There was a hobby shop somewhere on the north side of Milwaukee that I went to as a kid. It was not Walthers. I want to say it was something like Gorman’s or Garman’s. First place I remember going to.
Officially the Toy Train hobby shop that used to be inside Knott’s Berry Farm, as a little kid I could spend hours inside looking at all the old and new model trains. First hobby shop I took myself to? Earls Hobbies in Bellflower. I would ride my bike there from Cerritos. Later I added Hobby Warehouse, the Military Shop and another shop name long lost to history in Artesia. Once I got a car the Train Shop in Hobby City and a couple others long gone that were once around SoCal.
Art and Photo, in Sherbrooke, QC. They sold mostly art supplies, but they also had Triang trainsets.
In 1972 my parents took me to a hobby shop in Manhattan, NY. I don’t recall the name of it, but it had several floors of train displays. I remember being blown away by the sheer number and quaility of the models on display. It must have one of the largest hobby stores in NYC… if anyone has a name please pass it on. We’re going back over 50 years… so in all liklihood they’re long gone.
I’m guessing it might have been Polk’s Hobbies. I went into the city a few times (I lived in North Jersey) with a friend from high school. As I recall Polk’s had at least four floors; one for cars, one for trains, one for planes and one for ships and packed with merchandise. And just like yourself I’m speaking of over 50 years ago, so don’t trust my memory 100%. I do recall Polk’s was the biggest in the area and the place to go for the hard-to-find. As far as I know they’re gone now.
That name sounds right! Thanks!
You’re welcome!
I did a little quick n’ dirty on-line research on Polks and it looks like they went out of business in 2013. RIP Polk’s, it was an incredible place!
Wow. I visited New York City about a dozen times between 1978 and 2013, and I never went to Polk’s.
I did make a few visits to FAO Schwartz.
It sounds like I missed out.
-Kevin
Family Fun in Appleton, WI. Opened in about 1955, closed in the early 60s. Four/fifths of the store was toys, the other fifth was a fairly complete hobby shop.
Allied Model Train in Los Angeles Ca,Before they closed mant years back. It looked like Los Angeles Union Station I got to vist the store and bought some Ho stuff.Got me 2 SP SD9"s and a few buildings.Sad it closed up.
My first hobby shop started out in a person’s house in the rural area. I can’t remember the name of it as this was 25 years ago at least. The shop later moved into town and then moved to a different location in town. It later ended up closing as I recall due to the death of the owner. His ex and her then husband had it for a bit but it didn’t last long after that.
However that wasn’t the first place I bought train equipment. That honor belonged to our local Ben Franklin store. IMS the owner’s name was Grant Wicks and he was a modeler himself. There was a small train section in the back of the store. I got all my pieces from there at the time. I still have an MDC/Roundhouse bulkhead flatcar that I purchased from there all those years ago. (It has been repainted and relettered however to get the lettering a bit closer to prototype.)
My best hobby shop experience probably has to be Whistle Stop Hobbies in Portland, OR. We were visiting my brother who lived in Portland at the time and my Dad was nice enough to take me to the shop. (Long after the above mentioned spots were gone.) I only directly found one thing I was looking for (an Atlas Passenger shelter) however the shop was able to get me some part numbers that I needed for some trucks I needed for a passenger car. (Brought it with me for showing purposes. Another modeler happened to come while Dad was waiting at the counter. He thought that the car was Dad’s. Dad corrected him and said it was mine as I was shopping at the time.)
My current hobby shop is Centerline Hobbies on Cape Cod, near the Hyannis Mall. Excellent in service and stock!
That’s GOT to be it. I don’t know why I remembered it being on the north side, but I was only 7 or 8 and, apparently, didn’t have my bearings yet. I remember it was a neat place. I got all of my Athearn blue box power, MRC Tech II, track, etc there.
Georges trains in toronto for me
My earliest memories of going to a hobby shop with my father was Forest Park Hobby here in Kokomo. On special occasions he would take me to Casey Jones trains in Indianapolis or Harmon’s Trains in Arcadia(where I eventually became his shop mechanic in my teens). I found Hawkins Rail in Lafayette in my teens when I joined the local HO scale club. Jack was quite a fellow and a good friend. Many other shops in Indy thru the years such as Watts Train Shop for my LGB G scale needs, Big Four Hobbies, Train Central and so forth. Most are long closed up, but those fond memories remain. I also bought AHM/Rivarossi items at the local Ben Franklin five and dime store. I still have my USRA 0-6-0 in well worn condition. Mike
My first train store was Hobbies for Men in Beacon, NY., as I grew up just five minutes down the street. Their original store was really small, but I spent many a weeks’ allowance there as a 13 year old. Hobbies For Men eventually relocated into a large store on main street which was previously a Woolworths. I don’t remember them lasting long after the move to the large store front, only a couple years.
My first shop may have been all trains, because that’s all I remember although it’s possible they had other items. It was Bob’s Hobby Shop at 212 N. Walnut in Bloomington, IN. I had been into model rockets in Texas, but had a lot of trouble tracking them down in bushier Indiana after the USAF sent dad to get his MBA at IU. At least when your trains crashed, the parts were found in a rather limited area.[:-^]
I started with some hand-me-down Lionel inherited from within the family. Took it all to Bob’s and he gave me something like $25. Seems small, but was a lot of cash as a 14 yo. I switched to HO starting with that money. One of my first kits was an old Varney flat. I still have the decrepit carbody somewhere, but the box complete with day-glo Close Out price of 98 cents is right here on the desk holding some stuff. I also bought a Mantua 4-6-0 kit that I built but it never was one of my better runners.
Not sure when Bob’s closed, but think it was gone be the 1980s IIRC.
Like others, I share some fond memories of Hawkins in Lafayette, too. I started visiting Jack’s in the late 80s. Bought my first brass there, a nicely weathered Westside C-25 that is one of my best runners after a motor conversion. Jack also had a pretty good selection of HOn3 for Indiana as I got deeper into that. While it was always MSRP, Jack’s deep inventory meant that as prices went up, his stayed the same, so some things eventually became bargains, as well as being in stock when everyone else was sold out.
The first real hobby shop I ever visited was Hammer’s Hobbies in Decatur, IL. I left with an Athearn NS GP38-2 and a Walther’s EJ&E coil car. Still have both! They later moved to Springfield, IL and then closed.
Central Missouri didn’t have a lot of train shops but there was a guy operating out of his basement that I bought several Athearn kits from.
Then, on a Colorado vacation, I was able to go to Caboose Hobbies. What a place! I was able to visit a few more times when traveling to Colorado for business, but sadly it’s no more. I was able to visit lots of hobby shops over the years but like Caboose Hobbies, most of them are gone now.
I also had the luck to make business trips to the Denver area, which always included a visit to Caboose Hobbies. A favorite feature was the small layout under plexiglas, where, upon closer examination, one might notice that a group of chimps escaped from a zoo truck and were creating havoc throughout the city scene. I could have spent hours just looking through the wall display of brass detail parts.
(sigh)
Jim
That brings back a lot of memories when I lived in Indiana. There were tons of different shops in the 90s and 2000s in Indianapolis that are gone. Big Four was a great shop. Tom Metzgers was also great. There were a few smaller ones too. Big Boy hobbies once had a bunch of Train stuff but gradually it whittled down. There were a couple that I can not remember the names on. There was a small one in a plaza by Washington Square and another in Greenwood that opened up and closed a couple of times but was still on the train show circuit. There was even a mini train shop in an antique mall Sanford and sons. Way before that there was a Great Train Store in union Station and later Circle Center.
I think it is just down to train central and the Hobbytowns now isn’t it? The north side hobbytown used to have a great selection but it had shrunk considerably when it moved and I was in the area about 3 years ago. Train Central used to be Varey Trains and was further over on Washington almost out of town then they moved to the stone building then on Shadeland. (Casey Jones trains wasn’t related was it seems to me I heard one time it