Skipjacks
Member
As for being able to purchase things, I (along with a lot of people) use M. B. Klein (www.modeltrainstuff.com) for our purchases. They are very very good, have a large inventory and the lowest prices around.
This. Their people are also ALL train nerds like us who have been modeling this stuff for years.
Their physical store is about 1 mile from my house so I can personally attest to how knowledgeable and helpful their staff is.
On that note, I can also attest that your local hobby shop closing down isn't the worst thing. Living 1 mile from one of the best model train stores in the country.....it gets a tad expensive. Especially when you see something on their website and instantly know "I don't have to wait 5 days for shipping! AWESOME!!!"
It will test even the strongest will power.