The Hobo Camp Fire Is going well #IX.. Stop In!!!

[ezdays]

Wow, never heard of Hobby Depot.  I was reminded the other day about the train stores near me from the 1990s - all gone now.  There were three train-dedicated hobby shops within about 15 minutes of my house when I was in high school.  Then there was a general hobby shop that had a good train department 5 minutes away in the mall, and for a short while a Hobbytown USA within walking distance, and they actually had enough of a train selection to be worth the walk.  Then there was Affair With Trains at the old cramped location that had just about everything, and Roys Trainworld that was pretty well stocked.  Now I can think of only about 4 places in the whole metro area that sell trains, and we have more than most cities.  There is a newer train place out in Apache Junction that seems to be pretty good.  Lots of used stuff.  There still are the two Hobby Bench locations, and I guess the place you just went to.

I saw their ad in Model Railroader Magazine, and so when Jerry said he was going there, and I saw photos on their website, we decided to go together. Obie's Trains in Apache Junction is the only shop in the area dedicated to model railroading. No R/C, no basket weaving. When Roy's closed in Mesa, I suspect all that stock went to Obie's since they opened shortly after Roy's closed. I wish they were closer, Hobby Depot is around 48 miles from my house, Obie's is close to 70. I do miss all those other shops, An Affair With Trains was so cramped full you had to go outside to breath. Even after they moved they still had a lot of trains. There was another one on Bell/I-17 that was open for a while, then Roy's in Mesa, all of them, just trains, nothing else. Did buying on the Internet cause all of them to go away, or is it the hobby that's declining..... or both????

Cannot support local businesses if they don't have what you need, so I'm ready to send an order to Walther's, either that, or drive to Obie's and hope they have what they show on their website. Let's see, drive 140 miles round trip and hope they have something you can use, or just order exactly what you want and have them drop it off at your front door.... tough choices....