I was wondering if there were any good online stores to buy LGB and Aristocraft products and track.
Any help appreciated.
There are a number of reliable online stores. Ridgeroad Station and Trainworld to name a few. I have dealt with both and have had no problems. Be wary of those that ship usng DHL etc. The shipping costs using these systems are expensive. We don’t really know where you are writing from and there could be someone in your backyard. Regards, Dennis.
I have used Charles RO, of Malden, MA for several years. Their prices aren’t bad and they ship fairly quickly. This is also the home of USA Trains. http://www.charlesro.com/ Wholesale Trains is my second choice. Once again, prices are not bad, but they take a little longer to ship. http://wholesaletrains.com/ These two companies are acurate with what they have in stock. I’ve had problems with a few others that let you think they have something, but after a month, you find out they are out of stock. LGB is getting harder to find, so good luck.
Do yourself a favor, whoever you chose, pick up the phone and CALL them to confirm stock is at hand and can be shipped.
More than a few here have been burned by poorly maintained website advertisments stating an item is on-hand, only to find the item hasnt been on stock for 2 months and they have no idea when it will be back in stock.
Most places like Trainworld and St Aubins Station dont say whether an item is in stock or not, they just list a stock #, some like Ridge Road Staion, Wholesaletrains.com at least state whether its in stock or not, Wholesale even lists whether it ships next day, in 3 days, or is available but needs to ordered from the manufacturer.
There are a number of good online stores around the country but it would help to know where you live. Shipping charges, especially for heavy items like track, can be pretty pricey and you can save some dough ordering from someone closer to you.
-Brian
I’ve done well over the years with St. Aubin there in Ill. delt with Tom quite a-bit.
Pretty much purchased all of my Aristocraft stainless steel track from them, as well as a number of USA streamliner passenger cars.
Aristocraft Trains are also very fine people to deal with directly, never a problem with warranties or anything there, as you will have with some others already mentioned…
Byron C.
I would like to add internettrains to the listing of reliable suppliers. They post "available/ on order/ and have a “wish list” that allows spouse/kids to see what you want. In the last 4 years I’ve been dealing with them, their “available” listing has been accurate. Back ordered goods have been billed as sent. One very pleasant experience with them, several years ago, I backordered ordered 2 “tubes” of LGB flex track. Then my wife changed her mind and told me to order 2 more “tubes”. Since this was duplicating part of a pending order they sent a e-mail the very next day warning me that I was duplicating the order. When I confirmed that it was not a duplication but in fact a seperate order all went well.
Hi Railroader,
Minus 5 hours GMT puts you in the CT zone I guess.
Good reports this side of the pond are for G Scale Juction, Jim the new owner, who is in Newark OH and RLD Hobbies (who does quite a few special runs) is in Albion IL plus the ones mentioned by the other guys.
Do spend a while looking at the dealers web sites: it is surprising how prices differ, and who knows sometimes what you want is on offer.
Do you read Garden Railways magazine? If you do you will see lots of dealers listed in the US and Canada.
Uplandtrains.com has done well with me. Jim and John do a great job keeping their prices below even St. Aubins. Their website isn’t much but give them a call and they tend to work well in getting you what you want.
I’ve had good luck calling St. Aubins, Las Vegas getting same week delivery if I call Monday. If they don’t have it they will send it from Ill. Also Train World has been good. I’ve also had good service ording parts directly from both Aristo and USA Trains. I also want to put in a word for the LHS, they carry those little things the big guys don’t want to bother with. If we don’t support the good ones they will be gone. I live in the biggest city (900pop) in the next to smallest county in Califorina (3600pop) and keep a supply of parts/stuff on hand from LHS. When I mail order rolling stock for example I retrofit couplers and metal wheels from my LHS supply.
Have fun, Rob
Arg… Waited 3 months for Wholesaletrains site to say they have Hartland D&RGW RPO instock, ordered it and a few other things a few weeks ago… package showed up today with everything except the RPO, its listed on the receipt as quanity ordered 0 with no charge… would have been nice if they atleast said it wasnt instock in the order conformation emails…
Had a simmiler experance with StAubins, atleast the other stuff i ordered from there showed up in a couple days… though they still have yet to return any of my emails about anything
I like Ridge Road Station if you order somthing that happens to not be instock they email & call you plus shipping is only a couple days and like others have said they keep there site updated very well as far as items instock go