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I am very grateful for this On-Line Forum. It has greatly enhanced my model railroad experience by enabling me to make connections with fellow hobbyists, some of whom have become wonderful friends; learn more about this multi-faceted hobby; get help from others with more technical knowledge; and provide enjoyment and relaxation by sharing thoughts, photos and videos with others.

I am particularly grateful that participating in this Forum costs us nothing. What a great deal!

I'm not 100% sure about the finances, but I believe the reason this Forum is such a good deal for us is that it is subsidized by the Forum Sponsors as well as OGR Magazine. With this in the back of my mind, I have been inclined, when considering a model railroad purchase, to check out the websites of the Forum sponsors to see what they have to offer.

Since joining this Forum in November, 2017, I have done business a few times with Forum sponsors. This includes purchases from the heavy hitters (Lionel and MTH) as well as a few of the smaller businesses. So far, I am a 100% satisfied customer. All of my dealings with Forum sponsors have been positive.

I think it would be great if we shared on this thread all of our positive experiences doing business with Forum Sponsors, who subsidize this Forum, which brings us so much joy and happiness. 

I will start us off by sharing my 100% positive experience with RailroadBackdrops.com and its owner or representative, James Adams. Yesterday, I posted the details of this positive experience on the thread entitled Kitbashing a Backdrop in the Scenery & Structures Forum. In a nutshell, I got a terrific product, and thanks to the 20% discount offered to Forum members, a great price. 

By similarly sharing your positive experiences with Forum sponsors here, you will increase the likelihood that they will get more business and we, as Forum members, will continue to enjoy this Forum at no cost.

Arnold

 

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The video below shows the MTH Railking Proto 3 NY Central RS-3 smokin' diesel I recently purchased from JR Junction Train & Hobby from Syracuse, NY., which is one of our Forum sponsors:

To say I am 100% satisfied with this purchase is an understatement. I'm ecstatic about it.

My goal is to add features to my layout to make it more like The Put (Putnam Division of the NY Central). For that reason, this locomotive is perfect for my layout. It's also a great puller, and navigates my sharp 031 curves beautifully, and has great sounds and smoke. It was also affordable and JR Junction Train and Hobby paid $50 of the purchase price to a Railroad historical society.

This locomotive is another great product of its manufacturer, MTH, which is one of our Forum sponsors.

And, as I mentioned before, I purchased the gorgeous backdrop seen in the video from RailroadBackdrops.com, another one of our Forum Sponsors. 

So, the above video shows products from 3 of our Forum sponsors, and I'm ecstatic about all of them. 

Arnold

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Last edited by Arnold D. Cribari

Great idea for a post. Have had great experiences with Mario's, Menards, and with MTH & Lionel directly; and, as mentioned elsewhere, I love Miller Engineering's stuff. 

Related question: does the OGR forum have an A-Z directory of all sponsors? I couldn't find one after a brief search.

- The Other Guy

ETA (after Arnold's good tip): Eric's Trains, Nicholas Smith, and Trainworld have been terrific to work with as well, with particular props to Trainworld for a recent purchase where they called me (on a Saturday morning) to double-check an instruction on the order. Mario's did something similar (by email) a couple months back and, put plainly, that level of customer service changed my buying habits (plus, Mario upsold me in the process; well done!).

There are a few other shops I'd love to plug in PA and NY but, since they're not sponsors, will wait another day.

- TOG

Last edited by The Other Guy
Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Go to Directory, [then] Hi-rail, 027 and Traditional 3-Rail O Gauge Forum, and then ... topic OGR Forum Sponsor Index.

Thank you very, very much.

FWIW, OGR is the only website (literally) I've allowed to bypass my ad blockers. Site administrators here run a pretty tight ship and I greatly appreciate it.

- The Other Guy

Last edited by The Other Guy

for the relatively new members: OGR several years ago had a dilemma - the forum was starting to consume too many financial resources of theirs.  There was serious discussion about having to buy-in to a membership to use it.

4 businesses stepped up and offered their financial support.  I can only remember 2 of them so instead of 'insulting' the 2 that I can't remember I won't mention any of them.  two of them are permanent selections at the top of the sponsor icons.  We were at the OGR forum Grandstand gathering in York and one of those 4 presented OGR with a huge (dimension-wise) check with an impressive amount.

So I have thanked them everytime that I go to York as the original free-forum saviors! now there are too many to thank but I still feel an obligation of sorts to thank the original guys that came up with the idea of sponsoring.

- walt

Thanks to Trainz.com, another Forum sponsor, I have these baseball figures made by Kramer Products, which went out of business:

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I made an inquiry to Trainz about these baseball figures, which are metal and of  excellent quality, about a year ago. Then, in December I got an email from them that they had them available for a very reasonable price. I immediately bought them, and had them in 2 days. Again, I was a very happy customer. Arnold

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I, for one, greatly appreciate all of the positive things said so far about our Forum sponsors. Thank you all for your wonderful contributions, and thank you OGR Magazine and it's executives and representatives for managing and monitoring this Forum so well and making it a reality.

This Forum has added immeasurably to my enjoyment of the World's Greatest Hobby. Arnold

Last edited by Arnold D. Cribari

Arnold :  I applaud your idea of talking about our sponsors, they certainly deserve our support for taking on the obligation to support the forum.  I have been using Trainworld almost exclusively for my new purchases lately and their service and pricing is terrific. I appreciate the recommendations of others in this thread, some of which I have never even heard of, but I will certainly approach them now.

Regards, Don McErlean

I have to agree with everything said here having had great experiences in terms of product, fair pricing, honest shipping charges and overall great service with Train World, Gargraves, Ross, Miller Engineering, Atlas O, and S&W among others over the years.

However i think we should be aware that there are other vendors here (not the ones above) that make shipping charges a profit center.  Yes, I know that all shipping charges have increased significantly over the past few years. I will not mention them by name, but one vendor that has a name that is synonymous with alligator recently charged over $13 shipping for an item that could be mailed anywhere in the US for $8 or less, and was NOT told the amount but rather charged $25 and then credited $11+ back after shipping. Another popular tool vendor  (not yet an advertiser) is having a sale and wants $8.95 to ship an item that could be sent in a small padded envelope for less than $5. I always consider shipping costs when making any purchase.

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