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Post by SOMECALLMETIM on Aug 27, 2016 14:05:45 GMT -8
I am going to be in the Washington DC area for the next 4 months for training and I am looking for suggestions for hobby shops to visit, modeling events to attend, and good prototype locations to photograph. Thanks!
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Post by dharris on Aug 27, 2016 14:12:31 GMT -8
I am going to be in the Washington DC area for the next 4 months for training and I am looking for suggestions for hobby shops to visit, modeling events to attend, and good prototype locations to photograph. Thanks! Klien's in Baltimore Mainline Hobby up on Southern Pennsylvania Timonium has a fall show There is an Prototype Modeler show in Fredericksburg Prototype is varied from CSX to NS to Amtrak. Any preferences for train watching? |
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Post by SOMECALLMETIM on Aug 27, 2016 14:32:32 GMT -8
Thank you for the hobby shop and show suggestions. Any prototype. I am a Midwest guy and would like to see the historical or significant prototype locations in the area.
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Post by dharris on Aug 27, 2016 15:44:37 GMT -8
Location in DC is important for getting around. It also depends on how far you wish to move.
PM me for details
If you are downtown just go to L'enfant VRE station platform above the metro station. All CSX north and south and Amtrak to the south go past. Plus VRE of course.
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Post by dharris on Aug 27, 2016 15:47:00 GMT -8
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Post by dharris on Aug 27, 2016 15:54:15 GMT -8
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Post by edwardsutorik on Aug 29, 2016 11:24:19 GMT -8
A nice place to watch trains is at the station in Alexandria. There's an uphill grassy slope that's pleasant. Used to be benches there that a railfan could sit on. And an old WWI tank out front, too. The freights usually move through pretty briskly, as I recall. If you have a hankering to go to the Mall museums, you can stretch your legs and walk to the main line tracks a few blocks south. It's disappointing that there aren't train shops in town, anymore. Aren't there any in the 'burbs?  When I lived in Annandale back in the day, there was a smallish shop a couple of blocks away. It couldn't rival the real ones in town, but you could get Mantua steam kits there. Harpers Ferry should provide you with some nice photo opportunities. And it's a pleasant visit. Ed |
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Post by riogrande on Aug 30, 2016 8:55:12 GMT -8
I've lived in the metro DC area since 2009 and I haven't found much in the way of hobby shops or train shops sadly. The only decent one I found was down near Springfield on the way to Ft. Belvior and it closed around 3 years ago or so. Another in Manassas had very little for serious train hobbyist - it closed a year ago. There is a small shop in Centreville that is mostly O scale but has a little HO upstairs. I found at least two other hobby shops but so little in trains I never went back. That's Northern Virginia - lots of money and very little in model train shops.
I don't know Maryland other than MB Klein and the Timonium train show. If you are here for 4 months, you should be here during one or possibly two of the Timonium train shows, which is worth going to for sure.
I worked in IT for Amtrak for a few months on a short term job a few years ago, and it was cool to be able to walk up and down the train platforms and see the activity and trains there up close and personal. Union Station is a hub of rail activity for VRE, Acela and Amtrak.
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Post by dharris on Aug 30, 2016 11:23:59 GMT -8
Officially Union Station platforms are for ticketed passengers FYI.
They are also dark and unphotogenic.
The front side of Union Station is nice though.
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Post by NS4122 on Aug 30, 2016 14:13:03 GMT -8
I am going to be in the Washington DC area for the next 4 months for training and I am looking for suggestions for hobby shops to visit, modeling events to attend, and good prototype locations to photograph. Thanks! Klien's in Baltimore Mainline Hobby up on Southern Pennsylvania Timonium has a fall show There is an Prototype Modeler show in Fredericksburg Prototype is varied from CSX to NS to Amtrak. Any preferences for train watching? atsfan, you never could spell Klein's correctly. That (and some other tells) give you away. |
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