Whittle Shortline Railroad

Don’t do business with this company. I had a put up a review earlier this week and I’m assuming that the company took it down… so I am here again. I think they have good product but the company will never answer the phone and rarely if at all send you personal response via email. I ordered a 5 car Union Pacific set and they substituted another car that did not have the UP logo or artwork. The engine was missing as well. I was promised by Mike Whitworth from the company that it would be taken care of. this was eight days ago… no phone call from him or email. I returned the product. Alls I’m asking is to call me and straighten this out. I do not understand why this is so difficult for them to do. CALL!
If you order something and it arrives as expected great… but if the order is messed up you may as well return it because you will not get a response.
Mike C.
Carol Stream, IL

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY!
I wish I could give zero stars.
They stole my money.
I placed an order for a wooden train in mid-​December. After ignoring my emails and providing my wife and I with several excuses (waiting on decals, work stoppage due to the flu, etc.) they simply do not answer the phone anymore. Their voicemail is full and you simply cannot reach them as of 2÷28÷13. I’m out $ 50 and my kid is not going to get the train he was promised. He talks about the train every day and asks whenever we get a package delivered.
DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY!

I wanted to give them zero stars! I booked my son’s birthday party there over a month in advance. The party is this Sunday. I received a voice mail yesterday saying that there is a new owner now who is not doing birthday parties. Therefore, our party that is in FIVE DAYS, is cancelled.
I’m sure this was a great place, but now the new owner is ruining it. I originally told all of the party goers to buy his gift there, and I was planning to make a large train purchase for his birthday there as well. Needless to say, they will not be getting any of my business, and I plan to spread the word too.

How can I complain about a shop that allows the public to come in and play for free, anytime they want? While its an eclectic collection of new and old, and the building itself needs some work, my 5yo LOVES it here. So I say «Thank You» to Whittle Station.

We like to give my 2 year old boy outings each and every day. Usually we opt for something out-​of-​doors but, when weather does not permit that, it’s super nice to have this place near by.
My boy loves trains and this place has several tables set up with all kinds of wooden trains, tracks, pieces, etc. It’s really quite a resource.
Kids love it. He can easily spend and hour or two in there working out some of his silliness.
This place is free. These people let kids play all day long in their store for FREE. HOWEVER, they do accept donations and, really, everyone should give something if they are using the place. In the interest of keeping this place open, operational and accessible if for no other reason.

I discovered this place while out with a friend and her 3 year old. What a fantastic playroom for small kids who like trains! There are so many trains to play with and a lot of tracks, there was room for all the little munchkins. There are also some neat looking puzzles at another table, and Thomas the Tank Engine videos playing in the background.
If you have friends with kids or relatives in town with children, I recommend stopping by and while the kids get their train on, bring some cards or your own games, have a cold Fitz’s (sold there), and have a nice afternoon. Great place for cold weather days.

This is one of the hidden gems of the STL. It was a nice to see my daughter put away her latest and greatest electronic gadget to enjoy what WSR had to offer. She did make a comment about my playing with these trains when I was little and we didn’t have electricity, but other than that we enjoyed our father/​daughter time together.
The people running the store are fantastic and helpful. A couple could be stand up comedians!
Great place to visit for children of ALL ages!

This place is terrific for kids 2 – 5. Completely free to go in and have the kids play with the massive thomas style trains. Nice enclosed area that I can sit and read while the little one plays with the other children for a couple of hours.

This place makes me wish I was 5 years old again!
…or that people didn’t mind if a 33-​year old was playing with wooden trains in public…
If you have a kid, a niece/​nephew, grandchild, have friends who have kids, or haven’t quite forgiven your mother for getting rid of all of your toys while you were away at college, THEN GO HERE!
The Whittle Shortline Railroad is this brilliant toy train store that is tucked away in Valley Park. I would never have run across this place had it not been for a kid’s birthday party we were invited to. Apparently, the building is the old factory where they used to construct these toy trains (which is now done in New London, MO), and it has some excellent character to it.
Right when you walk in, there is a GIGANTIC 15-​foot train table that nearly made me start hopping up and down, clapping my hands like a preschooler. There are also a couple of medium-​sized train tables around the store that are just as impressive. While I was there, there had to have been around 20 – 25 kids playing with the trains, and there was plenty of room for everyone.
After talking to some of the mothers there, I learned that the playroom is free to come in and just play during the day (although a small donation once in awhile wouldn’t hurt). Some mothers actually use this place as a location for play dates.
The toys they sell are Thomas the Train-​esque, but they look more realistic than the smiling-​faced cartoon train. They are also compatible with the Thomas line of toys. Very cool stuff.
Whittle Shortline also offers a great selection of party rooms. Since it wasn’t a party I set up, I’m not sure how much it cost, but to my understanding, it wasn’t too bad. Up on the second floor, they have these quaint party rooms with all kinds of train-​related murals (on the floors and walls), as well as a ton of handprints from all of the kids (and adults) who have had parties there.
The staff was delightful, and it was really a joy to be there.
And for all of you that go there for a kid’s party, but don’t have any brood of your own, there is a great bar down the street (Donahue’s) where you can go and have a burger and beer while your friends with kids are busy wrangling them into their vans.