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During the Postwar Era, my go to hobby shop was Lopo's Camera's and Trains on the northeast side of Detroit.  Going to Lopo's with my father was always a treat -- sometimes literally!  Lopo's had a significant stock of Lionel Trains, many of which were displayed in numerous glass cases.  Additionally, the staff was quite knowledgeable about the current Lionel line, and the proprietor and other staff were quite willing to show you the different Lionel pieces that you might be interested in viewing.  Although not a model train enthusiast himself, my father acquired sufficient and substantial information to be able to make informed purchases for me, especially with input from the Lopo's staff.  

In addition to their model train line, Lopo's was also a dealer for photographic and movie equipment.  Since my father was a camera enthusiast, particularly for taking home movies of family and friends, it wasn't very difficult to convince my father to go to Lopo's with me when he had the time.  When we announced to my mother where we were going, she would sometimes just roll her eyes and smile!  The trip was also a particular treat on occasion because we would sometimes stop for one of the famous, hand-scooped hot fudge sundaes at the soda fountain counter at the  Sanders Ice Cream and Candy Shop along the route.  That was always special!

Another favorite location to view Lionel Trains at that time was at the giant model railroad department in an upper floor of the massive, downtown Hudson's Department Store.  That was particularly exciting around Thanksgiving time, and during the Christmas season, since the downtown Hudson's was fully decorated for the annual Hudson's Christmas Parade, and for the holiday season.  The train displays were wonderful and the stock was plentiful.

Did you have a favorite "go to hobby shop" during the postwar era, and when were you likely to visit it?

Last edited by Dennis GS-4 N & W No. 611
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When I was 8 or 9, back in the early 1950’s, my dad would take our family to Dallas, (we lived in Dennison Tx.), to Cullum and Boren Sporting Good’s store where they had a hugh Lionel train layout and beautiful display of trains. They closed in 1981. From the time I turned 21, we shopped in Nashville Tennessee at “Phillips Toy Mart” and they are still in business today, a beautiful store. There are a lot of stores that I could list, but these were near my homes. Happy Railroading Everyone CE6AEC5A-4F88-4C67-8770-8DE57A9F1C56A6689D03-86A8-4E36-AC1D-79C86A1D5E208DA87A1C-4C2A-4978-9278-B3E684C55C76

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In Pittsburgh in the 50s and 60s, the Buhl Planetarium (across the Allegheny River from downtown) had a huge Lionel display around Christmas.  For a kid, maybe even adults too, it was jaw dropping.  I haven't been back to Pittsburgh in a decade, but I think Buhl is still around today, closer to the 3 Rivers, but I don't know if they still do the train display at Christmas.

The Hobby Shop in Latrobe. Lionel boxes floor to ceiling. Grade school and high school.Also mom ,dad and me would take the PRR passenger train to downtown Pittsburgh at Christmas. Go to the stores .I'd go to the train layouts. Come home at night. Ironically my first Lionel train dad ordered it at Madison Hardware. Surprise Christmas present.

I may be stretching "postwar" since the time frame I'm referring to started in the 1960s but the shop was E&H Model Hobbies in Philadelphia.  They were mostly HO and N scale and I bought a lot of N scale from them.  But they actually ended up getting me back into O scale.  In the early 1970's, when General Mills bought Lionel, they got E&H to sign up to carry Lionel again.  Apparently, it didn't "take off" for E&H and they ended up putting on sale the remaining sets they had.  One of the sets was a Santa Fe Alco FA freight set that was similar to the only Lionel trains I had had but lost as a child (most of my childhood trains were Marx).  I bought it as the set was only $19.95 on sale IIRC (couldn't pass it up) and I still felt a bit of a twang about losing the Lionels. (How I lost them is another story but that was when I learned that not all adults can be trusted, notably the mother of a friend).  I didn't take the trains out of the box for many years.  But one day, long after I had moved from Philadelphia, I came across the still sealed box and decided to take out the trains and run them.  I remember my first impression was that they ran much more smoothly than my N scale trains and they were just a lot more fun.  I didn't immediately think of switching to O but then I bought a GG1 and that marked the start of the slippery slope into O.  It was very gradual at first but by the late 1980s I had switched to O.  And what started it was the set from E&H.

Last edited by PGentieu

Sadly, no.  I never knew Lionel made anything other than my 671 steam engine set from 1947, I think.  I never saw a catalog or advertisement.   There wasn't that much cold weather in Oklahoma so it was only setup for two weeks around Christmas.

I was shocked at age 36 (1987), at all the trains and accessories that Lionel had made. 

Of course,  since then I have been trying to make up for lost time/childhood.

Post war sources (I was a kid most of the time, but parents and I bought trains) at:

1. Kaufer Bros Hardware store in Plains, Luzerne County, PA. Dad

2. American Auto store, Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, PA. Dad

3. Stull Bros store, Kingston, Luzerne County, PA. Dad

4. After Christmas sales, The Boston Store, Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, PA Me

5. Madison Hardware, by mail, NYC Me

They are gone and replaced by new venues. Life goes on.

Mark

I the late 50's and early 60's it was Otasco  (Oklahoma tire and supply company) on main street in Duncan, Oklahoma. And the big man up north.  I think Santa restocked before stopping at my house on Christmas night (Santa left the same trains that Otasco had in stock, if Otasco did  not have it, Santa did not leave it)

Several people mentioned Two Guys, which was also my local train shop. For those who don't know, Two Guys was one of the first big-box stores and had locations throughout the northeast.

If I remember correctly, Two Guys stocked Lionel trains only at Christmas. On December 26th, all the remaining Lionel inventory was put on sale at 50% off. If you got any cash for Christmas, this is when you could really making a killing!

I grew up in Morristown, N.J., only about 30 minutes from Lionel's Hillside factory, but I can't recall any local shops that stocked a lot of Lionel. The closest was Leitner's Toy Store, which was a Lionel dealer and carried a tiny bit of Lionel. What I remember about Leitner's is that they sold replacement chemicals for the chemistry sets we all had back then. I'll bet about half those chemicals are now considered hazardous materials! I also remember that Leitner's was so old-school that even the kids who worked there after school had to wear neckties.

@texgeekboy posted:

In Pittsburgh in the 50s and 60s, the Buhl Planetarium (across the Allegheny River from downtown) had a huge Lionel display around Christmas.  For a kid, maybe even adults too, it was jaw dropping.  I haven't been back to Pittsburgh in a decade, but I think Buhl is still around today, closer to the 3 Rivers, but I don't know if they still do the train display at Christmas.

It moved to the Carnegie Science Center when it opened in 1992. The layout is up year round but closes for about a month or so in the fall for maintenance, cleaning, and addition of any new structures. It's also 60% larger! Check it out at the Carnegie Science Center's web site.

Miniature Railroad & Village

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