Not having a (MRR-oriented) LHS has been hampering my enjoyment of our hobby
in a big way, lately. While there are two Hobbytown chain stores in my area, their
focus seems to be R/C. It certainly isn’t MRR, and that’s OK. But there’s nowhere I
can go, in my area, to pick up a bottle of Solvaset, or a piece of ME code 83 flex
to finish off that spur to a factory, or a set of KDs for a box car I bought 10 years ago.
No weathering powders, no Accurail, no nada. Nowhere that I know of, anyway.
We used to have Az Trains, and they were terrific. They knew trains, they were well
stocked, they knew Walthers and how to work with them. It was easy to do MRR.
I spent 3 or 4 hours there, one day, just pouring through their locomotive detail parts.
Not any more!
“So why not shop on-line?”, my loving bride suggests. While on-line, including
ebay, has been great for many things, it seems very inconvenient for the everyday sundries
we always need to support a model railroad. It seems ridiculous to order, on-line, a bag of
spikes and two bottles of Scalecoat II, for example. You’d have to order the stuff, pay
for shipping(ouch!) and wait a week or two for delivery every time you needed something
(and we ALWAYS need something). LHS was also easier on my budget. I could get paint
this week, and maybe a DPM module next week, and so on, whereas waiting till I have a
substantial list of “stuff” might mean a $100 or $200 hit on my credit card that my “budget
manager” would panic over. Actually, I’ve found that any on-line store may have one item
I need and another may have a second item I need but neither store has both items.
That may force me to buy from several on-line stores, a real budgeting mess, for me.
Agonizing over where to get stuff has all but killed my appreciation of this wonderful
hobby for some time, now, as the list of “needs” never seems to end. The cost of MRR
is im
Usually for glue and paint I just go to the Wal-Mart up the street from me but even their selection is limited and focuses way more on model cars than model trains. Even LHS, most shops want to sell more exciting and more expensive stuff like locos, buildings, and cars rather than stuff like paint, glue, or spikes and with gas prices being what they are I don’t want to drive allover town to two or three different shops So I often do most of my shopping online.
Smyers, where do you live. You mention Aztrains in your forum. Do you live in Arizona? Wherever you live, check the advertisers index in Model Railroader magazine, it can be a wealth of information. I found a small store about 5 miles from my parents house by looking there. [:)]
Your not a nut, your just a model railroader!!!
I don’t know how I could stay in the hobby if I was “internet only”.
However you stay in the hobby is beyond me, and you should be commended for “keeping the faith”.
I’m lucky, I’ve got 4 great hobby shops, and 1 overpriced old farts club with trains, all within an hour from me. But even still, what 1 shop has in stock, the next one doesn’t or is fresh out of it. So I don’t leave the house without a list. The 4 great shops I mentioned will just about fall over themselves to order stuff I need, so why go internet?
Besides, the best way to keep a brick and mortar shop is to patronize it.
I’m in Tucson, Marlon, close to the UofA. I’ll check the index as you suggested and see what gives. Since AzTrains has been gone, it’s been very hard to stay with it. For some things, on-line is great. But without an LHS to work with some things are near impossible. I’ve been with the hobby for 40 years or so and hope I can move somewhere, someday (like Phoenix) where the LHS may not be gone, yet!
I buy everything I can at my LHS so it stays in business. This way I do not have to worry about the concerns you spoke of. I have purchased some hard to find stuff from ebay and some limited run locos that my LHS could not get at an on-line store. The majority of my hobby money goes to the LHS however.
Since I have no LHS, on-line purchasing has become a good part of my purchasing habits. I attended a divisional meet today, and that was 244 miles one way. I did buy a P2K GP30 for $20(used in ‘new’ condition). Next week-end I will be attending a train ‘flea market/sale’ and that is about 75 miles from me(also hobby shops)… The distance and $2.69/gal gasoline makes on-line purchasing very realistic.
smyers,
Years back, I was stationed way our in the hinderlands and know what your are going through. You have my sympathy!
I’m fortunate to live in the Cleveland Area. There are 4 train oriented LHS between my home and work. I usually visit 1 or 2 every week. I have yet to leave one without purchasing something! One has many hard to find items in stock, though they may not be out on display, they will always look. When I am in the market for a loco or some other high-ticket item, I aways price the locals. If they are ‘near’ the internet vendor’s prices, I purchase locally. One of the locals has a website where he sometimes undercuts the prices he has in his store! He is always good for a 10-15% discount on his already, very competitive prices.
Like the realtors say, location, location, location…
It works both ways for me. There are two fairly well stocked train stores within 40 miles of me where I do my shopping. I often cruise through on line dealer photo sites to make a mental wish list of what I look for in the stores I shop. If I can’t find it in the stores, I buy it on line.
So far, I have spent about 35% LHS and 65% Internet on the hobby since I started back into it last September. Thats pretty good considering that we only have two in the Anchorage area and neither of them are stock well or sell below MSRP! But when you need something now (all the time [:D]) you gotta do what you gotta do.
Peter
I feel your pain! Last time I visited my sister and her family in Tucson I made it a point to swing by Arizona Trains, only to be faced by a “For Sale” sign. Bummer.
In my (reasonably) immediate vicinity I have a couple of model railroad shops and a couple of general hobby shops with restricted model railroad inventories. I have also learned to adapt many non-model-railroad products to my requirements, so a lot gets bought at craft shops and Home Depot. Beyond that, Walthers has filled a lot of my requirements, as have other MR advertisers.
About the only thing I haven’t used is the internet!
since i had the may MR right in front of me as i read this i thought i’d have a look . 4 train shops listed in arizona , 2 in phoenix , 1 each in scottsdale and mesa . for your purposes that means 4 in phoenix . mapquest tells me it’s 116 miles from tucson to phoenix and should take a little less than 2 hours to drive there . leave early , visit all 4 , and hope you don’t forget anything
Smeyers, I’m in almost exactly the same boat. My nearest LHS is about 95 miles away. I have a dry erase board on the door to my train room and keep a list of items I need. Since we live in a rather small town (~25000 people) it’s not uncomon for us to take a day to run to Des Moines to do some shopping. One of the mandatory stops is Hobby Haven. I also do internet shopping for some items based on price.
This is not to say this is the best solution for you. I don’t know your age, phyiscal abilty to travel, or other factors that may or may not be a hindrance to you.
The nearest LHS to me is an hour away. This is just too far for regular trips. However, I find that visiting the store is a great way for those of us who must touch to learn. I have made hard decisions easily after a little hands-on with various products. Also, the LHS seems to have some rolling stock from up to 5 years ago. Biggest problem is $. This guy just charges way too much…not to mention that he pretty much ignored me until I talked about a $400 order I needed to place. This probably was what steered me toward looking online. Now I just visit and look and never buy anything…so this guy probably hates me. When I drive up to Charleston, SC every 2 weeks, I buy from this Indian guy who has 4 kids and a wife running around the store all day. His prices are as low as online and I can’t help wanting to help put some $ in his pocket.
In Oz I try and support my LHS as much as possible but I keep an eye on the prices on the internet to see if getting it sent from the US is less expensive than the LHS.
The only other reason I buy online is lack of availability here in Australia.
ereimer,
I know what you mean but this ACE hardware is listed in the Yellow pages under hobbies, model railroad!
I have been in R/C Airplanes for 50+ years. And many ACE hardware stores carry R/C supplies. And don’t forget not many years ago Longs Drugs was into model RR!
I thnk if I were looking for a model railroal LHS I would look in the yellow pages!