Hi everyone, my first time posting here. I am 28 years of age and as of recent, I have been getting back into the train scene after being out of my train hobbies for several years. I started out with a 027 train set back in 1987 at 10 years old. From there on It grew on me.
Now as of recent I am now getting into O gauge stuff and getting larger cars and locos. Heard and read alot about TMCC and such, but not sure how affordable those are right now.
I have 3 local hobby shops within the area I live, but they charge retail pretty much for all of Lionel’s products. Are there any online reputable dealers by chance that may sell the items a bit cheaper compared to buying them locally? I have gotten some of the tubular O gauge track but after seeing my uncle’s FasTrack I started getting those. I would like to grab more track to expand my collection, as well as getting some of the wider radius curves in the event I may want to run the larger locomotives.
I also like MTH’s products also, but I am a bit mixed on what track system to invest into…I’d figure since I already have Lionel and some of the FasTrack, It would be great to just continue investing in that and not mixing track brands.
[#welcome] to the CTT forum, Trainmaster ! I would first suggest picking up a copy of Classic Toy Trains, and in there are a number of the big advertisers with very good prices. They will also have web-sites. Cme on over to the Coffee Pot when you get time & don’t forget Sunday Photo Fun !
Thanks, John
There are some, but keep in mind that by the time you pay for shipping there might not be much cost advantage. It seems to me that wholesaletrains.com, for instance, has a minimum $8.95 shipping charge.
I recently ordered a Lionel reissue AF log loader from Charles Ro (www.charlesro.com) and it arrived quickly. He’s definitely the place to go to for good prices on closeouts.
I’ve bought tons of stuff off Ebay, believe it or not. The key is to know what you’re willing to pay when you bid and don’t go over it, and remind yourself that there WILL be another one next week (or the week after, but probably sooner rather than later). It’s frightening how much the prices can vary from week to week. I just got a new building today for my layout. The going rate on it had been $30-$35, or more, a few weeks ago. I got it for $11.50.
Also make sure the seller states the shipping costs up front. If shipping costs aren’t in the listing, contact the seller and get it in writing BEFORE you bid. I’ve been bitten a couple of times by shipping costs that were higher than I expected. But I learned. I also had one time, just this past week, where a buyer charged me more than the stated price for shipping. I responded and politely asked the shipper to charge me what the listing had stated. He sent me a new invoice, which I paid. That item arrived today too.
Here is something to watch out for as you do it. Like you, I am just getting back into it and have been trying to order enough track and switches to really start my layout in earnest. I have found that Wholesale Trains. com has about the best prices out there on new stuff but, the website does not always have accurate inventory status. If some of the items you want are not in stock, they may order (back order) them for you automatically and then, according to their policy, you must pay a 7% fee to cancel the order. Also, while you can check your order status on-line they do not do a very good job of communicating to you what is not in stock and on back order until the order actually ships to you. I stand to lose some money (7%) because of this as they are completely out of Lionel 14062 and 14063 (O22 LH and RH) switches and will not be getting any in until April…I just do not want to have an inoperable layout for that long. I am not very happy with the way they work this. They charge a 15% restock fee on any returns which is pretty standard. My lesson learned from this is…I have had much more success by CALLING first to verify inventory and placing my orders over the phone. I do agree with the above that CHARLES RO is easy and fast on-line. LEGACY STATION.COM is good too but like I said, I would CALL first and verify inventory. Wholesale Trains Customer Service has been good to deal with on the phone and you won’t fall into the “Back order” trap if you call and verify inventory before ordering.
Check ouit Train Express,Trainworld and North East Trains.I’ve purchased from all of them with only good results.Dan’s Train Depot here in Ocala also has an online store and are very reputable.
Ed
I vote for the ones I have used for mail order:
Davis Trains - Cincinnati, Ohio
Train Express - Indianapolis, Indiana
Train World - New York City, NY
Train Buddies (Internet Store)
and if you are into G Scale
Watts Train Shop - Zionsville, IN
If you aren’t in a big hurry to get things, just wait until they (hopefully) go on sale or closeout. A lot of times you can also get “preorder” prices that are a little lower than resale when a catalog first comes out, Charles Ro does this for sure, and I know other sites do it too.
E-Bay can be good, and there are a lot of good sellers there, but you have to be careful. Apparently “mint” doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone.
You will also see a lot of Fasttrack on E-Bay, but the prices seem high to me, the same items are frequently less at regular hobby shop sites.
Have fun building you layout!
Tim
I buy on line from AM Hobbies for Atlas, Buy some items direct from Walthers on line, mostly items dealers do not stock like detail parts. Also buy on ebay, one seller who is reliable and lists Lionel & MTH items almost every week is jvictorian. For tools and small specialty items Micro Mark is hard to beat.
Another mail order dealer worth mentioning is Justrains. ( http://www.justrains.com ) They have phone orders only, but shipping is free on orders over $200.
Definitely Grzyboskitrains.com. Good selection, on-line ordering and if theya re out of something they tell you right away and DON’T backorder it.
Charles Ro and Train Express are also excellent.
I stop and see Joe and his family at Grzyboski’s when I’m traveling through Scranton all the time. He has a huge selection of Lionel, and MTH. 1-570-347-3315. 9 times outta 10 he has what I’m looking for.
Another vote regarding Charles Ro, I have placed three orders recently. First order I didn’t ask when the order was shipping, called back, (they were busy trying to make the days shipments), they called me back later that day with the info. 2nd order, simple as clockwork. Third order they were trying to get a za volt amp meter for me , and called back, said it would take an extra day, because they were trading some merchandiese with another supplier in order to get it.
I’ll chime in for JusTrains. I’ve been dealing with them for probably 3-4 years now and I have nothing but good things to say about them. Good prices, super fast shipping (sometimes NEXT DAY!) and of course they don’t charge your CC until they ship. They’ve never disappointed me on an order, even on the recently run K-Line F units that seemed to take forever to show up at the dealers.
My family spent christmas at the Hilton in Walt Disney World.
I wanted to get my son a really fantastic present, so it had to be a Lionel Train. Every item came separately gift wrapped! Top service, great prices.
We had a lot of family with us, in fact it was my Mum’s first trip back to the States since she left aged 14 in 1956 when my Grandfather was posted to UK (he retired here). Mum had lived in Orlando so it was special for her to go back.
When she saw the set was Lionel she said it reminded her of friends sets running round christmas trees as a child. She loved the operating egg nog car!
We took over the mezzanine floor of the Hilton reception area on Christmas day and ran trains! (many thanks to the Hilton Manager) My son says Santa came in big!
Great Day.