Cincytrains, I greatly appreciate you having started this thread.
I wholeheartedly agree with the above compliments about Tom's very fair pricing and honesty in doing business and dealing with his customers.
Fortunately for the model railroading hobby, Tom's Trains is not the only outstanding LHS in existence; there are many others, and they all deserve our support during these challenging times. Tom's Trains in Ardsley, NY just happens to be my most local of the local hobby shops in my geographic area, making it very convenient for me, and it has satisfied most of my O Gauge train and scenery needs for many years.
My latest purchase from Tom's Trains is the best locomotive in my collection IMO.
A couple of years ago I asked Tom if he ever acquires top of the line Postwar locomotives like the Lionel 773. He said that he does occasionally. Then, I asked him to let me know if he gets a 773 because I would be interested.
Tom did not forget my interest in the 773.
When I called him a few weeks ago to ask if he knew when he expected to receive delivery of the Lionel LC 2.0 Brooklyn tank engine that I ordered through his shop, he assured me he would call me as soon as it came in, and then mentioned he recently acquired a 773. I made a bee line for his store. Here it is on my layout:
It is a terrific locomotive.
I highly recommend being a loyal customer to a brick and mortar LHS like Tom's Trains. I always give Tom first crack at whatever I'm interested in purchasing because I know he is always honest, fair and reasonable.
I also recommend not being overly aggressive in negotiating prices with your LHS, especially when the offering price of the particular item is already reasonable. We want the LHS to make a reasonable profit so it can stay in business. Also, by being generous with your LHS, you can improve your chances of getting your favorite items. I got this idea from a video in the McComas Tuoy 6 video set about the Standard Gauge train collection of the late Frank Petruzzi: by being generous in your negotiations, especially for top quality Postwar and Prewar, you can increase the chances of getting the best items. Arnold
