Hi All,
I am new (again) to model railroading and am wondering where is the best place to buy trains/cars/locomotives. Is there a preferred palce?
Hobby Shop.
Russ isn’t being snarky, there is an advantage of having a local place where you can pick up an odd ball size Kadee coupler, paint, CA, or browse and buy things that you didn’t know were available.
I think the biggest online retailers are Modeltrainstuff and Trainworld. There are others, Caboose Hobbies, which recently took a political stand, Mainline Hobbies, MidwestModelRR, Star Hobbies, my local shop, Trainz, factory direct trains.
The preferred place is one that shows me they have, what I am ordering, in stock, for the lowest price.
There is one place to avoid, and I can’t think of the name. It does not have model railroad in the name, the name sounds like a general hobby store. They claim to have it in stock, but do not, charge your credit card and you wait, maybe forever.
Welcome, Steffen. This forum is a great place to get advice and help on just about any model RR problem you may have. Also, we’re interested in what you have planned for your layout, what scale, etc.
It sounds like you have been in the hobby before. If so, my advice doesn’t mean as much.
However, if you are brand new, like I was, then there’s probably no substitute for a model train hobby shop.
I was able to take problems I was having there, and they showed me, step by step, how to correct them. I specifically remember the owner took 45 minutes to show me how to take apart an N Scale locomotive, how to lubricate it if necessary, how to change couplers, etc. Those were things that I probably would not have understood by watching Youtube.
Would that be Internet Trains? I did order something from them back in 2005 that they actually had in stock at a very good price and I received it in a timely manner. Most of time, however, they don’t have much inventory and probably have things drop-shipped to the customer from wherever they order their stock from.
Tom
Many will say from your local hobby shop but, I would rather saved $30-50.00 from a on line shop and use that extra money for other needed items. In short there is no need to pay full MSRP these days.
As a example last March I bought two $50.00 boxcars for $84.00 with free shipping. I had no need to drive 65 miles (130 mile round trip) to buy those cars at full or 10% off MSRP.
Another down side to hobby shops is that decades old excuse “I don’t have one in stock,I can order it for you” or “I didn’t recieve my preorder” or that “My preorder was short several fill the blank”.
I can use 2 on line shops and e-Bay and get the items I need including paint,decals and detail parts.
No it did not sound like a train store, Action hobbies, power hobbies or RC sports, none of those are it, but we had a thread on it in the last 3 months.
I tried searching the word “review.” The search engine now seaches personal profiles on Trains.com. There are dozens of people whose profiles are just ads for bitcoin, male ED drugs, essay writing services and coffee grinder reviews. I did not find the relavant thread.
This is where I buy:
Locomotives:
BrassTrains Dot Com
Colonial Photo and Hobby (Orlando)
Rapido… if they ever let me
Freight Cars:
Direct from Kadee
eBay (most of what I want is out of production)
Model Train Stuff (online)
General Hobby Supplies:
Gulf Coast Model Railroading (Sarasota)
Model Train Stuff (online)
-Kevin
HobbyLinc?
I shop at my local train stores. Once you know what is out there and what values are then the Internet can work for you.
I do know that train retailers generally know all about internet pricing and availability. Most have online shopping options also and some are internet vendors in their own right.
My local train store sells over eBay and if I happen to see one if their units there I can just call them directly and they’ll set it aside for me.
They’ve never done me wrong.
Internet Hobbies, though, has and I’m pretty sure that’s the one in question.
All the good local hobby shops are gone in most places, we have left Trainworld which has fantastic prices on their special buys and Modeltrain stuff. There are others too. I live in an area of 8 million and only two train shops remain, both of which the owners have a bad attitude.
No you guys made me go back through the posts, it was Action Powersports
Now’s not the time, but train shows can be great once they start having them again.
I’m also a big fan of the local hobby shop, although mine closed, then I moved, so I don’t have one.
Time was after the end of my railroading career you could find me every Saturday morning at a LHS until it closed due to the owner’s health issues. I even worked part time in a shop until the owner retired in 2004.
I finally gave up on hobby shops due to the ever increasing MSRPs and better the discounts found on line shops…
I suspect if there was a well stocked hobby shop near me I would go there for the few items I need and for the needed Accurail car kits.
There are advantages, as mentioned above, and disadvantages as well. Over the past 50 years, on the average, I’ve found most local hobby shops charge quite a bit more for trains and being on a limited budget, I found it very helpful to find sources that sold at a discount. If you can afford the extra cost - by all means - local hobby shop. If you are tight for money, here are two suggestions for online purchases I use:
LombardHobbies
Yankee Dabbler is a pretty good place.
I’ve ordered from Trainworld a few times and had good service.
I would call them Caboose hobbies with a lower case h, as they are not the same store as the long popular Caboose Hobbies, which closed in 2016. Caboose, as they are called opened in March of 2017 with a new owner and as of some months ago were in financial difficulty and started a Go-Fund-Me site in April. Some have complained they put orders in and have gotten no action and put in disputs with their CC company or PP to get their money back. Add to that, as mentioned above, they have injected politics into their public statements. I’m not sure if they have even re-pened for buisiness yet after closing “until further notice” some months ago during the pandemic. Tread cautiously.
Being in Staten Island Trainworld has become both my LHS and my go to internet supplier when I don’t want to pay the toll to get off the Island. Good customer service decent prices and same day pick up if I ever need it.
Usually though I just wait till I want several items and send one order to save on shipping charges.
It really depends on your location, what you’re buying and how deep is your pocket. I have access to a hobby shop, and I will only avoid it when the price is way higher than online. I don’t mind paying some premium because there are things I am paying for, that is, instant access, advice, easy return and… ongoing direct access. There are a few REALLY good hobby shops only a few hours away that I will go to two or three times a year.
So, if you say the area where you live, some of the forum members may have recommendations for shops more or less near you. Would also good to know what you are modeling… Doesn’t mean you have to buy all your stuff there, but a few special trips a year can be worth it.
Simon
Used to be, we had train shows, at which all sorts of dealers, clubs, individuals, would sell all sorts of stuff. Prices could be very good indeed, and you could see and touch the product before buying it. Too bad Corona virus has shut the all the train shows down. Maybe they will come back in a while? Much of the stuff on my layout came from train shows.
Then there is Walthers. Big distributor and they sell over the internet. They have everything. Prices are not bad. Walthers is reliable, give them your credit card and they will ship, not problem there.
If you have a hobby shop near you they are great places for bits and pieces like couplers and paint and styrene and brass and wire and etc. They also have locomotives and rolling stock. Hobby shop prices are a bit high, but they will fix stuff that does not work when you get it home. I miss the Littleton hobby shop that has been gone for 10 years. My closest hobby shop now Hartmann’s in Intervale. an hours drive away and looks to be going out of business slowly. I will miss them too.
I have had good luck with Bobthetrainguy in South Carolina.