Grayland Station, Chicago IL

[pedro]

https://www.graylandstation.com/
Date of visit: 9/10/20




One of the three* (in my opinion) legitimate N scale destinations in Chicagoland. Grayland Station is of the old school shops where things are stacked floor to ceiling without much discernible order. But make no mistake: the owner Steve is one of the nicest guys in the business, and prices are rock-bottom. Anyone who’s been to the monthly show at Du Page might have seen him there selling.


The tiny store on Devon Ave on the north side of Chicago is absolutely crammed with N scale and HO, along with airline diecast and railroad memorabilia. Steve and his brother also organize one of the annual Chicago memorabilia shows. This is not the place for claustrophobes. It is a crowded, busy, sweaty place. If more than 3-4 people are in the store it quickly becomes difficult to move around. Some areas are simply inaccessible due to piles of boxes. But, I guess that’s part of the charm for me, along with spending a ton of time digging through Skippy peanut butter boxes looking for buried treasure, of which there is plenty. Grayland’s stock of memorabilia and books New and old is outstanding.








An added bonus is that the Metra Edgebrook stop is about 25 yards away on Metra’s Milwaukee District north line, with service from Chicago Union Station. And about a half mile away is one of the legendary Chicago hot dog stands: Superdawg.





*Chicago N scale Trinity, in my opinion: Grayland, Lombard, Des Plaines. (Makes sign of the “N”)

[mu26aeh]

Wow !  Awesome little store, would be great to dig thru those Skippy trays

[MK]

I'm surprised the fire marshals don't declare it a fire hazard with that pictured aisle.

[w neal]

Great report Pedro!! And I love the neck tie just hanging amongst the stuff!

Golly, I gotta hit the dawg place next time.

[pedro]

Great report Pedro!! And I love the neck tie just hanging amongst the stuff!

Golly, I gotta hit the dawg place next time.

I think the necktie is an airline collectible!
Superdawg is a landmark, gotta go. Since 1940-something I think.

I should have pointed out also that Steve buys collections all the time and offers the pre-owned stuff for dirt cheap. Half of my railroad library has come from Grayland, both new books and classics. I don’t think anyone sells Morning Sun Books for less.

[pedro]

I'm surprised the fire marshals don't declare it a fire hazard with that pictured aisle.

City of Chicago: “Yeah, we’ll get right on that.”
Probably wasn’t fair to include that pic. It’s the only aisle that looks like that! It’s his catch-all area in the back aisle and not part of the normal traffic pattern. All part of the charm.

[Rivet Miscounter]

Another shop that I've bought from online (eBay) but never visited...one of the few in the Chicago area that I haven't been to.   

I just bought a couple of AZL 4-packs from them off eBay.  As a nod to how they treat their customers... The two items both had free shipping.  He actually *discounted* the second one to reflect the lower combined shipping cost!  I appreciate it when sellers combine shipping costs, but don't expect it unless I ask about it.  But to do that for items marked as Free Shipping is pretty remarkable.   (and yes, I realize they are technically rolling the cost of shipping into the price, and that the math makes sense, etc. etc....but it still isn't typical for sellers to do that.)