Report from the Lionel Customer Service Center Open House

Thanks for the report!

Thanks for the report Allan and glad you finally got that Army Genset loco.  Lucky guy.

Thanks for posting Allan. I so wish that I could have been there. (And with my shopping trolley too!)

Some ducks have all the luck....

Hey - Thanks a lot Alan!

Yeah, that makes two of them now, Nick:  Lionel die-cast version and MTH version.  It will be fun to compare and contrast the two.

Also received a Lionel Army Trackmobile this past week and I picked up my Lionel Legacy two-truck Shay at Mercer Junction yesterday.  Needless to say, the train budget has taken a BIG hit! 

thanks, allan.  sounds great.

surprised that they were (a) selling stuff there and that (2) they were selling so much of it!!!

I wish you could have been there, too, Nicole!  But you would have a l-o-n-g way to travel for sure!  Next time around, let me know of anything you might be looking for and I'll be happy to pick them up, if available, and send them along to you.

What fun, thanks Allan for the report. I hope they checked your pockets when you left. 

Don

Allen, I wish I could have been there too. I wounder if Lionel will offer any of the leftover cars/sets/engines online to those who couldn't make it due to the distance involved. 

Thanks Allan. i may well take you up on that offer. 

To answer Don's question. If they did check your pockets, I'm sure that it was only to make sure that you had enough money left for the fare home. 

Sounds like a great time. Thanks for the report.

One of my kids starts college in the Buckeye State this year. Maybe next year I can combine a trip there with a stop for the Open House.

It certainly was fun!

Andy

Thanks everyone for the reports. I sure wish I could have been there. It will be interesting to the the photos when they are posted. If more folks will pipe up, it will be good to see all of the interest, and buys, that everyone enjoyed.

The second annual Lionel open house is now a wrap!! We had beautiful weather today in Northeast, Ohio blue sky and about 75 degrees. I was down there today lending Mike R. a hand welcoming guests at the start of the tour. Not sure yet just what the total count on visitors ended up being, but I would guess maybe 1200-1500 people. Everything appeared to run very smoothly and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. There were some fantastic prices on engines & rolling stock and on fast track & switches. OGR of course had a nice booth set up as did North Lima Train Works, the LCCA was also there with a nice booth of there own, The Fort Pitt {Pittsburgh, PA} modular club was there with a very nicely done modular layout that provided a lot of train action for visitors. Overall a very nice day. I have included just a small sampling of some pictures from the days activities for those who were not able to attend. I know Bill Parisi from OGR & Lionel will have a lot more pictures to share when he gets a chance to post them.

Jeff

Alan, Thanks for the update, and Jeff thanks for posting some photos.  I was hoping to head up there, but just not enough time.

Sounds like everyone had a great time, and as I think Marty noted, seeing friends is the best part.

Alan and Jeff, Thanks for the review and pictures. It sounds and looks like a great time!

The event also received some nice coverage on local TV news programs this evening, including some footage of the modular group's layout and a brief interview with Lionel's Tom Nuzzo.

tell me someone got a lead on a release date for the volume 2 catalog!

More pics...

Just a few things as I came all the way from Oregon and thanks to Bill Parisi who was gracious enough to take me around the area on Friday I was able to visit OGR's world headquarters and some great real train "future" restoration pieces.

We also hooked up with Marty, Dotty, and their friend Carl (finally got to meet those great folks) at the Mercer Junction train store and watch Alan run his Shay on the stores great in house layout.  Speaking of a kid in a candy store and he even put us onto a local restaurant where we had a fantastic lunch.

We also made a stop at Lou Palumbo's Underground Railroad Shoppe which was a real treat as Lou even fired up his layout for us which is usually only operational in the Nov/Dec time frame, what a special treat.

I am sure Bill was instrumental in making that happen which we all very much appreciated, especially Marty who discovered a very special train station that he almost bought some 30 years ago (or more) and often wondered where it ended up and there it was sitting on Lou's layout.  Needless to say Lou was quite impressed as Marty was the first one who actually noticed and knew what the piece was so it was a great time by all ending with a great dinner again thanks to Mr Bill.

Saturday was great as everyone mentioned above and of course Mr Mike was at his best mingling among the crowd like a proud papa showing off his creation and the super people that make it all happen.

Anyway, it was a great weekend and I am sure glad I was able to make it. 

Marty E, if you were there I missed you as you were the only missing piece to my puzzle so maybe next year? 

Larry Brown

Glad everyone had beautiful weather and a good time. We thought about going up, but all three of us were still too beat up from the Sunday and Monday 765 chase combined with out of town friends visiting. For anyone wondering whether it's worth going next year...YES!

--Becky

Larry,

  It was nice meeting you and talking to you this afternoon, glad you had a good time at the Lionel Open House and the past couple of days visiting some area layouts. {I was sitting with Mike R. towards the end of the day under the canopy remember me?} Hope you have a safe return trip home. Maybe next year I will see about getting with the guys in the area and include my home layout on the "visit schedule" as I am only about 30 minutes from Lionel.

Jeff James

OK Gang... The link to the open house photos can be found on my web site in the "What's New" box. I did take a few other photos but they will be submitted to Allan at OGR Magazine for the December issue.

I also assisted at the OGR booth, and relieved other Lionel employees so that could take a break.

Larry,

I really had a great time on Friday playing tour guide for you, Marty, Dotty, and Carl. Great layouts, food, and friends. Hopefully we can do it again next year.

I hope to see you all at York in October.

Nice job with the photos, Bill!  And thanks for all the assistance you provided to Ed and others at the open house, as well as for your splendid and obviously successful "tour guide" services on Friday.

Here's a link to an excerpt from WKBN-TVs coverage of the event:

http://www.wkbn.com/content/ne...HtkSn1KLG5bJ9tA.cspx

Pat and I had a good time at the open house. Enjoyed touring the center and seeing the operation.  First time through the store it reminded me of the one time I went shopping early am on Black Friday! I couldn't move around, I did find a couple of whistle tenders at a great price and being a bit skittish in crowds made my way to checkout.  Took the tour spoke to a couple of really nice and helpful Lionel tech's and got a chance to see the centipede on the test track. 

 Took a water break and had a nice chat with Allan and then made another pass at the sale area.  Found a NYC 0-8-0 engine that matched the one my Grandfather was an engineer on back in the 40's & 50's. Now I just need to find someone who can change the number from 7794 to 7809.  Got a chance to meet Marty Fitzhenry and Dotty, Marty was holding fort at the door checking off purchases and Dotty was directing traffic and answering questions inside.  It was fun watching my wife going through the store and saying "how about this?  "This is nice!"  "get one of these"!  She obviously has drunk th "Kool-aid"!  It was definitely a change with me being the one with some restraint regarding trains!  

 Allan, thanks for the tip on Crouse True Value in North Lima.  They have a Train section in 2 boxcars attached to a nice old fashioned hardware store.  Picked up some Thomas items for my grandson and a couple of diecast models for the layout.  Took the back roads home and stopped to eat on the way.  A very enjoyable day. 

 Thanks to Mike and his staff for putting on the open house!

Kevin

Obviously a great time for everyone!  I have got to do this....and great to see Kevin, one of our group members,  attended...

Alan

I would love to attend someday, looked like great time.

Thanks Allan for posting

Alex

Sounds like the open house was a great event. Perhaps I will be able to attend one in the future.

I was able to take advantage of their mail order sale on parts.

We just got home from Lionel and I will post some pictures later in a post.  A great time was had by everyone.  Lionel is very lucky to have a man like Mike Reagan running the show.

It was great seeing you and Dotty again, Marty!  Special thanks to Dotty for "guarding" my find for me while I browsed a bit before venturing into the lengthy checkout line.

I've been buying quite a few Legacy locomotives recently, and its great to have Lionel's technical advice and assistance just a few miles down the road from my home and office.  I haven't needed any on-site help yet, but I do make it a point to watch Mike's technical videos several times over every time I come home with a new product.  Very informative!

Allan, You are very welcome. The open house was a great appetizer in preparation for York - the main course. We all had a great time. It is always nice to see old friends and meet new ones. I couldn't count how many people (some I'd never met before) asked how Ralph the cat is doing.  He met us at the door when we got home and went right to the train room door anticipating new trains to run. Unfortunately he has to wait; they were shipped since we flew to Ohio instead of driving. I will post pix of him and our purchases this week when we get them. Again, thank you Mike and the Lionel Repair crew for such a great opportunity to pick up some good deals and mingle with fellow trainiacs.

BTW

Thanks to Mike and the gang for a very enjoyable day.  It's nice to get away from the everyday stresses of life and enjoy a day of friendship and trains.

Marty that is exactly how I felt about the day.  Good friends and some trains, how can you go wrong.  I even got a free book from OGR

Thanks to Lionel and OGR.

Hi all,

I too spent part of the day up in Canfield.  Got a late start so I arrived shortly after 10:00 AM and 'the vultures' had already done a good job in the 'for sale' area!  Not to worry though, there was still LOTS to choose from and the prices were VERY attractive.

Mike and his entire crew and all of the volunteers that assisted are to be congratulated on an open house that was a real joy to attend.  Everyone there was friendly, outgoing and very willing to help you, answer your questions and just provide a warm atmosphere - GREAT JOB YA'LL

An old saying goes something like: 'I never met a man I didn't like'... and trust me, on Saturday, I met a lot... and I like them all!  You've done a tremendious job of hand-picking your crew Mike!

Again, many thanks for a wonderful Saturday.

Best,

Dave

Oh, ****!

Now it looks like I will have to schedule a visit back to Canfield (from Cali) next August to enjoy the Lionel Customer Service Center open house.  

The "THIRD ANNUAL" will be the best ever, I'm sure.

Curse you, Mike Reagan!