On line stores that I like dealing with…Hiawatha Hobbies, Spring Creek Model Trains, High Country Hobbies, Yankee Dabbler, and Trains In The Valley. They are all prompt shippers. Never had a single problem with any of them.
On line stores I will deal with in a pinch but rather not…Model Train Stuff, Trainworld. They take too long to ship IMO.
Only local store near me is Factory Direct Hobbies. Use to be Factory Direct Trains and they changed their name. They’re OK but I like the online ones I mentioned above first and foremost.
I get there very occasionally. Their stock didn’t bowl me over, though it’s been fun to poke around. As is true of most hobby shops that have been around for awhile.
I like the shop that has the best price and have ordered from many of those mentioned. However, PWRS gets most of my business because I don’t have to pay to ship as someone in the family usually is going past the place a couple of times a week.
Central hobbies in Vancouver are excellent but will be closing down soon and that will be it for B&M shops in the Vancouver area. I always tried to get there when I was heading into Vancouver.
PWRS lets me go in and look at stuff, but it is row after row of warehouse shelves full of stuff and not very inviting for browsing as it should be to be an efficient operation.
My Best LHS is 50 miles away, one hour, one way. MAINLINE HOBBY SUPPLYS, Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. started in a garage. I like Road Trips. I can drive past two Hobby Shops getting to Mainline. I can go in wanting nothing and leave with a large brown paper bag full of mostly HO-Scale and sometimes a piece of N-Scale. MAILBAG HOBBYS in Maryland was in a basement then moved in to a B&M store then a down sized store IIRC and had a presents at Train Shows. I have not seen Nancy from MAILBAG for some time now, not even Train shows (Timonium or York). I can not speak for internet mail orders, never done that yet. I have a LHS (WHITE ROSE HOBBYS) maybe 10 minutes away, He’s getting better with HO-Scale train stuff. Big into Radio Control Stuff.
Fortunately just ten miles from me and just jam packed full of modeling stuff. I only order online if store for some reason can’t order it for me. His prices for ordered items usually beat online/shipping costs and I can inspect items before accept and pay for them.
The first two shops on current stores are still going but the first is internet only it seems, cant find the last two to still be in buisness unless they moved.
On the research / reference side of the hobby I would like to put in a good word for Ron’s Books. They have a great on-line store with a huge inventory of both in and out of print books on the hobby as well as the prototype. They have been really helpful for me to get info on topics such the dairy industry, meat packing industry, 1950’s boxcars, the coal industry as well as train operations.
They have a volume in stock on the history of the Lehigh Valley RR that I am going to hint to the family that it would make a great father’s day gift. [:)]
I have to put in a kind word for my LHS, The Train Shack in Burbank, CA. They are always willing to order stuff for me, adn when Walthers has a ridiculous sale (like Proto Hi-Level cars for $23!) they are happy to order even though they make no $$ on the sale. They offer a discount to club members, which is a nice selling point for membership at our club. I tend to buy more used stuff, and they call me when there’s a collection with stuff I might like.
Arnie’s in Orange Country is a bit of a schlep for me, but great, great great for used stuff with very fair prices.
For mail order, I have always done well with TrainWorld. They once processed a return when I accidentally ordered the wrong locomotive – I did the exchange in person. I check their sale pages regularly.
Agreed about Yankeedabbler, great for decoders. Nice shop, too – I was traveling and stopped in, and didn’t even realize where I was until I read the sign on the door more carefully!
ANd Zeintek in Chicago is always great fun for bargain- and old-stock hunting. I fly United for business and a four-hour layover is enough time to get out there for a quick look-round.
Someone else mentioned English’s/Toy Train Heaven (the Bowser brick-and-mortar and mail order businesses, respectively; Montoursville, PA) and Trains in the Valley (.com, not the .org Massachusetts rail advocacy group). I’ll second those.
English’s has a rather large open inventory on shelves you actually can browse. Great for detail parts and other hard to find items. If I buy something mail order, I always compare Toy Train Heaven with other online sellers. Shipping is OK, though maybe not the speediest; items from their special sales seem to take longer than regular purchases. Real time inventory information seems good as far as I can tell; I’ve never failed to receive in timely fashion something listed on the website as “available,” and it’s always come direct from Mountoursville, never drop-shipped from somewhere else. Customer service helpful by phone and email, though it might take a couple of days for an email reply, depending on how busy they are.
Trains in the Valley (Elizabethville, PA) is online and B&M. It is fairly new with limited selection, but good prices and excellent service (quick replies to queries). It’s one of a few places I check when shopping. Another plus: he posts actual photos of used items he has for sale.
Other B&M (mid-Atlantic): CoolTrains in Salunga PA (near Lancaster); not a large selection, but reasonable prices and it seems to have a decent flow of used items for sale. I’ve also liked Gilbert’s shop in Gettysburg PA (though I haven’t been there for a number of years). Also: Trains, Toys and Hobbies in Claymont Delaware; smaller successor to the former Mitchell’s in Wilmington. OK selection (if a bit dated in some respects–that can be a plus, depending on what you’re looking for); prices so-so, has some brass and foreign items.
General comment: except for large brick and mortar shops (like English’s) I find selection at these (and other) B&M shops to be hit and miss–maybe t
Anyone know TinyTims’ in Ashland VA? That seems to be my closest LHS now. Their website is weird. They show a series of pictures of inside the store that are visible for about 1.5 seconds
Scale Model Supplies in Saint Paul, Minnesota has a large selection of everything: new, in-the-box items from 2021, new, in-the-box items from 1971, and everything in between. I spend hours there when I go, which is quite often since it’s only seven blocks away from our house.