Chicagoland Visit

This past week I was up in the Chicagoland area for work and had a little bit of free time one afternoon to make two model railroad stops.

Chicago style pizza, Italian beef sandwiches, and model trains...

White Sox game versus the Indians

Stop #1 Schaumburg, IL

     KATO USA

A couple weeks ago I found one of my older Kato SD40-2s to have a broken truck sideframe clip. Finally I got around to sending an email to KATO's customer service to see if a replacement part was available. They were great to work with and quick to respond. It happened that I was 10 miles from their headquarters so I decided to stop by and pick up the part.

Like their website states they do not have a operating layout but there is still some neat products on display in the front office. The address and hours are available on their website.

Stop #2 Des Plaines, IL.

     Des Plaines Hobby

If you are ever up by O'Hare airport, take an hour and head up north a few miles to stop by this shop. They have a nice stock of products and a nice staff supporting Chicagoland modelers. Being I live in Texas it's hard to find Midwest paint schemes on the shelves but not when visiting here!

Picked up two Intermountain covered hoppers with CN/IC and CNIS reporting marks.

I found this IC car to have packaging damage so got a pretty good deal on it, will get it to the RIP sometime this month to repair.

Also picked up my first Fox Valley Models HO scale SOO 7 post boxcar in Tony Koester's Allegheny Midland. Very nicely done.

Note: opinions above of KATO USA and Des Plaines Hobbies are my own and not biased or persuaded by any monetary compensation or gifts.

Everyone have a great and safe Labor Day.

GM