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Well, I was down in Marion IL for a week for work and came across this hobby store called Chuck's Depot. My god does he have stuff you just can't find on the shelves of a hobby shop anymore. TONS of IC rolling stock and engines, not to mention lots of older Athearn Genesis (Yellow Box handrails not installed) SD75I's and M's. I ended up walking out with the rest of his TTX HiCube 60' Gundersons, a Athearn Genesis BNSF SD75I, and an Intermountain BN (Fantasy) Gevo.
Ordered a Tsunami decoder for the SD75I. Going to look into getting it weathered as well. Nice unit!
Great looking engines and from the sounds of it, a unique hobby shop as well. Great find and very nice buy's.
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Unfortunately, Chuck doesn't appear to have a website.
Great score, nice locos!
Hard to find those railboxes around here.
Unfortunately, Chuck doesn't appear to have a website.
No he does not. He retired from Illinois Central and built a house modeled after an old IC depot. His layout is in the basement, hobby store is on the main floor, and him and his wife live upstairs. He's retired and runs the shop by himself and doesn't see the need for a website. He had a webpage for about a year and only had two orders come in within the year so he shut it down as it was costing him more to operate the site than it was worth.
Great score, nice locos!
Hard to find those railboxes around here.
Thanks! Excited to put sound in this genesis. And yes they are. I snagged them up for $37 a piece. Much better than what they are going for on eBay...
Mike:
You are lucky to have come across a hobby shop that stocks old and different products. These shops are seldom found today and should be supported when possible by the model railroad hobbyists.
I know of several "older" hobby shops and I'm like a kid in a candy store looking at all the different products that I would never find in the chain hobby shops. I know of one hobby shop, now closed, in a small Wisconsin town. It was located in the basement of an apartment building and was open only several hours per week. If you knew his telephone number, giving a call to him and if he could he would come and open his shop.
On a visit to a western city I visited a local a hobby shop. At this store, I found a completed Blue Box Santa Fe boxcar that was weathered, had metal wheel sets and KD couplers for $10.00. When checking out the clerk told me that this car was assembled by a fellow who built nearly 3,000 kits like the one I purchased. This car was the last of the collection. This guy didn't even have a layout!
As they say, "Support your local hobby shop".
Thanks.
Greg
When checking out the clerk told me that this car was assembled by a fellow who built nearly 3,000 kits like the one I purchased. This car was the last of the collection. This guy didn't even have a layout!
Sounds like my house. Trains trains everywhere and not a real layout to be seen.
YIKES!!!
Seventy bucks... Wow!!
@Greg I completely agree. He happened to be only 2 miles from where my hotel was. I stopped in two seperate times and bought some stuff. Chuck is extremely nice and just likes to talk about trains! I'll post a few pictures of his shop.
@Rico that's what I'm saying! I've never paid $70 for a boxcar and I don't plan on starting...
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Wow, but I feel for the guy, a lot of NOS in there.
I've found myself walking away from hobby shops nearly empty-handed (I always buy something) when all they carry are new products. I go right for the used/NOS items.
Wow, but I feel for the guy, a lot of NOS in there.
A LOT of it. I will definitely be back to say the least.
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I've found myself walking away from hobby shops nearly empty-handed (I always buy something) when all they carry are new products. I go right for the used/NOS items.
Yes, but it's why businesses go broke. All that unsold stock is dead money, you can't carry on as a museum (unless you charge admission and get donations).
Mike great pics, I already see some goodies I'd like!
I was digging for Chuck's info and came across this site:
http://modelshopsusa.com
Rico I'm not sure if his info is on there but I know he doesn't have a website. I offered to make him one which I might. His phone number is (618) 993-9179 and they're open from 1:30pm-6pm central time. Give him a call he may do phone orders!
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Does he have a store on ebay?
Does he have a store on ebay?
No he does not. Just a guy with a hobbyshop.
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Don't think my collection will be getting many add-ons anytime soon, our gummint looks like it's about to put the 10% GST (goods & services tax) onto private imports soon (if not yesterday). Added to the near 30% our purchasing power is below the USD, a US$200 loco is fast becoming an AU$350 one.
Lookin like the corner in my living room! LOL! 30 more rollers showed up yesterday, threw em on the PILE! I could open my own store with all this stuff! I got WAY more than the local 'hobby shop' it's a JOKE, not a store! I've been forced to go almost exclusively on line for anything decent! Piling it up till the bench is done, so tempted to put power to that Broadway just to hear the sounds but will WAIT!
I've found myself walking away from hobby shops nearly empty-handed (I always buy something) when all they carry are new products. I go right for the used/NOS items.
I see a C-130 in the pic there, 'Railrunner 130' You Airborne?
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