Hey going to Indy this weekend and wondering where are all the good shops at? Is Big Boys Hobbies still open? Been there back in the early 90’s. Also there was a hobbyshop across from a Tall watertower on the east side of Indy. Is he still there? I think he was west of 465 and on the Northside of the street. The day I was there, just before we got to it. Somebody decided to lift (pocket) something from him. He locked them in the place until the cops came. When we got there he was just finishing up with the cops and he opened back just for us. Kevin
There are several good ones in Indianapolis. I think Big Boy was still open but I haven’t been there in a while, he didn’t carry as much as he used to. I think that the other shop you talking about is Train Central 6742 E Washington St just west of Shadeland Ave on the North side of the road. It is under new ownership, (The last owner passed away about 4 or five years ago) but is probably my favorite shop in Indianapolis. There is also Hobbytown USA on 82nd street (6636 E) that is very good, but the one on the southside is not good at all. In Plainfield, about 10 miles east of the 465 loop there is Big 4 Hobbies on US 40 which is very good. Metsgers hobbies in Greenwood is good, but I don’t like them as much as the others. Hope this helps.
Jim C.
Personally, I like Metzger’s in Southport. Decent model railroad supply and lots of RC & plastic models as well. I stopped in Big Boy Hobbies recently and was disappointed in their stock - mostly pegboards with widely spaced BB freight cars. Train Central is friendly and nicely stocked for the amount of space they have, it’s just a small place. I agree about Hobbytown - southside is kind of a bust, northside is much better but significantly overpriced (the penalty of higher visibility from being in a proper strip center instead of some cheap hole-in-the-wall).
You guys are right on the money. Too bad Mort from the N guage train shop over by Big Boy’s passed away recently. Not the most personable guy, but if you needed N scale his shop couldn’t be beat. The Big 4 on US 40 in Plainfield is pretty good. They recently expanded. Decent selection and decent prices. Hobbytown in Castleton is good, but you’re right about the pricing, it’s a little high. Dan, who runs the train dept., will order anything you need and sometimes he’ll even throw in a 10% discount. TrainCentral is OK for HO, but there’s not much N scale. Can you tell I’m an N scaler? Big Boy’s is all HO last I saw, and kind of slim pickin’s if you know what I mean. Tom Metzler isn’t bad. Selection is OK and prices are about in line with other shops. Don’t waste your time with Hobby Lobby and Michaels. The only thing you’ll find there are craft supplies. Not one thing that can be directly related to trains in any way. Thats about it that I know of.
Kind of looks like we all run in the same circles, huh? One day we’ll all meet and realize that we’ve talked to each other a million times.
BTW, any good clubs to visit?
PC, the only club I know of around here is the Naptown & White River Valley on the near southside. I visited one open house they held last year and was pretty impressed with the layout, though only one person noticed I was in the building and took the time to chat with me. Do you know of any others?
Jim
mononguy,
No, I’m a lone wolf. I was kind of hoping to check out a club setup as I’ve nevr been to one.
Two more, Train Yard, at Mitthoffer and Washington Street, NW corner strip mall across from Washington Square, and the 96th Street Train Shop, about a block west of Michigan Road on the north side of the street. All O and G stuff there, lots of HO and at least some N gauge (saw it but wasn’t looking close) at the Train Yard.
There’s supposed to be one in Broad Ripple, Broad Ripple Station, but they never answer the phone and the address in the Yellow Pages doesn’t exist, unless the store is in an apratment north of the Stone Mug on College. A shame too, I need some catalogs and the online vendor can only point me to a non-existant store.
Big boy hobbys is still open but his train stock is slim but has some great prices on some P2ks 50.00 he has several, seems like he is mostly RC car stuff. But his prices can’t be beat on what he has in stock. There is Big Four Hobbies in Plainfield About 15 min. from me they have a lot of train stock but a little pricey but they have a little of everything. If your here saturday big four has a free tree making workshop at 1 pm i plan on going and make some free trees they do alot of workshops and the people running it are very friendly. Have fun hope this helps.
Hey Bruce, thanks for the heads-up about Saturday’s workshop. I might try to be there, make some trees & stick them in a box until my new layout is ready for them (at the rate I’m going that’ll be some time in 2036).
Jim