Pittsburgh Hobby Shops

You might consider checking out forum member David Minarik's Mercer Junction Train Shoppe, an hour's drive north of Pittsburgh, and  C.T. MeCormick Hardware, in Zelienople, PA, about 40 minutes northwest of Pittsburgh. There probably are a couple of others in the area that I'm overlooking, but those are two I have frequented (especially Dave's shop, which is a 45-minute drive from my home; I go there just about every week).

I used to live in Cranberry Township. I miss Pittsburgh dearly. Here are a couple places I went to:

1) Imperial Trains

http://www.imperialtrainco.net/

450 Penn Lincoln Drive   Imperial, PA 15126

2) CT McCormick hardware (Yes, it is a train store)

http://www.cttrains.com/

147 S Main Street   Zelienople, PA 16063

3) Mercer Junction (If you feel like taking a longer drive)

www.mercerjunction.com

151 North Diamond Street  Mercer, PA 16137

Enjoy The Burgh!

-Eric

Allan Miller posted:

You might consider checking out forum member David Minarik's Mercer Junction Train Shoppe, an hour's drive north of Pittsburgh, and  C.T. MeCormick Hardware, in Zelienople, PA, about 40 minutes northwest of Pittsburgh. There probably are a couple of others in the area that I'm overlooking

Alan

You need to visit Imperial Train Company. Lots of MTH on the shelves as well as Lionel. 

If you don't mind a little drive, Patrick's in wheeling is a good one too. 

Lionel16,

Sorry to say we now only have about 1/4 of the great Train/Hobby shops left here in the Pittsburgh, Pa area.

Also check out Brady's in Greensburg and Lenny's Train Shop in I believe that is Irwin, Pa, Bill and Walts Hobby Shop in White Oak, David is still in the Train Business.  Imperial Train Shop is not to far away, good stock.

Pat's in WVa also!

PCRR/Dave

Wow! Bill and Walts is still in business. As a young shaver I would beg dad to take me there just to drool over all those trains!  Dad actually bought Lionel from a place called DoubleDay-Hill which I don't know if it was a retailer or wholesaler (and if still exists today?), and also did Lionel repairs.

Good ole days, sigh.

If you are north of Pgh. near Cranberry there is a very good hobby shop  near the Staples store. I think it is "Hobby Express". Lots of  new Lionel stuff plus  some custom painted engines. Talk to the owner, he will deal.

RRMAN,

   Bill & Walts big store on the BLVD of the Allies was really something, wish we had both Dave's big store and Franks Iron Horse Hobby Shop back again, that is for darn sure, and with the loss of Jim' Train Shop up in Indiana, Pa, when Jim retired, our Pittsburgh, Pa area has never been the same for our Train Hobby.  Just Started Dealing with Imperial Train Company lately, to make up for the loss of our old time Train Businesses.

The sign of the times I guess.  All in All the Western Pa area still has more Trains Stores than just about any where else.  However for many many years we had the best Train Stores and Hobby Shops in the USA.  

PCRR/Dave

The Greater Pgh area still has a lot more than a lot of places.

We are 45 Miles south of Pittsburgh

PATRICK'S TRAINS

142 29TH STREET

WHEELING WV 26003

304-232-0714

WWW.PATSTRAINS.COM

E-MAIL PATSTRAINS@AOL.COM

Wonder if the little store in Carmichaels still has trains?

Great list for a road trip.   I know Scenic Express is near Pittsburgh, do they have a retail outlet? 

Pat,

Had to give you a plug sir, the Legacy Shay I purchased from you is still running strong!

PCRR/Dave

Nick,

All the stores mentioned are worthy of a visit.  I hope you have time to make it to as many as possible!!!

If you run down to Pat's Trains in Wheeling WV, there is another train shop just four miles away on the other side of the river in Bridgeport Ohio called TK Trains and it's well worth checking it out too. TK doesn't seem to run adds or sponsor the OGR Forum, but they usually have an add in that "other magazine". Pat's and TK Trains are both well stocked train shops.

Cheers,

Ken

You might want to check out the Underground Railroad Shop just to meet Lou. He has a neat toy train layout in the back if you ask up about it. I believe he is in New Castle about a hour drive north of the Burgh.

Thank you all for the replies!  Sounds like there is quite a few hobby shops in the greater Pittsburgh region.  I will plan on visiting a few.

Thanks

As a follow up 18 month's later.

Been to Brady's, Pats, T&K, Len's, Dick's, Chipper's, and American Hobby.

What other  shops hops have I missed?  Good chance I will be in the Pittsburgh area Labor Day.  Hobby Express doesn't show much on the web site but their online pictures look good.

Other train activities?  PA Trolley museum in Washington.  Good place to watch trains that is safe and legal.  Industrial units.  Steel mills.

Thanks

Hobby Express doesn't have much of a web page, it is true.  They must be banking on their location for plenty of sales.  They have a lot of trains, besides other hobbies.

If you do go to Hobby Express, take a short trip up US 19 to Zelienople where you can see CT McCormick's Hardware.  It is a traditional family owned hardware on Main Street, but Jeff has lots of trains.  His new Web site https://www.cttrains.com/ is quite up to date.  He has a lot of train sets, engines, cars, buildings on display, plus he has a ton of stuff upstairs if you just ask.

When I visited, train watching was good along the "ohio River Blvd" rte 65 from about Sewickley to Conway and beyond.     There was a classic signal bridge at Leetsdale.    You can find a place to park on the river side of the tracks if  you take the bridge over off of rte 65.    you can walk out onto the sewickley bridge and get photos with the station in the background.     There is an access road in Baden with a bridge over the conway yard throat.     The last time I was there  they didn't bother  you if walked out onto the bridge.    It is an old wooden structure accessible off the "old" road ratther than the highway.     At the other end of Conway  Yard you can get to the river side of the tracks and get next to the tracks from public property.    

If you continue west  you can walk out onto a highway bridge across the beaver river between New Brighton and Beaver Falls and you will be parallel to the main NS bridge and over the CSX line that is the old P&LE.    Finally at Homewood Jct up rte 18 near the PA turnpike is a really neat curve where NS crests the side of the Beaver Valley and turns west to Ohio.     You have to wind around some back streets to get to the tracks but the photos are worth it and there is also a highway bridge there  you can walk out on to look over the tracks.

Trolley museum in Washington is well worth a visit.

I was at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum on Thursday. They have just released a new book on Pittsburgh streetcars. The museum received a large grant and is in the middle of a complete rebuild of the visitor experience. Unfortunately due to supply chain logistics and some material procurement challenges it will not be completed until the end of 2023. It is still worth a visit if in the area. It is about 2 miles west of the Meadowlands exit from I79.

Here are a couple of pictures plus the artist rendering of the completed new projects.

@Mark Boyce posted:

If you do go to Hobby Express, take a short trip up US 19 to Zelienople where you can see CT McCormick's Hardware.  It is a traditional family owned hardware on Main Street, but Jeff has lots of trains.  His new Web site https://www.cttrains.com/ is quite up to date.  He has a lot of train sets, engines, cars, buildings on display, plus he has a ton of stuff upstairs if you just ask.

Jeff, at CT McCormick, is one of my go-to dealers. Truth is, even though it is quite a drive from the Youngstown, Ohio, area, he is currently my "local dealer" since Dave Minarik close Mercer Junction.

Is A B Charles hobby shop still in Mt Lebanon, PA ?

Charlie

@Allan Miller posted:

Jeff, at CT McCormick, is one of my go-to dealers. Truth is, even though it is quite a drive from the Youngstown, Ohio, area, he is currently my "local dealer" since Dave Minarik close Mercer Junction.

Yes he is my local dealer too, although Jeff is a lot closer to me in Butler, than you in Poland.

A B Charles on W Liberty Avenue is gone, Bill and Walt's downtown is gone, Toby Tyler's at the Cloverleaf is gone and Iron Horse is gone. They were the four Pittsburgh stores that had substantial S gauge/American Flyer inventory. I no longer visit train stores as part of my Pittsburgh trips since those now in business are not local to my other activities and those stores usually have no S gauge. The Greater Pittsburgh area still seems to have a lot of shops selling O gauge.

The best train store in Pittsburgh in my opinion, is Hobby Express in Cranberry Township.  Full disclosure - I used to work there.  They carry an extensive assortment (N, HO, S, O, G) of track, locomotives, and accessories.  They also carry a great variety of scenery products.  Products from Atlas, MTH, Lionel, Woodland Scenics, Scenic Express, etc.  This store is jammed with train-related items.  The estimate is over 120,000 SKUs are packed into this store. 

I think I labeled many of the locomotives in the display cases.

Yeah, check it out.

George

Sometimes, memory fails me.

Was it Bill and Walt's previous location up on Lincoln way (about where the Dollar tree is, or was that another hobby store from downtown MacKeesport.

@G3750 posted:

The best train store in Pittsburgh in my opinion, is Hobby Express in Cranberry Township.  Full disclosure - I used to work there.  They carry an extensive assortment (N, HO, S, O, G) of track, locomotives, and accessories.  They also carry a great variety of scenery products.  Products from Atlas, MTH, Lionel, Woodland Scenics, Scenic Express, etc.  This store is jammed with train-related items.  The estimate is over 120,000 SKUs are packed into this store. 

I think I labeled many of the locomotives in the display cases.

Yeah, check it out.

George

Thanks for posting this.

Whenever I travel, I look for train shops.  Been to Pittsburgh area several times, and NEVER even heard of this place.  Based on the pictures and your description of the place, they are really missing the boat regarding advertising - in magazines and online.

And it would certainly help if they put more info about their train inventory on the website!

@Greg Nagy posted:

Sometimes, memory fails me.

Was it Bill and Walt's previous location up on Lincoln way (about where the Dollar tree is, or was that another hobby store from downtown MacKeesport.

Bill and Walt's had a location on Lincoln Way near the Dollar Tree, but they moved to the shopping plaza at the corner of Lincoln Way and Rt. 48 in White Oak.  Details on their web site.

Andy

@Mallard4468 posted:

Thanks for posting this.

Whenever I travel, I look for train shops.  Been to Pittsburgh area several times, and NEVER even heard of this place.  Based on the pictures and your description of the place, they are really missing the boat regarding advertising - in magazines and online.

And it would certainly help if they put more info about their train inventory on the website!

Mallard,

They do have a rather active FaceBook page.  The website is under construction.

George

Andy,

Thanks.

It also occurs to me that there used to be a group of W PA retailers that had a website as a collective. It seemed to indicate that they were the group having a lot of the custom Pittsburgh MTH items made. My link to the site was lost to an update long ago. Is the site still active?

Greg, I do not know about the collective Website.  I do know Jeff McCormick and Dave Minarik went together to get MTH to make the Union RR SW1.  I'm not particularly a URR fan, but it's such a good looking engine, I finally bought one.

As to the lack of a decent Website, I'm glad George reported Hobby Express is working on a Website.  I will say in their defense, they did a lot of things right over the years.  Twenty years ago or more, they were a very small hobby outfit in a hole-in-the-wall building at the intersection of Rt 228 and Mars-Valencia Road, just outside Mars Borough.  Then they moved into one storefront in the then new shopping center on Rt 228 in Cranberry Township.  They really grew and added to the range of hobbies they offer.  A number of years ago they took over the vacant storefront next to them.  With the population growing in Cranberry Township after the completion of I-279 into Pittsburgh, they really made a good business move.  With a decent website, they could be a lot more.

@Mark Boyce posted:

With a decent website, they could be a lot more.

You said a mouthful in that one sentence.  I've been to the store and as George pointed out it is well stocked and has a great staff, George excluded , but a website upgrade is needed and I'm glad they are working on it.  As well as they are doing as a brick and mortar they could really shift into high gear with the online sales.

@Mark Boyce posted:

Greg, I do not know about the collective Website.  I do know Jeff McCormick and Dave Minarik went together to get MTH to make the Union RR SW1.  I'm not particularly a URR fan, but it's such a good looking engine, I finally bought one.

As to the lack of a decent Website, I'm glad George reported Hobby Express is working on a Website.  I will say in their defense, they did a lot of things right over the years.  Twenty years ago or more, they were a very small hobby outfit in a hole-in-the-wall building at the intersection of Rt 228 and Mars-Valencia Road, just outside Mars Borough.  Then they moved into one storefront in the then new shopping center on Rt 228 in Cranberry Township.  They really grew and added to the range of hobbies they offer.  A number of years ago they took over the vacant storefront next to them.  With the population growing in Cranberry Township after the completion of I-279 into Pittsburgh, they really made a good business move.  With a decent website, they could be a lot more.

From Niedzalkoski's Train Shop, I found the name of the group "Pittsburgh Model Railroad Retailer Cooperative" but the website seems to be gone. Jeff and Dave were probably part of the group too, but I used to hit the ones that were south and east of the city. There was quite a list of stores at the time, and I was wondering what was still left.

I have gotten a few of the URR specials and they are incredible.

Don't know if Harry Sshmiedel is still the head guy/owner.  I haven't seen him in the store in a long time.  But they still have a very knowledgeable staff.

For those that might care, they are (or at least were, but I think still are) an authorized MTH repair shop.  I've taken engines there to get repaired and Gwen seemed very capable and fixed each one.  I know that Gwen went to MTH (when they were still around) for a multi-day training session to become authorized.

- walt

@walt rapp posted:

Don't know if Harry Sshmiedel is still the head guy/owner.  I haven't seen him in the store in a long time.  But they still have a very knowledgeable staff.

For those that might care, they are (or at least were, but I think still are) an authorized MTH repair shop.  I've taken engines there to get repaired and Gwen seemed very capable and fixed each one.  I know that Gwen went to MTH (when they were still around) for a multi-day training session to become authorized.

- walt

Walt,

You are correct.  Harry Schmiedel is still the owner and still very customer-service oriented.  Gwen is still there as well and doing repairs.  In fact, she just pulled a PlaySkool Express engine out of its coma.  The grandson is enjoying it.

George

Take the trip to Wheeling and go to @PATSTRAINS

@G3750 posted:

Walt,

You are correct.  Harry Schmiedel is still the owner and still very customer-service oriented.  Gwen is still there as well and doing repairs.  In fact, she just pulled a PlaySkool Express engine out of its coma.  The grandson is enjoying it.

George

Harry Schmiedel!  My grandma lived near a family named Schmiedel on Grubbs Road in Richland Township long ago.  I’m thinking the husband’s name was Chuck.  Anyway, his was the second layout I ever saw.  The first was my uncle who had an American Flyer layout, but they moved away when I was 5.  A few years later we were invited to see Mr. Schmiedel’s layout that filled his basement!  I was hooked! I may have been about 8.  That would have been 1964.  That is not a common name here.  I wonder if Harry is related to that family who would have passed on years ago.

@Greg Nagy posted:

From Niedzalkoski's Train Shop, I found the name of the group "Pittsburgh Model Railroad Retailer Cooperative" but the website seems to be gone. Jeff and Dave were probably part of the group too, but I used to hit the ones that were south and east of the city. There was quite a list of stores at the time, and I was wondering what was still left.

I remember that group -- the web page was hosted by MTH and had its own web address "http://www.pittsburghtrains.com/" which now just re-directs to MTH's site.  If you use the Internet Archive Wayback Machine and put in that URL in the search bar, you can still see some of the contents, including lists of the regional items produced and sold through the participating shops.

Andy