My wife and I are going to be stopping in Oklahoma City in late June on our way to Alabama. Are there any good Hobby shops available there? How about railroading points of interest?
There are several, but only one I would personally recommend. Whistlestop Trains, 1313 W. Britton Road (north of downtown), all kids of great stuff, all scales, includes custom painted models. The lady behind the counter is a bit of a grouch, but don't take her personally (she was this way the last several times I was there, and several friends have dealt with her as well- otherwise, she's OK). Down in Norman is J&J Trains. Haven't been there myself, but I've heard it's a good place to shop. To get there, best way I can tell you is to go to Yahoo! Maps, put in either city (Norman or Oklahoma City) and put in the business name. A map will come up- print it, and it should help. As for railroad goodies, OKC is the northernmost stop for Amtrak's Heartland Flyer, trains 821/822 between OKC and Ft. Worth. The big act in town is BNSF's ex-Santa Fe main from Wellington south to Ft. Worth. General Motors has an auto assembly plans in the south side of town, and IIRC the Arkansas-Oklahoma Railroad switches this plant. Their motive power is four B23-7s painted red & yellow. I also recommend the Railspot group on Yahoo! Groups- it covers the RR scene in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas & Louisiana. You may have to join the group (it's free) to post messages, but it's well worth it- just tell the fellas you're comin' thru the territory, and you'll get more help than a little bit. Hope this helps, and have a good trip to Okie City!
Having recently made a trip to Oklahoma City myself....and while there looking all over for a good hobby shop...let me say this: I went to Whistlestop Trains. Of what I saw in the phone book it looked like my best shot at a real hobby store. While they DID have quite a bit of stuff in stock....I was very unimpressed by both the store and the people who worked there. I was extremely disturbed by a couple of things I saw there. I won't discuss that on here but if you want to e-mail me I'll tell you (shanethompson@aggienetwork.com). Also, I thought their prices were pretty high compared to what I'm used to paying at my LHS. On the way back to Texas I stopped at J&J Trains in Norman. The gentleman running the shop there was very friendly and very knowledgeable. His N scale inventory wasn't the best I've seen, but he was a pleasure to talk to and let me run his layout he had at the front of the store. I bought a few pieces of rolling stock off of him just because he was friendly and then went on my way with a handshake and a promise to return if ever I was up that way again. All in all...I was disappointed with what I was able to find in the way of train stores in OC. I do recommend stopping in for some friendly conversation at J&J in Norman though.
I coulda gotten more in depth about Whistle Stop, but those comments, as you said, are better left off-list. You DID make somegood comments about J&J, and I may check him out should I ever find myself in the Okie City area again. There is one other hobby shop in OKC, but for personal reasons I will not make any mention one way or another about it.
It may not fit in with your plans, but the N-Scale Collector Convention is in Tulsa the last week in June. (Wed.-Sat.) One of the things on list of things planned is a tour of the railroad operations in the area on Thursday, June 26th. (BNSF Cherokee Yard) Thursday night they have a live auction for all kinds of N-scale collectible stuff and Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. there will be a swap-a-rama. Many of the attendees also bring items that they have for sale in their hotel rooms. You never know what may turn up. I picked up a few items I had been looking for last year when I attended their convention in Medford, Oregon. I met a lot of nice people and had a great time.
