Jim911,
I agree 100%, if you have a good local Trains Shop/Hobby Shop definitely patronize it as much as you can. We were so spoiled having some of the finest Train Shops in the USA right here in the Pittsburgh, Pa area, that now that we must travel 30 plus miles to a friendly store front, it is a definite shock to our Train Hobby needs. That in reality is 60 plus miles out and back, just to visit a friendly store front, that may or may not have what you the consumer wants to purchase.
I found this out just over the past 3 weeks, looking for a set of Trucks/Couplers for an original Lionel 817 Caboose. Not only do the more modern places not have the inventory, the ones that do still have them, could care less about going thru their inventory to sell replacement parts worth very little in cost/profit.
I ended up purchasing a complete piece of rolling stock, you guessed it off of the Net, just to get the original parts I needed to replace the Trucks/Couplers on the Lionel 817 Caboose.
I wanted to purchase from my local Train/Hobby Store front, however I could no longer do so. As I indicated before I would never have thought this kind of business practice would happen in the Pittsburgh, Pa area, especially when talking about our Train Hobby. We had the best Trains Shops/Hobby Shops in the USA, here for over 100 years, in the Pittsburgh/Western Pa area. It really is a shame what has happened.
PCRR/Dave
I do realize it's Lionel original Tin Plate, however until recently I never had any problem getting parts from our local Train/Hobby stores. Lord do I miss Frank's Iron Horse Hobby Shop, Jim's Trains Store and Bill & Walts when Dave actually ran his own store.
Sad situation, no doubt about it.