Cincinatti, OH Train Shops or Rail Fan Spots?

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ElvisTie

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May 30, 2007
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Central North Carolina
piedmontdivision.rymocs.com
I just found out that I will be attending a conference for work in Cincinatti, OH next month in June.

Has anyone been there or are from there and know of any train shops or easily accessable rail fan spots near the downtown area?

The conference is being held that the Hyatt Hotel.

Thanks,

Ryan
 
I know of some raifanning spots...

Hobby shops in the main City area: none that I know of

Railfanning spots: Some of the best (if you have the time)

First and foremost: CINCINNATI UNION TERMINAL. The still in use rail station was the last of it's kind, built to replace five smaller stations. After rail service origionaly stoped and the place was abandoned, some contractor attempted to turn it into a mall. He ended up only ransacking the place. In the end, some historical society (froget the name) and the city bought the entire complex for $1,000,001. The one million was for the land, the $1 for the actual building and everything in it!:eek:Today it's the museum center, but traces of it's glorious rail history are still there. The REALLY big mural is still there, all the offices, board meeting rooms, etc. have been restored, and Amtrak has a daily train stop there! Plus, tower "A", the origional control tower (still have to go there myself!) is there and has been restored to the limit. There is now a rail yard behind it, which should make for great railfanning, along with some other smaller, scattered about rail yards. You might get lucky, and see a promotional end passenger car by a Montgomery Inn restrurant on Columbia Parkway. Lastly, be sure to take one of the special tours that take you into the inner dephs of the place, you'll be amazed!

*pant* ok, now the Cincinnati resident will return to his seat:mrgreen:
 
i live in cinci and LOVE the union terminal.the freight yard behind it is huge,and you can sit in tower A ALL DAY if you want ,just to railfan.the huge mural around the dome on the inside depicts the history of cincinnati and you can even catch the amtrak train back home :D .il post the site on it in a minute.as for othere hobby store,well,there arent any :D thats the only downfall of this city...NO TRAIN STORES!!!--josh
 
here is th link for the cincinnati RR club Index which is based in the tower,and i just realised there having a train show on august 11th in the rotunda.well anyway,here it is and honestly i beleive CUT is one of the most BEAutiful terminals i've ever seen.hope ya like it :thumb:--josh
 
heres a link for anyone living or heading to cincinnati august 11th,its pretty darn cool if i do say so myself.so check it out,youll like it.--josh
 
The problem with Tower A is that it is only open on certain afternoons and evenings and it faces west over the yard which makes for some awful photography on sunny days. A better bet to view the yards is to walk across one of the highway viaducts (Western Hills or Hopple Street) that cross it.
 
Union Terminal is now home to the Cincinnati Museum Center. While there be sure to check out the Cincinnati History Museum, including Cincinnati In Motion. It is quite a layout, even has a webcam.
Cincinnati in Motion

Johnny's Toys is the only real train shop in the area that I have been to. Two locations, the closest to your hotel would be in Northern KY:
Welcome to Johnny's Toys!

There is also Golf Manor Hobbies:
Golf Manor Hobbies Home, Rivarossi and Mehano Parts

Also a few of the model railroad clubs:
Cincinnati Model Railway Club
Cincinnati Division, NMRA
 
including Cincinnati In Motion. It is quite a layout, even has a webcam.
Click to expand...

OH,YEAH i forgot that.you have got to check that out though.its got the city of cincinnati in i beleive HO scale with interurban and some nice passenger trains.hope you like it :thumb:--josh
 
bigsteel said:
OH,YEAH i forgot that.you have got to check that out though.its got the city of cincinnati in i beleive HO scale with interurban and some nice passenger trains.hope you like it :thumb:--josh
Click to expand...

Plus EVERYTHING they have on display is COMPLETLEY SCRATCHBUILT, including the interburban trolleys, but I don't think the rolling stock and engines. If you're interested, they actualy have an ACTUAL interburban trolley right next to the model trains (gotta go to another display, though...). For Johnny's Toys, they go a TON of stuff, but getting there is a pain. The road name plate is barley legible, and you can easily miss the turn.
 
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