So with the virus outbreak happening, I thought on this thread on where you guys get your engines and rolling stock. I'll start off.
When I first got into the range, my parents used to get the stuff from a site called Boscov's (a retailer in the New England area) and they would often buy certain engines or sets. Mainly to get advantage of the free shipping whenever my mom wants to get something there. The only issue with the site is that they only have certain engines and not any of the ones I would've wanted at the time (The only engines they had were Thomas, Percy, Toby, Emily and Spencer), so I'm kinda limited about it. I know there's other sites at the time, but I was only a minor at the time and can't use money to buy unless my parents accepted it. I don't use that site anymore as they hardly have anything related to either Bachmann or the Thomas franchise.
Nowadays, I get my engines from legit retailers like Amazon as I like to take advantage on the warranty repairs incase something happens with the engines. The only times I use ebay is either discontinued engines or rolling stock.
Trainworld has always been my go to. Great service and fast shipping. :)
Trainworld is a good one, the largest online retailer of model trains in the US I believe. I would also recommend Mario's Trains https://www.mariostrains.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=featured&Itemid=435).
They have really quick shipping, I would order on Friday and my package would be on my doorstep by Monday, no sales tax, always having a sale and free shipping on orders over $50. They seem to have the entire Bachmann Thomas range in stock.
Hope this helps
https://www.modeltrainstuff.com/
Model train stuff is the website that is the most affordable to me and has wonderful service. However no matter the website there will most likely alway be shipping costs. I highly recommend going to train shows and look for the items you need. They'll most likely have more then what you need and they're very entertaining as well.
I agree, ModelTrainStuff.com is the best place, they have constant sales and their prices are the lowest around.
I use both Modeltrainstuff.com and TrainWorld.com both have great prices but sometimes one has what I'm looking for when the other does not. TrainWorld has more variety though and ships asap while Model Train Stuff offers less, has pretty good sales when they have Bachmann stuff 10% off the original sale price. MTS does sometimes take a little while to ship out though
I buy my Thomas friends from Walthers and eBay.
My real scale is N in which I buy from eBay, BLW, Hogtrainz, and others.
What scale are you looking for? I still have G Scale rolling stock, New In Box. Where are you located?
I have Prime at Amazon and searched for Thomas. They carry a lot. and free shipping for some items. No idea how prices compare.
Rich