Steven:

I can tell you who I deal with (no recommendations here, but remember I wouldn't be dealing with them if... )
LokShop in Karlsruhe (www.lokshop.de)
ETS (Eisenbahn Treffpunkt Schweikart) in Waiblingen (near Stuttgart) (www.modelleisenbahn.com)
Modellbahn Ott in Gilbertsville, PA (www.modellbahnott.com)
Martin Hoffmann in Canada(www.marklin-eh.com)
Eurorail Hobbies in Canada (www.eurorailhobbies.com)

There are others that are good, and other people here can point you to them, but these are the ones I deal with and earn my repeat business.

By the way, in addition to mail order from these, I frequently visit Bill Ott when I am out his way, and when I am in Europe I always visit ETS and the LokShop brick and mortar stores. They are all great people to deal with.

Here's a good dealer I recently found out.

http://www.ajckids.com/trains/index.asp

Mikko

My preferences are the following

AJCKIDS.COM and RJFTRAINS.com.

Both Guys offer good service and excellent pricing.

Also I agree with lokshop.de

One problem with dealing with dealers out of the country that includes Canada is the credit card companies charges for converting to US can be an issue that you need to consider.

if you're in NYC area, depending on your travels, Modellbahn Ott is a good place to stop by or even just order from. He has a decent early bird order discount on new items - the more $ you order the bigger the discount is, not huge but better than "the biggest Marklin dealer in the midwest".
Eisenbahn Trains near Detroit also has better prices, and I bought from RJF at a train show and he seemed to be a nice guy.

I am also completely turned off the big midwest marklin dealer in the USA. I think their success went to their head, and they continue to thrive off of people with tons of $ who frankly don't have to think very much or care if they are spending more at this shop than they would at some of the other dealers (in the USA, not even considering ones in Germany) - or ithe guy and his brother have become very aloof. He used to be a nice pleasant person to deal with, and would call with news of new and interesting stuff that he got in, but somewhere that changed. Also found that it is not really worthwhile to visit his store - you won't really find that much marklin, surprisingly.

Lokshop did great service and speak english well.

Hi guys

I am very pleased with www.modellbahn-kramm.com

very good service.

yannis

Lokshop and ETS are my favourites too. Lokshop's automated feedback is top. ETS has a very interesting range of products, some of which cannot be found on Lokshop such as metal bridges, white metal models etc.


Steven

Hi to all
Modellbahn-kramm. is a shop with convenient prices. Don't forget that if you purchase at Germany for overseas the VAT is not applied (16%). Look the stummi. de tables and compare. Best regards.