Downtown Ames?

There's a shop in downtown Ames that had a surprisingly good selection when I was in there a year or so ago.  I think it's just called The Hobby Shop.  Here's the info I found:

200 Main St, Ames, IA 50010

(515) 232-6321

Might be worth a call.

Depends on the track. If your

Depends on the track. If your after Atlas, good luck. The pipe line is slowly getting opened after a long dry spell, but don't expect to see everything till after the new year. I use N scale code 55 and I'm stuck till the end of the year before it starts coming on line. 

I'm moving to Adel next week. How is the shop in Boone? I was going to stop there when I was back there in April, but didn't have time. Starting next Thursday, that won't be a problem.  

Hobby Haven

With the close of Great Hobby Adventures, Hobby Haven is the only store in the Des Moines area. There used to be a Hobbytown franchise in Ankeny, just north of Des Moines, but that too has closed up shop.

The Hobby Shop in Ames is a good bet, especially on finding out of stock or small-run items. However their stock tends to run on the small side. If you're looking for large quantities of items you may be out of luck.

James

Art, i actually live in Adel

Thanks Jared..

That's what attracted us in the first place. 

The biggest problem you'll have now is it being in stock anywhere. Atlas has had production issues out of their control that have stopped track from coming in for awhile. That's why I bought enough materials to build my own switches in code 55 instead of waiting for Atlas. 

Okay, back to finishing packing. 

Sad to see

our Heartland hobby stores going 'out'.  I'm in Iowa City and my local HS (The Hobby Corner) switched owners- after the owner I've known for years decided to retire.  There was a 3-4 month period this past winter where we thought it was going the way of the CRandIC (extinct local RR) until someone stepped in and bought it.  I've bought stuff from them since Ford was in the White House (a wee lad then), and I was really worried.  Hobby Lobby is one thing (near-by in Coralville but not really a train store) and then BoxKar in C.R. 40 miles north...great and a better selection but a very long drive up/back! To add insult to injury, I was pushing the new owners to get Floquil in-stock....ouch!

When I was a kid in the 70's there were 2 hobby stores around.  In the 80's one died out (in downtown...too close to the college scene to survive I think).  Iowa City for anyone wanting to know is a city of 60,000+ depending on if the students are in town.  And only one LHS in town, a chain store 15-20 minutes from where I live, and another LHS 40 miles north.

Typical to all others reading this??

There used to be

There used to be like...what...3 or 4 hobby stores in the area that sold model railroading at one time. I was in hog heaven at that time, as was my son since a couple of them had layouts done to advertise their stuff...

Don't get me wrong...Hobby Haven is a pretty decent place, they're just so damned expensive. The people there are pretty nice and knowledgeable on their products and they have a really solid selection of items...but when they price used equipment just under the normal retail price for something out of the box, that's where I have a problem.

The store in Boone also has a nice stock and good people, but they're just...unorganized. It's really hard to find what you need there, and it's just a dirty store.

Looks like Craigslist an Ebay are going to be my friends for a while I suppose.

Used stuff at Hobby Haven

Jared, I believe the prices of used consignment equipment at Hobby Haven are set by the seller.  I know I've gotten some great deals there, but I also see those items that seem to be priced far too high in my opinion.

The table...

You know the table I"m talking about then? Some of the time, I've seen cars missing parts that they have priced at 10 -15 dollars...I was a little shocked at that. I didn't realize that table was actually consignment...thought it was just the "let's get rid of this crap" table.

Consignment

Having sold stuff on consignment with Hobby Haven, it's very easy to set the price too high. I had a locomotive sit there for almost a year before wising up and lowering the cost. But it's definitely set by the seller, not by the staff.

James

Ames store

I live in Ames and my experience with The Hobby Shop has not been the best. Prices were usually full retail even for stock that has been on the shelves for many years. But I don’t want to be too harsh. I haven’t shopped there for a long time so maybe the owner has wised up a bit. 

Scott