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Train shops in the Toledo, Ohio, area...

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  • Member since
    November 2002
  • From: Findlay, Ohio
  • 440 posts
Train shops in the Toledo, Ohio, area...
Posted by danmerkel on Friday, January 25, 2008 8:00 PM

Are there any good train shops in the greater Toledo, Ohio, area any more?  There used to be The Semaphore (closed about 6-8 years ago), J&M (recently retired) and Steve's Hobbies (closed about 2-3 years ago).

Currently, there is Riders which really doesn't have much in the way of trains and Hobbytown USA.  That is probably the "best" that I'm currently aware of but I'm looking for some stuff like a little better selection of kits, scratch building materials and steam locomotive detai parts.

Price doesn't bother me too much.  Unlike a lot of people, I'm happy to have a nice selection of merchandise and am willing to pay for it.

So, if anyone is aware of anything that i've missed, I'd appreciate hearing about it.  That might also include areas within an additional 25-30 miles of Toledo as well, especially to the south as I'm in Findlay.

One of these days, I'd like to start a hobby shop thread with some specific things in mind, but that's another thread.

dlm

  • Member since
    October 2007
  • From: Tennessee
  • 665 posts
Posted by Kenfolk on Friday, January 25, 2008 8:38 PM

Have you looked at MapMuse.com?

 Search under Hobbies and Crafts, then Model Train Shops, then find your area on the map.

 I've found it useful, especially when visiting unfamiliar areas.

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: SE Michigan
  • 922 posts
Posted by fmilhaupt on Saturday, January 26, 2008 8:08 AM

Sadly, Toledo is down to just Rider's and Hobbytown, neither of which has a very broad or deep train selection.

North from there into Michigan, the first two hobby shops with good train selections you'll encounter are Joe's Hobbies in Farmington (about 75 miles from Toledo) and Michigan Model Train Center in Pinckney (about 60 miles from Toledo). Rider's in Ypsilanti is pretty much an OK magazine stop, but they've reduced the train inventory to the point that it's about the same as Rider's in Toledo.

I can't speak for south of Toledo.

-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.
http://www.pmhistsoc.org

  • Member since
    November 2002
  • From: Findlay, Ohio
  • 440 posts
Posted by danmerkel on Saturday, January 26, 2008 8:13 AM

Do you know anything about Rick's Toy Trains on Lewis Ave. and Gladieux on Navarre in Oregon?  Both were listed on MapMuse.

dlm

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: SE Michigan
  • 922 posts
Posted by fmilhaupt on Saturday, January 26, 2008 8:25 AM

Can't say that I know anything about either of those. They're new to me.

 

-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.
http://www.pmhistsoc.org

  • Member since
    February 2001
  • From: Warren, MI
  • 89 posts
Posted by rfross on Saturday, January 26, 2008 10:11 AM
Steve's may have closed their store (I had never been there) but I still see them around some of the bigger metro Detroit area train shows from time-to-time. They always bring along a huge selection of HO stuff - mostly cars and locomotives.
Modeling the Ballard Terminal Railroad (a former Northern Pacific line) in Ballard, a district north of downtown Seattle in 1968, on a two-rail O-scale shelf switching layout. The Ballard Terminal didn't exist in 1968 but my version of the BTRR is using NP power. (My avatar photo was taken by Doc Wightman of Seattle)

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