An Appreciation of Ron Hollander

I second that emotion!  I started with a Marx outfit in the early '70s because that is all our family could afford. I got into HO in the late '70s and moved on to other interests until I was in the public library in 1982 and saw "All Aboard" by Ron Hollander.  That was the beginning of the infection that has lasted ever since.  I checked that book out of the library at least 10 times before I bought the softcover version and the updated re-issue hardcover version years later.  I still try to read the thing cover to cover every couple of years.  

I was sort of "drifting" in the years before I really got into trains and honestly believe they were a HUGE part of keeping me on the straight and narrow all these years. Thanks Ron Hollander for being the catalyst for the passion I have for all things model trains!!

Great topic, Art. I heartily agree.

Ron’s influence on the re-kindled interest of baby boomers in the toy trains of their childhood was incalculable. His writing style in the 1981 book evoked memories long hidden. 

After going to a Greenberg show at Towson State University in 1980, I asked my parents to bring my trains down from the Bronx when they visited for Easter.... Ron’s JLC Lionel Train book hooked me forever....I haven’t stopped since that time.

Peter

Thank you for bringing up the topic, Art!  While I have not read the JLC book, I do find Ron's articles to be the highlight of the Quarterly for me.  There is lots of other great information in the Quarterly, but Ron's comments really resonate with the personal experience!

Yes, agreed. The Hollander book is absolutely must-reading for any model train fan.

I met Ron at York a number of years ago. He was standing next to me at the same member table eyeing a close to pristine Lionel Cattle Car and Platform. Had a chance to say hello and complement him on All Aboard.

Oh, he bought that Cattle Car Set. 

I wish I had had the opportunity to have met Mr. Hollander! Alas, I never made it to York for a variety of reasons.

The latest article by Hollander in the Quarterly is all about the fantasies generated in his then-child's mind by the catalog images of the late forties and early to mid fifties. His trained journalist's prose style is clearly evident in this piece, and he once again nostalgically evokes the childhood memories of the joy of perusing those wonderful Lionel wish books! Check it out on pages 22-25  in the October issue. You will not be disappointed!  ☺

I met Ron a few years ago after he moved to Long Island, he had gotten my name from another train guy and he needed some repairs. He has since become a friend and joined us as a member of the Railroad Museum of Long Island. Ron is a great guy and he is a pleasure to be around. If you ever get to talk to him make sure you ask him if he has a minuteman missile car on his layout, I'm sure he'll smile and mention my name.

Ron used to set up &  sell and sign his books right between the front doors to the yellow hall under the grandstand.

My first copy of All Aboard was a paperback, then years later I found a mint hardbound copy, and finally the second edition hardbound! A true classic up there with Louis Hertz's fine works. I am, and have been, a huge fan ever since! Definitely bears repeated readings!

I can honestly say that Ron was the individual--through his book--of getting me back into the O gauge segment of the hobby. Prior to reading his book, I had spent a number of years in N scale. His book was truly inspirational.

I also have to chime in and express my love of his All Aboard! book.  It's actually become traditional reading for me when Fall starts to get colder and turn into Winter.  It's one of those books I have to read and reinforces my love of toy trains.

I was wearing out the spine on the first one I bought, and as luck would have it, I found another copy in a local thrift shop!  So I have backup now!

All Aboard! has been with me since my early teens. Living in Kansas in the 1980's there was very little Lionel around, and, obviously, no internet. I was 12 or 13 when I purchased the book, and it was the first time I saw Lionel catalog art and discovered the Lionel story. I've read and re-read the book over the years, and it still makes me happy to think about those memories. 

As posted above, it was what got me seriously into O-gauge trains, and has been with me all these years. Because of this topic, I just pulled the book out and skimmed over it again. Absolutely the best book about O-gauge, and possibly all model trains, ever written.

I never heard of Ron Hollander until I read the above post and replies, which inspired me to take a look at his article in the October, 2018 issue of the TCA Quarterly.

No question about it, Ron Hollander has a great writing style.  I thoroughly enjoyed the article, which eloquently describes the allure of the Lionel Catalogues, especially in the late 1940s and early 1950s. For Ron, those catalogues had a greater impact on him than the trains themselves. He starts the article by saying: "I want to be buried with it," referring to the Lionel Catalogue, not the actual toy train depicted therein.

I had a different experience as a child. I vaguely remember getting a couple of those Postwar Lionel Catalogues, but they did not get me dreaming as much as seeing the trains in action on a high, scenicked layout, especially on the layout in the toy department at Macy's in NYC, and on the beautiful large basement layouts that two of my first cousins (who were older than me) had. 

Ron Hollander's TCA Quarterly article is extremely well written, charming and very enjoyable. I also highly recommend it.

Arnold

Arnold....I think you would enjoy this book....

https://www.google.com/url?sa=...ust=1539737901357860

Peter

I can echo all of the nice things that have been said here about Ron Hollander.  I also bought the paperback edition in 1981.  I had it for several years until I lent it to someone who never returned it.  I bought the hardback edition last year.  An enjoyable read.

Add me to the list of admirers of Ron Holland and his books. I have both editions .

Ron Hollander is the poet, while Louis Hertz was the clinician of toy train writers!

Did Ron ever finish the layout he was working on in his NY home? I saw preliminary photos in TCA quarterly but never a final photo.

Everyone, thank you, thank you!  I am so touched and moved by your kind and generous words.  Warms my writer’s heart.  Who knew when I set out in about 1978 to find out who JLC was that we’d still be talking about it 40 years later!

Yes, I do write from the heart  I’m just so happy that your own have responded so tenderly v

Best of Lionel (on fhe road to York),

ron