What I`d like to know is how far do you have to travel to a discount train store? I have 1 train shop in my area (Spring Hill Fl) I would have to travel 90 miles to Ocala to get any sought of a decent discount (10-20%) on model railroad equipment and supplies. Not even the big stores in Tampa Fl will sell for anything less than what Walthers charges and we all know that Walthers charges list except when they have a sale. Maybee someone could tell me of a LHS that discounts in my area that is not 90 miles away, because the 180 mile round trip cost me $40 in gas thereby negating the train discount in most cases.
Thank you
Bob D
Bob D As long as you surface as many times as you dive you`ll be alive to read these posts.
K-10 model trains in Maryville Illinois is about 6 miles from my house at the most. He disounts everything and is a pleasure to do business with. I'll be taking the boys there on Sunday to run trains on the huge layout.
http://www.k-10smodeltrains.com/
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
subman wrote: What I`d like to know is how far do you have to travel to a discount train store? I have 1 train shop in my area (Spring Hill Fl) I would have to travel 90 miles to Ocala to get any sought of a decent discount (10-20%) on model railroad equipment and supplies. Not even the big stores in Tampa Fl will sell for anything less than what Walthers charges and we all know that Walthers charges list except when they have a sale. Maybee someone could tell me of a LHS that discounts in my area that is not 90 miles away, because the 180 mile round trip cost me $40 in gas thereby negating the train discount in most cases. Thank you Bob D
If that is the way your local stores feel about, just shop online. I'm all for supporting local hobby shops, but it has to be a two way street.
-George
"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."
There is a fairly-well equipped train store about two miles from home. The store discounts almost all items 10% from MSRP. Also, the owner-operator is an attractive female.
Mark
My closest hobby shop is 75 miles away, and not a discount shop at that. So I do mail order mostly. The closest good train show is 150 miles away, so when I do go there, I have a list and money. And if I do go, I will have a few things in particular that I want, or want to check out.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
The only close one is mostly Lionel and soldiers with a smattering of HO and N (less than 25 cars combined and a dozen engines). They don't discount. Next is Hobbytown with a small train section. The next three are just trains about 20 miles away, but again mostly Lionel and don't discount.
I do mostly mail order these days with some buying at the Great Scale Train Show in Timonium, MD a couple times a year.
Enjoy
Paul
Two hours each way...but it's only open on two days of the year... Oh, you meant other than train shows? There's a great train store near Warren, MA, but it's quite a long drive from here, and there's nothing really in the area that I could use to get my parents to drive me out that way for...
EDIT: Those are the "Discount" ones, the ones I prefer. There is also a great one in Chelmsford, MA; Maine Trains.
Well, My LHS is 5 mins away, and my second one is 20 mins, and my third MB Klien, is 30 mins away
Tjsingle
DISCOUNT TRAIN STORE? DIDN'T THEY GET WIPED OUT BY AN ASTEROID?
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
I have one 5 miles away, one about 20 miles, and a few in Pittsburgh. Depends on what I need on where I go. Lately I have been getting my cars online. Cheaper shipping than it would be to travel to travel to the 20+ miles one.
When I use to live in NC I went to Spencer, NC a few times. They had a nice hobby store there. It was about 1 1/2 away.
"Rust, whats not to love?"
Have fun with your trains
I posted a thread like this last year:
(Having never inserted a link before I hope this works):
http://cs.trains.com/forums/1177581/ShowPost.aspx
-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.
There are plenty of LHS who discount. You don't need the internet to take advantage of this either. A phone call will do the trick -- or email if you want to gett all high tech...
That way you get the discount and you help keep someone's LHS in business. There may be a few who don't want to trouble with mail order, but it's been my experience that most are eager to please if you are a regular customer and always respond to your pre-order pick-up notices.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
CLICK HERE FOR THE CSX DIXIE LINE BLOG
Jason
Modeling the Fort Worth & Denver of the early 1970's in N scale
Robby P. wrote:I have one 5 miles away, one about 20 miles, and a few in Pittsburgh.
I have one 5 miles away, one about 20 miles, and a few in Pittsburgh.
I remember making a twice yearly trip to AB Charles and always liked them. Are they still any good (its been 10 years)? Who else in the city is worth it?
My LHS is Maine Trains in Chelmsford, MA. I've actually ridden my bicycle there on occasion, returning with a turnout in my back pocket. It's only a few miles, and a short diversion on the way home from work.
And speaking of the Walthers sales, did you notice that the Heljan container crane, the one that retails for $750, is available for $549? How many times have you had a chance to get $200 off on something in this hobby? (Not my era, by the way.)
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
In my younger days I visited lots of hobby shops, but these days there are only a handful left and they require a bit of travel hunting fro parking once you get there. So these days I prefer to do my shopping on line. While I may not always get a bargain, I do get good prices and I am free to shop where and when I want. Just show me a train shop where I can shop at 3 AM on a Saturday night dressed in my pajamas. Plus, there is no cost for gas or lost model railroading time.
Irv
MisterBeasley wrote: My LHS is Maine Trains in Chelmsford, MA. I've actually ridden my bicycle there on occasion, returning with a turnout in my back pocket. It's only a few miles, and a short diversion on the way home from work.And speaking of the Walthers sales, did you notice that the Heljan container crane, the one that retails for $750, is available for $549? How many times have you had a chance to get $200 off on something in this hobby? (Not my era, by the way.)
The day I'd spend that much on anything model railroad related is the day my wife would have me committed. As it is I had to convince her that I absolutely had to spend $200 for a DCC setup and some related items so far this month (and yes I realize it's only July 2). But then when I told her with DCC she can run a train at same time as I am, it sort of mollified her.
I'm very lucky here in the Sacramento area, there's two within seven miles of my house in either direction--Bruce's Trains in Sacramento and Railroad Hobbies in Roseville. Bruce's sells largely list price, but he does have some good deals going on revolving stock. And since I'm a 'regular', I usually get a 10% discount on most everything I buy.
Railroad Hobbies sells at 10% below list, so I can get some good deals there, also. And the owner, Mike, really knows what he's doing. He's also got a terrific crew there that know their stuff, and are really customer-oriented.
Both stores have pretty decent stock in all scales--Bruce's is heavier in N-scale (it's Bruce's scale). They also carry TONS of accessories and scratch-building equipment. Darned good stores, both of them.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
I live smack in the middle of nowhere, so the nearest brick and mortar "local" HS is 75 miles away. I can't complain though. I won an item on eBay a couple of years ago, and it turned out that the seller lives in my town, and also happens to be a Walthers dealer. He has no store, and does all of his business through his eBay "store". When I met him to pick up the item i won he gave me the current Walthers catalog and told me if i ever needed anything to give him a call. He offered me 15% off the list AND sale prices and doesn't charge for shipping...needless to say we have become friends
I commented on Page 4 of that other thread, so I won't repeat that here.
There are four LHSs about ten miles from here (Frisco, TX) and another about 20 miles away. Three of them are really small, but very friendly. One specializes mainly in Lionel and Maerklin and has a huge stock of old and used stuff in the back room. I haven't compared their prices to check for discounts, however. A Hobby Lobby just opened two miles away.
Subman, there used to be an LHS in Orlando, FL, but I guess that's not closer than Ocala. Again, I'm not sure about discounts. Are they still there?