Hello to everyone. I am new to this forum. I live in Oak Ridge (since 1982 actually) and have recently retired. I've been a railroad buff since I was very little. I haven't had a model train layout since I was a kid and my dad set up a Lionel layout; as much for him as for me. Now, since all the kids are gone and I'm retired I want to get back into building a layout of my own. I'm going to model in HO and have started collecting rolling stock. I've done a lot of online (internet) purchasing but was wondering if there are any good local model train stores in the Oak Ridge/Knoxville area? I've already started running into areas like decal application, DCC installation, and other technical issues where I could benefit from other's expertise. Plus, I'd like to support a local hobby shop.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

Welcome to our small corner of cyberspace. The first thing I'd like to do is offer an invitation to visit our club at the Oak Ridge Childrens Museum. We are gathering this Sunday from around 1pm as noted on the web calendar and a map may be referenced in a previous thread under this section titled "Greetings" that was posted a couple of weeks ago. We currently have operational layouts in N, HO, and G scales at our club with Z, S, and O layouts in various stages of construction. The HO layout is fully up and running DCC equipment.As for local hobby shops the only one I've frequented is Hobby Town in the Turkey Creek shopping area. They do carry a pretty good assortment and are very obliging in accepting special orders. They are also supportive of our club in providing special discounts of orders we place. If you can come by for a visit other fellow KAMRI club members can provide more information on a couple of other shops in the area. Another is Paul & Bec's Hobbies & Trains, 6705 Maynardville Pike, Knoxville (865) 922-0856. This is a fairly new shop and I have not been there. Just a bit out of the way for me here in Kingston.

__________________
Bruce (McToots) McElhoe
KAMRI President
and Web Site Moderator

Thanks for the invitation. I look forward to visiting. I've read about the layout in the Children's Museum many times in the Oak Ridger. Thanks again.

Curt Goff
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