I have departed on the adventure of my lifetime!
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-Kevin
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First stop: Miami, Florida.
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To make this truly a Coast-To-Coast adventure, I had to start at the Atlantic Ocean, and where better than Miami?
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I drove across the state and the first stop was Discount Trains in Fort Lauderdale. This store is a cram-packed treasure trove of hobby shopping adventure. It is getting so you can hardly move around.
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I found a rack of Floquil Railroad colors on the bottom shelf in the back and bought four bottles of Primer Gray!
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Next stop is the best hobby shop in Florida… Ready to Roll Trains in Miami! This store is huge! so much to see and so much inventory. It is a treasure.
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Then off the the Zona Blu Sardinian Italian Restaurant in Weston, Florida. I had a Caesar Salad and Linguine with Clams in White Wine Sauce. There were a bit too few anchovies on the Caesar salad, but still very good.
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My wife and I checked into the hotel and then went to the Crossroads in Miami Lakes for a bit of the fun nightlife, but not too much fun tonight.
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Now we are back at the hotel, and tomorrow we head for Tallahassee.
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Stay tuned!
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-Kevin
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Keep your right foot on that pedal, Kevin, just to make sure you get there before some of those hobby shops close. Looks like a fun trip, though!
I had hoped to make a perimeter trip of the U.S., visiting on-line friends and fellow model railroaders, but I think it’s probably beyond my budget (unless I sleep in my car every night).
Wayne
Looks like lots of fun is in store for you!
Those aren’t very big bags you are leaving with. C’mon, let’s get that credit card warmed up [:P]
Cheers, Ed
It looks to me like just before you cross from Illinois into Iowa you will be close to Highway 6, which is right along the old Rock Island main, now Iowa Interstate. Let me recommend Green River Hobbies in Geseseo Illinois. A nice little train shop.
And the Quad Cities have many fine railfanning opportunities. Can’t say the same about the dining but I doubt if you’d be complaining about too many anchovies in the fare.
Dave Nelson
You NEED to stop in Deshler Nebraska. Spring Creek Model Trains. It looks like your planned route on I-80 will take you close enough to it to not throw you off schedule.
In fact, you could get off of I-29 in NW Missouri and head west on US 136. Shouldn’t be a big diversion at all considering you’re not stopping in Omaha anyway.
Or US 36 west out of St Joe MO across Kansas to US 81 North.
http://www.springcreekmodeltrains.com/
And while in Nebraska, your I-80 route pretty much parallels US 30 west of Grand Island. The double tracked UP mainline runs right along side US 30 for at least 150 miles. Plenty of action along the mainline at any time, so you could railfan while still driving 60mph west along your route, if you took US 30 for those miles. Kearney (Odessa) to North Platte. And N Platte has one of the the largest railroad hump yards in the world.
(of course, stops cost time, so weigh these stops with the knowledge that the posted speed limit on I-80 in Nebraska is 75 mph!..but traffic probably goes faster…)
It’s surprising how much Floquil is still on the shelves at various places.
Looks like you are driving by the Little Bighorn Battlefield. Be sure to stop there.
I seen a rack of it at my LHS on Wed. I didn’t stop and pay attention if it was all Floquil paint or not, I’ll have to take a closer look next week.
It looks like he his going through Billings, where my wifey is from. We stopped at the Custer site. I love history, and the story behind the whole event always intrigued me.
Kevin, are you after any thing special? or what ever catches your interest?
Definetly a man on a mission! Don’t forget to be scooping up on all those NWSL parts! [(-D].
Goog luck, and wishing you and the wifey a safe trip!
Mike.
PS. You do have a trailer with you, right? or at least taking a van? [;)]
Well, that’s interesting, have a fun trip.
But I can think of a list of great shops your route does not even get close to.
While not like years ago, the Northeast is still full of great train stores.
Mainline Hobby - Blue Ridge Summit, PA
Tommy Gilberts - Gettysburg, PA
Star Hobby - Annapolis, MD
English’s Model Railroad Supply (Bowser) - Montoursville, PA
Strasburg Train Shop (and a great steam ride right down the street, a great museum, and a motel of real cabooses to sleep in) - Strasburg PA
Nicholas Smith Trains - Broomall, PA
Pro Custom Hobbies - Sykesville, MD
Trainworld - Brooklyn, NY
and many more…
Sheldon
I highly recommend you take a short detour when your in Washington, and stop at PF&S railway supply just north of Pasco Wa. It’s the largest hobby shop I know with a great selection. I’ve spent hours there!
Kevin - looks like it’s going to be a nice trip. Where are you stopping in Los Angeles? It’s been a few years since I been there, but the Original Whistle Stop in Pasadena, CA was worth the trip. Also, what you planning on seeing in Las Vegas, NV?
Terry
Kevin,
If you stop in Portland, OR there are two quality “all-trains” shops. The Hobby Smith is just off I-80 at the Cesar Chavez (39th Ave.) exit. Whistle Stop Trains is 12 minutes away, a mile east of I-205 on Division. Don’t forget to hit the cast-off/consignment closet at the latter. Tammie’s is on the West Side, easily accessible off the OR-217 freeway in suburban Beaverton. It’s a full hobby shop but has a great selection, just a bit more spread out.
For such a long trip, I’d have a hard time with the self-discipline. I’d end up as a combination of jaded, overloaded, tired of browsing, or broke - before I got to the Continental Divide!
Don’t know who’ll need more endurance in this adventure, you or your sweetie!
John
I can second that, I‘ve never visited these shops but I’ve heard they’re very good!
If you have time stop by Chuck’s Depot in Marion, IL. Based on your map you will be driving past it. You can see the store from I-57. Take exit 54. Take Illinois 13 east, turn south on Carbon St, turn west on Rendleman St and he is at the end of the street. It sits behind the Ford dealership. The store building is designed to look like a 2 story SP depot. He has a layout in the basement that is the size of the store. He has a huge stock of HO and N.
I’m surprise you are skipping Colorado. Such a mecca of trains. There is the Durango & Silverton, Cumbres and Toltec, Georgetown Loop, Cripple Creek and Victor, Colorado Railroad museum, Caboose Hobbies (now just Caboose), The Colorado Model Railroad Museum, Coors brewing Co. Railroad and the list goes on.
Even it you aren’t about seeing the big trains checking out the Colorado Railroad musuem and the Colorado model railroad musuem are both worth the detour, especially since you are so close (Cheyenne is 3 hours from Denver, and the CMRM is in Greeley (1.5 hours at most) from Cheyenne. They both have very nice train layouts.
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All of these hotels are FREE. I had over 400,000 points saved in my Hilton Honors Account. The car rental is also only costing $400.00 because of so many earned free days.
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I am trying to pace myself. Can’t blow the whole budget on day 1 of a 24 day trip!
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Thank you, I will be stopping there.
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Yes Yes Yes. Most definitely a stop!
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My wife will do hobby shops, but she will not do battlefields. I got her to stop a Shiloh several years ago, and she still is not happy about it.
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I am looking for small parts needed for the future layout. Preferably things that I havennot seen before. I will certainly be snapping up NWSL parts as they are found.
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Stay tuned Sheldon… that is the p
Day #2:
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Another successful day, but I think we might have made a big error. At home in South Florida it is in the 80s. We are in North Florida tonight, and it is in the 60s! I brought no long pants, all shorts. I hope we don’t freeze in the North!
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We started out in Miami with an early start. We drove all the way across the state heading Northwest. We made it to Saint Petersburg for a small train show. All I found here were a couple of cast resin telephone shelters.
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Then I took US19 North to Dana’s Model Railroad Supply in Spring Hill, Florida. This was a great treasure hunt of a store. over 50% of the stock is used items. This is another store I have never been to before. It is not on the way to anywhere I normally travel, so I made a special trip over today.
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Then we headed to Tallahassee on US19. I have never driven this road before. There is lots of empty wilderness in this part of the state.
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I stumbled upon this old Consolidation and took a few pictures.
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I saw this beautiful church as I drove past and had to stop and take a picture.
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For dinner, since we are leaving Florida tomorrow, we decided we had to have Publix Sub Sandwiches. PubSubs have a fanatic following here in Florida, and it is going to be hard to live three weeks without one.
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I also scored some fresh Honeybell Oranges from a roadside stand today. If you have never experienced the delight of a fresh Honeybell, you really owe it yourself
Let me know when you hit Las Vegas. Also, I recommend the Nevada Southern Railway Museum in Boulder City, NV. Which includes the vital role the railroad played in the building of the Hoover Dam
Terry
Man, you are my kind of a guy. I have often dreamed of doing this, but Sandy my wife would have other ideas. How did you convince your significant other to go along?
I worked for many years as a corporate pilot and often during layovers at many towns and cities, I’d hail a taxi or borrow a car from the FBO and head for the nearest hobby shop. During this period in my life (late 60’s to late 70’s), I must have visited several hundred shops in the US. I used both good and bad ideas to start my own shop, and what I learned from these forays proved quite useful, indeed. And then I was able to fill in voids such as close out table, table for new items, clinics on items sold in store, specal sales, beautiful display railroad featuring items carried in inventory, used trains with emphasis on brass and craftsman kits, very attractive and friendly sales staff, and most of all…follow up! I still miss this store and retail sales, but when an offer comes in paying almost 6 times what the store is paying coupled with a ready buyer at my heels, it became time to sell. the good news is that the Great Scale Model Train Show (Timonium show) grew from this store. My train show partner Ken Young had been my best customer.
Sadly, most of these shops I have visited most likely have closed their doors.
HZ
60’s is quite warm up here, short weather.[;)]
I’ll say one thing, it isn’t gonna get much warmer.
If you ever get to ME, York Village Marketplace is a good shop.
Have fun!