I do a Christmas village each year. This year decided to change out my train. Armies was great. Nice selection of trains and in particular I worked with an amazing you man, Kevin who assisted me to digitize sound I. My new little HO engine. Sounds amazing! Very good experience. This will be my go to place for trains! read more

Went today right before they were closing in need of a starter set to buy my son for Christmas.They were very helpful even though I was there past closing. I ended up finding a great starter set for only $120 where the last store I had been to quoted me at $400. I couldn't have been happier. Before I made this purchase my son and I had visited the store 3-4 times and I'm glad to say were never pressured to buy and always greeted with a smile. We were always encourage to come back again and they were never rude about my son playing with the trains (in the age appropriate area). We will definitely be returning to add to son's new train collection! read more

Easy to find, and even early in the morning thee were a few train geeks, pardon, aficionados, in attendance. I have been trying to resurrect my childhood Tyco train set. I brought in a Tyco locomotive from eBay. It didn't seem to be running correctly, and it was received damaged. Dave, helped reseat the wheel assembly, and sold me some other parts I needed. He was caring, and informative. I was happy and on my way, without spending too much money! read more

I love the store. I had a great time and Kevin was the kindest person. He explained so many things to me and he was very patient with everyone of my questions. We highly recommend this great store!! read more

SHOP SMALL. It is nice to see a couple of stores that are designed for enthusiasts. There are two stores. The one on the right is for the more serious scale collector and is awesome in its scope of product and knowledgeable staff. The store to the left was more what I had in mind, which was a larger train set and Thomas the Train accessories. It was very clean, well organized and easy to find product. read more

Arnie's Model Trains - My son playing while I shop!! - Toy Stores Near Me - Westminster, California

See all

I've been visiting Arnie's Model Trains for about 8 years now, and I've always found them to be knowledgeabe, friendly, and very helpful. I've not ever sold any of my very extensive HO collection to them, but I did have a very inciteful conversation with (I believe Kevin) regarding how best to sell one of my prized brass locomotives. He was helpful and guided me to the most financially beneficial venue - and the item was sold - not to Arnie's - but through another on/line source.- that Arnie's guided me to. That said, although they don't really deal with the higher-end brass market, they do have a very large - and growing - stock of good quality and harder to find non-brass equipment, such as BLI, Proto, etc. in addition, they have a huge inventory of the old Athearn Blue Box kits - way larger than anywhere else that I've found at least, which is great for people like me who enjoy kitbashing and improving/detailing & and restoring the old models from the 50s & 60's that are still inexpensive enough - really great & fun hobbyist projects. Anyway, in my view, Arnie's is a great asset to the Model Train hobby - and I hope they will continue to grow and thrive in this increasingly challenging retail climate. read more

This is a great place the buy toy trains of all scales. I have been doing business with Arnies for many years and they have always treated me right. read more

I have shopped here quite a few times. Unlike many other local shops, they are willing to offer discounts on many of their products. They also frequently have items on sale. It is definitely worth stopping in to see what they have available. From new items to recently acquired used trains from private collections, they have much to choose from. They also have one of the largest in-stock selections from MTH. They have always treated me kindly and professionally. I'll be back when I need something for my collection. read more

We will return, guaranteed. Fantastic service, incredibly friendly staff, selection is amazing, I could go on. We live an hour and a half away and the trip is completely worth it. read more

Arnie's Trains has a great selection in all scales, as well as a great selection of tools, paint, and scenery supplies. When I've been there, I've occasionally felt like the salesman has hung on me a little bit more than I'd prefer -- however I've *never* felt like they were trying to sell me anything I didn't want. On the contrary, they've suggested things that I probably didn't need to buy at that time, and thus demonstrated that they're more interested in my needs than in selling me as much as they can. Well done! read more

Unbelievable after getting things all worked out with Arnies even getting an apology from Kevin and Greg the owner . My husband walked in and was told his wife was unethical for putting what I did on yelp which was simply me telling the truth! Greg proceeds to tell my husband that I need to take it off yelp which after hearing about the apologize was planning on it . But when you threatened customers and his wife to do it and follow them around the store demanding they take it off. Greg it's u who is being unethical here . All as I'm doing here is telling everyone the truth and your simply supplying me the means Greg keep it up. No one is hurting your business your doing it all by yourself with your actions. read more

My 10 year old has taken up the hobby and I am helping him build his N scale layout. Many years ago there were many quality train stores to pick from. Now the only really good one left is Arnie's. They have tons of products for all scales nicely displayed. The customer service has been excellent. We were looking at purchasing some Kato products separately when we were shown that buying their kits were actually the better way to go. We could have easily spent more but the employee was honest and helped us make the better choice. We will be making a lot of trips to the store. read more

Nothing but high reviews for this place. They do not take amex, but they were very knowledgeable and had many sale items when i came in far exceeded the money i was going to save using my amex. I pretty much came in with a sketched drawing on what i wanted. I asked one of the attendants to help me. He was little bit green on scale N trains. So he immediately called someone from the back. And, he knew exactly what i needed to get. THEY HAD AN ENORMOUS Selection on scale N trains. or pretty much any train scale you wanted. The owner wanted to make sure i did not have any questions on how everything was going to work. and i left there a satisfied customer. This place sells used locomotives and alot of scale N train suff were on sale. This small place is very competitive. Worth the 1 hour drive to get here. read more

Inherited some vintage trains and wanted to see if there was anything valuable. The guys were polite and answered every question. Ended up buying some track for the larger trains. Honest and genuine was the feeling I left with. Will be back for future train needs even though it is 2 hours away. read more

Cool place and there are many helpful employees. Had to get some new couplers and they help to put them on and find the correct ones.

Was given the impression that they would give me a fair price for my whole train collection. Drive 2 1/2 hours to get there and they ask me what I would want for it and come back with an offer of only $125!!!!! They say that they are willing to be fair but, their version of fair is lets not even put an effort into customer service. Being it was Saturday they said they would be busy but to come find out only one guy was selling and I was second in line. They ripped me off and ultimately lost valuable buyers in the future. Both Greg and Kevin were not one ounce interested in looking at what I was offering to them. I was told flat in my face, "Your stuff is trash and we don't have the time to look at everything." Honestly you don't go and tell a seller what they've got is trash right in their face and spending many countless hours getting it all together! They did not even lift a finger in looking at what I had to offer and when I gave them a second offer they basically told me that they are too lazy to just go through it and KEVIN walked away not giving an ounce of sympathy to someone who is a potential customer. I will never ever step foot back into the store again! Horrible service and just plain liars from what they have published online on their ads saying they'd give 50% market value to which is only $50 for the seller and not worth their own time! DO NOT GO HERE!! read more

I have been to a couple model train stores for a couple reasons. First, my wife had found a couple of her grandfathers trains in the attic and we wanted to get them running by x-mas for our daughter. Second, my dad is building a model train city named after my daughter. We are not train enthusiast but we find it a fun hobby to share with my daughter. Anyways, all the other train shops i went to, the employees were angry and very short with the less knowledgeable, but not over at Arnie's. Everyone was so helpful and more then willing to answer all questions. Arnies is the only model train store i will ever go to and i recommend them to anyone who is in the area. read more

I purchased a set here and I wish I had not. We had issues with it and I was frustrated with the set and wanted a return. Dave being the only one who right away looked at checking it out and even fixed our train. Matt is just plain rude, when asked about returning it if it fails again: "well we spent our time on this" Excuse me, I just spent a few hundred dollars at your store and time is an issue? Between this guy and the great big guy I felt like they were upset I even considered coming back. The customer service from these people doesn't exist, I can not recommend anyone visiting this place. I picked my set up right at 5 mins to closing time the night before and Rocky has the nerve to say come on lets go we get paid by the hour. Seriously?? There's other places and they may cost more but they showed a novice everything I needed to know. Here even if you're going to pay hundreds for a set, go elsewhere. It's worth the extra cost for true customer service. Each business will be getting a letter from me as well as word spread about how they treat people. read more

What a great store! Super friendly staff and a huge inventory. Reasonable pricing. I found Kevin to be particularly helpful in demonstrating locos and DCC functions. I'll definitely be back. read more

Great train shop with firendly, knowledgable people, but the debit/credit card minmum (which they "recommend", but don't require) is a pain (I don't carry cash and use my debit card for everything). read more

I have been visiting Arnie's for over twenty years and always received the same friendly professional service. They are arguably the best brick and mortar model train store in southern California. read more

Great service. Fixed my locomotive. Found me a backup for under $20. Will definitely go back.

Dave L. Lakewood Ca I travel all over the USA for my work I check out the local train store in every major city from coast to coast. Armie's is at the top of my list as the best train store in the USA. I make it a point to stop by as often as I can they always have something on special or just in something new. I've spent a fortune there. Check them out you'll be glad you did! read more

The environment at this place makes you feel like you're a part of a big family. If you need wood sticks for your projects, this is a great place to go! Also cheaper than other places too. read more

Best model train store in so Cal. Kevin is very knowledgeable and friendly. I drive from Temecula to go here. Totally worth it. They are up front and call it like it is which I appreciate. If it walks like a duck there going to call it a duck. read more

One of the widest selections I've ever seen. Did not, however, offer to help me find the particular item I came in for, though I told them what it was. Then was told after fruitless searching that they knew they didn't have it. Seemed friendly enough otherwise. Did get the feeling they had better things to do than help a customer. I'd definitely go back for the selection however. read more

They were great and gave excellent advice! Highly recommend them!

I visited Arnie's today and had a enjoyable experience. The staff was extremely helpful. Greg had it covered(thanks for the GP40-X)!! I'll be back real soon. read more

Good place to buy trains. Matt is awesome and knows his trains very well. They purchased Mile Post 38 and located the store right next to Arnies. Mile post 38 just deals with O and G scale trains. Decent selection of trains at a real good price. read more

This is the best place for all your railroad needs. They all know what they are talking about. Very helpful. This is the only hobby show in a 100 mile area to go to for great service. read more

I totally enjoy doing business with Arnie's Trains. They are knowledgeable, and enhance the fun in your experience of enjoying your hobby. If you spend $10, they accommodate you with the same service as if you were spending $1000. I drive 25 miles to go to this store. Their word is good and they are honest. They will assist you in providing you with a positive experience. Your store is second to none in customer service. The sales representatives are so wonderful, kind, patient, and helpful. Thank You Arnie's! You are by far the best! read more

Love Arnie's. Live down in San Diego and make the trip up to Arnie's as often as possible; wish I were closer. Staff always friendly and knowledgeable. The inventory is amazing; I generally allow myself several hours to go through everything once, then I get serious. My next trip up will be one day next week; can't wait! read more

I was very pleasantly surprised by this store. I arrived shortly after they opened for the day. When I entered the store I was greeted by two young men who were organizing product. They were friendly and asked if I was looking for anything in particular. When I said I was just browsing they said to feel free to ask for help if I needed it. I found several items and decided to ask a question about a dc sound decoder. The clerk was knowledgeable and enthusiastic and very helpful. The other worker was also very helpful and friendly. I have been in train stores in most states and I have to say this is certainly one of the best I have visited. The shelves were well stocked, the store clean and well organized. This is a must stop for any serious model railroader. read more

Customer service is below par. Rude young attendant would only demonstrate an engine for me if I was "considering purchasing it." How on earth would I get a better sense of the product and consider purchasing it? I've been in the hobby for years. There are better specialty train stores in the area where customers are appreciated and staff are willing to work a little for your business. read more

I am new to model trains and mostly interested in entertainment for my grandchildren when they visit. I found Arnie's shop to be very helpful and did not push to buy the most expensive "toys" as grandfathers are inclined to do. I highly recommend Arnie's. read more

by far the best place to go for model trains and accessories in the OC. they are all super helpful and nice!

I used to purchase all my model railroad equipment on line. Now I don't even bother. Arnie's has great prices on new equipment and awesome prices on vintage and used equipment. I'm at the store almost once a week to see what vintage items they have procured from an estate sale or new items from the manufacturers. There's always something unique to be found. read more

We found this place looking for an alternative choice, after a bad hobby store experience in orange. We had to drive further out of the way for this store, however it was great customer service. They showed us any train we talked about till I was happy with my selection, I was happier than a pony in a tall field of oats. read more

A great model train store. I drive from San Diego to go to this store. The store is open and accessible inside, not crowded and junked up. Everything is neatly stocked and the selection is amazing. Easily one of the biggest train stores I've ever seen and probably the biggest in Southern Calif. for sure. The staff is friendly and helpful. Kevin, the manager, spent an hour one day answering all my questions about DCC even though I didn't buy anything that day. Recently I had him install decoders in two of my locomotives and he did a really nice job... and quickly. He was able to do them while I waited. He acknowledged that I caught him at a good time but I was still not prepared for such great service. I would recommend this train store to all model railroaders. read more

Arnie's Trains is one of those model railroad shops that proves one should rarely shop online with discounters. I visited the shop on a Friday morning. I was greeted by two friendly young employees who were welcoming and obviously happy to work at this shop. After being greeted, both workers told me if I needed any help, or had any questions, to please let the, know. I shopped for about 30 minutes and surprisingly found several items I did not already own ( I have a large PRR themed HO layout). After setting aside a few items, I asked about a decoder for one of my locomotives. The sales person who helped me was, Kevin Honda, I think. He not only helped enthusiastically, but also made sure I understood a number of things that helped the installation of the decoder go fast. The second worker in the store checked out my items and he also was friendly and engaging. Armies Trains is a very well stocked store with outstanding employees. I can honestly say, from my standpoint, this is one of the best train stores and e,polyester in the country. I have had an opportunity to visit many train/hobby stores across the U.S. and these folks rank up near the top of what I have seen. read more