Hobby Hut in Elmira, NY, was my first hobby shop. It was a full-line hobby shop owned by a teacher friend of Dad's. My first two Athearn blue box cars (D&H hopper, PC boxcar) came from there. They closed in the mid-'80s. My first train shop was Charlie Farmer's store in Pine City, complete with outdoor tracks and a layout inside, in a room adjacent to the store. Charlie sold out to Don Barcus (sp?), who moved the store up behind the mall in Horseheads. Years later, I started going to English's on Elmira's south side, which was bought out by an employee and became Altoona Shops in Horseheads; when I wasn't there, I was at Lackawanna Station in Corning/Painted Post, English's mother ship in Montoursville, PA, or Central Hobby in Syracuse, with occasional trips to Tommy Gilbert's in Gettysburg. All of them are gone as retail establishments now except Tommy's, and I sadly haven't been there in 15 years.
I remember WWW as my youngest is an Aggie. Always stopped in and found some things when visiting CS.
SB
Arjay: Thanks for being part of the best three years of my life. WWW was a dream job, but with a wife and two little kids, not financially sustainable. But so many good memories. Falling weimaraners, one-man helicopter kits, how you got the "laughing hippie" nickname, top ten lists, Gengkis Khan, Saturday mornings with the gang, and so many, many more. I should write a book...
The first places I bought "model" train supplies were Gemco (limited selection of Tyco trains), Toys by Roy in Parkdale Mall, and Toys-R-Us, all in Beaumont, TX.
Fast worward a few years, and my family moved from Beaumont to Bryan/College Station, TX. There were a couple of toy stores in the local mall but not much of a selection. Fortunately we did have a local hobby shop called Keyser's Hobbies. There was another shop in College Station for a while catering to trains only (I want to say it was called J&J Hobbies), I bought my one and only HO standard gauge MDC Steam engine kit from there.
Fast forward to the early 1990s, and I was spending a lot of time at Keyser's so they put me to work. At that point I met a man who would go on to be a good friend, who decided to open a hobby shop called Whistles, Wings and Wheels. He put me to work there too!
Sadly, we haven't had a good hobby shop here since WWW closed down. There has been Hobby Lobby and a couple of tries at HobbyTown franchises, but nothing has stuck.
Robert Beaty
The Laughing Hippie
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The CF-7...a waste of a perfectly good F-unit!
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the
end of your tunnel, Was just a freight train coming
your way. -Metallica, No Leaf Clover
richhotrain Mister Mikado ho for us kids was like the rite of passage into teenage manhood, and the lionel kid stuff stayed in the closet. -rob Same for American Flyer, but as an adult, the American Flyer came out of the closet. Rich
Mister Mikado ho for us kids was like the rite of passage into teenage manhood, and the lionel kid stuff stayed in the closet. -rob
ho for us kids was like the rite of passage into teenage manhood, and the lionel kid stuff stayed in the closet. -rob
Same for American Flyer, but as an adult, the American Flyer came out of the closet.
Rich
I never had American Flyer or Lionel. I became an active HO modeler at age 10.
Sheldon
Alton Junction
this is one of the best threads ever. i grew up in the bronx ny in the 1950s. my dad started getting me lionel when i was seven, adding on more accessories every Christmas, dont know where he bought them (or where santa got them). but when i was twelve me and friends transitioned to ho and my mother brought me to honigs hobby on white plains road near pelham parkway where i picked out a revell ho train set. ho for us kids was like the rite of passage into teenage manhood, and the lionel kid stuff stayed in the closet. -rob
trwroute drgwcs Thank you for filling in a couple of holes in my memory. I had relatives in Arlington and remembered going into the Hobby Hub as a kid. I also remember going into the one at Seminary South with the multi scale wedding cake layout. Was there a hobby shop in Hulan Mall too or am I confusing that with Seminary South? Toys by Roy had a couple of locations in Oklahoma too. They had one in Crossroads Mall in OKC that was pretty neat. I remember drooling over some of the original Atlas engines that were at that time as a kid out of my price range. I do remember looking there and then finding a few trains on after Christmas clearance at JC Penney there Tyco but hey they were a buck. I think Toys by Roy also had a store in Woodland Hills in Tulsa briefly but that was not there long and that was about the time the one in Crossroads closed. I was surprised to see one in 1993 when we went to a mall in the Metroplex (but I can't remember which one) That was long after the ones in OK had closed. Such good memories! There was a hobby shop, Whistle Stop, in Hulen Mall when the mall first opened. It was on the upper level near the main mall entrance. Whistle Stop had moved from their first location in West Cliff Center close to TCU. In 1993, the only Toys by Roy that could have still been open was the Ridgmar Mall location. Such a cool store. I put an N scale Bachmann 0-6-0 with tender in layaway there when I was 12 or 13. I did find this some time ago in an old yellow pages. I confirms that both Hobby Hub locations were open at the same time.
drgwcs Thank you for filling in a couple of holes in my memory. I had relatives in Arlington and remembered going into the Hobby Hub as a kid. I also remember going into the one at Seminary South with the multi scale wedding cake layout. Was there a hobby shop in Hulan Mall too or am I confusing that with Seminary South? Toys by Roy had a couple of locations in Oklahoma too. They had one in Crossroads Mall in OKC that was pretty neat. I remember drooling over some of the original Atlas engines that were at that time as a kid out of my price range. I do remember looking there and then finding a few trains on after Christmas clearance at JC Penney there Tyco but hey they were a buck. I think Toys by Roy also had a store in Woodland Hills in Tulsa briefly but that was not there long and that was about the time the one in Crossroads closed. I was surprised to see one in 1993 when we went to a mall in the Metroplex (but I can't remember which one) That was long after the ones in OK had closed.
Thank you for filling in a couple of holes in my memory. I had relatives in Arlington and remembered going into the Hobby Hub as a kid. I also remember going into the one at Seminary South with the multi scale wedding cake layout. Was there a hobby shop in Hulan Mall too or am I confusing that with Seminary South?
Toys by Roy had a couple of locations in Oklahoma too. They had one in Crossroads Mall in OKC that was pretty neat. I remember drooling over some of the original Atlas engines that were at that time as a kid out of my price range. I do remember looking there and then finding a few trains on after Christmas clearance at JC Penney there Tyco but hey they were a buck. I think Toys by Roy also had a store in Woodland Hills in Tulsa briefly but that was not there long and that was about the time the one in Crossroads closed. I was surprised to see one in 1993 when we went to a mall in the Metroplex (but I can't remember which one) That was long after the ones in OK had closed.
Such good memories!
There was a hobby shop, Whistle Stop, in Hulen Mall when the mall first opened. It was on the upper level near the main mall entrance. Whistle Stop had moved from their first location in West Cliff Center close to TCU.
In 1993, the only Toys by Roy that could have still been open was the Ridgmar Mall location. Such a cool store. I put an N scale Bachmann 0-6-0 with tender in layaway there when I was 12 or 13.
I did find this some time ago in an old yellow pages. I confirms that both Hobby Hub locations were open at the same time.
Thanks for the info- we did go to Ridgemar that trip so that must have been the Toys by Roy that was still open. Always wondered how many total stores they had as there is no info out there on them it seems. Part of me was thinking that they had one briefly when Quail Springs opened in OKC but I think I may be confusing that with Woodland Hills in Tulsa.
Jim
drgwcs Ok this thread got me thinking and figuring in my head- I have been to at least 92 hobby shops around the country. (I didn't count anything that had little to no trains) I did travel a lot so that helps. Many of these are gone over the past 40+ years. (I started this when I was about 13 so I'm not that old guys.... ) Jim
Ok this thread got me thinking and figuring in my head- I have been to at least 92 hobby shops around the country. (I didn't count anything that had little to no trains) I did travel a lot so that helps. Many of these are gone over the past 40+ years. (I started this when I was about 13 so I'm not that old guys.... )
Got refiguring and I had forgotten a few and totaled it up to 99. Well yesterday on our way back to VA from family in Indiana I went by The Smoke Stack Hobby Shop in Lancaster Ohio and officially hit 100 hobby shops. Nice shop by the way. Picked up a few things. (and my wife got to do some Christmas shopping too!)
Chuck - Modeling in HO scale and anything narrow gauge
In Coos Bay, Oregon there was a well stocked train shop that closed just as I was getting past train set junk, and into the real hobby, in '77. I Got my first Athearn there, GP 35
So,the next closest real shop was Eugene's Toy and Hobby, 120 mile drive. I'm still on a first name basis there, and still about the same distance, but from Bend.
Coos Bay had a little country type convenient store back then for a while that sold AHM. Got my first steam engine there, AHM Genoa.
Both locos lost in a shed fire. Dan
drgwcs maxman drgwcs Maybe I should not have said that. I wasn't trying to sku the thread into a hobby shop closing thing. I was just observing that perhaps they were closing because of your visits. oh I get it.......
maxman
drgwcs Maybe I should not have said that. I wasn't trying to sku the thread into a hobby shop closing thing. I was just observing that perhaps they were closing because of your visits.
drgwcs Maybe I should not have said that.
I wasn't trying to sku the thread into a hobby shop closing thing. I was just observing that perhaps they were closing because of your visits.
oh I get it.......
I try not to blame myself, but when I think about it, I can come up with at least 5 or 6 hobby shops I used to go regularly - until they closed.
Being from San Antonio myself the first post of this wonderful thread had me thinking a lot about the SA hobby shop scene over the last 63 years. I was born and lived in SA from 1960-1984. I still visit quite often as the in- laws still live in Boerne.
Ces and Ronnies is still a big regret for me as my parents would never take me in despite the facts we passed it quite often taking my Dad to work at the TV station downtown in which he worked as a TV engineer. I even remember the train running around the front a couple of times.
Finally in '75 I got my motorcycle license and on a Kawasaki dual purpose 100 headed out to see it. Well it was to late and had closed. So I headed down Hildebrand to the other side of town and discovered Dibbles Hobbies on Donaldson near Jefferson High School. Great place, models in front trains in back. Good news is it is still thriving as the only shop in town that has a large train selection.
That motorcycle and my Grandmothers 60 Studebaker Lark I inherited allowed me to explore the rest of the SA hobby shops over the years.
There was Hobby Heights on Broadway, a neat little store in Alamo Heights packed with mostly scale military models and rockets. Long gone.
Used to be a fairly large store on N Fredericksburg Rd run by a family where I purchased a lot of three rail MTH stuff in the 90's and 2000's. Also closed.
I also remember a Dick's Hoby Shop over in Terrell Hills in Terrell Hills shopping center out Austin Highway. It had been there I know since the 60's. But it was very big on model trains of all scales even repaired them. I remember discovering and buying quote a few Walthers freight car kits there in the late 80's. He moved over to Broadway and Alamo Heights sometime n the 2000's but closed up not long after.
My first actual HO locomotive I bought was from the Kiddie City Toy store at the edge of my neighborhood fronting IH 410. It was a Tyco GP40 that I painted up for a MKT green and yellow locomtive. The RR my Grandfather worked 50 years for and I still model. Kiddie City was a large size Toy Store chain in SA that carried quite a bit of Hobby stuff. My Mom also bought me my first Hot Wheels set there in 1968.
Despite being a large important Railroad hub, SA train shops like anywhere have had a hard time competing with the internet. I know of at least three other shops that have attempted the model train market down there n the last 30 years that did not last long. I think the key to Dibbles long lasting success is the very friendly and personal service you just don't find anymore. The shop is also jammed with stock as well as treasures you don't find just anywhere. Their prices are also fair as well.
I recently retired from teaching High School after 37 years and in my last few years my students would occasionally ask me what differences I missed the most from my childhood and teen years. Most of the readers here can relate that it was variety and color. The real world was our internet. Today in the central TX town I have lived since '84 everything is litterally beige stucco or beige rock And very little signage anywhere. I miss the colorful neon signs and variety of architectural designs and paint. Oh well, time marches on I guess. Thanks for letting me ramble.
In reply to the posts about the shop n Paducah KY. and the Ferrari out front rang a bell.
I know who u r talking about but cannot remember his name. Very friendly and talkative guy that used to have a shop in the DFW area, maybe Plano? He also was a very frequent dealer at all the Texas trainshows. Always seemed to have Ferrari prices though.
Also I bought my Hallmark Katy Mikado from Cooks passing through Shreveport n the late eighties. Great place. I want to remember a 1/1 caboose out front?
Real model railroad dedicated hobby shop?
Cooks Trains - Shreveport LA
He had a room full of brass, 1st time I had seen any besides on the mags.. unfortunately Lew passed away in the 90's, no more shop.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
My first Hobby Shop was Hobby Horse at Capitol Court in Milwaukee,WI
They moved at least two times . Sadly they closed I think in the 1990's
CHARTER MEMBER OF THE MILWAUKEE FALLEN FLAG MODEL TRAIN CLUB . I COLLECT HO, N , O-3rail & On30 Trains & run them ! I Use KATO HO & N scale Track . I also Use Lionel Fast Track ! I change track layouts Often !
maxman drgwcs Maybe I should not have said that. I wasn't trying to sku the thread into a hobby shop closing thing. I was just observing that perhaps they were closing because of your visits.
drgwcsMaybe I should not have said that.
maxman drgwcs I have been to at least 92 hobby shops around the country. Many of these are gone. I see a pattern developing here.
drgwcs I have been to at least 92 hobby shops around the country. Many of these are gone.
Many of these are gone.
I see a pattern developing here.
Maybe I should not have said that. Did not intend to sku the thread that direction. Over a 40 year span a lot will change that was my point. For that matter one of the first train stores I got to go in was Campbell's hobby house in OKC back in the late 70s as they were having a closing sale.
The first hobby shop I can remember is going with my Dad to Forest Park Hobby Shop here in Kokomo, they carried everything to do with hobbies, kind of like a mini Hobby Lobbys but with a small train department at the back. We also had a Ben Franklin five and dime. I bought lots of AHM/Rivarossi stuff there with my allowance and yard mowing money. My first engine I bought on my own was one of the USRA 0-6-0(simplified version). I always admired the AHM O scale kits, but they were beyond this boys means back then. Not anymore!
trwroute Tin Can II I rode my bicycle to the New York Avenue store when I was in 4th & 5th grades; that was in the 67 - 69 time frame. I remember the move to 303 & Cooper; went in that store many a time in the 80s as a young adult with disposable income. There was also a train counter at Roy's Toys in the Forum mall for a while. Maybe Hobby Hub had the two locations at the same time? I just remember going to the Arlington location after the Fort Worth one closed. Yep; Toys by Roy in Forum 303 Mall and Ridgmar Mall in Fort Worth. Loved those stores! We also frequented Woolworth on 303 in Arlington for inexpensive AHM stuff. Great times. This was during the early to mid 70's when I was around 10 years old.
Tin Can II I rode my bicycle to the New York Avenue store when I was in 4th & 5th grades; that was in the 67 - 69 time frame. I remember the move to 303 & Cooper; went in that store many a time in the 80s as a young adult with disposable income. There was also a train counter at Roy's Toys in the Forum mall for a while.
I rode my bicycle to the New York Avenue store when I was in 4th & 5th grades; that was in the 67 - 69 time frame. I remember the move to 303 & Cooper; went in that store many a time in the 80s as a young adult with disposable income. There was also a train counter at Roy's Toys in the Forum mall for a while.
Maybe Hobby Hub had the two locations at the same time? I just remember going to the Arlington location after the Fort Worth one closed. Yep; Toys by Roy in Forum 303 Mall and Ridgmar Mall in Fort Worth. Loved those stores!
We also frequented Woolworth on 303 in Arlington for inexpensive AHM stuff. Great times. This was during the early to mid 70's when I was around 10 years old.
My train shop was more than that. It was an introduction to many different hobbies. I tried some and enjoyed them. It was a way to expand my horizons. I bought a couple of slot cars and went to the shop to race them. After a while, I got into gas-powered airplanes, the kind you flew around in a circle with a couple of lines. I wasn't gòod at flying, but I got good at fixing planes, mostly with glue.
But, I always came back to trains.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
up831.... and finally McDowell's Craft Shop.
I thought McDowell's was a burger place.
I grew up in the small town of Covington, VA. We had a store, Barr's Critters, Crafts and Cards. They sold a few hobby things as well. My first train was the Tyco 638 Chattanooga. Not sure if it came from there or not. But they had a sale after the flood of '85 for stuff that couldn't be sold as new, damaged packaging, etc. My mom took me up there. I came out with 4 Bachmann C&O diesels, cars, transformers, track, etc. I still have it all. The Bachmanns are down to two working units, as they suffer from cracked gears. I've combined and repaired pieces to make two units work. More sentimental reasons than anything, as DCC is far superior. I don't have room for a proper layout, so I've been out of the train game for a very long time, as in since before DCC. Needless to say, I wish DCC was a thng when I was a kid. I'm currently collecting a few things, way more than I need however. With the goal of setting up a wall mounted track setup for a couple trains in my den. I'm trying to replicate the the "Shenandoah Valley Limited" That the Virginia Museum of Transportation and the Virginia Scenic Railway recently ran featuring the N&W 611. I also have my dad's Lionel childhood train that I'd like to setup on the second track.
My first real hobby shop was St. Clair's Hobby Shop in Salina when I started building Athearn YB kits and got into HO. Then was Larry's Hobbyland and finally McDowell's Craft Shop. All of those shops were gone before 1970.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)