Your Local Hobby Shop (LHS)

Arnold, Another excellent topic!  That's a nice log train.  You are right, a LHS visit is an excellent alternative during this time of no large gatherings.

Last week, I had some business for my late aunt's estate near what I call my LHS, about a 45-minute drive away.  Fortunately I didn't need an appointment because my LHS is one of the dying breed of hardware stores that still carry a large line of O gauge trains.  I needed three Ross switches and some cork roadbed, which I purchased at CT McCormick Hardware in Zelienople, Pennsylvania.  Jeff McCormick carries on the tradition his father started carrying a good line of Lionel, MTH, GarGraves, Ross, Midwest Cork, etc.  After a couple hardware only customers left, I had a nice chat with Jeff about trains.  It was the first I had been there since before the pandemic started.

@Mark Boyce posted:

Arnold, Another excellent topic!  That's a nice log train.  You are right, a LHS visit is an excellent alternative during this time of no large gatherings.

Last week, I had some business for my late aunt's estate near what I call my LHS, about a 45-minute drive away.  Fortunately I didn't need an appointment because my LHS is one of the dying breed of hardware stores that still carry a large line of O gauge trains.  I needed three Ross switches and some cork roadbed, which I purchased at CT McCormick Hardware in Zelienople, Pennsylvania.  Jeff McCormick carries on the tradition his father started carrying a good line of Lionel, MTH, GarGraves, Ross, Midwest Cork, etc.  After a couple hardware only customers left, I had a nice chat with Jeff about trains.  It was the first I had been there since before the pandemic started.

Your post, Mark, brings back very fond memories of a hardware store that carried Lionel trains in my hometown, Mt. Vernon, NY, during my childhood. Arnold

By the way, when I went to my LHS yesterday, the owner and I both wore masks, we were the only people in the store, we maintained social distance, and I had a small bottle of hand sanitizer in my pocket. We had a great conversation and I had a great time. I paid him over $200 for what I purchased, which I love, so it was a total win-win. Arnold

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

By the way, when I went to my LHS yesterday, the owner and I both wore masks, we were the only people in the store, we maintained social distance, and I had a small bottle of hand sanitizer in my pocket. We had a great conversation and I had a great time. I paid him over $200 for what I purchased, which I love, so it was a total win-win. Arnold

Right now in Western Pennsylvania (Except Erie County) masks are recommended, but not mandatory.  Erie is still mandatory.  Zelienople and Butler are in Butler County.  Most of us . including me, wore masks, and like most stores, Jeff has a plexiglas barrier at the counter.

Funny coincidence. I had the itch just like you all to visit my local hobby shop, ready to roll, in Miami. I called up and and had a great conversation with Bill, the owner, who jokingly told me that Mike Wolf has  asked him for a job, since he’s already relocated to Florida. Unfortunately, Bill isn’t ready to open his doors to the public just yet, since we are still spiking down here in South Florida, but he’s taking telephone and Internet orders. I placed a pre order on the mth catalog and asked him to send an email when he opens the doors so I can come in and admire his in store layouts. Great guy. 

Thanks, Mark, for that info.

For those interested, especially those in the NY metro area, my LHS is Tom's Trains in Ardsley, NY., which has a lot of Postwar at very reasonable prices IMO, some new, modern Lionel  (Legacy, LC+, and some LC sets), some MTH, and some other manufacturers. Tom is a straight shooter and a good, honest LHS owner.

It feels good for me to be supportive of Tom's Trains. I feel the same way about being supportive of our Forum sponsors.

Arnold

"Consider giving the owner of your LHS a call."

Would love to. No can do. Haven't had a LHS in my region that sold trains in a meaningful way for decades. (You know, the "L" part of the acronym.) Frankly, I don't even know where the closest one would be. Perhaps Tulsa? (1 hr 45 min drive + tolls)?

My train hobby survives off the internet. Besides, most LHS can't really get down and compete with online volume sales companies, so my type of business for a LHS  (that of using an LHS for small bits, so no large cash sums involved) would be an aggravation to the owner of said LHS. (I completely understand that.)

SO... it's been decades since I had a LHS to enjoy, and yes, the visits with the owner (a long time friend), as well as the BS sessions with my fellow regional modelers is missed, but time marches on and things change.

Andre

When I returned to the hobby in 1997, my LHS was Shelton Railroad Systems in Shelton, Connecticut, about 12 miles from home - a small mom and pop store, perhaps 15-feet by 18-feet and now long gone - on a narrow back street and steep hill. I would visit, browse and spend cash on MTH Premier trains and model railroading supplies every weekend. Aside from the train store, I enjoyed visiting the City of Shelton itself, an old New England industrial town, which had unused railroad infrastructure (bridges, track, a canal, factories) that once belonged to the New Haven Railroad and gave me ideas for the layout I was building. It was a trip back in time - just like visiting my LHS would be today.

MELGAR

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

This topic just popped into my head from a comment I made about unit trains last night.

Are you aching to go to a train show knowing that the prospects of doing so for the foreseeable future are dim?

Consider giving the owner of your LHS a call. Maybe you can make an appointment to visit the LHS and see what it has to offer.

I did the above yesterday and had a great time, purchasing a bunch of Postwar rolling stock to add to my unit trains. Take a look at this video taken along the river as a log drag rolls by:

You may feel like you are at a train show next time you visit your LHS, like I did yesterday.

What do you think?

Arnold

I wish I had a LHS Arnold. The closest store that sells trains is 35 miles away.

A couple friends and I (all recently retired) discussed opening a small shop here in town. After serious consideration, even with our best sales estimates, rent and insurance would not be covered, forget about other expenses like utilities. Our outreach at train shows reveled that buyers would welcome a new LHS for items such as paints, scenery items, plastruct, balsawood and the like. Maybe a starter set for a child's Christmas or birthday gift.  Maybe a spur of the moment train car purchase. It was just about unanimous that larger train purchases would remain from the big four mail order shops, York, EBAY or train shows. Best prices talk, looks like friendliness at a LHS would not overcome that.

Very sad. I would love a place to frequent, but it ain't gonna happen.

There's something magical about seeing a running layout in person - gets the imagination going. As a kid, seeing train sets running in the store window was a great way to get me dragging my parents inside. Now though, money is so tight and space is at such a premium that all those childhood dreams of a G scale layout running through the house to deliver my lunch went poof. Going to a LHS is a great way to get in touch with those memories, but I just don't have the cash to support one.

I agree about Tom's Train in Ardsley, NY. He is opening this weekend and I am excited to go back. He said the store is stocked. Tom is a great guy and very fair with his pricing.

Our LHS 's owner Train Shop (Erie, Pa.)  just passed away last week, and I'm not sure if someone will carry on the responsibilities or ownership. I agree with Mark, that McCormicks in Zelienople, is a nice  shop with a great assortment of O scale products. I'd like to see someone buy and remodel the Train Shop here in Erie. They can tap right into the WABCO (ex-GE) employees who build locomotives in Lawrence Park for starters, and expand their interests to guys like you and I. They should hire someone like Christine Baden or an alternative to paint locomotives that are currently produced at the WABCO shop.  It's difficult though , for the LHS to maintain or even grow in this age of the internet. Time will tell.......

Good topic and discussion. Being north of Boston, I'm lucky enough to have two LHS's within a 15 minute drive.

Unfortunately, neither is open for walk-in business at the present time in Massachusetts - only mail order or curbside pick-up; otherwise I'd love to visit and talk trains and can't wait 'til they open.

As an aside, I would hope that any LHS that is trying to stay afloat, especially in these difficult economic times, would also have an on-line presence and website/webstore, along with selling product on the bay. Seems to me that is the only way to survive. Like the unfortunate saying goes, you need to change with the times; or the times will change you.

Arnold, this is a great thread, I just moved to the Lewisville, TX area, its part of the Dallas/Ft Worth area.  I've only been here a month and I'm now down to 2 PODS left to unload then unpack all the boxes.  I'm very eager to get the 1st PODS I loaded because it has 90% of all my trains, don't know where I will put all the boxes but I'll figure something out.  I'm getting anxious to join the club in Grapevine which is not all that far from where I live and I'm hoping I can find a local hobby shop up in this area that I can go and visit.  Haven't had one that I could go to for well over 20 years now.  They finally closed because the husbands health went South and the wife couldn't  take care of him and run the shop at the same time.  It was too bad as they were the only actual train shop in El Paso.

If I'm lucky enough to find one in this part of the country, I don't care if I have to drive for an hour or so to get there , it will be worth it to me.  I do know of one in the area that is about 20 minutes from where we live, he is strictly trains but it is about 85% HO and has very little O scale stuff.  The 1st and only time I have been there was about 2 years ago, I'm not even sure if he is still open, he may have closed down when the COVID-19 stuff started.  I'm hoping that I will find an O Gauge shop for me to visit but I'm not holding my breath.

This has been a good thread, I like reading what the other guys have to say about an LHS to go to or not.  Thanks for starting it.

Mark, the other LHS that's close to you is Hobby Express in Cranberry Township.  (Full disclosure - I am an employee).  They are open 10-7 daily (Monday-Saturday) and 11-5 Sunday.  This is a fully stocked hobby store that carries MTH, Lionel, Atlas items in O gauge, as well as buildings, scenery, and scratch-building materials.  It is "old school".  There's also a huge selection of HO and N items as well as plastic models, rockets, and a bunch of other stuff.

George

Arnold...the Mount Vernon store was TELLY ELECTRIC SUPPLY on Gramatan av....joe

Arnold D. - To you and the others (who have commented on this Post) who have been fortunate enough to be able to enter a LHS, I'd be interested in knowing the form of payment used. That is to say, in the past LHS owners accepted cash readily to avoid them having to pay a credit/debit card fee, but since COVID-19 arrived many businesses in general that have been able to reopen don't want to handle/touch cash anymore; perhaps it's a sign of the 'new reality'.

If and when people are able to enter a LHS in future I suppose they could ask the proprietor whether he/she had a payment preference. 

@PH1975 posted:

Arnold D. - To you and the others (who have commented on this Post) who have been fortunate enough to be able to enter a LHS, I'd be interested in knowing the form of payment used. That is to say, in the past LHS owners accepted cash readily to avoid them having to pay a credit/debit card fee, but since COVID-19 arrived many businesses in general that have been able to reopen don't want to handle/touch cash anymore; perhaps it's a sign of the 'new reality'.

If and when people are able to enter a LHS in future I suppose they could ask the proprietor whether he/she had a payment preference. 

In my experience, Tom's Trains accepts all forms of payment. Arnold

@joe krasko posted:

Arnold...the Mount Vernon store was TELLY ELECTRIC SUPPLY on Gramatan av....joe

That's correct, Joe.

@PH1975 posted:

Arnold D. - To you and the others (who have commented on this Post) who have been fortunate enough to be able to enter a LHS, I'd be interested in knowing the form of payment used. That is to say, in the past LHS owners accepted cash readily to avoid them having to pay a credit/debit card fee, but since COVID-19 arrived many businesses in general that have been able to reopen don't want to handle/touch cash anymore; perhaps it's a sign of the 'new reality'.

If and when people are able to enter a LHS in future I suppose they could ask the proprietor whether he/she had a payment preference. 

I'm sure they all have a preference but if a customer wants to pay in cash they have to take it - it's the law - states it right there on the bills - "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private". 

I prefer to not use cash but sometimes it's unavoidable - you just need to take precautions.

-Greg  

@G3750 posted:

Mark, the other LHS that's close to you is Hobby Express in Cranberry Township.  (Full disclosure - I am an employee).  They are open 10-7 daily (Monday-Saturday) and 11-5 Sunday.  This is a fully stocked hobby store that carries MTH, Lionel, Atlas items in O gauge, as well as buildings, scenery, and scratch-building materials.  It is "old school".  There's also a huge selection of HO and N items as well as plastic models, rockets, and a bunch of other stuff.

George

George, I was thinking of mentioning Hobby Express when I came in for lunch from trimming bushes.  They are actually about the same travel time (45 minutes) from my home as McCormick's.  I did not know you worked there.  Good for you!  I have not been there for a while since I avoid the traffic in Cranberry Township as much as possible.    I guess I am just an old farm boy who remembers Cranberry Township as a rural community except for the Turnpike exit, that was before I-79 was built.  Of course you must be used to the traffic now that you have lived there a few years.  I can vouch for you that Hobby Express is fully stocked!  I can't imagine what they have tied up in inventory.  Their business sure has grown since they were on Mars-Valencia Road.  It was smart to move into the shopping center in Cranberry!

Hey Greg,

Have you flown anywhere lately in the last several years?  Most airlines will no longer accept cash for on-board purchases.  Quite disappointing.

Base on that logic your LHS proprietor probably doesn't have to take it either, although I hope that they will. 

So much for legal tender.

Mike

@J. Motts posted:

Arnold, this is a great thread, I just moved to the Lewisville, TX area, its part of the Dallas/Ft Worth area.  I've only been here a month and I'm now down to 2 PODS left to unload then unpack all the boxes.  I'm very eager to get the 1st PODS I loaded because it has 90% of all my trains, don't know where I will put all the boxes but I'll figure something out.  I'm getting anxious to join the club in Grapevine which is not all that far from where I live and I'm hoping I can find a local hobby shop up in this area that I can go and visit.  Haven't had one that I could go to for well over 20 years now.  They finally closed because the husbands health went South and the wife couldn't  take care of him and run the shop at the same time.  It was too bad as they were the only actual train shop in El Paso.

If I'm lucky enough to find one in this part of the country, I don't care if I have to drive for an hour or so to get there , it will be worth it to me.  I do know of one in the area that is about 20 minutes from where we live, he is strictly trains but it is about 85% HO and has very little O scale stuff.  The 1st and only time I have been there was about 2 years ago, I'm not even sure if he is still open, he may have closed down when the COVID-19 stuff started.  I'm hoping that I will find an O Gauge shop for me to visit but I'm not holding my breath.

This has been a good thread, I like reading what the other guys have to say about an LHS to go to or not.  Thanks for starting it.

Hi JEM, 

I'm just down  I-35E  from you. The best LHS in the area is Discount Model Trains 4641 Ratliff Ln, Addison, TX 75001. They carry a wide range of train items both new and used. It's my source for O gauge stuff.

George

I feel great empathy and compassion for those of you without a LHS. It is so nice to be in the presence of the LHS owner, others that frequent the store, fall in love with a train related item, and buy it right then and there, like we do when we buy something at a LHS or train show. Then, we take it home, apply a little lubrication and see it rolling down the line on the layout.

However, I have some good news.

You have a LHS.

Here's a clue.

It's a remote or virtual LHS.

At this virtual LHS, there are good, honest vendors, there is great comraderie and there are great resources to learn about trains, how to repair them, scenery and all other facets of the hobby.

Did you figure it out?

It's right here: this wonderful Forum!

On this Forum, you can visit the websites of our Forum sponsors and chances are, you can buy something you love from the comfort and safety of your home.

Thanks to this Forum and OGR magazine, you can access a huge inventory of train videos and the magazines in digital form.

Do you want to have a peak creative experience?

Consider writing an article and submitting it to OGR magazine for publication.

I can go on and on, making the case for this Forum being a great remote/virtual LHS and train show.

My #1 LHS and train show is this OGR On-Line Forum.

Arnold

Good topic Arnold, as always. I was going to head down to mine last Saturday, but upon calling on Friday, they weren't open that one, but this coming Saturday instead. Is it like a train show, heck yeah. I come in and talk and look in wonder at what's around me. Typically I usually spend a minimum of at least 25 minutes there, mostly talking and why not.

With the crazy stuff going on I had to wait to be able to pop in for curbside pickup being that they had to be closed on Saturdays to start, so I had taken off a Friday to pick up one of my items. I have a blast as they do as well I'm sure. I usually get asked, "Did you go food shopping before you came here?" as that was one of the things I'd comment on when we'd talk. I can't wait for Saturday.

Arnold, I agree!  I buy more here from members and sponsors  than anywhere!  Always a great experience!

My local LHS in Salem OR is a very smalll store with mostly RC control and HO stuff, but he has a really nice HO rain layout in the back.  He is an Atlas and Lionel dealer so I can order catalog items from him. I always enjoy going in and talking with the owner. I bought a Polar Express for my grandson a few holidays ago.  Although I paid full retail, it was worth the time to see how he is adding to his HO layout and trains.  He is good about stocking scenery supplies even though his O gauge inventory is only a few ready to run sets.

"masks are recommended, but not mandatory."

For the immediate future, when indoors, with people outside your household, please wear masks.  They work to protect the wearer and the surrounding folks.  Will make a big difference if everyone does this for at least a few more months.  Literally a matter of life or death.

Outdoors, probably less critical unless you are really close to people (within a few feet) for at least a few minutes.  Then masks are a good idea too.  If you are alone in the middle of a corn field or along a walking trail, probably not essential.

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

Hey Greg,

Have you flown anywhere lately in the last several years?  Most airlines will no longer accept cash for on-board purchases.  Quite disappointing.

Base on that logic your LHS proprietor probably doesn't have to take it either, although I hope that they will. 

So much for legal tender.

Mike

 

It's not my logic - it really is the law.  All it would take is for someone to sue.   I'm on the BOD of my community's baseball program and a few years ago we wanted to only accept cards in our snack stand.  Our legal counsel advised against based on what I posted previously.  During this process, I also learned the law (at least in PA) regarding those places where you sometimes see signs stating "nothing larger than a $20 bill accepted".  Again, not legal.  If I pay with $100 you must have change, or guess what? I get the item for free because you refused payment of "legal tender".   I will state in this example that payment must be made in good faith (I'm not a lawyer and forget the legal term) otherwise it can be refused.  In other words, if the most expensive item at a snack stand is $1, me wanting to pay with $100 bill is not in "good faith".  The same holds true if I wanted to pay a bill for $100 all in pennies.

If any attorney has an opposing opinion, trust me, I'm all ears.

-Greg

Thanks for the posts about "legal tender".  Saved me some keystrokes.  The other related thing is having a minimum for credit card purchases - while not law, it violates the merchant's agreement.  All it takes is one complaint to the credit card company.

I know of several stable and well-known LHS where the owner made a good living doing something else, and can afford to subsidize his business because of his other sources of income.  These shops also do a lot of mail order.  It's a hard business if it's one's only livelihood.

I'm fortunate to have a dealer about a half hour away.  And you guys in western PA are really lucky - I can think of at least 6 good shops within 50 miles of Pittsburgh. 

My LHS is The Train Shack in Burbank, CA. They are open for both pick-up and walk-in business now but you need to enter from the back door and they are keeping a tight lid on the number of shoppers inside at any one time.

Always well stocked with all gauges. Been there twice recently.

My LHS downsized to large scale only so I guess I don’t have one anymore.

I always paid by check so they wouldn’t have the CC fees.  I did this for all our local small businesses. Not sure about the future.

Unfortunately for us in Frederick Md, our LTS...local train store, is temporarily closed. That said, it is the Train Depot in Mt Airy, Md. 

Dont know if they will see you by appointment....but y'all might try. Great folks especially that Jason Gardner, Herb, and Tom!

Arnold, on a somewhat unrelated note, Your dryer vent at 11 seconds in was a bit of an unexpected surprise. Perhaps you could locate an old movie poster from "Twister" and cut and tape it to the vent???? That would be cool!!

On a related note, I moved to from NE Ohio to the Chattanooga area August of last year and haven't located a LHS just yet. I was surprised that in a town so filled with train history I couldn't find a train dealer. Any body know of one nearby?

George

I would love to visit a local hobby shop but unfortunately here in South Jersey they are all "Gone With The Wind".

@OKHIKER posted:

I would love to visit a local hobby shop but unfortunately here in South Jersey they are all "Gone With The Wind".

I remember a great one: the Hazlet Train Shop. I believe Frank Sinatra may have bought some of his trains there and/or had them fixed there. Arnold

@GeoPeg posted:

Arnold, on a somewhat unrelated note, Your dryer vent at 11 seconds in was a bit of an unexpected surprise. Perhaps you could locate an old movie poster from "Twister" and cut and tape it to the vent???? That would be cool!!

On a related note, I moved to from NE Ohio to the Chattanooga area August of last year and haven't located a LHS just yet. I was surprised that in a town so filled with train history I couldn't find a train dealer. Any body know of one nearby?

George

I will keep your Twister poster in mind, George. LOL, Arnold

hi`, Okhiker, you can try the Train Station in Mountain Lakes, NJ, if you can`t go there, try them On line, if i remember it was www.Train-Station.com, i lived in Morris County, but moved to Florida when i retired, good luck, Phil

@OKHIKER posted:

I would love to visit a local hobby shop but unfortunately here in South Jersey they are all "Gone With The Wind".

Alloway Trains And Things is OPEN for Business in South Jersey!