# Folks and Hobby shops that helped you get started in G scale



## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

Thought it would be nice for a thread giving thanks to those that prodded, helped, promoted or otherwise helped all of us in our pursuit of this great hobby. First up on my list is Dave Watts of Watt's Train Station in Zionsville, Indiana. Originaly went there as I was into Dept 56 Christmas buildings for my indoor Lionel layout. Just seeing all the LGB got me hooked on the scale. I got to know Dave real well, along with many of the other staff. Got many good deals and Dave was always willing to help or suggest ways for a poor boy in his 20's to afford what I needed. Next up was Bob Osterhoudt at Rio Pecos in Florida. Bob helped me get my feet wet in Live Steam by allowing me to put an Aster kit on layaway till I got it paid off, took just over 1 year! I still have the nice T shirt he sent with the engine and wear it with pride when I go to shows or steamups. Last up is my new fav live steam source, Jason at The Train Dept, while always busy he finds time to answer questions with honest answers and great service. There are many more out there, ones I cant put names to anymore, lost in the fog of my memories. But other than the odd person having a bad day, most anybody I have met in large scale trains have been great to talk to and learn from. Thanks for the help guys, and the great memories! Mike T


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

Do hobby shops now have G scale?









Andrew


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## 6323 (Jan 17, 2008)

A few books, and a couple of forums. 
That's where I get my information and occasion motivation! 
No really local shops, unless I go to Denver, which, unless really 
necessary, I won't do! Don't like the traffic! 
Only semi close hobby shop closed about 6 months ago. 
An occasional discount. 

Gotten a couple of decent deals with a couple of online purchases. 

Otherwise, I have no means for motivation, prodding etc...to get things done!! 
Also don't know of anyone nearby that's willing to help me, if I have a problem, or 
just need some building advice. Such as now, on building bridge supports/abutments 
for some GMM girder bridges. 

In my case, I go it alone, learning as I build. In some instances, giving up on one 
idea, and doing something easier, even if not what I want to do! Because I'm not sure 
how to proceed, and don't have anyone local that I can ask for help.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

I credit my dad for instilling the love of cars and trains in me. 

I was into slot cars and RC Cars back when there were hobby shops that I regularly visited and spent money at. 

Today we have a couple of hobby shops in the Orlando area that sell G trains, but I find it easier to buy on line as to driving into Orlando.


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## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

I have to 100% thank MLS and it's members for every bit of my large scale knowledge. Of course some credit goes to my wife who got me the book "Building small steam locomotives" by Peter Jones. I originally had my eyes set on 7.5" gauge but I read that book and found this site and decided that some 1:20.3 scale would be very nice out in the yard. Now four years later MLS and my Wife continue to support me in this great hobby. As for the ride on scales I'll get there when the time is right.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Ace is the place. 
Went to a hardware store for plumbing parts, they had an overhead train running and very few cars for sale. A helpful hardware man saw my crooked neck and suggested I go to their companion store 10 miles away. I did. Left with an Aristo starter set, was back the next day for a 20 x 30' tri oval in steel color track (In 1968 I was teased by my HO club buddies for using brass track when NS looked more realistic....). And so it began. 

Prior to G for me, I had plans and had built about 150' of trex ladder roadbed for my On3 Empire, bought a railbender and a jig to build code 70 #6 switches, then it rained, except we call them Monsoons and more than half the time the rain is horizontal in the winds.... The Earth moved! Well the top inch did and covered parts of my ladder. I looked at the flanges on my brand new On3 MMI K-27 and stopped building.... no way was I going to fight Ma nature in that scale! 
Took me a couple of years to pull all the old trex and in that time it was crumbling and cracking, I'm glad I never trusted the stuff. 

John


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

The various forums fall under the "all the other folks" catagory for thanks. I am very thankfull that I live near Watts and had the fortune to be buying G scale during that shop's heyday. I am hoping the new Watts, once they get moved to a new location will regain some of the former stores glory. Mike


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## Robby D (Oct 15, 2009)

I have to thank a hobby store in Palm Springs, CA I can't remember the name of the store. anyway I bought an LGB starter set there in 1982 and everything progressed from there.


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## DougArcher (Jan 2, 2008)

Bob Baxter and Hans at Gold Coast Station


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Seems to be focused on hobby shops, but "Folks" is the first word. 

Unfortunately, never had a good hobby shop nearby, closest was Reeds in San Diego, nice enough guys but did not learn a thing from them. 

Members of various clubs I joined, and George Schreyer and reading forums is what helped me. 

A few choice friends in the hobby really interested in making stuff work/improving. 

Greg


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

In the mid-70s I had been in Germany on a couple of trips and as I usually do, visited the hobby shops. I saw some of the early LGB and thought that was pretty cool. After a change in family status, in 1979, I bought an LGB starter set at Caboose hobbies, it could have been Mizell's. That started the downhill slide. In those early days boxes arrived from Watts and Trainworld on a semi-regular basis.


My first layouts were on the floor in the basement. First in my townhouse and then in a house with a nice yard. After a couple of years of hesitation, I started building a layout outdoors. For those of you with ancient issues of Garden Railways see the cover article in the January-February 1990 issue.

At the time I went outdoors, I didn't know anyone else in the hobby to ask questions and get advise. I made every mistake possible. I would guess that about 1984, Nancy came in from the store and said that there were two guys down the block with some red and green LGB boxes in the driveway. By that time she had given me enough of those boxes to see them in her sleep. I walked down and met Cal Anderson and Byron Fenton. We had a great chat and they suggested Nancy an I visit the next meeting of the Denver Garden Railway Society. We did and became quite active with the group. I now had a group who could answer my questions. Thanks to all.

Chuck


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Posted By Nutz-n-Bolts on 02 Jun 2013 06:34 AM 
I have to 100% thank MLS and it's members for every bit of my large scale knowledge. Of course some credit goes to my wife who got me the book "Building small steam locomotives" by Peter Jones. I originally had my eyes set on 7.5" gauge but I read that book and found this site and decided that some 1:20.3 scale would be very nice out in the yard. Now four years later MLS and my Wife continue to support me in this great hobby. As for the ride on scales I'll get there when the time is right. I'll have to echo Randy, but in reverse order. Back in 2008, my wife Linda knew I needed something to get my mind off work, a hobby that would last up to and through retirement (which is a few years off yet). She knew I loved mining history, and that I'd done HO when I was a kid. So she gave me the back yard. Filled with huge trees, overgrown with vines, basically impassable. But it was a big gift; and she said I could do whatever I wanted with it. So I owe my start to her; and she keeps me going. All the rest, I owe to the guys here on MLS, with additional thanks to GR and... big drum roll... Ebay!


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

I never really found any locals into G scale, I was kind of a lone wolf in that scale back then. But even though Watts was a G scale dealer and Rio Pecos was a live steam dealer. I became good friends with the owners, thats what set in my mind that this was a good scale to be in, more free of the "Correct Police" than in the smaller scales. I had ran into more guys that wanted to pick appart ones models of what wasnt correct ect. G scale was more just about running trains and having fun. And to me it still is. Thats the fun of G scale trains and the folks that own and operate them. I have met folks from all walks of life, many were doctors, laywers or high level businessmen. All of them had very deep wallets and dropping thousands on live steam or the newest LGB was no sweat. But I never really felt looked down upon by them with my shoestring budget and railway. We all just were out to have fun and it was thru them that I got to operate many models that even now many years later I still cannot afford to own. MLS has always been a great place to hang out, bounce ideas off others, seek advice on anything related to garden railways. I not only hang out here, but over on Garden Railway Forums, G Scale Central. Both are more UK based sites and help me keep a UK look to my line. Large scale central is also a good site but a bit slow at times. I have my concerns with some manufactures surviving the struggles in the hobby right now but I have no concern that the great folks I have met and will meet in the future will continue to remain great folks. Cheers Mike


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## Alan Prichard (Dec 27, 2007)

MLS and Chris Walas got me started. Darn them! Like I don't have enough things to consume my time and money. Seriously, all the fine folks I have connected with thanks to MLS have been a fantastic bunch.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

I have been interested in LGB as long as I can remember. When Kalamazoo came out I really wanted a set, but I was way too poor. Then back in 2000 when I finally was able to consider G scale I lurked online at Garden Railroad forum, then later onto MLS. Back then GR was a happening place, lots of activity. The crowd there were very enthusiastic. Alot of that crowd eventually migrated to MLS. I was hugely influenced by guys like Bob Baxter, Don Gage, Chris Walas, Dave Fletcher, I consider it fortunate to still know them today. 

For shops there was only one place, San Val, that was the drug dealer that got me hooked. Great selection good prices even for a poor bum like me ($35 Macks and $8 minicar kits will do that) and close by. Now buying anything involves a longer drive either to the inland empire or out to Hans' in Ventura. 
Also add in the experiences at the Rusty Boat shows also fed the addiction.


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

The membership of the UGRS (Utah Garden Railway Society) , that bunch of guys are responsible for the train wreck I am today. In particular... Lynn Stringham, Bryan Smith, Manfred Diehl, Darryll Vest, Bob Jensen, Ron and Holly Senek, but mostly..... some guy named Shad.


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## cape cod Todd (Jan 3, 2008)

I got bitten on a whim "I have always wanted a train to go around the Xmas tree" I looked online and found a nice LGB starter set at Ridge Road Station. Bought it and a few more cars and I was off and running. Ridge Road always had nice people to take my orders and nice prices. A few months later I discovered Garden Railways mag. this forum and another one like it. I have learned alot from many fine and knowledgable fellas on both forums and my local buddy Ron.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I was in a HO club and we were at a show in a shopping mall.


I didn't like the president of the club. He was a Dictator and any suggestion was shot down.

AT this mall I saw a bunch of guys playing on a piece of Astroturf. 

I got the bug then 

I found a shop that sold G scale trains......He turned my on to MLS 

The guy who helped me is gone to the big layout in the sky.

The shop has become a " All Scale " shop 

I have not been there in years.

JJ


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

Sitting here thinking about what direction I want to go as I shop for a LGB locomotive and I remembered the one piece thats missing from what led me to go G scale. Not long after I went to Watts Train Shop for Dept56 stuff, I mentioned the LGB brand to my aunt and uncle. My uncle is German, and at that time they would travel to Europe about every other year. Usualy on the QE2. Needless to say, that xmas I got a Staniz passenger starter set from them. My uncles family lives in Lehman's home town, so it was easy to get a USA spec transformer for the set they got at a hobby shop in Germany. I had almost totaly forgotten about that! Cheers Mike


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Going back to the start of my venture (obsession) into G gauge (1999), I was living in San Diego where Mike Pfulp and Reid's Train Shop were most instrumental in the downward spiral.









In 2000, we moved to Prescott, AZ, which had a Hobby Bench (now closed) but with a limited inventory of G gauge... MLS had just come on line and I was one of the very early subscribers. Wholesale Trains was offering some very attractive prizes for the monthly photo contest which I was able to "win" a couple of times so Gary became a supplier for a while. 

Over the years many other good stores helped satisfy the appetite. Sadly, a lot of them are gone... 

Mike Pfulb is still very active in the hobby as are many other great dealers who are still doing a wonderful job of meeting the need to spend $$$$$ on trains. 

I am so very appreciative of the many, many great friends on both side of the counter who make this hobby so much fun. 

The list of names would fill the screen many times over.....


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Well years ago I walked into a not so local hobby shop to start my Garden Railroad journey. The plan was to buy a Bachmann Shay. I rode the Cass and was hooked. Two amazing things happened in the shop, oh and the owner was very informative to boot. The first thing that happened was that the owner suggest I consider an LGB Forney he had in the store. It was used and I think on consignment. Being new to the hobby I had no idea just what a good deal it was. I hemmed and hawed for a very long time. People came and went from the shop. Finally I decided on the Forney. Only then did a customer, Tom, who really wanted the Forney speak to me. He told me I made the right decision. He walked in intending buy it. He knew the gentleman who modified it. Tom recognized me as new to the hobby and was not going to buy the locomotive out from under me. He later admitted he in fact was going to tell me to buy it if I strayed to the Shay despite his desire to own it. Tom’s self-sacrifice really helped get me started on the right foot, or loco. After that we reconnected at a club meet. He became an important source of information for me after that.

I was working on a budget when I got rolling. So I bought the Forney and now I needed something to run it on. I didn’t know that vendors at the time were not supposed to break tubes of rail. They were intended to be sold in bulk. So much for the budget. A second gentleman whose name I never had the good fortune to learn was in the store, for the most part just to socialize with the owner. His layout was complete according to the owner, yet as I began looking away from the rails to a smaller quantity of sectional track, the fellow said to the owner, “sell him whatever he can afford from the tube and associated ties, I’ll buy the balance.” I was amazed and thankful but by then my ever so awesome wife suggested I just take the lot, we’d be OK.

Lastly as always, this website ROCKS and all you posters here are fantastic. Pat yourselves on the back.


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## Crusty Old Shellback (Jun 3, 2013)

I'm still on my learning curve and hope to learn from the members here. 
As for my start, My wife's grandfather got the Model railroad bug to bite me. As such, I figured I had room to build a N scale layout in the little space I had left in the garage. The wife wouldn't budge on letting me use the spare bedroom. So the first 4 X 8 layout was started and then tore down as it just wasn't big enough. So I started making room in the garage for a 16' X 18' L layout in N scale. A few years later, I was in a Value Craft store in Escondido,Ca. I would often visit the store with the grandfather to look for something new for my N scale. On this particular day, I had some extra cash and so I bought a Bachmann Christmas set to go around the Christam tree. 

The wife was Ok with that and so I set it up the first year around the tree. The Next Christmas, she decided she wanted more and so we soon found our selves at Gold Coast Station in Ventura, Ca on a recomendation of a friend. After meeting and talking with Hans, we walked out with 2 Christmas passenger cars and 2 Bachmann passenger car kits to use the light et up out of. Hans said it was cheapier to buy the kits and use the parts, so I did. The following year I worked on the set up a little more and now had 4 lighted (thanks to Michales LED's) and painted pasenger cars to run behind my 2-6-0 Christams loco. I was hooked and so was the wife. 

This year we took the drive up to Techapai to vist their main store and was even more hooked. Also this past weekend we went to the BTS in Ontario and after seeing all the layouts and details, the Wife is hooked and is letting me put a permaniant layout in our sun room. The next step is to talk her into a layout around the outside of the house, thru the flower beds and back yard. 

So I guess the 2 main people who influenced me were my Wife's Grandfather, who still runs his pre-war Lionel's, and Hans of Gold Coast Station.


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## GN_Rocky (Jan 6, 2008)

As stated by others before, the shop(s) that first got me started are either gone or don't carry much of anything in G scale








I did some other early shopping at Watts, but their web site seemed to have "disappeared" or was changed. I do most of my buying now with Robby at RLD hobbies or on Evil bay. Not many other places seem to have what I'm looking for which is older run rolling stock (pre-2000 or 2001). I either have all I need that's made other than a few holes in my collection or things not made...yet. 

But I've known many good folks thru the years and they all deserve a good mention









Rocky


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

I remember now. When I was in Hawaii back in 1989? I walked into a small hobby shop somewhere there, perhaps Honolulu. It was adjacent to a large intersection of roads. It was the first time I ever saw LGB up close. He knew I was traveling from Australia but gave me a bunch of large scale catalogs, some local light rail newsletters and the big color LGB book of 1988 which I still have. It sat in the bottom of my bag for the rest of my trip. Those catalogs were an inspiration as there was nothing like that in Australia at the time and it is still rare. The guy at the hobby shop was all enthusiasm and help even though I wasn't buying anything. That was my introduction to large scale.









Andrew


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Andrew's post about a LHS in Hawaii reminded me of some of my early experiences in Large Scale. In the early 80s I was fortunate to be able to travel to Europe several times. I was able to make contact with hobby shops in Heidelberg, Germany, Innsbruck, Austria, and London, England. At that time LGB was relatively less expensive over there. I was able to buy and ship engines and cars to Denver for less than I could get them locally. I even carried a LGB starter set back on the plane as carry on. I also ordered some LGB by mail from those dealers. Six weeks or so later they arrived safely in Denver. 

The set brought back was a Lehmann Anniversary set. I was on a train from Bern to Interlaken in Switzerland and saw a venders window showing LGB in the Thun station. A couple of days later I took the train to Thun and caught a bus to the train shop. The owner of the shop went up into his attic and ten or so minutes came down with the set. 

It may be hard to believe, but there was a time when LGB was less expensive on the otherside of the pond, even with shipping.

The European dealers were always very helpful.

With the arrival of Watts and Trainworld, I didn't need to order from Europe to get good prices. 

Chuck


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

Watts is going thru some issues but will survive and will be in a new location soon. I think they are holding off bringing in more LGB collections on consignment due to the impending move from thier current location. Thanks for all the great posts and stories, I enjoyed reading all of them. My only regret is not being able to meet and talk to Wolfgang Richter again once I got a few more years under my belt. I met him briefly at the '89 convention in Indy but I was barely into high school and only have vague memories about it. I had only gotten that first starter set from my aunt and uncle shortly prior to the national convention. Cheers Mike and Michele T


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