Hey All,
Yup, you guessed it… travelling again. I am headed to San Francisco, CA for a few days on business. I have a free 1/2 day and I was wondering… can you recommend any good train stores? Preferrably a short taxi/drive from the down town (staying on Powell). I am looking for an HO store full of great stuff… consignment (used) is cool too! Anyway, any help is much appreciated! You guys steered me to a great store in Chicago, so I am hoping for the same here…
Brian
P.S. I love the trolley museum…saw it last time I was there… pretty sweet!
Try: Chan’s Trains & Hobbies at 2450 Van Ness Ave. or Franciscan Hobbies at 1920-A Ocean Ave. (Don Grant’s a great guy). Franciscan Hobbies has been around since 1946. It’s a few miles south of Powell down near Loop 280, but it would be worth the taxi ride.
I reccomend franciscan hobbies. It is right on the K-ingleside light rail stop. ( Get the K-balboa park train from powell station ). Great store!!!
I was in SF just a couple weeks ago and stopped in at Franciscan. Decent stock and friendly staff so yes, it’s worth the trolly ride. I hit the jackpot and picked up an out-of-print structure kit I had been looking for.
If you can manage to get down to Santa Clara, The Train Shop is also very highly recommended.
Steve
Oh, forgot Talbots Toland in San Mateo. Short train ride from SF ( about 25 min ) on Caltrain, about 3 blocks from the station on B street.
Chan’s is good–I have been meaning to check out Fanciscan Hobbies for years, I hear good things about their traction selection. And I understand they carry my book–maybe they would be interested in a book signing!
Thanks, guys. I have been to one of those, a few years back and it rocked (Chan’s I think!). Anyways, thanks again for the info…
Brian
You should check out Franciscan Hobbies on Ocean Ave. The “K” light rail line will take you right there. If you have time you should definitely check out The Train Shop in Santa Clara. You can take the Caltrain from SF down there. The Train Shop is a dedicated model railroading LHS, caters to all scales and gauges, and sells from 10% to 20% below MSRP. Definitely worth the trip.
What book is this??? Just wondering…
Brian
Hey Everyone,
Thanks for all the tips on great shops in San Francisco, everyone. The Franciscan rocked… I got a great magnuson model there for DIRT cheap, as well as a westerfield kit I have been looking for. As for the Train Shop in Santa Clara… WOW. First, I got to ride the Cal Train through old SP territory…fun to see the old buildings and marks of a once grand ol’ line. Second, I when I got to the Santa Clara stop, the building there is an old SP depot that the local MODEL RAILROAD club upkeeps and has 2 GREAT layouts… an HO scale and an N scale. Since it was Saturday, 4 or 5 of them were running trains in there. FUN to watch! Anyway, then I got the store (Train Shop) and WOW… wow, what a selection of atheran blue boxes, round houses, and other great kits they had… it went a little nuts (the wife is not too happy) and snagged a few and ANOTHER great westerfield kit… Seriously, thanks again for the great tips guys…
Brian
you got somthing at fransiscan for dirt cheap!!! that place sells for over MSRP!!! Well, congrats on all the stuff. Glad you had fun!