Brand new toys!

So following my visit to Charles Ro Supply Co. yesterday, here's a quick look at what I picked up.  I purchased my first ever brand-new Genesis locomotive - an SD60M in Norfolk Southern colours.



This is a beautifully detailed locomotive, and it is the top-of-the-range version, complete with sound and factory fitted details.  I have resisted the urge to take it out of it's packaging, and I'm looking forward to my next visit to the clubroom to give it a run and get the decoder programmed for the correct running number.

I also picked up two Walthers front-runner cars with truck trailers, these will give a modern slant to my in-progress TTX set which are stripped and repainted Athearn Impack cars.  I am considering painting one of the Impack sets in the more modern black and yellow paint scheme these cars feature.

I also picked up a selection of detail parts, including some wheels for my Impack cars and some DPM and Rix parts.  These are the most exciting items, as they are so difficult to get back home.  I am still considering a return trip just to buy more of these.  If it is raining heavily on any of the days I am here in Boston, then I will most likely pop over to Malden again to add to my stash.

Direct from the source...

So today was my first visit to an American model railroad store.  I'm in Boston on business and I googled around before I left the UK and I found a single hobby store close to the city.  It is the Charles Ro Supply Store, one of the largest O Gauge suppliers in the US.

I took a T train out from Boston early this morning, for a few miles to a town in the suburbs called Malden, and then a short walk got me to the store just after it opened.  It wasn't difficult to find, and it sits alone with it's own large car park.

I'd e-mailed the store a couple of times and been told that they stocked a large range of HO, but their website http://www.charlesro.com/welcome_to_charles_ro.htm only lists O Gauge or S Gauge so I wasn't sure if they would have what I wanted.

As it turned out, I needn't have worried, the store was not only large, but it also stocked a massive range of N and Ho alongside the American Flyer and other large scale brands.

I spent around forty minutes browsing and picked up several new items, which I will update on in another post.

Upstairs the store has a large display layout behind glass, and I was able to take a look at that and take a few pictures, and then I was presented with a Charles Ro T-Shirt as I was leaving.  All in all, an excellent and friendly store with a good selection of stock and prices.

I'm in Boston for a few days yet, so my main problem will be resisting the urge to go back to the store and buy more goodies!