I'll be traveling for business and may have a night to shop for trains. My interest is pretty much strictly pre and postwar Lionel and would favor a store that caters to that. The only potential possibility I uncovered is http://www.scalemodelsupplies.com/ . Choo Choo Bob's and the Toy Train Museum is out as they doesn't seem to lend themselves to that market. Am I on the right track or missing something?
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they have some but limited in amount and they are very expensive, full list on lionel
ironlake2 posted:they have some but limited in amount and they are very expensive, full list on lionel
I would gladly pay list on just about and Lionel pre/postwar items!
There used to be a place in Hopkins called Steve's train city, or something similar. They had a reasonable amount of post war trains, but were not very friendly.
Steves Train City has odd hours as he mostly works shows. Scale Models is a pretty dang good train shop as train shops go. Its huge and hes got tons of old stuff, if Bruce is working you can make him an offer on stuff. Both Hub Hobby Centers are modern today type stuff but the Richfield location has a 30% off sale on HO and N scale.
There are 3 stores in the Minneapolis area that sell trains and train related supplies;
Scale Model Supplies, Choo Choo Bobs, and Hub Hobby
Scale Model Supplies is the only one of the 3 that has any post war. If you have the time, you might have some fun checking it out.
It's funny that RobRoy mentioned that he had an unfriendly experience. I got into this hobby just over a year ago and had similar experiences at all but one local shop. It's an interesting phenomena. Minnesota is known for "Minnesota Nice" but that frequently doesn't come across. Even as a local I've experienced it more than I'd like. In contrast; I travel frequently for work and try and find local hobby shops to visit. Every shop I've visited outside Minneapolis has been very friendly and I've always had really good experiences.
I will say that Choo Choo Bobs fits that friendly store atmosphere. They are more a toy store than a hobby shop, but it's a fun place to visit...especially for fun trinkets to bring home to little ones.
Most of the guys at SCM can be a bit socially awkward, the owner Doug is pretty dang friendly as well as his brother Bruce is pretty friendly too although a bit quieter. Some of the other guys would just prefer to ignore you unless they actually have to talk to you.
This is a good illustration of the dearth of stores existing in the U.S. these days where people unfamiliar with the hobby can be exposed to O gauge trains. And those few that remain are often not "user friendly."It's the same situation in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area - there's hardly anything left. Train shows have become about the only venue left for new people to be exposed, and those relatively rare 2-day limited publicity events are a poor substitute for year-around stores.
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