Headed to St. Louis next. Any hobby shop recommendations??

Try these. Best choices for orange/blue boxes are #'s 4,6,10,11.

Mark

I would recommend the Electric Train Outlet. They sell mainly O gauge with some S gauge and has a lot of Lionel items. The owner Bob Jacobson has been in the hobby his whole life and knows his stuff.

Years ago, I used to find some stuff at an old O scale shop on the north side, but it

has long since closed (maybe locals will remember that place).  On I-70 going west

out of St. Louis on the north side of the road there is a shop I stop at, but it is more

HO than three rail...I check for Plastruct and Evergreen.  A couple of years ago they

had the Narrow Guage convention (before that an O scale convention) in St. Louis, and I took the opportunities to hunt down what was in yellow pages, but didn't find anything exciting.

The hobby shop on the north side could have been The Train Depot. It was in Florissant and closed down in the 1990s. The one off of I-70 was probably Mark Twain Hobbies and it is still there. They sell all gauges but as stated mainly HO.

Electric train outlet, 9517 Page close to 170. All o gauge, mostly Lionel and good service department.

It's not a hobby shop but the St. Louis Museum of Transportation at the Union Station is worth the time. 

 

Steve, Lady and Tex

WOW, that was quick! Thanks for all the suggestions!

Agree with Jennifer.  Electric Train Outlet is a good choice for Lionel.  Lots of product on the store's shelves.  Nice operating layout. 

Train Town on Manchester Road www.traintownstl.com  Lots of post war.  Ask for Bob or Mary. 

 

Switch Stand in Overland www.switchstandtrainshop.com (just there yesterday).  It's a couple miles from Electric Train Outlet.

 

Schaefer Hobby Shop in South County www.schaeferhobby.com  

 

Rodney's Trains on Gravois a couple of miles east of Schaefers.  Mostly post war.

 

Not a hobby shop but I recommend stopping at the Transportation Museum.  Excellent collection of the big boy trains!  www.transportationmuseumassociation.org

 

The north side shop was probably Henzie's Hobby Shop.  They started in north city and then relocated to Florissant but closed years ago.

 

 

 

 

Jeff,

 

In addition to the hobby shops mentioned above, remember that Feb 1 and Feb 2 are the dates for the Great Train Expo at the St Charles Convention Center. It is rather easy to get to the Convention Center from I-70 after crossing the river from St Louis to St Charles.

 

If you try to make it to the Electric Train Outlet, check their hours - they used to close rather early on Saturdays. And you better check the Museum of Transportation hours as well.

 

Also, if you have time, I will have an open house Saturday afternoon for anyone interested. I live about 30 miles west of the Convention Center. Email me if you would like more details or have any questions.

 

Alex

I believe "Trains Limited" on the list has closed.  Owner retired

Was in St Louis over Christmas - Electric Train Outlet best place to go.

 

They held the Narrow Gauge Convention at that St. Charles Convention Center, and

it was a nice place.  Also, St. Charles old town is historically interesting with a station

and some rail cars over by the river, restaurants, a casino, etc.

Traintown in Rock Hill has the best postwar selection & prices, hands down.  They also stock some modern MTH & Lionel stuff, all at excellent prices.  Bob & Mary are just awesome, YOU CAN'T GO WRONG HERE!!! 

Rodney's Trains in Affton has some nice stuff, mostly Postwar, including Marx, some modern.  Values are a mixed bag: prices range from a bargain to reasonable to a bit high, so be knowledgable going in.

Switch Stand has mostly newer MTH & Lionel.  Generally manufacturer's retail prices, although Roscoe will occasionally have a nice sale on select items.

Schaefer's in South County is an old fashioned hobby shop.. Lots of crafts, R/C, an OK selection of new stuff all makes & scales, occasionally a Postwar piece or two.  Prices are generally slightly below retail here.

Mark Twain in St. Charles is similar to Schaefer's.  Haven't been in years as it's quite a ways away.

Electric Train Outlet on Page has a huge swath of modern Lionel for sale.  I seldom buy modern Lionel, but many of the times I tried to go here, the place was closed -- they have very finnicky hours, so call ahead!  If you're a cost-conscious shopper like myself, expect to pay around manufacturer's retail for most items here -- bargain shoppers probably won't find a lot of great buys, but if you haven't seen a lot of the items in the catalog in person yet, it's probably in stock here.

Also try Switch Stand too, Roscoe Sloat is the owner. Address is 9120 Lackland Road, Overland MO 63114 and phone number is (314)733-1029. Has a pretty good selection of new and some old trains,track, and track as well. Good repair shop with a large selection of parts that could come in handy. If you blink, you could miss the shop but it's right across from overland city hall. Hope this helps..

Steve closed the doors on Christams Eve.  Retiring to Amelia Island. 

If post war is your thing then do not skip train town in rock hill........just about anything you could want plus great people to deal with!

Union Station was mentioned.  It's the old train station which was essentially to steam passenger trains what Chicago O'Hare is to jet travel in USA today.  It's also a mall and has a Doubletree Hotel within the old station (check out the lobby) plus many restaurants.  Metrolink runs from the airport to Union Station.  All of the sports venues, Arch and other downtown sights are close (walking distance by my definition). 

Jeff I'm late , but the Electric train Store to me is like a Lionel candy store. Nice place. As others If you have the time visit the St. Louis Museum of Transportation at the Union.

Hi Jeff! What dates will you be here? Are you flying or driving here? You can email me in private.

Alex's layout is a must see.  His pictures are fantastic, yes, but seeing it personally is twice as good.  A fantastic host.

Buzz