I will be going to Chicago and attending a meeting near O’Hare airport. I will have a car available. What are some good shops for HO in that area? As I will have some time the first afternoon but will be busy during the day for the rest of the time; are any shops open later in the evening?
Thanks for any suggestions.
Charlie
http://www.desplaineshobbies.com/
I’ve not been there, but I’ve heard good things. Actually, I’ll be passing through on Friday. Maybe I’ll finally stop by. Thanks for the reminder.
Yes, Des plaines hobby is probably the closes to O’Hare airport. I never been there, so i can’t really tell you anything about it.
Then there is http://www.chicagoland-hobby.com which is probably less then 10 miles from the airport. They have a large selection of HO scale, and some n scale also.
stocz2
I just returned from a trip to Chicago where I stayed near O’Hare. I would highly recommend Des Plaines Hobbies! I only had one hour to browse the store; I dearly wish I had alot more time. They offer 20% all merchandise, 33% off BLI locos, 40% off Atlas, Kato, and Proto locos and 50% of Bachmann locos. I don’t know how long these offers will last, but they were there on Saturday June 11.
I can echo the positives of Des Plaines Hobbies–lots of stuff to look at, and a big discount bin!
If you have the time drive down to the next town from Des Plaines along Northwest Highway, Park Ridge. Hills Hobbes has been there for years. Great place to visit.
I visit DesPlaines Hobbies every time I’m in the Chicago area, and usually leave with $100 or so in detail parts, decals, books and limited-run car kits. Huge selection in N, HO, S and O, as well as large scale. The discount prices referred to above, however, were for a once or twice a year “sidewalk sale”, and not the customary MSRP, which is the prevailing pricing practice. I don’t mind the lack of discounts, due to the vast selection available.
Hills Hobbies in Park Ridge used to have a good selction in N and HO, but that has been trimmed way back in favor of railroadiana and Lionel.
Chicagoland Hobbies also has reduced its stock of N and HO in favor of O and large scale.
All 3 shops have brass cases, but prices tend to be high, notwithstanding Internet competition.
I’m not familiar with the various Chicago suburbs and their proximity to O’Hare, but I believe O’Hare is North of the city and there is a shop in Libertyville (also North of the city) called Destination Hobby Center. It’s at 261 Peterson Road in Libertyville. Steve Rosneck (not sure of spelling) runs it. He used to have a shop here in the Kansas City area. The old store here was OUTSTANDING, so I imagine his Chicago operation is top notch also. Hope this helps.
Libertyville’s over an hour away from O’Hare. Almost 2 hours if caught in rush hour…
Des Plaines is probably your best bet, but keep in mind that they like to charge full MSRP. No discount plans, and the sale was ONLY last weekend. It’s one of the best places in the country to pick up detail parts though, as well as kits and decals.
No, that would be Lake Michigan. (Hmm. Come to think of it, Chicago does expand westward ane nortward around the lake.) Anyway, I believe that O’Hare is on the southern end of the city, near I-80?
Tom
Eleven miles West of the City and four miles North.
Encompasses 14 sq miles and did employ up to 30,000
O’Hare is in the NW end of Chicago, and Lake Michigan is EAST of the city. Gary and Hammond, Indiana, have the lake north of them.
I grew up there ,and O;hare is right in the hart almost of desplanes,o would recomend staying in the northwest suburbs schamburg,is one there ,you can get to a verity of L.H.S’s in the area…
carl
Holy Cow! I admitted I was not familiar with the geography of Chicago and it’s suburbs!
Please stop rubbing it in. I’ll bet none of you know where New Almelo, Kansas is, right?
Latitude 39.59, Longitude 100.12
Right next to Old Almelo, yes? Seriously, thanks Orsonroy for straightening my out on the location of O’Hare. But…isn’t Gary, IN actually SE of Chicago?
Tom
yes it is…
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by tstage
Right next to Old Almelo, yes? Seriously, thanks Orsonroy for straightening my out on the location of O’Hare. But…isn’t Gary, IN actually SE of Chicago?
Tom
[/quote
http://www.gary.in.us
Interesting. “People of Committment” I would have to agree. You have to be pretty committed to wanting to live there. I’ve driven the backside (along I-80) and frontside or topside (along the shore) of Gary, IN. Sadly, it wasn’t the prettiest looking place in the world to drive by. (Sorry, no offense to anyone of you who lives or used to live there.)
Tom
You asked about hobby shops near O’Hare, but others drfited from the topic. So will I.
There is a nice $10M model RR at the Museum of Industry and Science (SE of downtown on the Lake). It was featured in MRR mag.
Mapquest reports 26mi (36 min) from O’Hare to the museum.
To someone who lives there: while flying in from Syracuse I saw a roundhouse southeast of the city that looked in good condition. Is it in use? Who owns it? Thx