The Train Station

My Dad used to take me to The Train Station and I remember a few visits with my grandparents where I scored some loot. Nowadays I’m the Dad and we live just a few blocks away so we walk over occasionally so my daughter can play with their Thomas and Friends Layout and I can chat with the friendly staff and browse their wares.
They seem to excel helping people get into the hobby — going there over the holidays and you’ll find nearly all of the staff busily helping people try to figure out what kind of trains they have and what parts are compatible — or what kind of train set to buy.
They’re pretty old-​fashioned when it comes to technology — if you order something they write it down by hand in a notebook (which has led to a handful of mistakes over the years). Also, there are so many products available that it’s impossible to have everything in stock — but they’ll order anything from the Walther’s catalog for you (as well as some other distributors — which can save on shipping vs. Internet transactions) and will even match Walther’s published sale prices.
They also get used stuff from time to time — a working locomotive can sometimes be had starting at $ 5 for a cheap one that runs, with train cars more in the $ 2.50 range. This is great for kids who might be a little young to keep things nice — or for an adult looking for something to practice new modeling skills on.
I think they’d do well to run clinics and how-​to sessions every now and again — to show people different aspects of the hobby (like the basics of making a layout, making scenery, or weathering).
Their target market seems to be a more aimless kind of shopper who wanders in, looks to see what they have, and buys whatever they think looks neat. As I’ve aged, I tend to be more focused in my modeling, so there’s less of interest to buy. Their selection of N-​scale (which is what I model in currently) is somewhat limited, and they mainly stock Kato Unitrak (which is the most popular track, but not what I settled on for my layout) so I mostly end up placing orders from them (often via email) and then picking up the parts when I’m notified that they’re in.
All told, it’s a great example of what a model train shop should be (and they don’t deviate from trains like some other hobby shops). I just hope that they survive well into the Internet age by offering great customer service and knowledgeable staff that make the experience worthwhile.