I have sold enough of my HO collection to begin purchasing items for my LDE layout of the SP in Fresno Circa 1970’s. What is the best way to do this to stay within’ my budget? E-Bay, swap meets, on-line or modeler’s thinning collections? - I do not want to purchase everything out right from the LHS. I didn’t do it for my last layout. I understand items like ground throws, detail parts and the like might not be available except at the LHS. What is the best on-line N scale hobby shop? Looking for 20% and more off MSRP. Thanks
Price wise i would have to say Mb Klein is the best. for the price of engines and cars. as for the other questions we’re in the same boat, I just recently switched to N scale from HO myself.
Brooklyn Locomotive Works is a good on-line shop
Feather River Train Shop is another option. Chuck is very easy to deal with and gets stuff out very quickly, usually across the country in 4 to 5 day with no damage.
http://www.featherrivertrains.com/cgi-bin/webstore/shop.cgi?c=start.htm&t=main.index.htm&storeid=1
If you know what your after have a look at these:
www.nscalesupply.com
www.discounttrainsonline.com
good luck…
Trainworld has always been a favorite of mine. Just make sure that when you call you know the part number of what you’re after. The people answering the phones don’t know a thing about trains, just part numbers.
Oh, and Welcome to the dark side! [;)]
Toy Train Heaven (http://www.toytrainheaven.com) and Online Trains (http://www.onlinetrains.com) are the two places I’ve found with the best prices, though I admit I haven’t looked at MB Klein’s yet. Online Trains has free shipping for US customers for orders over $50 as well. I just received my order from Online Trains and would recommend them.
So TRAINWORLD isnt a scam? I can really get a DMIR RSD15 with sound for $130?!
It’s basically a closeout warehouse. They just warehouse and ship, that’s pretty much it.
I’ve bought from there many times. Prices are good and it’s the exact same merchandise you’d buy anywhere else. They even guarentee the stuff. I had one loco I ordered show up without a whistle. They offered to replace it, but I found a whistle in my parts box so I never did it, but I thought it was great of them to just take my word on it and offer to make it right.
I think the way they get that pricing is they either buy in bulk or they are buying up backstock and going out of business deals. Couple that with what appears to be pretty low overhead, and they can offer very competitive pricing.
I like them.
In terms of N-scale, I really enjoy dealing with Fifer Hobby. They are not the cheapest but they have a great online ordering system (actually inventory stocks) and they are FAST.
http://fiferhobby.com
Welcome to N.
Peter
Chuck,Check your PM box.
I second the Nscale supply shop. Always have the new equipment in stock and quickly ship.
I have used both BLW & Toy Train Heaven with excellent results. Ebay can be quite a different story. I have had some excellent results through them; however, I’ve also run afoul. Sellers have always done their best to make things right, but do be careful. My problems have been with track. I ran into a situation where a woman was supposedly selling off her ex-husbands track which was supposed to be new. It turned out that she just had the original boxes, but the track had been used. I contacted her and she made things right. Since then I’ve made it a point to buy engines and electrical from established dealers. I feel that you will probably be able to use a variety of sources to your advantage. Always check shipping costs before you purchase. There are some with unreal amounts; you’ll find this most from ebay. Good luck.
Chuck,
Try Wig wag Trains or Feather river. I use these two a lot. Both owners are very nice and easy to work with.