With the track plan decided it is now time to order parts!
Sadly there isn't a local hobby shop in town. The closest thing we have is a hybrid hunting store that also sells RC stuff and model building stuff and has a spattering of random train things that are covered with dust and of dubious condition. The next closest store is in the Chicago area. I ended up ordering the Kato CN starter set from one of them - Lombard Hobby. Very nice store, friendly people, great service and fast delivery. How do I know? I occasionally make trips to Chicago and on one trip my wife and a friend and myself searched out the store and paid them a visit. So much cool stuff!! At the time I was there I didn't know how serious I was going to be about getting back into the hobby. If I did, I might have bought out the store.
The Kato track plan conveniently provides a parts list of Kato part numbers. I needed to find a place that could sell me all the parts as I didn't want to have to track multiple orders from different vendors. I looked on Ebay as an online forum said that was a good source. In my opinion it isn’t. After watching many N scale auctions over several weeks I learned that people are ending up paying retail prices for used items. I might as well buy new which should have less hassle. So the googling for online retailers began. I eventually landed on an online store called Active Powersports. I found the name to be odd but they showed an impressive inventory of train items, all in stock, and at great prices. (foreshadowing - too good to be true?). I built the order list on their site and a couple others and Active came in roughly $80 cheaper than the next closest including shipping. So I placed an order on 2/7/2019. I received an email order confirmation, an order number, and a link to check on the status. All seemed good.
One week later, I checked the status and saw that it is “awaiting shipment”. What does that mean I wonder? Sent them email (their site explains they don’t have phone service to save money but that they will respond to emails in 24 hours). Well email doesn’t seem to work. Multiple emails sent over multiple days went unanswered. Uh-oh. Should I be worried? A quick google search revealed this company is of questionable quality. The BBB has numerous complaints about Active Powersports aka Escondido Powersports. They do seem to respond once the BBB is involved. So now what am I going to do?
Update: 2/17/2019: Sent another message, but this time through their website message form. I simply asked if there was an expected shipping date and if there is something wrong with the order that is causing it to be held up. I received an automated email update on 2/18 saying the order status has changed to "shipped" and I even have a tracking number. Miracles never cease to happen! Crossing my fingers that the order is complete.
Update: 2/21/2019: Tracking info says the order is to be delivered today. It wasn't. Now it says the order is in Mooreland, OK. I doubt it will make it to Urbana tomorrow. The suspense.
Update: 2/23/2019: Order arrived today. Order is missing 10 items. Sent email and website messages.
Conclusion: Active Powersports - before ordering from them, assess your level of comfort with slow shipments, lack of communication and incomplete order fulfillment.
Sadly there isn't a local hobby shop in town. The closest thing we have is a hybrid hunting store that also sells RC stuff and model building stuff and has a spattering of random train things that are covered with dust and of dubious condition. The next closest store is in the Chicago area. I ended up ordering the Kato CN starter set from one of them - Lombard Hobby. Very nice store, friendly people, great service and fast delivery. How do I know? I occasionally make trips to Chicago and on one trip my wife and a friend and myself searched out the store and paid them a visit. So much cool stuff!! At the time I was there I didn't know how serious I was going to be about getting back into the hobby. If I did, I might have bought out the store.
The Kato track plan conveniently provides a parts list of Kato part numbers. I needed to find a place that could sell me all the parts as I didn't want to have to track multiple orders from different vendors. I looked on Ebay as an online forum said that was a good source. In my opinion it isn’t. After watching many N scale auctions over several weeks I learned that people are ending up paying retail prices for used items. I might as well buy new which should have less hassle. So the googling for online retailers began. I eventually landed on an online store called Active Powersports. I found the name to be odd but they showed an impressive inventory of train items, all in stock, and at great prices. (foreshadowing - too good to be true?). I built the order list on their site and a couple others and Active came in roughly $80 cheaper than the next closest including shipping. So I placed an order on 2/7/2019. I received an email order confirmation, an order number, and a link to check on the status. All seemed good.
One week later, I checked the status and saw that it is “awaiting shipment”. What does that mean I wonder? Sent them email (their site explains they don’t have phone service to save money but that they will respond to emails in 24 hours). Well email doesn’t seem to work. Multiple emails sent over multiple days went unanswered. Uh-oh. Should I be worried? A quick google search revealed this company is of questionable quality. The BBB has numerous complaints about Active Powersports aka Escondido Powersports. They do seem to respond once the BBB is involved. So now what am I going to do?
Update: 2/17/2019: Sent another message, but this time through their website message form. I simply asked if there was an expected shipping date and if there is something wrong with the order that is causing it to be held up. I received an automated email update on 2/18 saying the order status has changed to "shipped" and I even have a tracking number. Miracles never cease to happen! Crossing my fingers that the order is complete.
Update: 2/21/2019: Tracking info says the order is to be delivered today. It wasn't. Now it says the order is in Mooreland, OK. I doubt it will make it to Urbana tomorrow. The suspense.
Update: 2/23/2019: Order arrived today. Order is missing 10 items. Sent email and website messages.
Conclusion: Active Powersports - before ordering from them, assess your level of comfort with slow shipments, lack of communication and incomplete order fulfillment.
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