Normally I’d agree with you but MB Kleins seems to be popular with folks nation wide, so I don’t think they are as eastern concentric as most eastern situated train stores. They normally do stock western items in similar proportion, but most of those sell out fairly quickly. For example, they got in the latest run of D&RGW SD40T-2’s, but they were gone literally within an hour or a few hours of posting. Since their notification system was broken and didn’t work, and I wasn’t checking at “just the right time”, I totally missed out on the most recent run from Athearn - thankfully Caboose Hobbies still had what I needed, albiet at a modestly higher price.
I’ve watched MBK closely for the past 5-6 years and they don’t avoid western roadnames like many eastern LHS’s. Also, I’ve noticed that SP and D&RGW seem to sell out in general, no matter what store I check (geographically), assuming the discount is fairly good.
I haven’t had any problems with Toy Train Heaven but due to the fact they are very slow to ship, and they charge more for shipping, they are lower on my list - I only go to them when other better vendors are out.
I’ve also had good luck with Lombards and of course Caboose Hobbies.
I have had good service from MB Klein, Walthers, Toy Train Heaven, Micro-Mark and The Favorite Spot (An Ebay Retailer). At this point I shop on total price Inc. Shipping among them.
I’ve ordered from Hiawatha Hobbies a couple times - they had some items I wanted that were sold out at less expensive dealers and my experience was good.
I’d also add that Spring Creek Hobbies was great to work with. I was able to pick up around 6 engines engines I needed that were sold out at most other stores and they were great to work with!
You left out some details: what scale do you want to model; what are you looking for {trains, modeling craft supplies for scratch building}; what era you wnat to model; what livery you want to model. etc.
Those things can become VERY important when seeking those items as to who is “best online E-tailer”. WHy? because not ALL carry ALL the train supplies/items you may want/need. You may need to shop around just to find what you are looking for.
Walthers is a great supplier of many things train…in many scales and the HO catalog is always about 1"-1-1/4" think, printed/released annually.They also carry the other comon scales:
One not mentioned yet is wholesaletrains.com They offer lower prices on most train items {i.e. wholesale prices}. They DO sometimes charge higher on the shipping/handling,Key word handling.;
ALL are good. The thing most people argue over is the shipping/handling costs/proceedures of each suppplier. Some charge a flat fee for shipping only; some charge shipping based on actual cost to ship; others charge for handling as well…that includes a person’wages to pull inventory, get a box, peanuts/bubble wrap, pack and lable your package to ship to you, plus the cost of shipping; some offer free shipping on orders over a certain amount.
When I was last in the shipping business UPS charged our agency $4.35 for 1LB of product{ books} and added up fees on top rounded up per nearest pound.That was what, 5 y
I’m N Scale and in this order; M.B. Klein, Caboose Hobbies, Fiffer Hobby Supply. I have found that if you want D&RGW as I do, you better jump on it when you see it or it’s gone. I always keep a close eye on these items. Doug
My largest online supplier is Caboose Hobbies in Denver followed by either Litchfield Station and Tonys train exchange.
Caboose has by far one of the best selection of in stock detail parts of any store I have been to.
They also have a very good selection of everything at reasonable prices.
I do get the majority of my sound decoders from them because I can get speaker and decoder for less that $100.
One thing they don’t have on a regular basis which I get at litchfield station is 100 packs of intermountain wheelsets. Since i do block detection and signalling I make resistor wheels etc for every car and every car has metal wheels.
Tony trains have everything else I need in terms of DCC supplies namely rrcirkits product from my block detection system.
I use three online shops; for different reasons, although I spend serious $$ at each every year.
I love the fact that M.B.Klein (ModelTrainStuff) has an online inventory tool that shows me whether an item I want is in stock, and how many they have in hand. I’ll admit that I have been the guy who buys the last piece of stock…
I use Caboose Hobbies in Denver, primarily for their advance reservations. I’ve got 4 Athearn Topeka cab Geeps on reserve; and they let me make payments towards the reservation. Hopefully, when they arrive, they’ll be paid for.
I use Tony’s Train Exchange for DCC; mainly decoders…