Chicago Area Hobby Shops

Berwyns Trains in Berwyn IMO is by far the nicest hobby shop in the Chicagoland area. Their primary stock is MTH but there is also a fair amount of Lionel.

They have a good, well organized selection, everything is easy to see/find.

They are open till 8pm on thursdays and are probably the closest(relatively speaking) to the Hegewisch Ford plant. 

http://www.berwynstoytrains.com/

Eric: 

Put Americas Best Train Shop on your list. Lots of Lionel inventory.

I wanted to go to Berwyn's last trip but did not have access to the car early enough.  I will do my best to make sure I leave Thursday night open after work.

I'll look up "America's Best Train Shop" and see if I can hit them too.  A lot will depend on their hours the days I am down there.

Thanks!  And please keep the suggestions coming!

You won't be disappointed with the prices at Berwyn's. Very good store!

Not a great train shop....but I understand one of my all time favorite shops in the states, Venture Hobbies is closing at the end of the month.....even the great Chicago area is not immune to loosing hobby shops.  I used to attend RCHTA every year and hit all the shops in Chicagoland!

Chicagoland Toys in the Norwood Park neighborhood has expanded beyond just trains, and its an easy half-hour ride from downtown on METRA, with the station basically just across the street.

http://chicagolandtoysandhobbies.com/

Thanks for the suggestions, gentlemen.  It looks like I will have time for Berwyn's and the other suggestions as time permits.

Eric:

I don't know how much a Lionel guy you are, but I would strongly recommend Americas Best In Itasca. They are open evenings and they have without a doubt the largest Lionel inventory in the area.

Berwyn is also a wonderful train shop, more tuned to MTH.

Where is Venture Hobbies? I don't think that I've heard of this shop before.

I hunted and visited Chicago shops when I attended the Wheaton fairgrounds show.  I

never heard of Venture, either.  I remember when Chicagoland Hobbies was one of the places you went for O scale items...that changed some years ago. Another shop I would hit on the way to Chicagoland from the toll road, was Hill's, which also closed.  Yet another one that I don't think is still open was one in a town on the south of Chicago, that made kits, too....(I think somebody said they moved).

You might be thinking of Des Plaines Hobby. He is about 20 minutes away from where Hills Hobby originally was. I love that shop! He's got a lot of scale stuff that some folks are into, but I love the deals on used stuff he comes up with. He moved a few years back, but is still in the same strip mall as before. Now the shop is far more organized and not cluttered like it once was.

I don't know why folks say Berwyn Toy Trains is an MTH place. Tom does stock MTH, but also I think a decent selection of Lionel. Maybe 60% MTH and 30% Lionel, with some Atlas, and good used stuff. A really good selection of nice postwar too. I knew Tommy in high school, and he was a postwar collector back then. If you see him at Wheaton you can spot him buying postwar too.

America's Best does have an amazing selection, but it's cluttered and piled everywhere. Good luck finding anything unless it literally falls on you. Some folks love going there, but I don't care for the mess all over and it seems like you have to catch an employee in a good mood to really get any help.

Sam

Nope, I am familiar with Des Plaines and their move.....those three were kind of in a line

an out-of-towner could find off the toll road:  Des Plaines, Hill's, and Chicagoland...

the other was much farther south....my handy Chicago map doesn't show the town....