I'll be passing through the Southland this weekend on the way to see my sick grandmother, and I am wondering if anyone can recommend a well-stocked hobby store near the 101 through Ventura, Thousand Oaks, etc., or along the 10 going out towards San Bernadino. I'm looking in particular for decals, decal solutions, and custom-printable decal paper, which my local hobby shop doesn't stock. I figure a big-city hobby shop would be my best chance to pick it up in person. Thanks for any help, David
Allied Trains in Culver City is the best I know of in this area. My local hobby store is Marty's in Thousand Oaks, but he doesn't have too much for N scale, but a little more for HO, but mostly they are in to remote controlled cars and planes. Allied Trains is not too much of a detour, take the 405 south, pass the 10, and exit on Culver City Blv, go to Sepulveda Blv, turn right, go about 200 meters and you are there. http://www.alliedmodeltrains.com/ Its a huge store, and I really recommend it. Enjoy
Of course, there is Longs, the drug store that sells model trains. (They are well-stocked on Microscale decals, which they sell for no postage, for future reference.) They're off the 60, which as you know is close the 10. So, you can take the 10 to the 215, avoid going straight when the 215 becomes the 91, stay on the 215 south and peel left when it splits between the 215 and 60. That will put you on the 60 east. Perris Blvd is one of the bigger exits. Afterward, you can keep going east on the 60, as it merges back into the 10 near Beaumont. And, by the way, if you have an extra 10 or 15 minutes, there is a great railfanning road you can take on your way to the Valley. It runs between the 60 and 10, called Timoteo Canyon (IIRC), and brings you to the 10 just before the merge. It's virtually no detour, since it heads the same way you want to. The Longs URL is http://www.longs-trains.com Fancy meeting for lunch? There's a classic Bob's Big Boy not too far from the 10/60 merge... William
