Hi,
I’m on temporary assignment in the Los Angeles are for the next few months.Can anyone recommend a shop that stocks better N scale trains(Kato,Athearn,Atlas)that has a good selection and doesn’t ask MSRP.
Lastly,Any good train shows in the next few months?
THANKS EVERYONE!!!
Allied Model Trains, in Culver City, the Orginal Whistle Stop in Pasadena to name but 2, there’s also the Roundhouse in West LA and one that eludes me at the moment in Bellflower!
As to shows, i’m not aware of any, we seem to be the outcast when it comes to organized MRR events!
Dave
The Great Train Expo Dec. 10 LA. County Fairgrounds Pomona. 10:00 AM $ 7 entrance but $9 to park which just kills me.
Rick: I’ve been shopping the Los Angeles area stores (although i live in the OC to the south) for 25 years. I don’t know of ANY that don’t use MSRP. Depending on where you are in LA, you might want to check out Milepost 38 in Anaheim, Arnies in Westminster and Train Crossing in Costa Mesa. All have good stock of Kato, Atlas and Athern. There’s a new place in Bellflower, but i haven’t been there yet, the owner though is a well known local modeler.
What i’ve noticed is that each shop caters to a slightly different type of clientele and carries different products. Milepost 38 is excellent for engines, microtrains cars and DCC. Along with a knowledgeable staff, but they don’t carry anything out of the ordinary, and very few kits. Full price for everything though.
Arnies also has a good selection of locos, but no roads west of Omaha, a few “standard” kits, and a good selection of rolling stock. Fairly good DCC inventory. Full price for everything though.
Train Crossing is an interesting shop. They carry Kato, Atlas locos and rolling stock, as well as a lot of strucuture kits and unusual detail, parts and other stuff you rarely see in any of the other stores. No DCC supplies. Full price for everything though.
Best bet for below full price is on the internet or train shows. Fairgrounds in December, Anahiem Convention Center in January.
Owen
Burbank’s House of Hobbies (www.houseofhobbies.com) is a multi-hobby store in Burbank, but 100% of their model train inventory is N scale.
They advertise at MSRP, but will have sales fairly often (they just had one last month where EVERYTHING was 35% off!!! (I scored a Kato SD70ACe)…
Their web site orders, however, are discounted. If you saw an item on the website and mention the website price at the counter, they will discount the item to the website price.
Arnie’s Trains down in Orange County has perhaps the best N-scale stock of all the hobby stores in town, second place would be The Train Shack in Burbank. Arnie’s does have occasional sales though, and some locos are sale priced.
Too bad you’re not here during the Belmont Shore club swap meet (it just passed a month ago). Their swapmeet is about 60-80% N scale items.
There’s another Great Train Expo on the first weekend of January at the Anaheim Convention Center which is even bigger and better (I do believe it’s the largest GTE show of the year). Parking is $10 but you can find free street parking in the neighborhood (just not where it’s restricted), about 3 blocks away.
Thanks for the information.I will make the rounds to some of the shops on weekends. When I am home,I have to do all of my buying on the internet and e-bay. On the East coat seems like nearly all the shops are at least 10-20% off MSRP and even more so on the net.
I plan on making the Pomona show and the Anaheim show. Will also be up in Santa Clara to see relatives and I can attend the show there on the 26th. I’m pretty sure I’ll find some deals there!
Thanks everyone,
Rick
Go to RESOURCES at the top of this page, then click on Events. You can sort them by state or put in your zip code and a mileage. You can do this with Model RR Groups and Hobby Shops to find other things in your area.
Good luck,
Richard
I made it out to Milepost38 in Anaheim and Train Shack in Burbank. Both were friendly, well stocked shops. I saw several items I would buy immediately on the spot if the prices were competitive (10-25% off MSRP) with the brick and mortar mid western and eastern shops I shop in.
There are several more shops I plan on checking out.One does advertise discounted prices!
Rick
Rick: You covered a lot of ground!
I visited the Pasadena Model RR Club’s amazing HO layout this afternoon. I trekked back over to North Hollywood and found a great train shop on Victory(Thanks to MR’s directory).The Roundhouse! Massive selection,decent prices and very friendly folks! Thanks Gabi for the great coffee!
Rick
If you ever go back to The Roundhouse, make sure to be there on the last Saturday of the month (the 26th of this month) – they have a raffle and the store is packed with customers. You get a raffle ticket for every $10 you purchase (they usually give you two and pretend it’s a mistake :)) and do a drawing at around 3pm on the last Saturday of the month for store credit and other prizes. The store is packed with 30-50 customers, and lots of people know each other, chat, share pics of their layouts/models/kids/pets. It’s a community atmosphere. They make a good amount of sales on raffle days, too! It’s kinda cool how a LHS creates a community amongst its clientele, which in turn does good for the business.
If you wanna check out the N scale clubs in town, I recommend:
East Valley Lines in Griffith Park’s Travel Town Museum (a great City-owned train/transportation museum): http://www.evlrr.com/
Belmont Shore Model RR Club down in San Pedro: http://www.belmontshorerr.com/