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The Top 10 Model Train Shops in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee

There are fantastic Model Railroading hobby shops all across the United States.  These stores all look like a lot of fun to visit, but what are the most popular?   Here is a list for the states of Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

The most popular model railroading shops (based on online chatter) in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee are:

10. Mishawaka Rail Yard in Mishawaka, Indiana

A Tie for Number 8

8. BAD Hobbies in Nicholasville, Kentucky

8. Rupel Toy Trains in Elkhart, Indiana

7. Park Lane Hobbies in Dyer, Indiana

6. George's Train Shop in Huntington, Indiana

5. Aardvark's Model Train Shop in Nashville, Tennessee

4. Phil's Hobby Shop in Fort Wayne, Indiana

3. Berkshire Trains in Lexington, Kentucky

2. Scale Reproductions Hobby Shop in Louisville, Kentucky

...and the most popular shop for Model Trains in Indiana, Kentucky, or Tennessee is...

1. Johnny's Toys in Covington, Kentucky

Hobby shops not quite making my top 10 were G and G Hobbies in Griffith, Indiana; Joe's Hobby Barn in Terre Haute, Indiana; Linville Signs and Hobbies in Batesville, Indiana; Toys Forever Models and Hobbies in Muncie, Indiana; Train Express in Indianapolis, Indiana; Watts Train Shop in Zionsville, Indiana; Wayne's Trains and Train Central in Indianapolis, Indiana; L and N Trains and Things in Louisville, Kentucky; The Roundhouse in Louisville, Kentucky; Chattanooga Depot in Chattanooga, Tennessee; and South Bound Trains in Franklin, Tennessee.

So, there are clearly many great model railroading shops all over Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee, with all three states having stores in the top five.  Indiana had the most in the top ten with five, but Kentucky had four in the top ten - and also had all of the top three spots.

When in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee be sure to visit some of the excellent railroading museums including Depot Railroad Museum in Salem,Indiana; Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson, Indiana; Indiana Railway Museum in French Lick, Indiana; Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville, Indiana; Bluegrass Railroad Museum in Versailles, Kentucky; Nostalga Station in Versailles, Kentucky; Casey Jones Home and Railroad Museum in Jackson, Tennessee; Tennessee Central Railway Museum in Nashville, Tennessee; and Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga.

I compiled this list by searching for the hobby shops listed on a number of search engines and ranking them by the number of web pages, discussion forums, photos, videos, etc that are available online.  I further screened this list to include only pages that mentioned model railroading.

See a complete list of Model Train Shops in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee, at www.ModelTrainsWithLarry.com which has complete contact information for each shop including an address, phone number, and map to the store.

About the Author

Larry Truett is a freelance PHP and MySQL programmer living in the San Carlos neighborhood of San Diego with his wife and their 3 cats. He enjoys hiking, reading, gardening, watching too much television, and other nerdy activites.

Tags: model, modelrailroading, railroad, railroad model craftsman, railroad model scales, railroad modeler, railroad modeling, railroad models, train, Trains

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006 at 4:53 pm and is filed under Trains. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.