THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING YOUR LOCAL HOBBY SHOP

Thank you for sharing your expieriance. This hobby has some great people!

Who are the guys?

I'm guessing the shop is Mohawk Valley Railroad Co. in Schenectady, NY.

Not sure who the two members are.  I have a idea who they might be.  But that is just a geographical hunch.

Spider Spider, here's a hint Spider:

You know who one of the guys is just by looking at the photo and figure out who his good friend is who lives nearby. 

Or just think of the two most helpful guys in the hobby (outside of me and you, of course).

Mr. X and Mr. Y - we're looking forward to seeing more of your selfless effort. I tip my oh-so-stylish fedora in your direction.

Those two guys would be Jim Policastro and Don Klose--fellow forum members and much more.  You'll see more of the transformation they accomplished in an upcoming issue of the magazine.

Kudos to Jim & Don.  It's people like them that make this hobby so rewarding.

Thank you for the kind words, everyone.

It was really our pleasure to be turned loose in a space with nice high ceilings and given the freedom to be creative. The fact that owner Bob Smith and I are both big fans of the southwest determined part of the final appearance. But, there's plenty of eastern scenery too. As Allan said, stay tuned to OGR for more info, or better yet, stop by if you are anywhere near the NY capital district.

The best part was helping to revive a local hobby shop which has meant a lot over the years to so many of us in the Schenectady-Albany area.

Best of luck, Bob and Sue.

Jim

The problem I have with hobby shops in my area is that most of them apparently think "HO" gauge is the only one people are interested in.  Most do not carry any o-gauge trains at all.  One shop I went into DID have a "Lionel Trains" sign in the window, but actually had very few Lionel items in the store.  Even the Lionel catalogs they had to show customers were already 2 years old at the time.  

I would like to reiterate what Jim said Thank You, Good Luck to Bob and Sue and we hope all will enjoy the new Mohawk Valley RR.

When I moved to Tampa in 1973 we had 5 Hobby Shops 3 of them were dedicated Trains to trains only. Unfortunately in 2012 we have zero. The only train store in the area is in Pinellas Park. I imagine the internet has contributed to shops closing as well as there are not as many train meets anymore as well. I do admit 99% of my

I wish I had one to support. I work with 2 mainly One is a forum sponsor 3000 miles away from here and the other runs at least a one sometimes two page ad in OGR is about 1700 miles away. I hope the one we are discussing here will also have a web presence.

I also support my LHS and suggested something like this but there just isn't the room for it. The layout looks great. Excellent job Jim and Don.

I don't spend enough on trains in a year to keep my LHS open for more than maybe 1 week at most.  Other than buying a few things from fellow forumites once or twice/yr and an occasional brass detail part from PSC or SPL, I spend very little.  Maybe that'll change but right now I don't see it.

Wonderful work guys, you make me want to get off my lazy butt and get at it.

John

Well done Jim and Don. Good luck MVRR.

I am proud to be part of this forum where guys like Jim and Don reside!  AND...I am really proud that Don is one of our Mid America 3 Railer members!!  Jim...we sure would love to have you too....

Guys...beautiful job and I am looking forward seeing more of what you created in the magazine...

Alan

Yes, Support Your Local Hobby Shop! We are a dying breed. And be sure to join NRHSA! National Retail Hobby Stores Assoc. at nrhsa.org

Yes, Support Your Local Hobby Shop! We are a dying breed<<<<

I would say it depends on your local hobby shop .. if you buy a product and its doa / broken out of the box and he tells you to call the manufacturer or "here's their phone number"  who needs him .. It a two way street ...

And that's not a real good one. If you ever decide to travel south of Tampa, contact me for a nice shop - publisher@ogaugehobbyist.com