Your LHS

[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.

[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!

[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

[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

[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

[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.

 

 

[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

[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.

[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.

[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!!

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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!!!!!!

[BRAKIE]

NeO6874,Another GOOD shop is the Corner Store in Lorain..Last time I was there(3 years ago?) I stocked up on hard to find detail parts.

http://www.thecornerstore.cc/

[Master of Big Sky Blue]

I know this has been brought up before but what is your nearest LHS like.  Mine in  west Michigan is called the "Pet Palace" (if that gives you any idea of their train selection) They do have trains and scenery supplies, but it is like one of each item on the hook and it is limited. No engines, all ready to roll stock, etc...  The paint they sell is all Testors enamel, not even the model master paints, it is the square glass bottle stuff. The people are so great there and they do their best for what they have. They often tell me stuff can be ordered, but unfortunately it is quicker and cheaper on line. I may buy a cheap car to detail or ballast from time to time just to support business, but not much else. There is a dedicated train shop about 45 minutes away...in the town the railroad still runs through, our line was converted to a bike trail years ago. I guess this makes us as modelers more creative and willing to try new scratchbuilding/inventing...saves some money, too. where I lived before I could go to a full blown train center at lunch from work..on payday.  Dangerous combination!!!  ----Rob   

DO YOU KNOW HOW DESPARATE I AM FOR EVEN THAT RIGHT NOW!!!!????

I have to travel 95 miles to casper to Hobby Lobby for the same general arrangment. I consider my LHS the Walthers Catalog.

James

[SteamFreak]

My LHS is The Model Railroad Shop only a few miles away in Piscataway, NJ, and may be the oldest one in the country. My Dad's oldest brother, who died before I was born, shopped there in the 30's & 40's. It's 99% trains, and mostly HO, but they have the other scales as well. They're crammed to the rafters with just about anything you're looking for. Good NWSL parts selection.

http://www.themodelrailroadshop.com/

I usually buy something when I'm there, but a lot of us just hang around and shoot the breeze. There's another store a little further away in Somerville, which I'll have to scope out one of these days. Several smaller stores in local towns have gone out of business in recent years.

Nelson

 

[metalfrog]

well for me the best in my area would have to be J&L trains of buckner,missouri.his old shop was in parkville,mo.his buckner shop is almost eighty miles from me so he send's my stuff mailorder with a discount.their are a couple of other shops about fifty some miles from me.john at j&L would always let me go behind the counters to look at stuff.all the time i spent in their he would never bug me which was much appreciated.i've been told by other's his shop is awesome.will have to go down their some time when im feeling up to it.terry...........

[Maine Central]

Be glad that you have a LHS....mine closed it's doors for good in May 2005 ( The Hobby Shoppe in Bath, Maine) now the nearest one to me is at least 30 miles from where I live and they are closed sundays(my only day off). So my fleet hasn't grown a bit in a year and a half  

[NeO6874]

I have four (4) in my area and they are all about equal distance from me (30 min.), in opposite directions:

• Depot Train & Hobby (Cleveland) - Decent selection, Forte: Knowledge-base
  
• Wings Hobby (Lakewood) - Good selection, Forte: Scratch-building supplies, huge selection of reference books
  
• Stewart's Hobby (Willoughby) - Good selection: Forte: Tons of Branchline kits
  
• Hobbytown USA (Mentor) - Huge, Forte: Scratch-building supplies

We also have a Michael's about 20 min. away and I'm learning just how beneficial they are to supplies and ideas.

Tom

My closest shop is the Hobbytown USA in Strongsville - and thats about 30 mins away.  Granted taking route 82 doesn't help much. Though the Mentor shop isn't that much farther (albeit the other way). 

Actually, looking at the map, all of these shops are pretty close (30-40min range), although I much prefered the hole-in-the-wall shops in Bedford and Garfield Heights... though that might just be because I could get there by bike or shoeleather before I could drive

Though, at the moment, hobby shops aren't that much of a concern to me.  I'm going to have to get the benchwork and the pink plain installed first

[nbrodar]

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

[Soo Line fan]

Here is mine, P & D Hobby Shop: http://www.pdhobbyshop.com/ They are the best in the area and will special order anything. I have been going there for close to 20yrs. Great selection of BB kits.

 

Jim   

 

[jeffshultz]

In northern Oregon we have a selection of hobby shops and even a couple real train shops.

Although I don't visit it often (it caters to the RC crowd), there is Leisure Hobbies in Salem, which is the closest to me.

In the Portland area there are five train stores of note:

The Hobby Smith
Almost exclusively HO and N scale, with books, videos and a smattering of other scales. He'll order anything and he discounts. 1809 NE 39th Ave., Portland, OR 97212 (1 block North of NE Sandy Blvd.). Take I-84 to the 39th Ave. exit, turn north and keep going straight. Next door to Baskin-Robbins.  http://www.hobbysmith.com

Whistle Stop Trains
Large selection in every scale. Commisions the occasional special run car from manufacturers (usually SP&S). Doesn't normally discount. Weak area is structures, strong areas are HO rolling stock, details and tools. 11724 SE Division St., Portland, Oregon 97266 - a couple miles east of I-205. http://wsor.com

Vic's Trains
Large supply of O-scale stuff, unfortunately this store is aging and doesn't appear able to keep up. Very large O-scale layout in the basement. I wish all stores had the detail parts racks this place has - only Whistle Stop does it better in my opinion. 606 NE Broadway St., Portland, OR 97232 near the Rose Quarter.

Tammie's Hobbies
Located in Beaverton just off Hwy 217, this is a large full service hobby shop. Extensive collection of HO and N scale structures and rolling stock, lots of locomotives. One of my father-in-laws favorite stores. 12024 SW Canyon Road, Beaverton OR 97005 http://www.tammieshobbies.com/

Mainline Trains
Located in Forest Grove, this is the one that I've never made it to - it's out west of Portland a ways and I just don't have many reasons to get out there. Still it has a good reputation in the local modeling community and looks nice from the website. Don't let my not having been there deter you. 2707 Pacific Ave. Forest Grove, OR 97116 http://mainlinetrains.homestead.com/

[CrazyDelmar]

The LHSs near me:

 

Slot & Wing Hobbies (Champaign) :  They specialize in RC Cars & Airplanes. Most of the stuff is used, and dent-scratch.  They do carry Atlas, Bachman, and Proto 2000.

Joes Hobby Barn (Terre Haute, IN) : RC car central here.  Though the have a good selection of blue box kits.

 

Thats it for around here, except for a few shows.

[Anonymous]

We currently have 2 in town. Both have the usual plastic car kits, boat kits, and a whole BUNCH of plastic monsters. One has slot cars out the ears, the other 1/6 scale military shtuff. Both shops have 2 Bachmann Big Hauler sets apiece.... The slot car one has made at least a nod towards HO while the other just has about 4 sets. Either place will take hobby consignments...for a 30% fee. The staff at both places are courteous, but rather slow (and not because the places are busy, either)

We used to have another one, it speciallized in (90%) R/C planes and cars...it went under. If you want one with a decent selection of trains, expect a 2 hour drive.

[MAbruce]

I'm lucky to have a first-class LHS within bicycling distance, although I seldom ride there.  (It's hard to put a piece of flex track in the pocket of those Lycra pants, after all.)  The shop is all trains now, but under the previous owners, it was half trains, half dog-grooming supplies, so I feel your pain.  Now, though, the shop is mostly HO, with a small amount of N and even a bit of O here and there.  Gerry will order anything, which is great when I need some small item from the Walthers catalog, and don't want to pay the shipping charges.  He does decoder installations for the techno-challenged, and there's an 8x8 foot in-store layout for demos, testing and just plain playing with trains.

Bicycling from Bedford?  It must be a rather treacherous ride up Route 4, with a couple of killer hills along both ways!     No wonder you seldom ride there.  

I’ll second Maine Trains, and include Hobby Emporium in Tyngsboro (both HO and a lot of N) and Kens Trains in Sudbury (Exclusively N-scale).   

 

[cwclark]

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.

[howmus]

My closest LHS is right downtown (5 min drive) in Geneva, NY;  Lake City Hobbies.  With the exception of some model rocket supplies and a few other items, it is completely Model Railroad oriented.  Right across the street is another hobby shop devoted to RC Cars and planes so they really don't compete with each other much.  Lake City Hobbies carries locos and equipment in the Finger Lakes Railway colors (I think the only store that carries it) and all the Fallen Flags that ran through Geneva and so does a good business with local hobbyists.  They also give a discount to regular customers and are a great source of information on the hobby.  http://people.clarityconnect.com/webpages2/valley/books.htm

The other LHS I frequent is Empire Northern Models in Webster, NY (Just outside of Rochester).  Tim is also very knowlegable and offers the lowest prices anywhere on a lot of equipment (particularly DCC and Tortioses).  Tim is also an internet dealer and can be found here: http://www.empirenorthernmodels.com/index.htm

[grayfox1119]

I am fortunate to have several good hobby shops within easy driving from my home in central Massachusetts:

The Hobby Shop................Auburn, Ma 5 miles
Tuckers Hobbies .............Warren, Ma 17 miles
Henry's HS ............West Boylston, Ma 12 miles
Lighthouse Hobbies.......Townsend, Ma 32 miles
Shepaug RR Company...Leominster, Ma 15 miles
Maine Trains................Chelmsford, Ma 34 miles

The store in Auburn is very small, and doesn't carry very much, I rate it a 1 star on a scale of 1 to 5. All the others are very good, rating a 3 or 4.