaugua. Excellent N selection, fair prices (for a Canadian LHS), and very friendly. btw I think they have some HO too.

 

 

[SOU Fan]

My LHS would be considered Caboose Hobbies but I don't go there much(about a hour's drive).  I'm starting to go to Hobby Lobby alot more, especially now that thye have N scale firgures,engines,cars,buildings, and a better selection of ground foam(they also have HO scale stuff).  Plus with the 40% off coupon they put out every other week the wallet stays thicker longer.  The clearance section always has a good deal or two.

 

-dekruif

[rghammill]

My local hobby shop is within about 2-3 miles of my house. The Collinsville hobby Shop is his second store (after coming out of retirement) and is almost entirely HO-scale trains. He has some rocket supplies, and a very small selection of N- and O-scale stuff.

He knows his stuff very well. He also know rockets, cars, planes, etc. so he's able to answer questions since he's dealt with them for years, but he doesn't stock any of them except rockets.

He was the one that turned me onto the NH, and being in CT he makes sure he has lots of anything released for the NH. It's a relatively small store, but he'll order anything I'm looking for and gets them within a week or so.

But the biggest advantage is his knowledge. He knows everything, and if there's something he doesn't know, he knows who does. He's always telling me who to call, or where to find somebody to get more information. I think he ran his first store for 30 years, and it shows.

He also really knows the business side to the hobby, which is often hard to find. A lot of folks love the modeling, but don't know how to run a business, or how to find or get something that's hard to find.

So the end result for me is that I do all of my business through him, unless it's something he can't get. His prices are very fair, so I have no complaints. I've been to most of the other stores in the area, and the experiences have varied. The 'bigger' stores often don't seem to have anything more than what he does, just more of the same things.

Randy

[Tracklayer]

I'm very fortunate to have a lot of hobby shops within a 50 mile radius of where i live.

Larry's Hobby Shop is a good hobby shop...lots of stuff.

The Houston Roundhouse has everything and the prices are lower than the competiton.

Papa Ben's Train Place has everything and stuff you wouldn't think they would have. It's the best stocked LHS but a lot of the stuff is pricey.

Spring Hobby Shop has a lot of stuff but it's unorganized. You'll have to dig thru boxes and boxes to find what you're looking for.

There are a few more in the area but they deal with all sorts of hobbies  like cars, boats, and airplanes and their train stuff inventory isn't the best. I don't bother with these sorts of hobby shops unless I need something generic like CA glue or rail joiners, stuff like that.

Same here. However. The guy at Spring Crossing can keep his crap!. He insulted a friend and I by telling us the last time that we were in there that because we purchased so little from him that it wasn't worth the trip... I replied that we had spent all day at all the other train shops in town and that he was the last on our list. I also told him that we had spent hundreds of dollars at the other places and were just about broke. You could see his face turn bright red with anger. Papa Ben's is a great place, and it is indeed way too pricey, but then so is everything else in that part of town... Larry's Hobbies is a good place, though not as much stuff as it use to have, and/but, old Todd is a nice and very helpful guy. My all time favorite is the Round House. I've found a number of rare items and gotten a couple of good deals there. The truth is, most of my stuff comes from ebay and web stores anymore. The older I get the less I like to travel the freeways of Houston.

Tracklayer

[P & LE RR]

My favorite haunt is Lin's Junction http://www.linsjunction.com/ in Lansdale, PA.  Great customer service.  DCC experts.   A large selection of scratchbuilding supplies, and craftsman kits.  Most prices discounted 10% off list, plus an extra 5% if you're a NMRA member.  And if they can find it, they will order it for you.

Nick

this is my store as well... there is nothing negative to say about this place or the people that own it.. if they dont have it they will get it.. .and will be nice the whole time!

[on30francisco]

The LHS in San Francisco is Franciscan hobbies. It is a general hobby shop with a friendly staff but a little anemic for scratchbuilding supplies, non-mainstream modeling supplies, and they charge MSRP. The Train Shop, located about  30 miles south of SF in Santa Clara (just a short commute on Caltrain),  is a dedicated model railroad  hobby shop that caters to all scales, has a great inventory of scratch building and other supplies, has a friendly (well, most are) staff, and sells from 10% to 20% below MSRP. Since I'm into a minority scale and gauge, I buy a lot of my supplies online.