A while back, I had gone to my LHS (Model Railway Post Office in Hewitt, NJ - I have no connection with this store except as a satisfied customer) to buy some Tortoise switch machines. I was new to using Tortoises then and mentioned this to the store owner. He insisted that I get some stiff piano wire to go along with the Tortoises. He said that I would have problems with the standard steel wire that they include with the units. Since it was just a few dollars, I agreed to buy the piano wire.
I then somehow forgot about the piano wire and was using the standard steel wire to install Tortoises. This weekend, I ran into problems with my Shinohara curved turnouts. Now these turnouts require a substantial force to throw the points fully. I found that the standard steel wire was simply bending instead of moving the points. I then suddenly remembered the piano wire and tried it out. It worked perfectly and the point blades moved perfectly. I am now going back through my layout replacing the steel wires on my Tortoises.
Its really nice to get good advice like this from a knowledgeable store owner.
It is people like your store owner who keep the hobby alive! Unfortunately, they seem to be a dying breed, as more and more businesses are closing down, succumbing to the El-Cheapo mail order houses.
I have had that experience with Bill Becker many times. I cannot even remember all the times he has suggested that I may like one thing more than another and he was always right. The only time he was wrong was when I ordered an old craftsman kit which he described as a “stack on sticks and a page of bad dirrections”. He was even right about that, but I loved the kit, the process and the resulting building. I have purchased more “stack of sticks” kits since. I mightadd that I have found one such LHS sown here in Pheonix as well. Maybe there are more.
I am so lucky to live with in 2 miles of K-10 Model trains, Maryville IL. Ken really helped me when I got started in the hobby. Showed me a lot of tricks of the trade when I was getting started, and gave me a lot of free Kadee pockets and Walther’s wheel set as I started to up grade my junk rolling stock.
Sadly and amazingly, if you live in Northern Virginia which certainly has a significant population of modellers, your nearest decent hobby shop is 45 miles away.
Actually they fail to take advantage of the internet and increase their sales,many close due to retirement,sickness or in some case they drive their customers away by having the same stock for years at full MSRP…Nothing is as depressing then seeing the same 10 year old stock of BB kits,few RTR models etc.
However,a good well stock shop is worth its weight in gold but,good shops are getting harder to find.
Yup I concur he’s a gem a nice guy who knows his stuff, same can be said for the guys at The Model Railroad Shop in Piscataway There are different schools of thought on the Tortoise wire thing but it worked for your application and thats all that matters I do the same thing but found my information on the net. Brakie is right in that some old timers refuse to change and do drive some people out of the store. The first clue is check the stuff near the front of the store, if the boxes are all faded from sitting in the sun since Ike was president then you pretty much know who and what your dealing with.TMRS is slowly creeping into the new millennium as they now have a website, no email or computers in the store and I think they may even have a Micro fiche sitting behind the counter. But these guys besides being the nicest bunch you’ll ever meet are a wealth of knowledge and are more then willing to share it with you. Thats called customer service.
Hobby Haven in Urbandale, Iowa is quite the resource for me. They helped me get started in DCC and answered all my questions. I have called them multiple times with questions and they are always knowledgable and prompt in their answers.
This topic or similar ones seem to crop up quite regularly here. It must be nice to have a local hobby shop nearby. The nearest one to me is 70-75 miles away and none of the employees are modelers or know anything about what they stock (It’s in an Ace Hardware store in Tucson). No test track and no one who is a model railroader. But they are the only one left in Tucson, so it’s go there or shop the Internet.
The Model Railroad Shop in Piscataway, NJ always has someone who can offer good advice and suggestions. Their experience in the hobby is second to none.
Just as passenger trains can’t survive if they are the last resort for travel during blzzards, if you want your good LHS to survive it is important to remember that it is not enough to buy your $1 rail joiners and $3 Kadees and $2 lift rings there once every two months, while giving the internet or mail order dealers your major dollars for locomotives and DCC systems.
But it isn’t our job to prop them up if they have prices that are easily beaten online, or never order new stock, or have staff with bad attitudes, or… any of a number of reasons people don’t go to them.
Agreed, agreed: we are under no duty to keep anybody in business. All I’m saying is that if you want a full service LHS you can’t expect them to stay in business and stock the small stuff you need that doesn’t cost enough to warrant paying shipping and handling by mail if that is all we buy from them.
Just a smiling face,a personal greeting, new stock and a 10% discount can work wonders.
The 2 shops I go to I am greeted by name…One is full MRSP and the other is “I’ll work with you on the prices”…Guess who gets my LHS business even though both has tons of old stock?
Just for fun…
One is all business…
The other likes to talk about the hobby in general…I lean toward that direction myself…[(-D]
My LHS has maybe one of the nicest clerks there, he has helped me with everything from solving electrical problems to deciding to power my turnouts or not.
I’ve been there several times when I’m in town, and although it is a very nice well stocked store, they charge full MSRP! I have to wonder if model railroaders actually buy there or only window shop and then purchase online.
My LHS here in the Quad Cities has ALWAYS offered 20% discount off list and gets my business regularly along with many other model railroaders.
True,very true but,the man has overhead and mouths to feed…
Also 10% on 1 or 2 cars is not bad when comparing on line discounts.
Let’s say 2 cars cost $40.00 at the shop.After 10% its $36.00.
The same 2 cars on the internet costs $32.00 plus shipping…You’re not saving anything except gas and wear and tear on your car…
This is why my on line orders averages $80-100.00…That covers shipping plus saves me a few bucks in the process.Small purchases goes to the hobby shop.