Best Hobby Shops on the Web
- Thread starter bigB
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railBuilderDhd
Active Member
I would like to add Becker's Model Railroad Supply as they have free shipping on orders over $125 (I think that's the amount you need to buy) and you can do your order from the walthers site and Becker's will ship it free. I've ordered from others like modeltrainstuff as well and they have a nice shop in MD.
One thing I have to say about Becker's is they are not the fastest service but if you have time and don't want to pay for shipping they are good.
Dave
One thing I have to say about Becker's is they are not the fastest service but if you have time and don't want to pay for shipping they are good.
Dave
stang_crazy
Member
I just wish i had a local hobby shop, havent had one in years. If i had unlimited cash flow id be more then happy to open one up.
Stang, if you want to throw money away, buy a boat. At least you get have fun while you're you're dumping money overboard. 
I think the LHS is a dead duck, with a few exceptions. I used to go to hobby shps to see what was new. With the internet, I know what's coming out, sometimes before the hobby shop knows. I also used to go to hobby shops because I bought a kit and got stumped by something. The owner was usually a model railroader and could help me out. Now, most hobby shops have trains, R/C cars, rockets, aircraft kits, ariplane kits, car kits...you name it. The owners can't be an expert in everything so they tend not to be any expert in anything. Even the one I drive 70 mile to get to, which is a pretty good shop, has owners who do their best, but I'm usually met with a blank stare if I ask about something like a Walthers street light they don't have in stock. I usually have to show them where it is in the Walthers catalog and then they say they can order it for me. Well, sure, but I can do that myself and not have to pay full retail.
Model railroading has become somewhat of a commodity business, like buying milk. You don't go to a grocery store because they have a particular brand of milk, you just buy the cheapest one they have. Back in the days, I'd go to a certain hobby shop (actually, train shop) because they had the best stock of detail parts or Plastistruct or paints. I'd almost always find something else to buy while I was there. Now, there are very few train shops and hobby shops tend to stock very little in the way of those small parts we all need. Plenty of RTR Atlas, Bachamann, and Athearn locomotives and cars but they are a commodity, like milk. If I'm going to have to order detail parts on the web, I might as well order commodity items at the same time. No sales tax, no driving, and I usually get what I need in a few days. A bricks and mortar train shop is the last business I'd want to get into today.
I think the LHS is a dead duck, with a few exceptions. I used to go to hobby shps to see what was new. With the internet, I know what's coming out, sometimes before the hobby shop knows. I also used to go to hobby shops because I bought a kit and got stumped by something. The owner was usually a model railroader and could help me out. Now, most hobby shops have trains, R/C cars, rockets, aircraft kits, ariplane kits, car kits...you name it. The owners can't be an expert in everything so they tend not to be any expert in anything. Even the one I drive 70 mile to get to, which is a pretty good shop, has owners who do their best, but I'm usually met with a blank stare if I ask about something like a Walthers street light they don't have in stock. I usually have to show them where it is in the Walthers catalog and then they say they can order it for me. Well, sure, but I can do that myself and not have to pay full retail. Model railroading has become somewhat of a commodity business, like buying milk. You don't go to a grocery store because they have a particular brand of milk, you just buy the cheapest one they have. Back in the days, I'd go to a certain hobby shop (actually, train shop) because they had the best stock of detail parts or Plastistruct or paints. I'd almost always find something else to buy while I was there. Now, there are very few train shops and hobby shops tend to stock very little in the way of those small parts we all need. Plenty of RTR Atlas, Bachamann, and Athearn locomotives and cars but they are a commodity, like milk. If I'm going to have to order detail parts on the web, I might as well order commodity items at the same time. No sales tax, no driving, and I usually get what I need in a few days. A bricks and mortar train shop is the last business I'd want to get into today.
Larry
Long Winded Old Fart
About 5 years ago a friend w/to much money in his pockets & the bank wanted me to start a train store for him in a town about 35 miles south of me. I asked him what my salary was going to be & if he was going to pay for my gas. I also asked him if I was going to get any unemployment when he went out of business. Well, he didn't ask me again & he opened it up himself. He lasted about 2 years in the train business. Then he opened up an R/C shop w/trains on the side. That only lasted about a year. He finally sold out to a hobby shop in Ft.Myers. Well, I was in that hobby shop last week & they sold all of their train stuff to a combination store right next to the building the guy closed up 2 years ago. None of these people knew anything about trains or RC cars & boats. The guy that has it all now doesn't know much about trains, but a lot about R/C.
He asked me the other day if I was interested in buying a bunch of train stuff. LOL
He wanted about 50% more than the on line shops for what he had. No engines or rolling stock. Very little buildings & very little track. So, Jim's right, anyone that is thinking about opening up a train store needs to have his head examined by a trained doctor.(pun intended).
He asked me the other day if I was interested in buying a bunch of train stuff. LOL
He wanted about 50% more than the on line shops for what he had. No engines or rolling stock. Very little buildings & very little track. So, Jim's right, anyone that is thinking about opening up a train store needs to have his head examined by a trained doctor.(pun intended).
ChevelleSSguy
Member
I just posted in the Blue Box thread about getting back into the hobby, no point in going back into that again. However, I always shopped at one train shop back then. A single man run, model train shop which the guy sold under retail but not as cheap as internet prices, although this was the early 90s, the internet still hadnt quite hit the market as hard as today. Only a few online mail order places back then. He specialized in HO and N but had some other scale odds and ends here and there. His prices were fair and he was someone you really wanted to support. When I got back in the hobby earlier this year, I was heartbroken to find he no longer had his store. He did still have a ebay account selling trains so im thinking he does it out of his house. I contacted him through Ebay and as it turned out, I got back in around a month after he closed. Not only that, but there was a guy down the block from him that specialized in toy trains only which had also closed as well but im not sure how long ago.
So I agree, the traditional hobby shop is a dying breed. With the price of todays freight cars, paying retail will make you go broke quick and doesnt make any sense at all anymore. The hobby shops here locally have an RC dept thats twice the size of the train dept.
IMO, the same goes for Ebay. After you end up paying for the item and factor in shipping. Its always way more then it would have cost you at a shop. I would only recommend ebay for an out of production item. Then there, you will likely pay something outragous for it. Which to me, isnt always worth it either.
So I agree, the traditional hobby shop is a dying breed. With the price of todays freight cars, paying retail will make you go broke quick and doesnt make any sense at all anymore. The hobby shops here locally have an RC dept thats twice the size of the train dept.
IMO, the same goes for Ebay. After you end up paying for the item and factor in shipping. Its always way more then it would have cost you at a shop. I would only recommend ebay for an out of production item. Then there, you will likely pay something outragous for it. Which to me, isnt always worth it either.
Chris, I don't even mind paying retail as long as I can make one trip and find everything I need. Most shops don't stock all those pages and pages of details you see in the Walthers catalog and many don't stock from smaller companies like Blair Line and Miller Engineering. When train shops were your only choice, you always paid retail but the selection was great. As internet sellers started to become popular, margins for train shop owners started to get razor thin. Heck, I remember when you couldn't even order from Walthers unless you were a dealer. Now Walthers is competing with their dealers. Train shops had to cut back on inventory and try to sell high margin, fast movers. F unit sunshades don't fall in that category. Train shop owners knew that having more selection would increase their overall slaes but they just didn't have the capital as people cherry picked details and small items and placed orders for big things on the net. Most trains shops were never very well capitalized to begin with and the internet competition took away some of their best money makers. The downward spiral began and continues today.
Another factor not often mentioned is that train shop owners were generally at least 10 years older than me when I was really active in the hobby, back when I was in my 20's. I'm now 63. That means most train shop owners would be in their 70's and not many people want to work retail hours at that age. Most of their kids weren't into trains and had no interest in taking over the business. When the owner died, the business often died with them. I know of at least five trains shops in LA (anyone around who remebers Crane's Trains in La Puente?) that used to do a booming business that are now gone because their owners went to the big roundhouse in the sky. Without a succesion plan, most businesses fail when the prime mover dies, and that's particularly true with train shops.
The current recession/depression is the last nail in the coffin for many of them. I hate to see it but a straight train shop has now become a novelty rather than the norm. When I was traveling in my RV, I kept a list of places like Caboose Hobbies in Denver and Wings Hobby Shop in Lakewood, OH and always made it a point to stop in and try to find something to buy. I tried to make it to Golf Manor Hobby Shop in Cincinnati, which was one of the best trains shops around, but they closed up before I got there. All I can say is that, if you still have some train shops in your area, make it a point to buy some things there on a regular basis. Even if you have to pay retail, it'll be worth it to keep the place open.
Train shop owners knew that having more selection would increase their overall slaes but they just didn't have the capital as people cherry picked details and small items and placed orders for big things on the net. Most trains shops were never very well capitalized to begin with and the internet competition took away some of their best money makers. The downward spiral began and continues today. Another factor not often mentioned is that train shop owners were generally at least 10 years older than me when I was really active in the hobby, back when I was in my 20's. I'm now 63. That means most train shop owners would be in their 70's and not many people want to work retail hours at that age. Most of their kids weren't into trains and had no interest in taking over the business. When the owner died, the business often died with them. I know of at least five trains shops in LA (anyone around who remebers Crane's Trains in La Puente?) that used to do a booming business that are now gone because their owners went to the big roundhouse in the sky. Without a succesion plan, most businesses fail when the prime mover dies, and that's particularly true with train shops.
The current recession/depression is the last nail in the coffin for many of them. I hate to see it but a straight train shop has now become a novelty rather than the norm. When I was traveling in my RV, I kept a list of places like Caboose Hobbies in Denver and Wings Hobby Shop in Lakewood, OH and always made it a point to stop in and try to find something to buy. I tried to make it to Golf Manor Hobby Shop in Cincinnati, which was one of the best trains shops around, but they closed up before I got there. All I can say is that, if you still have some train shops in your area, make it a point to buy some things there on a regular basis. Even if you have to pay retail, it'll be worth it to keep the place open.
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ChevelleSSguy
Member
I dont mind paying retail on most items either. Its nice to see the item your buying in person before paying for it which is kind of hard to do when ordering from the internet. With a lot of locomotives and freight cars starting with over 25-30 dollars, it makes it hard on the budget to pay retail but those are items that more often then not, a person can wait for in the mail. If your working on a project on the layout and run out of a scenery product. Ordering online just to save a few bucks means you now have to put the project on hold for a few days to a week to wait for your order to arrive. Having hobby shops around is nice because you can get what you need locally and you end up with no down time on the projects for your layout.
I think in the end, if train shops want to compete. They will likely have to cut thier prices down to be competetive with online stores. It is unfortunate there wont be as much money made for the business, or they have to order twice as much of a volume to make the money back, but its an electronic world now and everybody is doing things online now. So its become sink or swim with the hobby shops.
We are not the only hobby dealing with this. This is the same thing that us hot rodders, car guys, and classic car enthusiasts are going through. We just had a performance speed shop close a few months back after being open since the days of the Flathead Ford. Things like the internet and catalog shops like Summit Racing have really put a dent in todays speed shops. Instead of bringing home a Holley Carb or Edelbrock intake for your small block, people are now looking through web pages or catalog pages and ordering off the phone or computer to get what they need.
I think in the end, if train shops want to compete. They will likely have to cut thier prices down to be competetive with online stores. It is unfortunate there wont be as much money made for the business, or they have to order twice as much of a volume to make the money back, but its an electronic world now and everybody is doing things online now. So its become sink or swim with the hobby shops.
We are not the only hobby dealing with this. This is the same thing that us hot rodders, car guys, and classic car enthusiasts are going through. We just had a performance speed shop close a few months back after being open since the days of the Flathead Ford. Things like the internet and catalog shops like Summit Racing have really put a dent in todays speed shops. Instead of bringing home a Holley Carb or Edelbrock intake for your small block, people are now looking through web pages or catalog pages and ordering off the phone or computer to get what they need.
tankist
Active Member
and what exactly prevents those established hobby shops from opening a web front? whats killed them not internet or ebay, its reluctance to adapt to new reality. if anythign interned widened market enormously - suddenly i don't have to stick to local shop and can order stuff from other coast.
the fittest will survive,
the fittest will survive,
ChevelleSSguy
Member
I think in a sense. Thats what many of us are saying also. I dont think its just a reluctance, its the capacity. It takes quite a big pocket book to stock all those items like some of these major mail order outfits. Not to mention the size of physical space need to stock all that stuff.
Anton, MB Klein out of Baltimore is a great example of a large hobby shop also establishing a major on-line business with ModelRailroadStuff.com. I think the keyword is large. They had the staff and capital to run both businesses and keep a good inventory on hand. The average mom and pop store barely has the capital to meet payroll, let alone establish a web store. As you say, survival of the fittest will rule.
stationmaster
Crusty Old Geezer
One of my local, well if 45 miles is local, hobby shops, does sell via the internet. They also diversified into other hobby areas. Not just a trains hop, but a hobby shop to be sure.
Bob
Bob
Larry
Long Winded Old Fart
On a few pages back I stated that Model Railcraft Supply was a good company to deal with. It was on the 1st 3 orders, but on the last 2 there has been some problems. had to call them at least 3 times & email them about twice to get a response on a back order that I knew nothing about. In other words they never contacted me that they were holding my order for a backorder. I finally got in touch w/them & they had forgot to ship what they had.
This last order was a very small one I sent in by online order on the 5th. I emailed them about 5 times w/no response in the last 3 days. I called them today & they put me on hold because they couldn't find the order. Someone was supposed to call me back w/in 10 mins. Didn't happen. I called them again & got cut off. I emailed them tonite & told them I wasn't happy w/their ordering system & no responce to their customers.
I also told them I had put on this forum about their company & the good service I had got in the past. Seems like if the order isn't for $100 or more you have to wait for awhile.
This last order was a very small one I sent in by online order on the 5th. I emailed them about 5 times w/no response in the last 3 days. I called them today & they put me on hold because they couldn't find the order. Someone was supposed to call me back w/in 10 mins. Didn't happen. I called them again & got cut off. I emailed them tonite & told them I wasn't happy w/their ordering system & no responce to their customers.
I also told them I had put on this forum about their company & the good service I had got in the past. Seems like if the order isn't for $100 or more you have to wait for awhile.
I just ordered from them a couple days ago. I called them and the guy on the phone was a bit scatter brained, but very nice. he elected to call me back which he promptly did when he had the status of the order. i ended up cancelling the order bc they didnt have in stock what i wanted.
be advised that what is on their website might not actually be in stock despite what it says. the guy at the store admits that they need to clean up their website quite a bit. on the positive side, they dont charge you until your items ship.
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Hey, just wondering, who did you order from?
railBuilderDhd
Active Member
Larry,
I'm not sure but I recall a LHS in NJ I've ordered from before and they had a link to Model Railcraft Supply. The guy at the LHS (I can't recall the name of the shop or guy) said they were working together with this site. I placed an order about a year ago with the LHS in NJ on Walthers and I never heard from the LHS or this guy. I tried calling and never heard from them again. That was when I started to deal with Beckner HS. They have free shipping and that's a plus.
The guy in the NJ LHS seemed a little out of it and never had it together when I would call. Maybe they are closed only dealing with this site now. I'll try to recall the name of the shop and let you know if I do. I just placed an order with "Model Trains Stuff" and "Beckners" via "Walthers". The items at MTS was so much cheaper then Walthers that I saved on them more then the shipping.
Dave
dispatcher812
Member
Anyone deal with discounttrainsonline.com? I happend onto them tonight and have 2 engines I have been looking for. Thanks
Larry
Long Winded Old Fart
Well, I got a call from Railcraft saturday after I sent them a mean email. They said they had misplaced my order & they had finally found it & was shipping it right away(sat.). I got it today. they sent 6 xtra packages of each item for free. very small order & they just shipped it parcel post instead of their regular shipping. Instead of the whole order w/shipping costing $16.00 I only paid $8.00 w/shipping. Looks like they need to update their website like BigB said. The last order I made showed everything was in stock but it wasn't. After I ordered that engine from them 2 months ago that showed it was in stock it took them until last week to take it off of their instock list. Sounds like they are busy as heck when you call them on the phone & you always hear a bunch of paperwork being shuffled around. They need to get their act together.
They did use to have a hobby shop not to far from where they are now. The address for their website is Little Silver, NJ if that helps anyone.
They did use to have a hobby shop not to far from where they are now. The address for their website is Little Silver, NJ if that helps anyone.
Kevin, DTOL is not bad. Their prices are usually good and shipping is about the best around. The only thing you have to watch for is new old stock. That can be an advantage if you're looking for discontinued item but you have to know what you're buying. For example, they are still selling original run Athearn RTR engines, with the BB drive and the crew frying headlight, and list it along with all the other updated and better detailed RTR engines.
Larry, sounds like Railcraft at least tried to make it right for you, even though they lost your order. There are a lot of places that mess around with you for a couple of months and you still pay full price.
Larry, sounds like Railcraft at least tried to make it right for you, even though they lost your order. There are a lot of places that mess around with you for a couple of months and you still pay full price.
