area, Garland to be exact, on the East side of Dallas.
I will be there on Jan. 5th through 8th. Friday-Monday.
Does anyone know of any interesting places to visit:
Hobby shops, club layouts, home tours, swap meets etc.
I would appreciate any information you have to share.
I appreciate this forum and all the information it
has and the willingness to share it with anyone that asks.
Happy New Year to all.
Del
There are two hobby shops that I always visit when I am there. One is Discount Model Trains in Addison, TX and the other is Collectible Trains & Toys in Dallas. They are less than 10 mile from each other. The first has everything about 20% off MSRP and the other has both new and used stuff. The new is MSRP, but you can find some good deals on the old stuff. Collectible Trains and Toys stocks a lot of O scale stuff as well.
In addition to the shops Kevin mentioned you might try to vist the Age of Steam Museum
at Fair Park…they have a Big Boy!..and other neat locomotives and rolling stock.
http://www.dallasrailwaymuseum.com/
If you have the time catch a ride on the Tarantula Train
http://www.tarantulatrain.com/
or the McKinney Ave. Trolly
http://www.mata.org/
There is also the Dart Rail trains that are fun to ride and you can catch them up in Plano for a ride into downtown Dallas. You can catch the TRE (Trinity River Express) from downtown to Fort Worth and From Fort worth ride the Tarantula Train to Grapevine
You can also catch the McKinney AveTrolly from downtown. It runs up McKinney through the Uptown area and back. They have beautiful restored cars.
Whenever I’m in Dallas I try to get to Discount Model Trains in Addison. Good prices, excellent selection (including lots of stuff I didn’t even know existed), well lit store - I’m like a kid in a candy shop!!
Definately go to Discount Model Trains in Addison. They have an awesome selection and great prices. They are the first place I go to when I’m visiting Dallas. Also, just a little ways west of Addison in Carrolton is the Dallas, Garland and Northwestern’s yard. Their yard isn’t very big but there is alway quite a of power sitting around and you just might catch them switching. Another good place to go is over in Saginaw. BNSF’s mainline and U.P’s. ex-Rock Island Choctaw Route to Oklahoma goes right through the middle of town.
The Dallas Union Station downtown has things usually going on and is the end stop for the Trinity Railway Express. In Arlington is the GM plant and there is always something going on there. The TRE will take you to Ft. Worth and the old T&P station / the Tower 55 area for less than $5 round trip. Sometimes you may catch the RDC’s others will get you the Bilevels. One interesting spot is where the South Irving Station sits. On that site the land parcels were handed out on top of an old RI flatcar in the early 1900’s. Clock tower and history info there. There is a hobby shop a few blocks away that is called MAL. The have a big N scale layout next door and the place is a hole in the wall. There is a 4x8 layout that is buried under a foot of paper and has been for years. Still operates.
RMax1
Like they said, don’t miss the T&P station and ex-head office building in Ft. Worth, one of the best art deco buildings left, go up and peek in the windows.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU.
I don’t know if I can do all of this, and still have time for family and business. It might
be fun to try. We get to Dallas at least once a year and should manage to visit the
remainder next trip.
Again I say thank you.
del
I will be driving in from Arkansas to the Dallas Area Train Show next weekend. Are there any other good hobby shops in the metro area? The closer to Plano the better!
Like the men said. Discount Model Trains is one of the best shops I’ve ever dealt with.
It’s on Ratliff near the Addison airport. Not far from Plano (in Texas terms). DMT is listed in MR’s retail listings at the back. Check it out for hours, address, phone#, etc .
Oh, here it is:
DISCOUNT MODEL TRAINS
4641 RATLIFF LN
ADDISON, TX
Ph: 972 931 8135
Call for hours (Usually M-Sat 10-6, but maybe open more during the show.)
Enjoy,
Thanks, Jim, that saves me some internet searching. I’m excited about going there!
I can recommend Collectible Trains (previously mentioned). It is a very nice store, but they aren’t really a discount store (MSRP on everything I’ve seen). I haven’t been to Discount Trains in Addison. It sounds like I will have take a drive up to Addison to check it out.
I sure miss Bobbye Hall’s (1 mile form the house)
Well, with the Plano Train Show this weekend, I’ll be stopping in a couple of places. Any other good shops not previously mentioned?