Mine is recently I was looking for a Athearn SD9 Burlington Northern. I looked every where online with no luck. Since Athearn is changing there line up and Walthers has long been out of stock on this I walked in to my local hobby store in Houston, Texas.
G and G Model Shop in Houston, Tx.
It has been at the same location for years and as long as I can remember the same guy behind the counter, Gus.
I asked him if he had a BN SD9 by chance and he did. It was a dummy unit and I was looking for a powered one. He made some phone calls and found a powered unit Sante Fe and swaped out the shells so I could have my powered SD9 Burlington Northern unit.
He sure made my day, places like this make the hobby even better.
Most of us local Model Railroad Bums in the area pass through, sooner or later during the week. We leave mesages, exchange ideas, help, gossip, etc. Jim can order just about anything, and it usually comes in after about a week. Lots of fun during the Christmas season w/ snow and families w/ kids looking for trainstuff, etc.
G&G is great, haven’t been there in several years, but always very helpful, and I have found some great bargains on the sale table from time to time. Used to go there all the time as a kid. Still has that warm local homey feel to it. Trainsource: Texas was also pretty good. Haven’t been there in awhile. I understand they are no longer on the South Loop. When I was overseas, before the internet really matured, they were really good about filling wish lists and getting them to me.
Bobe’s Hobby House in Pensacola,Fl
They have been in business for as long as I can remember. They are always willing to help locate
and get whatever they can. Helpful and friendly staff. Dave
Bruce’s Trains in Sacramento. It is run by pretty much the same folks who ran a place called the Whistle Stop a few doors down when I was a kid. It’s the biggest place in the Sacramento area and the folks there are plenty knowledgable.
The Train Shop in Santa Clara. Exclusively model railroading, very good stock of supplies for all scales and gauges, helpful and courteous clerks, and their prices are 10% to 20% below list prices.
Is that G&G over by Rice University? I hear they have every type of Plastruct known to man. [:)]
I’m fond of Papa Ben’s about a half-dozen blocks north of there. I need to make a trip up to visit both sometime soon. Particularly since I discovered there’s a Pizzaria Uno just a couple blocks north of them above the 59 interchange on Kirby.