Blue Ridge Hobbies Discount Model Trains

FROM BEHIND THE COUNTER

NEWS AND UPDATES

07/14/19

Fedex Shipping Delays

Everything that was received at BRH Friday, except for the back orders and advance reservations that have arrived, have all shipped! Back order and advance reservation will be completed on Tuesday.

I had a long conversation with the Fedex Terminal manager about what has occurred and I have already seen a difference from Fedex Freight. So hopefully there will not be any more Fedex Terminal Greenville caused delays.

Important Miniature World of Trains Update™

Meeting at the new venue

AUGUST 3rd at 10am
455 Congaree Rd
(behind Haywood Mall and between Greens Liquors and Verizon)

Potential Investors, Donors, Volunteers and other interested parties should attend!

I will go over the over project from top to bottom and answer all questions.

Since there is no seating, please bring a chair.

So, please help me create this project by either investing, donating or volunteering!

PLEASE RSVP YOUR ATTENDANCE

MORE INFO ON THE ATTRACTION OR HOW TO INVEST

07/06/19

Fedex Shipping Delays

Orders received from Friday 06/28/19 6am until Monday 07/01/19/19 6am
should ship Wednesday 07/03/19 UPDATE: Due to a Fedex Freight delivery issue on two separate days (Wednesday 07/03/19 and Friday again on 07/05/19) holding up the delivery of the boxes to BRH, these orders will now ship Wednesday 07/10/19. As of this update (07/05/19) only one box was received the other box from this order is note expected to arrive now until 07/09/19.

Upcoming Pre Order Deadlines

July 31: Accurail Preorders
July 31: Walthers Preorders
July 31: Walthers Early Buy Orders
August 12: Rapido Trains Preorders
August 21: Atlas/AtlasO/Trainman Preorders
August 30: Intermountain Preorders

World's Largest Model Railroad Product Database™

146,057 Items Available To Order Today. With large database of new items, I am attempting to get all the images up to date as time permits.

Monthly Arrivals and Announcements from Accurail Generate Car HO Kit Sales

New HO freight car kit announcements for July include a two different limited-run three-packs: USRA 55-Ton 2-Bay Coal Hoppers decorated in the as-delivered 1920s CNW scheme and three-mixed 40' steel boxcars decorated in the UP 1960s Boxcar Red colors with a large shield and the "Ship and Travel the Automated Railway" slogan - one of the more popular schemes for 1960s to 1980s modelers. These three packs are perfect f to build your fleet at an affordable price. All Accurail car kits feature quick assembly (less than an hour) and include car weights, appropriate free-rolling trucks and AccuMate(R) knuckle couplers. They're great summertime projects because they're fast - perfect for waiting out a storm or getting out of the summer heat! Order now!

ORDER NOW

Broadway Limited Announces HO PRR T1 4-4-4-4 - Order by July 11th

The most recent announcement by Broadway Limited is for its popular Pennsylvania Railroad T1 4-4-4-4 Duplex steam locomotive. In this release the sleek Paragon3 engine will be available in new road numbers in both as-delivered and modified versions. As with all Paragon3 models the model comes equipped with sound, DCC and synchronized smoke. The sound system is designed to work with the Rolling Thunder(TM) subwoofer system. These locos are going
to sell fast and quantities are limited, so order by July 11th.

ORDER NOW

New Busch Kits, Scenery and Details

Dilapidated building kits, miniature scenes, vehicles and more have arrived from Busch. Featuring great detailing and authentic decoration, Busch HO vehicles are perfect for adding interest to layouts! Based on worldwide prototypes, many are easily modified to blend into North American scenes by simply using as-is or relettering.

ORDER NOW

N Scale Architect Lines West Station: Perfect for N Scale NYC Modelers

Based on a New York Central - Big Four prototype, the Lines west Station is a detailed laser-cut wood and card kit. Similar depots were used along the NKP and other upper Midwest railroads, so this kit has broad customer appeal. Precision laser-cut wood and card parts as well as self-adhesive limestone and brick accents, shingle roofing and more make this kit perfect for those of you who want to try their hand at a laser-cut kit. The Lines West Station
is one of many N Scale structures from The N Scale Architect.

ORDER NOW

Santa Is Coming Very Soon!

06/29/19

June Sales

June sales where up again year to year 20% and the period from January 1 until June 30th sales are up 19.9%.
For the last 90 days new customers down -46% but up 25% for returning customers, average receipt total up 21% and average items per transaction up 20%. Year to date comparison has new customers up 10%, returning up 10%, average receipt total up 4% and average items per transaction held at no change.

So again the trend is good. Online sales are strong during the slowest 3 months of the year. May, June and July. Store visitor traffic is down but that will allow me to finish the resetting of the store for Christmas and the addition of new products.

Important Miniature World of Trains Update™

The Miniature World of Trains™ announced a couple of weeks about the impending sale of the Congaree Rd location and that MWOT™ was looking for another place to locate the new displays. Well, come to find out last week that deal is off and MWOT™ can again move forward. Unfortunately this 2 month delay now means that the Christmas Model Train Display™ will not be opening in 2019. All dates are now pushed back 6 months.

Also, I am now looking into buying the building out right as well but that will be a long process.

In the mean time, MWOT™ is still looking for funding just about any source we can find. To that end for those of you that are on the fence about investing, the plan as of this update is to have a meeting for investors, potential investors and donors, potential employees and volunteers at the facility on

AUGUST 3rd at 10am
455 Congaree Rd
(behind Haywood Mall and between Greens Liquors and Verizon)

I will go over the over project from top to bottom and answer all questions.

Since there is no seating, please bring a chair.

So, please help me create this project by either investing, donating or volunteering!

The current version still needs $800,000 to create the a new version, less for a new Christmas Model Train Display™ for just the holiday season, about $30,000 at this point to potentially generate an estimated $75,000 to $100,000+ gross revenue in just six weeks!

So please go to the MWOT™ website to help out and move the project forward!

Pre Order Deadlines

July 31: Accurail Preorders
July 31: Walthers Preorders
July 31: Walthers Early Buy Orders
August 12: Rapido Trains Preorders
August 21: Atlas/AtlasO/Trainman Preorders
August 30: Intermountain Preorders

New Brawa N Scale LED Streetlights Feature Plug-N-Play Bases

Brawa N Scale streetlights make it easy for modelers to install working streetlights in their layout scenes. Each light features an easy-to-install socket base with wire leads - simply drill a hole, secure the socket and hook the wires up to 12-16V power. Detailed lamps feature metal and plastic construction using long-lasting LEDs that emit almost no heat. They're easily changed out or swapped since they all have the same plug base.
They're in- stock, so get them now!

ORDER NOW

Broadway Limited Announced Limited Release of N Scale PRR P70 Passenger Cars

Over 1000 P70 passenger cars were produced between 1907 and 1929 by several car builders including the Pennsylvania Railroad's own Altoona Shops. Broadway Limited now brings two versions - with
and without ice air conditioning - of this widely used car to N Scale. The long-lived prototypes operated into the 1960s and some still carry tourists on excursion and museum trains. The models feature fine details including applied handrails and grab irons, interiors and interior lights - perfect for the most detail- conscious Pennsy modelers! These cars are being produced in extremely limited quantities - make sure to reserve yours
immediately for August delivery.

ORDER NOW

New Kits, Scenery and Details in HO & N Arrive From GC Laser

Tunnel portals, a car repair shop, retaining walls and more have arrived from GC Laser. These easy-to-build laser-cut wood kits are popular with modelers. Plenty of new models are now in stock - order now and start selling these GC Laser products!

ORDER NOW

Rapido Trains Announces N Scale "Canadian" Streamliner, LRC Cars, F40PH-2D and FP9 Locos

Hot on the heels of its many HO and N Scale announcements earlier this month, Rapido Trains has announced the legendary Canadian Pacific "Canadian" streamliner 10-car set and add-on car sets in N Scale. For modern-era modelers, VIA LRC cars are perfect for corridor and some Amtrak trains. To pull the new passenger cars the super-popular F40PH-2D and CP/CN/VIA GMD FP9A diesels have also been announced.

ORDER LRC CARS NOW

ORDER F40PH-2D LOCO'S NOW

ORDER FP9 LOCO'S NOW

Modern HO Grain Trucks from Trucks n Stuff Now Available

The latest arrivals from Trucks n Stuff include some newly tooled models. This run includes the recently tooled grain
trailer hauled by several different semi tractors. Newly tooled, injection-molded (not die cast metal) Peterbilt 579 and Kenworth T680 day-cab tractors are highly detailed with appropriate chrome parts per the prototypes. All tractor/grain trailer sets are decorated in authentic graphics - perfect for detail-conscious modern-era modelers and collectors. They're in-stock and sure to sell fast, so order now!

ORDER NOW

06/17/19

145,472 Items Available To Order Today In The World's Largest Model Railroad Product Database™

06/15/19

Fedex Changes

MEMPHIS, Tenn., May 30, 2019 — FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) is announcing a transformation that builds upon the largest global commerce transportation network in the world to further serve the fast-growing e-commerce market. FedEx Ground delivers seven days per week during the holiday peak season, and beginning in January 2020, this service will continue year-round for the majority of the U.S. population. FedEx Ground also will increase standard operations and increasing large package capabilities.

Peco Changes

About 10 years ago I had a long conversion with Walthers about changing the Walthers product number for all Peco product to the actual part number Peco assigned to each item so that customers and dealers could easily identify the products they needed. Well it seems that this process finally after all this time, is occurring.

The database has been updated along with the images. In some cases the old Walthers number and the new actual product number are still listed within the database. But as of this update, the database and images are correct based on the latest information Walthers has supplied to us.

Pre Order Deadlines

June 24: Rapido Preorders
July 31: Walthers Preorders

06/8/19

Shipping Changes

The USPS postages will have a postal rate increase effective 06/23/19 and Fedex has announced that they will start delivering 7 days a week. No announcement as to when this will start and I am not sure how this will effect deliveries to BRH since we receive Fedex Freight deliveries during the weekdays on only receive Saturday deliveries in December. Just an FYI for you all.

New Wholesaler

I have finalized the addition of our first new wholesaler since we stopped receiving products from Horizon Hobby in 2013. The new wholesaler is Emery Distributing in Easton, PA. But adding this wholesaler we are adding a lot of new products to the overall database and expanding the availability of other products.

By doing this we now have the largest O scale product database in the world! Also, in the past when our main wholesaler was out of the product you wanted their was no other source for us. Now that has changed. In some cases the prices are higher and in some cases they are lower. This is due to the cost of the product we have negotiated with each wholesaler.

You will be able to see the warehouse location of the product on the product search screens. Currently I am ordering from the new wholesaler at least once a week until volume increases.

So, we now have warehouses in Milwaukee, WI: Easton, PA: Charlotte, PA: Lake Charles, LA: Greenville, SC: and direct from manufacturers around the USA.

So, as of this email BRH now has the largest model railroad product database in the world! And we have yet another wholesaler coming to the database very soon!

Important Miniature World of Trains Update™

The Miniature World of Trains™ was notified last week that the pending property sale is now not going to happen! That is good news but has now delayed the opening of any display so the Christmas Model Train Display™ may not be able to open this Christmas. But I am working on that as of this email.

So, with the Congaree location back in play, I am trying to finalize the lease with a new addition to protect MWOT™ from losing any money if the owner was to sell. I am awaiting the new lease with this provision added.

Also, since this location is back and is the best option for MWOT™, I have also begun the process to purchase the building and land with my bank. This way MWOT™ will own the property from the outset.

Also, as a back up plan there are three lease locations available near BRH that I am looking into in a large shopping center. Two spaces of over 9,000sf are available as well as another 4,000sf location that would allow the opening of the Christmas Model Train Display™ for 2019.

I should have more information for a 2019 opening within the next two weeks!

Also, MWOT™ was listed as the lead item in the July Model Railroader Magazine in the News and Products Section.

Despite the delay MWOT™ is still moving forward!

So, please help me create this project by either investing, donating or volunteering!

The current version still needs $800,000 to create the a new version, less for a new Christmas Model Train Display™ for just the 2019 holiday season, about $30,000 at this point to potentially generate an estimated $75,000 to $100,000+ gross revenue in just six weeks!

So please go to the MWOT™ website to help out and move the project forward!

TO ORDER

05/20/19

Important Miniature World of Trains Update™!

The Miniature World of Trains Update™ has been a project I have been working on for nine and a half years now and it is a wonderful, profit making concept to help save the future of model railroading. Not only is it about model trains, it is about S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) and much more!

About three weeks ago I announced the negotiations for the lease where to a point I announced the location next to the regional Haywood Mall. However, this past Tuesday I was informed that the owner of the building I have been negotiating with has a full price offer to sale the building. This effectively stopped MWOT™ hope and progress for a 2019 holiday opening!

While the project has stopped forward momentum again, according to the realtor, the realtor needs a tenant so our proposal with the current owner has been given to the new owner who does not have a tenant lined up for that location as of this update. Hopefully I will know something this week.

Since this situation has occurred, I have been exploring other location options, both permanent and temporary. The temporary location will be for the Christmas Model Train Display™ and a retail store for the 2019 Holiday Season somewhere in Greenville, SC.

For those of you that have followed the project since 2009 you know that finding suitable locations has been in issue. In 2012 the old Sam's Club lease was negotiated and then that building and land was sold right out from under MWOT™, the downtown BETA test location lease ended and the city virtually blocked the move to another location and construction began just outside the building, plus the lack of parking in the area ended that location in 2015.

The competition for locations is fierce here in Greenville, SC and the need for no less then 9,000sf to build the CMTD™ and a new MWOT™ plus have retail and training / DIY areas is hard to find in a good location with easy access and parking. However I have already found a potential back up location if the new owner of the Congaree Rd location will not work with me.

The problem here is timing at this point.

If something can not be arranged by no later than June 15th, opening of the CMTD™ will not occur as there will not be enough time to get it created and opened by the 2019 holiday season.

However, the ultimate dream is to buy land and build but there is still not enough funding to create this wonderful project! So leasing is the only option currently.

So, please help me create this project by either investing, donating or volunteering!

The current version still needs $800,000 to create the a new version, less for a new Christmas Model Train Display™ for just the 2019 holiday season, about $30,000 at this point to potentially generate an estimated $75,000 to $100,000+ gross revenue in just six weeks!

So please go to the MWOT™ website to help out and move the project forward!

So, again, you can invest a minimum of $100 or donate what ever you would like to the Miniature World Of Trains™ and become part owner as an investor of what will be "the next big attraction" and a great addition to the model railroading hobby!

You could share in a projected $18M net profit in 7 years!

MORE INFO ON THE ATTRACTION OR HOW TO INVEST

BRH May Sales To Date!

At BRH May and June are typically slow months. However, so far May sales are up 100% over May 2018 with about 11 days to go! So I have been very busy at the store.

New Wholesaler Added

I have added another 25,000 items to the database to expand our product offerings.

For the last 15 years our main wholesaler has been Walthers and for about 3 years we used Horizon Hobbies (Athearn) until their customer service issues become to unbearable and we dropped them in 2013!

Now we have added Emery Distributing in Easton, Pennsylvania so that we can offer more options and product for you all to shop for at one location. You will see some duplicate items listed with potentially different pricing. The reason for this is that there will be two warehouses offering the same item(s) at different price point. The lower price may be at Walthers (Milwaukee Warehouse) but is sold out and Emery (Easton Warehouse) my be available at a little higher price or vice versa. So if you need something now, order it as a back order at the lower price or get it shipped to you in a few days at a little bit higher price. The choice is yours.

Also, with this new addition, we are now offering model kits and other hobby items that we have not offered online since 2013. These items will not be available at the retail store but can be ordered and picked up at the storefront when they arrive!

In addition to the new wholesaler, this greatly expands the in stock offerings online for Lionel and MTH!
I am still working on getting the images loaded for the new wholesaler and this will be done as time permits!

Yet another wholesaler, Heartland Hobby, the new owner of MRC and JTT products will be added to offer even more items to the BRH database. I have a few more things to do to get their offerings added and that also will be done as time permits!

So, when this is all done, BRH will have the largest model railroad database in the world!

Some of you have asked about Scale Trains. Well the owner of Scale Trains only wants to sell to you directly and will not allow any new dealers to sell his product. Only the initial group of dealers he added when he started up are sill selling his product. Exact Rail is another that will only sell directly to you. So no dealers.

In both cases this will cost you more money to get those product lines costing you full MSRP and the cost of shipping from one location at a time.

BRH also offers some other brands like GarGraves Track (not listed online) and we offer a great discount price on this line of O scale Track. EEC (East Coast Circuits) electronics, RR-Circuits electronic and Summit USA Models BRH purchases directly from them for you to save you money in the long run!

BRH offers a one stop DISCOUNT location for all of your hobby and model railroading needs and will continue to do so!

Memorial Day Shipping Schedule

As you know the big holiday weekend is coming up and shipping to BRH and then to you all will be affected. Please visit the store worldwide shipping schedule page for more information

Golden Spike Trainsets

With the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, the driving of the Golden Spike and
the operation of the Union Pacific Big Boy, the romance and importance of the railroads are in the news now, BRH is offering G, O and HO scale sets to purchase today or make an advance reservation.

Limited Quantities Are Available all available at great low BRH prices!

LGB G Scale
Advance Reservation
MSRP $9,999.99
BRH PRICE $8,549.11

Lionel O Scale
Advance Reservation
MSRP $549.99
BRH PRICE $473.66

Bachmann HO Scale
Now Available
MSRP $549.00
BRH PRICE $327.47

Upcoming Preorder Deadlines

May 31: Intermountain Preorders
May 31: Micro-Trains Preorders
May 31: Walthers Preorders

Intermountain Railway

BRH received a large batch of Intermountain Railway products last week for the first time in quite a long while. All of these loco's and freight cars have been sorted and shipped to the customers that where awaiting these specific items.
No other information on when other back orders / advance reservations will arrive!

THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!