Train Buddy™

Holiday Hours

Starting before Thanksgiving we are typically open 7 days until New Year’s Eve when we start inventory and are typically closed for about a week. This year we will be closed on Monday, Dec. 28th and close at noon on Dec. 31st. We will then be closed until Wed., Jan 6th when we will start back with normal hours – see below.

New Hours

In order to keep the business available for walk-in traffic we will try to keep a few open hours. Our new normal hours will be:

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 1:00PM until 4PM [added] Saturday1:00PM until 3PM

These are usually our busiest hours anyway. All other times are by appointment as we cannot predict when we will be called away to doctor’s appointments that we must keep. New associate, John Janosko is joining us to help keep these hours available, see his bio at the bottom of this post. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Safe Retail

In compliance with North Carolina COVID-19 Phase 3 through November 13, 2020 we have changed our status to Open, Phase 3 protocol with the stated NC stated objectives of Phase 3 being:

• Lessen restrictions for vulnerable populations with encouragement to continue practicing physical distancing [continue same as our clientele are generally elderly and vulnerable]
• Allow increased capacity at restaurants, bars, other businesses, houses of worship and entertainment venues [not applicable]
• Further increase the number of people allowed at gatherings [again, not applicable]
• Continue rigorous restrictions on nursing homes and congregate care settings [also, not applicable … but some may say that it is a close resemblance to a nursing home!]

Under these guidelines the following will be observed during your visit: (in continuance of Phase 2)

1. x’s will be on the floor to guide you in maintaining a 6 foot perimeter between possible virus breading entities.

2. Masks will be worn by staff at all times.

4. You may elect to have your purchase brought curb-side. Hands free curb-side checkout is available.

If you don’t want to fool with this then we will still ship or you can pick up at the shop either through the above or pickup in the drive. We will have curb-side delivery upon request or, if you wish, we will ship to you. The shipping cost will be whatever the post office charges. We will not charge any handling fees unless it is through the website which has ship charge rules based on value of the product, not actual.

Sanitation – Your health is our top priority

We have maintained a sanitation level that most other retail facilities envy. Since our clientele are typically older and have other health related sensitivities to the virus, our concerns have dictated the following state-of-the-technology changes:
1. All “shared” touch surfaces are sanitized with 70% alcohol after each customer. This includes, exterior door knobs (coming and going), check out counter, counter stool (note the singular), and bathroom door knob, all with appropriate signage. Bathroom has available wash facility with disposable towels and soap with appropriate signage.
2. CHECKOUT. I believe that this is the most under sanitized area and that most businesses and clients have overlooked the obvious “shared” surface in the credit/debit card or payment process.
a. NO-TOUCH. The machine itself should not be touched if possible. Our checkout machine accepts cards that have been set for all major touch-less systems like Android Pay, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay (NFC technology), EMV (chip and pin) technology and MTS (Mobile TeleSystems).
b. Sanitize your card. We have the capability upon request to sanitize your card before and/or after use with UV-C (256 nm wavelength) light. This is hospital-grade sanitation. We also, sanitize the chip slot, if used, and the keypad, if used. We also provide sanitized touch-free stylus pens in the store for those that don’t have their own personal stylus.
We have backup sanitation for these methods if required.
3. AIR. Yes, we are even cleaning the air. Even if you do not have, want to use or forgot a mask, we are cleaning the air with 3 stage HEPA and carbon filter with UV-C light to mitigate even a hint that there might be viruses lingering in our shop. We also have disposable masks available to customers upon request.

A Few Changes to our schedule

1. We will not be accepting new “projects” until our backlog of promised projects has been completed. This, with our current backlog, will extend past the summer and into the late autumn as a minimum. We started taking in decoder installs, painting projects, electronic projects, mechanical and electrical repairs as a service to our good customers. We have logged well over a thousand installs of DCC decoders both sound and non-sound over the years. In recent times this capability has been challenged to do things that were never intended. The main issue, allowing otherwise good customers to utilize my good nature to troubleshoot and fix a product not purchased at the shop. I must stop doing this, at least without adequate compensation. The rates for this service (not available until at least late autumn) will be dictated by time and my previous rate, since 2010 at least, was $49.95. Our revised rate (for new services or projects) will be $74.95. Minimum bench fee for a “look see” will now be $40.00 to be applied to services needed if appropriate.

2. We have, in the past, allowed customers to pre-order large purchases, usually engines, without a deposit. We will now require a 50% deposit on all products that are considered non-stock items. Usually engines but also most detail parts, buildings, vehicles, electronics and figures are non-stock. We will not purchase for a customer any item from eBay, Amazon or other manufacture that is not already a Train Buddy partner. We will also not entertain new vendor partners as we have in the past. We hope this is a short-term policy because …

3. We are entertaining new partners to our business model as we grow. I am looking for one or two other model railroad enthusiasts to partner with me to expand, help, move and ultimately to enjoy the business with me. This is my 16th year in the business and I am ready to “Share the Joy of Model Railroading” with anyone who is willing. Believe it or not, I am not looking for a financial stake at this time but only a lessening of my ever-expanding time demands that have drained my soul to the point of not enjoying my customer interactions. Several familiar faces are already helping out in this time including my good friends John Janosko and Chris Numa recently. Dave Mellor, Bill Bernecki, and Royce Lacey have been very helpful in the past and continue to offer their assistance, of which I always appreciate, even when I don’t mention it, when they can. All three of these are either out of town or soon to be and cannot help on a regular basis. Felix Martinez and Grif Bond continue to help when they are not otherwise working.

4. Unfortunately, and I kinda knew this was coming, we are going to have to discontinue the Friday get-together or open house, at least until they find a suitable vaccine and/or cure which could be as much as a couple of years if the predictions hold out. My wife and I have had to give up a few other regular social interactions that may never be resumed, ever.

New Associate