Hello you people from Chicago and vicinity !
Can anyone recommend a real good hobby shop in Chicago ? I’ll be there during my summer vacation in June and I’m looking for HO stuff like Atlas, Kato, Athearn etc. Wide product range and good prices will be appreciated !
Thanks for any hints !
Markus from Germany
The best stocked hobby shop (but not cheapest) in the Chicago area is Des Plaines hobbies near O’Hare. Asking for a hobby shop in Chicago is a rather broad question since the greater Chicago area runs from Milwaukee to Kankakee and over as far as Michigan City Indiana.
I can’t recommend any in Chicago but can in the suburbs. Ron’s Mundelein Hobbies in Mundelein and Des Plaines Hobbies in Des Plaines. Ron’s is about 30 or so miles North of O’Hare airport and can be reached via Metra if needed. Des Plaines Hobbies is minutes from O’Hare to the North also. Both have great stock and knowledgeable staff. Hope this helps.
You’re right. Should be located more or less in the Chicago metro area …
Check www.gtexpo.com for train show June 4th. This is at Dupage County Fairgrounds.
Not far from Chicago. (Weaton, Illinois) Good selection. Good prices.
The shops listing in the back of Model Railroader are good. Many shops listed with good inventory but not sure about prices. Not as good as online dealers or Ebay.
The Illinois Railroad Museum is in Union, Ii. Very good for a day trip and lots of stuff to see. You can also ride trains all day. www.irm.org
Downtown is the Museum of Science and Industry with a large HO scale layout and exhibit . Another day trip you will enjoy.
Bob
Des Plaines Hobbies is great, so is Chicagoland Hobbies. I heard good things about a place called Golden Spike Hobbies but never got down there. I also liked Berwyn’s Toy Trains & Models (good selection of HO as well as toy-train and large scale stuff), La Grange Hobby, and Hill’s Hobby. A Yahoo phonebook search will turn up addresses for all of these places.
Chicagoland Hobby is very good. Smaller HO section but getting bigger everyday. Also close by is RAM train and hobby, 95% HO. If you make it to RAM (its worth the trip) DON"T wear any aftershave/perfume as the owner has severe breathing problems. Chicxagoland & Ram are minutes from each other. Americas Best is a newer one (I haven’t been there yet) in Itasca (near O’Hare). Ditto on the Dupage show, I go every month.
Feel free to email me if you want any directions. Enjoy your trip to my little city![:D]
CMSTPP (james) and NSSR9169(Kale) go there every year, next week actually, so they would be good people to ask.