Model Railroading > Train stores in Michigan

What are the good train stores around the Detroit to Flint areas?

Last time I was in Michigan there was a good train store in Birmingham, does anyone know if it is still there?
(No mention in either MR or MRC.)

Any places to foam?

Regards,
Ed

Train Center Hobbies (the one that was in Birmingham) has been gone for a couple of years, now.

The better ones remaining are Joe's Hobbies on Grand River east of Drake in Farmington, P&D Hobby on Groesbeck Hwy at Utica Road in Roseville and Great Lakes Hobby on Van Dyke in Utica. The selection at Rider's Hobby in Madison Heights seems to have declined over the past few years (as is true throughout most of the chain, but less so at the Flint store), but I usually find it a worthwhile stop. The Rider's Hobby in Livonia isn't worth the time when it comes to train stuff, and the words you hear most often at the one down in Taylor are "...but we can order it". Merri-Seven Hobbies, on Merriman north of Seven Mile, is interesting for some of the older stuff you can find there- a classic floor-to-ceiling stacked shop.

My own personal favorite is Michigan Model Train Center way out west, south of Pinckney on McGregor Road. It's mainly HO and Mike's Train House, with some S scale, some brass, and a decent selection of Digitrax stuff. Then again, the owner has similar prototype interests to mine and tends to stock that way. It's not worth the trip out there if you're looking for N scale.

Of course, it depends on what you're looking for. If you're part of the "Never pay list price- ever" crowd, none of these are likely to be terribly interesting, though Michigan Model Train Center usually discounts a bit.

-fm

This is by far one of the best hobby shops around. A very large selection of train items, with a lot of discounted prices. They also have a huge selection of detail items. They have a train staff and an R/C staff, plus a lot of stand around customers who stop in just to hang around (like myself). With free coffee, it's a great place to browse.
If you can, I would definitely try to stop in. They are located on the South East corner of Grandriver and Drake roads.

Rob Zeno, MI

The Rider's Hobby Shop in Clinton Twp (off of Hall Rd and Hayes) has a reasonably decent selection of the later stuff. Great Lakes Hobby has a wider selection, but doesn't necessarily carry all the same stuff as Rider's.

Haven't been to them in a while, but if I wanted say a new Walthers HO Superliner car, I'd be more likely to find it at Riders than Great Lakes. That sort of thing.

Kennedy

The Riders in Clinton Twp (Hall and Hayes Roads) is closing, if not already gone. They transferred most of the stuff to the Madison Heights store.

Larry

I thank all of you all for the great information, looks like the train store buisness is really drying up---sad.

I'll be traveling there on November19th through the 29th. I'll be the one that smells like smoke!

Regards,
Ed
Henderson, NV

Well, Dang. That Riders was the closest to me.

If I see any of that gang at the show this weekend, I'll ask....

Kennedy