04-10-2009, 04:23 PM
Hobby shops will stock what they can sell, if they are run by competent management. My local hobby shop stocks detail parts, but the only rolling stock kits he stocks are Athearn blue box. I'm not sure how much longer he will stock the Athearn kits. The guys in the train dept. do everything they can to encourage people to build something, but the market has shifted to r-t-r. He still has a decent stock of detail parts and they will special order from Walthers without any "handling fee." The only track he stocks is Atlas in both code 83 and code 100. He does not stock ties or rail for handlaying, but will special order the stuff as needed by an individual. Of course they also have "horror stories" about people who special order items and then don't pick them up. They charge 10% down to make the special order the 10% is applied to the total price when the item comes in; but if the person ordering the item doesn't pick them up, they are stuck with either trying to unload it or send it back.