Brad: There are a couple of HO Scale and one N Scale. The HO Scale ones are Action Hobbies which is located on the Northeast corner of 51st and Memorial. The second is Erailhobbies. It is located at 3306 Charles Page Blvd. It is near Sand Springs. Challenger N Scale is located at 8753 S. Lewis. Of the three I would recommend that you try erail hobbies. According to what I can find on the Internet their webpage is currently offline. Here are their hours. Hours: T 3-9, TH 10-2, 3-5 F 10-2, 3-6 S 10-5 and phone number is 918-382-0382 I have not been to their store but have purchased from them at meets. They have a very nice assortment. Personally I don't recommend Action anymore but I do try to stop by there at least once a year. Its' model railroad side is not what it used to be. Bob Wintle
I have been to Challenger a few years ago. Richard Fischer the owner is a nice man and a greatmodler, but he really didnt have much of anything. Wish I would have tried one of the other stores.
"Personally I don't recommend Action anymore..." The big guy sure knows it all and is very busy with things other than customers, eh? Andre
Andre: The Big guy is not there any longer. Action doesn't stock much new stuff any more. It seems all they do is try to sell on consignment or sell used stuff. The model railroad counter is is disarray. Bob Wintle
Erail definitely has the best selection, but nothing N. Kinda hard to locate, you drive into an old industrial complex. There's a sign on the building, but it's possible to be distracted and miss it (testimony.) There's also a club layout in the building. Challenger has lots of N scale stuff, though it may be in boxes for going to shows. Richard also handles some airplanes and stuff. He has done special runs of Frisco 40' box cars, etc. There is another shop in Owasso which is general hobby stuff. Some HO, a bit of N and lots of paint and tools and such. I gave up on Action long time ago; the RC cars running around parking lot seemed to be shop's thing.
I concur with all of the above comments. When I lived in Tulsa Action Hobbies was the place to go. Doug Azey built the train side up for the owner and also the great layout that is still in the front window. When he left he got Pete Iverson (aka "The Big Guy") a job and he kept things going the best that he could. After he left that was the beginning of the end. Richard Fisher has been able to make Challenger N Scale a going business for many years. His current location is not as nice as the previous one, but he carries a lot of stock. ERail Hobbies was a plesant surprise and the first time I was there was last fall after the Op Sig meet. His prices are excellent (20% off) and he has a great selection albeit all HO. One tip if I may. ERail carries the solvent based line of Floquil paint and Challenger carries Poly Scale. That's good because at least you can still get what you want in one city. The location is kinda funky but so what. Just remember that when you pass Knotty Pine BBQ on the right heading south it is the first turn on the left and the first building on the left after going in the gate. If you go into the complex far enough to get to the chicken coop in the back you have gone too far! He is also very friendly and willing to order something he doesn't carry. Lastly don't forget Hobby Lobby. You have a big one on Memorial! That makes plenty to choose from. You guys down there are fortunate!
Challengers is a great place for N. The address is 8753 S. Lewis, Sue. B, Tulsa OK. 74137, (918) 298-4800, The hours are T-W 5-8 pm, Th-F 12-8 pm, Sat. 10-5. http://Challenger-N-Scale.com Located about a half mile south of the 60 story building in far south Tulsa near Jenks or one mile north of Riverside Dr. exit on the Creek Tpk. Look for two long buildings and a truck rental on the east side just south of the bowling ally. Challenger is in the center area of north building. Richard always stocks new releases of Frisco but they go quick sometjmes. Also recomend Top Shelf Models in Owasso. (918) 272-0433. They have HO and some N. It is located west of US 169 at 76th St. N. and one half block north on the east side of 76th & Main. Will post more info for them Monday. I wouldn't recomend A..... Hobbies to my worst enemy!!! I better stop here because it extends into R/C world also. Joe
I've done a lot of business with Challenger, in person and mail order. Richard will do telephone mail orders also. Though he doesn't carry HO, he can order it as well as aircraft and military stuff. Tom
Action Hobbies is definitely a waste of time now. It is too bad because it used to have avery good selection. I remember when it was in the garage space of a home in Sand Springs way back in the 70s. When Pete left, the mgr. told me he knew model railroading and could keep up that end of it. Obviously not. Even though Pete was not very personable, I built a relationship with him, and had him do some work for me (insall dcc in some of my locos, and detail some of my loco tenders). He did very fine work. Unfortunatley, now I can't get him to do any of that anymore. Oh, well, I guess I need to learn how to install dcc in my engines myself. Terry.
Here is the info for the shop in Owasso. Top Shelf Models Royal Stuart, manager 119 S. Main, Owasso, OK. 74055-3117 (918) 272-0433 1-866-210-0687 topshelfmodels@peoplepc.com Royal a really nice guy and I think he models HO. Richard Fisher at Challenger models N and is great to work with too. Joe
What hours is Top Shelf open? Sounds like it's definitely worth a trip! BTW, I remember a hobby shop in downtown Tulsa called Oil Capitol Hobbies back in the 1970s- I discovered the place when I was attending Okie State in Stillwater, and my between-semesters home was in Afton. I also remember Action when Doug Azary had things really humming. Now, with the emphasis on R/C stuff, the model RR is poor relations. However, I have picked up some good stuff there (an Alco FA1 shell in Frisco colors) now & then. And I agree on Challenger- Richard Fischer and his "shop cats" (both very friendly and amazingly agile considering all the stuff they have) are good, and make the visit worthwhile.
Oil Capital was a great hobby shop...just 5 minutes fdrom my office! Also, anyone remember when Imperial Sound sold HO stuff? One of the owners was into trains. Then there was the infamous "Bellaire Hobbies", which was actually a pseudonymn for a local hobbiest who used the name to buy his trains at dealer prices! Ah, yes...the good old days. Wouldn't go back for a dozen Toby 1500s! Glenn, in Tulsa
Glenn: I think I remember Imperial Sound. Wasn't it on Peoria? There was a place where one went in and there were industrial type metal shelves and the HO stuff was on some of them. It that it?
I remember Brewster's because I had a Lionel train that was used when my folks bought it. The engine needed some work a couple of times, and Brewster's repaired it. I had forgotten about Imperial Sound, but I remember seeing the train section when I would go in there for sound equipment. When I drive by that location even today, I remember being in that store. Terry
As long as we are going down Memory Lane I would like to know if anyone could identify the location (existance) of a Hobby Shop around what I believe to be the area of 21st or 11th and maybe Sheridan or Memorial in the summer of 1983. That is when I had my accident and spent 4 days in St. Francis Hospital before returning to Wichita. I found this place in the Yellow Pages and insisted that I had to stop there on my way back to Wichita. If I remember correctly it was in a strip mall on the Northwest corner of an intersection and a middle aged man was working behind the counter. They really didn't have that much of a selection. I know that it wasn't the old Action Hobbies when it was in that neat little center on I believe 41st Street. Does this ring any bells?
Action was on 31st St, between Yale and Harvard, before moving to51st and Memorial. The very first hobby shop I remember in Tulsa was in the Sheridan Village shopping center, sw corber of Admiral and Sheridan. Across from Bell Junior High. Bought my first Athearn kit there...undec boxcar $00.89 + tax! Also undec F-7 dummies (old Globe molds) for $1.89. !956/57! Glenn, in Tulsa
