Thirdrail,

THANK YOU so much for the reply.  Hatton's has some VERY competitive prices on Bachmann, Hornby and Heljan - even at current exchange rate they beat the few sites I have located in the US and Canada!  Furthermore, from all three US retailers I have contacted, they had less than appreciative things to say about the USA wholesale representatives for Bachmann and Hornby - they avoid the characters and just go through Canada to avoid the hassle (perhaps I should be a Bachmann UK stateside rep?).  Hatton's was quick to reply and stated that all items posted on website are in stock and ready to ship immediately upon payment unless otherwise noted.  Such is not the case with the North American retailers, or so I learned.  One fellow even stated that AFTER my credit card was charged, the price could still change ( I assume ONLY to his advantage) - what the?  Forget that offer!

With that bit of uplifiting news, I guess its time to get the tools ready and lay down some track.  Again, my sincere gratitude for taking the time to point me in the right direction.

Cheers,
Boo

I am building a OO/HO or N guage layout, complete DCC.  I am dead-set on either a European (Swiss) or British theme.  No sense in building a North American themed model railroad since I can drive five minutes and watch the real thing for free as long as I please.  I am leaning toward British, early privitization era, mainly because this does not involve catenary strung all over the place.  However, price for locos and rolling stock DOES play a considerable role. 

From researching thus far, the only considerable player in British N guage is Bachman (Graham Farrish).  Limited competition combined with the British Pound clobbering the US Dollar would eventually make me wish I were strung up by live catenary.  The European N guage market has significant competition, thus lowering my cost, but adios British rolling stock.

In the OO/HO market, price is really wide open for European rolling stock and not a concern at all.  The British thing is still a matter of cost and availability.

Before I get the saw, hammer and nails out, and start laying track, I need to pick a guage and a geographic theme.  This is going to be an ongoing process of many years and a considerable investment - the layout plan has four double-helixes and four levels (one level completely hidden).  Do Bachman retailers, regardless of location, price competitively?  Seems rather silly that the only thing that differentiates a British class 66 from an American SD45 is an aesthetic piece of plastic over the top of the motor - to the tune of about twice the price!  And they are all assembled in the same darned country anyway! 

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?  Are there any such modellers with layout webpages in North America?

Also, just for kicks, check out this guy's layout (and rather nifty webpage at that - with active chat, keeping in mind they are on Greenwich Mean Time). 

http://www.camelotjunction.co.uk/index.htm

He stuffed ALL this in a 8ft x 17ft attic and hid the ridiculously tight curves in the corners under mountains and city scenery.  Attention to detail is bar-none.  I hope he doesn't plan to move, since I cannot figure out how on earth he is going to get that mess out of his "loft", as they call it in Britain.