LHS Annual List/Map???

Occasionallly on here I see an LHS mentioned, recently one in the Chicago area

when several years ago I thought I had visited all of them, at least once, that

I had never heard of, never seen listed in the back of any magazine (and I

once carried various issues when I traveled), nor seen advertised. Unfortunately, some I once visited have closed. Probably now some years ago I tracked down all the hobby shops I could find in Colorado Springs listed in the

backs of magazines and the Yellow Pages. I think all now are gone. It is a floating crap game, so I would like to see OGR publish an annual list, with directions, in booklet form, of then existing LHS that have an amount of O guage three rail, and, much more rarely found, O scale material. (I realize that even in the industry, it is probably not easy to keep informed as to who came and who left). I would hope that there would be a market for that...would anybody else buy one of these annually?

7/27/1211:08 AM

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Gandalf97OGR Forum Member

I can see how useful that might be but it probably wouldn't pay for them to do it. The current lists are really ads placed by a particular shop.

If a shop doesn't want to pay to place an ad, then they aren't included. Then the list isn't complete. If you include them anyway, places don't have the incentive to pay you and you have trouble generating the revenue needed to pay your expenses and make it worth your time.

The other issues are scope and interest. It would be pretty difficult to compile an up to date list for the entire country and keep it that way. It would be a pretty big undertaking. Also, unless they do a lot of travelling, I'm not sure how much people are going to want a lot of data for areas of the country they will never visit.

Would I buy an annual book? No. I'm already getting the list of train shops that advertise in OGR and in competing magazines. I also network with other hobbyists as to where the other shops are. If I am going to travel (and be able to visit a train store) I ask around before I go or take note when a thread about shops in that area comes up in the forum.

Would I visit a web site? Absolutely.

I hope this helps.

7/27/1211:49 AM

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johnstrainsOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

It’s a good idea in theory, but I think on-line resources have largely obviated the need for such a publication. Store names, locations, hours, inventory (in some cases), and directions via Map Quest and/or Google are all available on the ‘Net. Granted, you‘d need access while traveling but many of us have (or have access to) a laptop PC or other computer these days.

The other issue is that these hard copy publications quickly become obsolete as stores close, relocate, etc.

7/27/1212:17 PM

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