Jim R. posted:I do wonder why 3-rail and O scale is so underwhelming in the Twin Cities, which has a substantial metro area (3.6 million people).
Sadly, it's the same in Dallas Ft. Worth, and Kansas City, and a lot more than that.
It makes it impossible to buy and know what you're getting, because there is nowhere at all to see any of the new stuff. Get something that doesn't meet expections? Your only choices are to keep it and bemoan your $500 (or whatever) mistake, or sell it at a sizeable loss. This has problem has cost me a lot of money in recent years!
Nor is there any dealer to buy from and then return it to in case of a defective item. Other alternatives are a lot more hassle.
Item reviews on the Forum have become essential, but of course only a fraction of the stuff coming out gets reviewed.
