No, this doesn't refer to Tom Landry or the Cowboys, but the impending closure of Bobbye Hall's, a long-standing hobby institutuon in Dallas. Located on the corner of Bryant and Fitzhugh for years, Ms. Hall has sold model trais, airplanes, and automobiles (not to mention brass locomotives & rolling stock under the Hallmark label). At age 92, she wants to retire. No one has come forward to buy the shop, so as of December 31, 2001, a great hobby shop will close its doors for the last time I visited this store quite a few times when I lived in Paris, TX, and it always reminded me of an overgrown closet- stuff all over the place! Everywhere you looked, you found something good- regardless of scale. Ms. Hall is a lady of the fine old Southern tradition, and definitely worthy of our respeect. Yes, there are other hobby shops in the D-FW Metroplex, but as of 1-1-2002 it just won't be the same,,,,,,,
This is sad news. I live not too far from Halls, and haven't been able to make it there in a while. I had a feeling this was coming though. It truly is the end of an era for model railroaders in the Dallas area. I don't think there is a train store around here that could match the number of train magazines that they stocked. I will really miss Halls.
Miss Bobby and I go way back to when she and her husband had the store across the street. I was 14 then, and her catalog (which I still have) was like Walther's is today. That was back in kit days, when you could even buy a boiler alone if that was all you needed. My dad made frequent trips from Abilene to Dallas, and always let me out at Hall's, then knew I would be there whenever he was ready to go back home. We spent many father-son hours there together! If I could scratch up the money, I would grab her store fast. She still has stock running back to the 1930's. She is the only hobby store that will let you spend the day just looking, asking questions, watching the trains run, and talking to other customers, and not run you off because you are not buying something. Other stores, I have made it up to 30 minutes before someone starts asking what I want, and suggesting I should buy something. You could bring something in and she would sell it for you, then mail you the money, or just let you test run it. When the ready-to-runs came along, she would always test run it before letting you take it out of her store. Any that didn't do well, she put back, and gave you another. I ran a tab for several years. Find another store like that anywhere today. Bless her heart, she really helped me many many times. She herself knew more about her stock, and how to get information from the manufacturers, than any of the other shops in the Metroplex. She even carried spare parts for the ready mades. She had a large printer's type case that was chocked full of all the tiny brass bells, air pumps, gears, you name it, she had it in stock. Phil's out in Farmer's Branch, MAL's in Irving, Hobby Lobby in Ft.Worth,and Hobby Town in Arlington, are all good shops, but to me Bobby Hall's is the best, and she was into scratch building. That is how Hallmark got started. I'll certainly miss her, as well as her store.
Yes! Sounds like the hobby shop of hobby shops! And here I set in PA! Damn it anyway!!!!! The sound of parts here and parts their is one HUGH attraction to me! I know I could spend a complete day, from the time the place opened till it closed in their and do it all over again the next day and be flat broke when I left both days!! HA! [ 18 December 2001: Message edited by: 7600EM_1 ]
