Madison Hardware NYC

World of Trains NYC (Forest Hills Queens)

there was a super K line store in the Queens Long Island border, can't remember the name of the owner but I bought K line and postwar there. And not that far away there was a big store ? Rockaway blvd? That had a tremendous amount of post war and MPCwith everything on display shelves. 

I remember All the Woolworths were Big on Plasticville, and HO Rivorosi stuff, some Marx too.

those were the days.

We had trains limited in charlotte n.c.He had some pretty good stuff N,H.O.O ON3,G.I loved going there to hang out and talk trains.And to see what he had gotten from lionel or mth.But things went down hill after 2001.Sad to say trains limited is no more.Now the next train store is in spencer n.c.And for me that is 68 miles one way.

The Az Train Depot is closing down this month here in Mesa Az.  Papa Dan's closed before Christmas.  An Affair With Trains is closing their retail store in Phoenix on the 26th. 

Things are pretty grim here in Az.

Rolland

Todd's Model Shop, 69th street shopping area Upper Darby Pa.  My child hood addiction peddler.

Schmidty's Trains, Santa Clara, CA, from about 1968 - 1978.

Greatest train shop I've ever been in.  Hank Schmidt, proprietor, was an incredible train guy, dealer, salesman, promoter, builder and so forth.  He ran the shop as a part-time enterprise.

Hank "persuaded" (LOL!) me to join TTOS and TCA late in 1972.  Sadly, he passed very prematurely in 1978.

A loss to our hobby.   

I remember World of Trains, the owner had a huge dog.  Would go down the street to Kraus' to get cat's tongues.

Miketg

Handy Dan the Hobby Man...Yonkers N.Y......Westchester Hobbies,White Plains N.Y.

Two Guys ,in Cherry Hill ,NJ .Rode my bike there all the time.

Reno Rails

Little Hobbys at Turntable Junction, Flemington NJ, next to the Black River & Western RR tracks.

Chas posted:

Buffalo in the ’50s: South Buffalo’s beloved ‘Spoonley the Train Man’

Model train collectors in South Buffalo, all of Western New York, and all around the country knew of “Spoonley the Train Man” from ads in The News, the Courier-Express, and dozens of national magazines that catered to the dreams of little boys and train enthusiasts of all ages.

Chet Spoonley’s South Buffalo home on Choate Street, off South Park Avenue, doubled as his model train store – the basement shop was a place where young boys could see their H-O gauge dreams come true.

He started the train business in 1937, while still working as a pressman for three different newspapers: the Buffalo Times, the Buffalo Courier-Express and the Buffalo Evening News.

The Train Man’s attic was really Spoonley’s personal train museum — which also happened to sell and repair Lionel trains. Among the items on display — but not for sale — at Spoonley’s was a lantern that lit the parlor car of President Lincoln’s Baltimore & Ohio funeral train as it rolled through Buffalo in 1865.

Advertisements for Spoonley, which appeared in magazines around the country from the 1940s through the 1970s. (Buffalo Stories archives)

In 1974, Spoonley handed the model train business — by then moved to West Seneca – over to his son, Chester Jr.

Spoonley Sr. died in 1980. The 74-year-old suffered a heart attack while shoveling snow.

Business lagged, and Spoonley the Train Man shop closed in October 1981, and Spoonley Jr. went missing three months later. His body was found in the Niagara River the following spring.

The story of Spoonley, his trains and the eventual dying off of a model train empire, was written in book form by radio newsman John Zach in 1988 and examined by News Reporter Anthony Violanti as the book was published.

CHAS, That was an interesting and sad story. I've been to Buffalo a few times over the years for work (SUNY) and I was always on the lookout for train shops. Being in the basement reminds me of Fred Arone's Depot Attic railroadiana store in Dobbs Ferry, NY. I think Bob CNJ3676, early on in this topic.

Tom 

Hobby Corner, Gibsonia PA. It was a nice little local shop and where I got my first Lionel train set. The owner was helpful and good at answering any questions I had as a new model railroader. 

The New York Times ran a story on October 5, 1975  about railroadiana stores, "Getting Steamed Up About Railroadiana." One that was mentioned was the Depot Attic. These were the first 2 sentences of the article: 

In the Golden Age of Steam the chuffing of the locomotive, the sight of a steam plume wafting against the prairie landscape, a forlorn whistle in the dead of night, and the trainman's reassuring wave were all part of the American scene.

Today, thousands of hobbyists are trying to preserve memories of that past by collecting “railroadiana“—timetables, passes, bells, whistles, emblems,” caps, keys, lanterns and virtually anything else related to railroading. No longer limited to steam, the hobby has been broadened to include electric railroads, trolley lines, even subways (but not toy trains or models—that is a hobby unto itself).

I know I was happy to have stumbled upon the Depot Attic and was able to get everything from track diagrams, a builder's plate to a dwarf signal along with lots of early issues of Trains magazine. 

Tom 

trainroomgary posted:

Still have their business card, on my work bench.

36333 Groesbeck • Clinton TWP., Michigan

Gary

Bert and Elmer were the best!

Berkshire President posted:

Warren's Model Trains in Fairview Park, OH....but only when it was owned by Tom Podojil....who passed away much too young several years ago.

The Hobby House on Huron Road in downtown Cleveland was always exciting.

And while I'm too young to have vivid memories of the place, my grandparents used to take me to Jaye & Jaye trains in Euclid, OH once a year.  I still remember picking out two items from the 1982 Traditional Catalog there.

Not all good times are behind me, though.  Stockyard Express in Oberlin has become a favorite place of mine to stop by.

I've also found buying and selling on this Forum is a good way to "meet" people and make some new friends.

Jaye and Jaye on Euclid Ave. in Cleveland was Lionel Heaven to me as a kid in the 1950’s and 60’s.

In the 1990’s and 2000’s, it was The Trading Post on Pearl Road on Cleveland’s west side. Still going strong, from what I hear. 

Moved to SoCal in 2009, where The Train Shack in Burbank is now my LHS.

From my check of the “1955 Lionel Service Stations List” published by Lionel, just about the only old store from the 1950’s still going is Nicholas Smith in Philadelphia. 

Now, I know for a fact the The Trading Post in Cleveland was a Lionel dealer starting in 1950, but apparently it was not an official service station at that time.

Also, Allied Model Trains in Los Angeles was on the 1955 Lionel list but closed up  just a couple of  years ago. Originally on Pico Ave., it had moved to Sepulveda Ave. near LAX sometime in more recent years. 

I believe the name of the store in Cincinnati was Davis Electric, and Wow what a great hobby store.  I was there only twice before they shut their doors, a very well stocked model railroad supply with all gauges covered. The amazing G Guage Hudson, in DieCast as you walked in from the back door was Awesome.  I purchased much of my Atlas O trackage from them and lots of Ross turnouts and switch indicator lamp kits to. So far, I have never seen a bigger/better model train store as complete as they were. There are many fantastic stores today, however, the personnel at Davis Electric were very nice.  Great thread, Happy Railroading.

leapinlarry posted:

 The amazing G Guage Hudson, in DieCast as you walked in from the back door was Awesome. 

I've never heard of a diecast Hudson in G scale. There were a couple of brass ones that I've learned about recently.

Any other info on this?

Engineer Joe, I could be mistaken, possibly was Brass, I think it was Asher...It’s been so long, in the early 2000’s.... I was amazed as it’s price a mere $3K... At the time I was buying Track and components for getting the layout started. I bought many precurved Gargraves and Ross sections of track from them.  For my two helixes on my layout, I purchased 135 K-Line 027-size 072 curves...Thanks for chiming in....

Fischer's Hobby Service, 618 South Fourth St, Louisville, KY. It was on the second floor and carried an extensive inventory of Lionel. I lived over 100 miles away in Mt Sterling, KY & my dad and I would ride the C&O to visit. I met Bill Fischer on my first visit and after that I could call him and they would send what I wanted by bus and I could pick it up at the bus station in Mt. Sterling the next day.

Two Guys in Irondequoit, NY and Carl's Hobby House in Rochester were my go tos when I was heavily into HO trains. Today, with my different interest I can visit Despatch Junction and Gardiner the Train Doctor.

Jim McC.

leapinlarry posted:

I believe the name of the store in Cincinnati was Davis Electric, and Wow what a great hobby store.  I was there only twice before they shut their doors, a very well stocked model railroad supply with all gauges covered. The amazing G Guage Hudson, in DieCast as you walked in from the back door was Awesome.  I purchased much of my Atlas O trackage from them and lots of Ross turnouts and switch indicator lamp kits to. So far, I have never seen a bigger/better model train store as complete as they were. There are many fantastic stores today, however, the personnel at Davis Electric were very nice.  Great thread, Happy Railroading.

Yes, Davis Electronics(and trains) in Milford, OH.  The "Electronics" part of the store was a small corner in front of 1 of the 3 stores(all connected).  They had a huge selection of trains, new & used, and the prices were the lowest around.  My Dad and I used to go there and to CG&E/Cinergy/Duke building downtown Cinci to see the B&O display(before it was moved to the Union Terminal permanently).  We would spend the better part of the day watching trains at the Union Terminal, looking at the B&O display, and at Davis Electronics.  We managed to go there 2-3 times a year.

My favorite train store was not a train store but a hardware store on 5th and Roosevelt Blvd in northeast Philly it was called Campbell's hardware, sorry to say the big box guys eat them up. They would call my mother up to tell her to bring me down to get the Lionel catalog, also mentioned to tell my father to bring his checkbook.

My other favorite was Dougherty's whistle stop, miss those guys also.

Those were the days.

tnkMarx posted:

leapinlarry posted:

I believe the name of the store in Cincinnati was Davis Electric, and Wow what a great hobby store.  I was there only twice before they shut their doors, a very well stocked model railroad supply with all gauges covered. The amazing G Guage Hudson, in DieCast as you walked in from the back door was Awesome.  I purchased much of my Atlas O trackage from them and lots of Ross turnouts and switch indicator lamp kits to. So far, I have never seen a bigger/better model train store as complete as they were. There are many fantastic stores today, however, the personnel at Davis Electric were very nice.  Great thread, Happy Railroading.

Yes, Davis Electronics(and trains) in Milford, OH.  The "Electronics" part of the store was a small corner in front of 1 of the 3 stores(all connected).  They had a huge selection of trains, new & used, and the prices were the lowest around.  My Dad and I used to go there and to CG&E/Cinergy/Duke building downtown Cinci to see the B&O display(before it was moved to the Union Terminal permanently).  We would spend the better part of the day watching trains at the Union Terminal, looking at the B&O display, and at Davis Electronics.  We managed to go there 2-3 times a year.

 

I loved Davis Trains!!! Joe was a great guy and Jim Barrett ran the repair dept. there. I was there every week for years. On Thanksgiving weekend he would open up his layouts for the public. I ran the O gauge layout and his friend Roger ran the standard gauge. It was something to see. Old Milford was packed because of Davis Trains and when he closed it hurt Old Milford economically. Joe died and his son sold everything and made a nice penny. Joe had everything pre-war and post-war. He was a good guy and I still miss that store.

detroit train posted:

trainroomgary posted:

Still have their business card, on my work bench.

36333 Groesbeck • Clinton TWP., Michigan

Gary

Bert and Elmer were the best!

"Wild Bill" was very enjoyable too.  My understanding is that Bill had the idea of trying to create the atmosphere of an old style barber shop, where people could congregate and visit and talk.  That was the reason for the large, centrally located table with the comfortable rolling chairs on all sides. On Friday nights, people would frequently gather around the table.  That table now, of course, is at Great Lakes Hobby.

leapinlarry posted:

Engineer Joe, I could be mistaken, possibly was Brass, I think it was Asher...It’s been so long, in the early 2000’s.... I was amazed as it’s price a mere $3K... At the time I was buying Track and components for getting the layout started. I bought many precurved Gargraves and Ross sections of track from them.  For my two helixes on my layout, I purchased 135 K-Line 027-size 072 curves...Thanks for chiming in....

Thank you! I have heard of that one in brass! (Aster)

My all time favorite shop, in my adult years, was the Pecos River Brass hobby shop in Lewisville, Tx. They had just about everything in all the scales. They did not sell 3 rail Lionel, but got me started in "O" scale 2 rail.

When I was a kid, I got everything from Wilson's Hobby Shop, in Parkersburg, W.Va.

I sure miss the visits to both of them.

By reading all of these posts,it looks like no body lived west of Texas until the 70s.

Mikey

Glenview Illinois,  Klippers   on  Waukegan Road

My friends and I would ride there on our Bikes.  Toy store with sporting goods and model trains.

Steve

@Lenny the Lion posted:

I too miss Warrens Trains. Once lived near the Metro Parks, a stones throw from Fairview park. If I needed a part Tom would have just about everything I needed and then some. It was so nice just to hop in my car and have the replacement part right away instead of the mail order method.

Warrens Trains went downhill when Tom owned it. Lou Warren and his son Ronnie started that store in Lou's basement in Cleveland before moving to the store in Fairview Park.

@Lou N posted:

Certainly Tom was a great guy.  He lived up the road about a mile from me.  If I called looking for parts for a project when I got home from work there would be a bag hanging on the side door with the stuff I needed.  That was true service.  

Hobby House is also missed.  I worked at the suburban store in Maple Heights.

When I went to Jaye & Jaye it was on Ivanhoe in East Cleveland.  Got 1947 era passenger cars there for $2 each.

Also missed is Riedel's on Babbitt Road in Euclid.  What a wonderful layout he had.

Lou N

Lew, do you remember Puritas Hobby?

Harmon's Trains in Arcadia, Indiana for my Lionel needs and Watt's Train Shop in Zionsville, Indiana for my LGB G scale needs and Christmas decorations.  AD

Back in the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's if you needed Standard Gauge, Postwar and later, MPC Lionel, Al Cox and his son John were a go to for me. While not a hobby shop per se they produced these huge catalogs of available parts, pieces and whatever back before the days of the internet. It was all mail order and he even did layaway. Al would send you a monthly invoice until the item was paid and added addendum's throughout the year as more items became available.. Located in Seattle Washington, Al Cox was special. I'm a little surprised no one mentioned him.

Kansas City MO we used to have train store called Spotlight Railroad it used to be a great store run by a great guy named Jim. I used to go anywhere I wanted in the store.

Todd's Hobby Shop and M & E Hobby shop both in Upper Darby PA.

HANDY DAN THE HOBBY MAN  Riverdale av. at Ludlow st,Yonkers N.Y

TELLEY ELECTRIC SUPPLY Mount Vernon N.Y.

Choo Choo Charlies on MacDade Blvd. in Secane, Pa

20th Century Limited Hobbies in Wheaton, IL.   The shop owners all worked for Amtrak so there were limited hours.  I remember riding my bike there and we'd talk trains--real and models.  Fun times for a 12 year old kid in the '70's. 

Hills Hobbies, Park Ridge, IL - When I came back to the hobby a trips to Hills was monthly to peruse the inventory.

@joe krasko posted:

HANDY DAN THE HOBBY MAN  Riverdale av. at Ludlow st,Yonkers N.Y

TELLEY ELECTRIC SUPPLY Mount Vernon N.Y.

@joe krasko--  Hey Neighbor (Joe lives less than a mile from me) & all,

  I went to look who started this interesting topic and it was done so long ago, I forgot it was me!

  I thought for sure it was our friend Arnold Cribari who posts some interesting, thought-provoking topics!

Tom