Does anyone know of any hobby shops specializing in model trains in the
Washington, DC area (including Virginia and Maryland). I will not have
access to a car, but I can take the metro so proximity to a metro station is a plus.
Thanks!
I don’t think either of these are near a metro station, but I always stop at Grandad’s Hobby Shop near Braddock Rd and the Beltway (VA). If you are in MD, I would try to get by Peach Creek shops in Laurel, MD.
Without a car, it’s going to be tough or impossible. You’ll need to use the buses and walk. Grandad’s is probably the best in Virginia for HO/N with some O. The Train Depot in Manassas if you’re into 3 rail O gauge or G at Rte234 and I66, but I don’t think there’s even a bus there. Unfortunately, the hobby shops in this area have been disappearing for years.
Go enjoy Union Station in D.C.
Enjoy
Paul
You are pretty much out of luck without access to a car.
You could take the Metro to the Springfield Va. station and then take a cab from there to Grandad’s a few miles away. However, I rarely go to that shop, as although well stocked, everything is full price. There are too many cheaper solutions for me (of course I live here and have a car).
You could take the Metro to Union Station and then take a MARC commuter train to Laurel and walk to Peach Creek Shops. Peach Creek is 100% trains and has a 20% or more discount. The problem is MARC’s schedule. You would have to leave after 8 in the morning, wait for the shop to open at 10 and you couldn’t return until after 4. Even an hour or two in the hobby shop plus railfanning the CSX line, hanging around would make for a long day. This option would also only be good Monday thru Friday.
If you want to email me through the forum, and tell me the exact dates and where you are staying, I might be of some help. The weekend of Feb. 4-5 has the Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium. That would be hard to miss, if you were so close and had never been to a train show of it’s size.
There are at least 12 shops that specialize in trains in the extended metro area that I can think of, but you need a car to visit them.
Dale Latham
Just to confirm what’s already been said. Grandads and Peach Creek for HO, Train Depot for O. However, there is bus service down Braddock Road, which would put you less than half a mile from Grandads. Outside of the actual city, this area has very spotty public transport.
If you can get near the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, MB KIein (www.modeltrainstuff.com) is a short walk away. However, getting there is not going to be easy.