Our Story

🚂 10 Years of Trains in the Valley:
How Did We Get Here?

2016. The beginning of Trains in the Valley.

Believe it or not, trains weren't really the plan.

Back then, I (Victoria) was still doing craft shows. I loved to paint, make cute pop-culture pixel art, and even dabbled in handmade hair bows. Corey and I were also making our own comic books... but that's a story for another time. 😂

Then Corey's mom was cleaning out some closets and stumbled across his old Bachmann train set.

The engine didn't even work, but apparently that was enough to get Corey's engine revving again. 🚂

We went to Boscov's because Corey remembered them selling trains when he was younger. Sure enough, he found a Bachmann train set, paid WAY too much for it... and absolutely had to have it.

He's basically been obsessed ever since.

Then came the $60 box that started everything.

One day we stumbled across someone on Facebook Marketplace selling a box of trains they had found in their attic. They were only about a half hour away.

"Well... it's $60. Who knows what we'll find?"

So off we went with our $60.

Spoiler alert: we did not strike gold. 😂

There were lots of train-set parts and pieces, wires, old transformers... nothing particularly valuable.

But we didn't know it then—that was the first train collection Trains in the Valley ever purchased.

And it was thrilling.

We started thinking:

Maybe we could sell this stuff.

Around the same time, we heard about a new vendor mall opening a few towns away called Shops on Market. The building was still being renovated, but they were letting people walk through and claim booths.

We walked around.

We found a space.

And we put money down.

That was the beginning of Trains in the Valley.

Except... it wasn't exactly a train shop yet.

Our first booth actually had more crafts than trains!

I brought in my craft-show inventory, our comic book, some trains and eventually some toys.

After a few months, I wasn't happy with how my crafts were selling. I was honestly considering closing the booth.

Then we looked more closely at the sales records.

The trains were outselling everything. Every. Single. Month.

So we pulled the crafts and added more trains.

We started buying toys at auctions too—Star Wars, Pokémon, new-old-stock... you name it.

And guess what?

The trains outsold those too.

Okay. We finally got the message.

TRAINS IT IS. 😂

We became dealers with companies like Bowser, Kadee and Broadway Limited, and our little booth started looking more and more like an actual train shop.

Then something crazy started happening...

We were selling out of things!

Eventually the booth directly across from us became available.

So naturally...

WE GOT A SECOND BOOTH!

We thought we were big stuff now. 😂

Then we tried taking Trains in the Valley online.

We started selling on eBay and saw similar success—but we were still learning.

When we first started selling used trains online, we weren't nearly as experienced at describing condition as we are today. We received some negative feedback and ultimately pulled most of the used inventory from eBay.

Sales slowed.

Meanwhile, Corey was working on our own website. With his experience building websites, things were coming together—but as anyone who has started a website knows...

having a website doesn't mean people magically find it.

Sales were sloooooow.

Then, out of nowhere, a local gentleman—we'll call him Alex—emailed us looking for Bachmann E-Z Track.

At that point, we were desperate for website orders. 😂

We researched prices and quoted him just under the cheapest price we could find because WE WERE GETTING THAT SALE!

Alex ordered.

And then he ordered again.

He became a wonderful customer of ours.

In fact, we still have the check he gave us for that first order. We've kept it all these years because of what it represents.

And then came 2020.

The pandemic shut down non-essential businesses, including Shops on Market.

And there was one BIG problem:

A bunch of our inventory was trapped inside.

Nobody was allowed in.

So we did the only thing we could.

We focused on online sales.

And everything changed.

Our business doubled.

At the same time, Corey and I were still running our cleaning business. Because we cleaned doctors' offices, we were considered essential.

So while people were stuck at home rediscovering hobbies—including model trains—we were cleaning more than ever and selling trains like crazy.

We were BUSY.

But looking back, I can confidently say:

If it wasn't for 2020, I don't think Trains in the Valley would be where it is today.

That period changed the direction of our lives.

Then came YouTube.

Little by little, we started bringing you guys along for the ride.

And that was the icing on the cake.

We eventually moved to a better website platform. TrainsintheValley.com became easier to use. Corey built his own Excel system that made listing inventory dramatically faster.

We kept tweaking things.

A better listing area.

A better shipping area.

Better systems.

More inventory.

More orders.

And more customers.

Which created a wonderful problem...

We were running out of ROOM.

And that's where another strange twist in our story happened.

Back in 2011—five years before Trains in the Valley even existed—we owned the property you've all come to know from our Rails to Retail videos.

We had lots of ideas for it back then, but a train shop wasn't one of them. Eventually, we sold it to friends.

Years later, Trains in the Valley was growing and we desperately wanted a warehouse and, someday, a real train shop.

One day we actually said:

"I wish we still had that building."

The VERY NEXT DAY, our friends told us they were planning to move to Arizona and wanted to give us first dibs on buying the property back.

Seriously.

Within about two months, the deal was done.

Suddenly, this building from our past was going to become part of our future.

Of course... it was built around 1900. 😂

And if you've watched Rails to Retail, you know exactly what we've gotten ourselves into.

It's taking time.

It's taking money.

It's taking a LOT of work.

Meanwhile, Trains in the Valley kept growing.

By May 2026, the lack of space had become incredibly stressful. We had several things happen with our inventory, storage and work areas all at once, and it felt like we were constantly fighting against the space we had.

I prayed about it. A lot.

And then, seemingly out of nowhere, we were guided toward another building.

The building we're writing this from today.

And here we are.

We've only been in our newly leased building for 12 days, and the difference has already been incredible.

We're listing without constantly worrying about where things will go.

We're shipping without fighting for space.

Corey isn't picking something up, moving it, moving it again, and moving it another 17 times before it finally gets shipped. 😂

We can breathe.

And most importantly, having Trains in the Valley operating comfortably here means Corey can put more of his attention toward construction at our future train shop property.

There's still a LOT ahead of us.

The building isn't finished.

The story isn't finished.

And we certainly don't have everything figured out.

But when we look back at that $60 box of mostly junk trains we bought ten years ago...

and then look around at what Trains in the Valley has become today...

it's pretty incredible.

❤️ And that's where YOU come in.

We know we say this all the time, but we seriously mean it:

You guys are the reason we're still here.

You've bought trains from us.

You've watched our videos.

You've followed the construction.

You've cheered us on when things were going great and encouraged us when they weren't.

You've watched two people with absolutely no intention of opening a train shop somehow build their lives around one.

You are our customers, but you've also become our cheerleaders.

There have been plenty of times over these ten years when throwing in the towel would have been easier.

You gave us a reason not to.

So as we celebrate 10 years of Trains in the Valley, we're not just celebrating our business.

We're celebrating the journey—and everyone who has been part of it.

From our very first $60 box of trains...

to whatever comes next. 🚂❤️

 

Thank you for all your support!

Victoria & Corey Conrad

Updated: 8/12/26