An Affair With Trains in Phoenix

ezdays

ezdays

Out AZ way
Feb 3, 2003
6,339
0
36
Arizona
bigbluetrains.com
We were having breakfast at a restaurant this morning and they had a TV tuned to channel 3. Usually they have them all on sports since it's adjacent to a golf course, but anyway they were doing a remote broadcast and they were shooting a very large HO layout somewhere. Lo and behold, it was down at An Affair With Trains on Bethany Home Rd. I thought, this can't be, that shop is so small you had to go outside to change your mind,:D but it was. When I got home I checked out their website, and found out that the new owners seemed to have magically doubled the floor space. :thumb:Take a look, they not only have a large, well organized store, but they also have more than a staff of one. Remember the old store only had room for one clerk and about two customers at the same time.:rolleyes: This is exciting, now I can see why they were giving away all those old books and magazines at the last train show.

I guess they're open now, but are having a grand opening the weekend of Feb 2.
 
grand opening, eh? I didn't realize the place was under new ownership. I was there a few weeks ago to check out the expanded store. It's the same amount of stuff in double the space. The best part is, they are now only about 15 minutes from where I live :)

kevin
 
nachoman said:
grand opening, eh? I didn't realize the place was under new ownership. I was there a few weeks ago to check out the expanded store. It's the same amount of stuff in double the space. The best part is, they are now only about 15 minutes from where I live :)

kevin
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It probably cost him to get double the space, I suspect that if th store is supported by the local model railroaders, he will increase the inventory. Glad to hear you guys are getting a lhs with train stuff.
 
Oh, it's a great store. Now that I livein phoenix again, I will go there whenever I can rather than shop online. Unfortunately, they carry no HOn3, so I still have to order most of that. I still go there for detail parts, stuctures, and that sort of thing.

kevin
 
ezdays said:
...they were doing a remote broadcast and they were shooting a very large HO layout somewhere. Lo and behold, it was down at An Affair With Trains on Bethany Home Rd....
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So if I understand you correctly, they have a very large HO layout in the store now? I looked through all of their "NEW" store pictures and did not see one. I'll have to go down there and check it out. Guess he must have bought out the tatoo parlor next door. Rumor at the club has it that the new owner won't give diddly squat for discounts though.
 
TrainNut said:
So if I understand you correctly, they have a very large HO layout in the store now? I looked through all of their "NEW" store pictures and did not see one. I'll have to go down there and check it out. Guess he must have bought out the tatoo parlor next door. Rumor at the club has it that the new owner won't give diddly squat for discounts though.
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Yeah, there was a large layout there in the middle of the store that doesn't appear on their website. I'm guessing that it's probably temporary for the grand opening. I was never impressed with the pricing there anyway. They used to show up at those swap meets with garbage that wasn't selling from inventory, and as far as I know, they never discounted at the meets either. That was the old owner. At least with the new owner, it looks like they've cleaned the place up anyway. I'll go down there with few expectations, that way I won't be disappointed. :rolleyes: I'm still waiting for someone to open something here in the far northwest. The Hobby Bench is almost a ten-mile drive and they usually don't have what I need when I go there. For the sixth largest city in the US, I think we are way short when it comes to train and hobby shops.
 
Wish I had a hobby shop within 10 miles:cry: I gotta go 90 miles, east or west, but they are not what I would call good shops:curse: .

Gotta go clear across the darn state to Duluth or the twin cities:rolleyes: .


Rick
 
oldtanker said:
Wish I had a hobby shop within 10 miles:cry: I gotta go 90 miles, east or west, but they are not what I would call good shops:curse: .

Gotta go clear across the darn state to Duluth or the twin cities:rolleyes: .


Rick
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I can totally relate to your situation. We moved from the Phoenix metro area to live and retire in rural Wickenburg. They closed the only semblance of a hobby shop right after we moved there. After four years we just got tired of driving 50 or 60 miles one way to shop for just about anything we needed, so we moved back to the Phoenix metro area so we could be closer to shops, restaurants, medical facilities, family and friends. I though having a hobby shop within ten miles was a bonus,:thumb: I'm just saying that with our population, there should be more of them around town than there is.:wave: From what I see, people in Florida and a few other states seem to have them spaced out about a mile apart.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
Looks almost the same when I visited it in 2005 when I was out there for my moms funeral.
I bought a Athearn BB boxcar, my father bought a train movie. Don's right, the prices were comprable to here in Connecticut.
 
ezdays said:
I'm still waiting for someone to open something here in the far northwest. The Hobby Bench is almost a ten-mile drive and they usually don't have what I need when I go there. For the sixth largest city in the US, I think we are way short when it comes to train and hobby shops.
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There is one. I travel from central Phoenix just for this place.
http://www.thefreightyard.com/index.php?&vmcchk=1
They deal mostly in N scale. They do HO too and I was told they are expanding that part of their business. :thumb:

The staff is great. If you do DCC dont expect a lot of welcome arms at Affair w/ Trains. They like the old stuff. The Freight Yard has great prices and membership program that gives you better discounts too. They all are great there and friendly! :D They even learn your name.
 
COMBAT said:
:D They even learn your name.
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It still trips me out when I call there and they pick up the phone and answer me by my first name before I've even said anything. How did the world ever function before caller ID?
 
COMBAT said:
There is one. I travel from central Phoenix just for this place.
http://www.thefreightyard.com/index.php?&vmcchk=1
They deal mostly in N scale. They do HO too and I was told they are expanding that part of their business. :thumb:

The staff is great. If you do DCC dont expect a lot of welcome arms at Affair w/ Trains. They like the old stuff. The Freight Yard has great prices and membership program that gives you better discounts too. They all are great there and friendly! :D They even learn your name.
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Yeah, I've been there a couple of times. Since I'm in Surprise, it's further away than the Hobby Bench. I bought some N scale flex track there a while back and paid about fifty cents more apiece than at the Hobby Bench, which comes to over twice as much as when I buy it from Standard Hobbies.
 
Are you a member of the club the news letter? You always pay less then sticker price if you are. Become a member and you will save a ton of money! :)
 
... and buy the T-shirt. Combining those two, I usually get somwhere around 32% off with every visit. My savings have paid for that T-shirt and newsletter membership a long time ago.
 
I called them today and asked the price of an Atlas 7200 turnout. He quoted me $17.50 and asked me if I belonged to a club. I asked him about his buyer's club and he said that they get 15% and another 5% if they buy the T-shirt. He said the cost of the club was $26 a year, I didn't ask about the cost of the T-shirt. I can order that same 7200 or 7201 turnout for $10.50 at Standard Hobbies which is a 40% reduction. Since I need about six of them, no way can I justify joining the club, buying a T-shirt and only saving 20%.

I took a drive down to an Affair With Trains. They took the spot to the west of them, so no fear, you can still get tatooed at the same time. They do have a modular layout in the middle of the store, the one I saw on TV the other morning. The problem is that it's in the center behind counters and at least six feet off the floor. Kids wouldn't see it and you can barely see what's on the edges. The TV cameraman was obviously shooting from a ladder. They're running some sort of grand opening sale there, but there's no flyers or anything to tell you how much. I bought something there for $9.99 and the invoice said it was on sale for $5.67, about 40% off. I guess I should have bought my turnouts there, but I didn't know anything was on sale until after I checked out. I'm going to call them tomorrow and find out if everything is on sale, or just a few things... Oh yeah, they will keep track of your purchases there and when you reach a certain level you can get a 10% discount on one item, and after you reach another level, 10% off of everything you buy the next time you go there (I think):rolleyes:.

I'll keep you posted.
 
No... its one item the next time you go AFTER you spend a 100.00. They also are not as friendly, customer oreintated or helpful and they charge more for everything. The sale that you got is good but I have to wonder if it too is off of ONE thing.... Hmmmm..... :)

The thing I noticed about The Freight Yard is if you tell them you saw it online and have the link he will match most times. You then dont pay shipping and only have tax. Its kind of a wash sometimes but I go there because they are DCC friendly... helpful and competitive in pricing. Happy Shopping. :)
 
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