Ron Hollander's Vivid Nostalgia

Totally agree with you Art. I can never stop mid-article with reading one of Ron's pieces. I always feel like I'm right there in the story. Thank you Ron for sharing your gift.

I didn't know he did articles in periodicals. I would go to the local library in Santa Monica CA when I was a teenager and check out the book he did on Lionel trains all the time. It's is a great book with lots of pictures of the old factory layouts and lots of info on Lionel's history. I found a hardback copy of it at the local train show a few years ago and bought it. That era was way before my time but it is a great book and I still enjoy reading it and looking at the pictures.

Couldn’t agree more -  have been thoroughly enjoying all the articles by Ron in the recent TCA quarterlies 

And of course his book All Aboard is a must have / read for any Lionel / toy train fan 👍🏼

All Aboard by Ron Hollander should be in every Lionel enthusiasts library.

The second hardcover edition even mentions Mike Wolf's impact on the O gauge hobby.

Ron's book was THE single thing that got me back into the O gauge segment of the hobby after a hiatus of a good many years. I left O gauge, and the model railroading hobby overall, in my college and military years, and got back into model railroading in N scale in the mid-1970s. When Ron's book was first published, my girlfriend at the time bought it for me as a Christmas gift (I was unaware of the book, but she figured it was appropriate because I liked trains in general). Read it from cover to cover in one uninterrupted sitting, and the day after Christmas I want to Honolulu Trains & Hobby and bought several Lionel trains, track, transformer, and accessories. That launched my start back into O, and I have been with it ever since. Ron is a friend, and I have seen him at York a number of times over the years.

The TCA Quarterly is probably my favorite reason for being a member.  At least one or two articles each issue are read in full.  Ron Hollander has been contributing an article in almost every issue for the last five years or so.  He bought a house on eastern Long Island and joined the club that runs the old Lionel factory layout from the 1990s out in Suffolk county.  He covers a wide range of subjects in his articles, mostly from his youth, but also describing his approach to displaying his collection and building his first real layout. If you join the TCA, you can read back issues on line if I'm not mistaken.

My experience was almost exactly the same as Allan's. Reading All Aboard, and the warm nostalgia it evoked when I discovered it back in the 80s, was the principal motivator to start buying vintage Lionels. Somehow Ron's book made you believe that those broken links to your past could be repaired by the totems from your childhood and buried memories could be unearthed and burnished.  I still get out my dog-eared copy occasionally at Christmas for a trip down memory lane.

There is a certain aspect of his writing style that draws you into his narratives and I almost always read them in one sitting. His sincerity about his subject is always evident.

I wholeheartedly agree with the above comments about All Aboard and Ron Hollander's splendid writing style and gift with words.

For me, more than anything, it's writing style, more than substance, that typically gets me hooked. 

All Aboard has both: great writing style and substance. An example is the following quote from page 1 of Ron's wonderful book:

"The electric train is called a Lionel, after the middle name of its inventor. The passenger train is named The Twentieth Century Limited, after the new century whose speed and progress it will symbolize. For the next sixty-five years, each will be synonymous with excellence and preeminence. They will pace each other, Lionel and The Twentieth Century, growing and prospering with America, reflecting the style and times through which they travel."

All Aboard is loaded with similar examples of brilliant writing.

I am struggling to come up with superlatives that do justice to All Aboard. It is so well written, interesting and engaging; it transcends toy trains, model trains and our hobby. In my opinion, it is a great work of art.

Arnold

Our connection is the fact that Ron and I both had Lionel layouts created by our fathers in New York City apartment buildings.

His was in Brooklyn and mine in the Bronx.

We both always wondered if some part of that magical layout still existed in those apartments long since occupied by unaware strangers, as he described in "All Aboard".

It was years later that I found myself drawn back to Lionel trains. My trains had long since been given away to a younger cousin, but I found this one rail joiner in my father's old toolbox amidst miscellaneous nails and screws years after his passing. It will always have a place of honor in my train room!

I have posted this before but it's worth repeating:

Jim

Arnold: You have captured the essence of the appeal of All Aboard! Ron Hollander is a gifted writer who imbues his work with a palpable passion that makes it such a joy to read!

"All Aboard" has always been one of my favorite toy train related books. Second only to Bantam Book's "Model Railroading" - I remember taking that one out a number of times from what was then my local library in Queens NY, even though I was probably only 8 or 9. I always liked the scenery and layout construction ideas in it. Clearly Lionel had a hand in this book too.

A similar book published around the same time as "Model Railroading" has become my third fav since I started dabbling in Postwar American Flyer S gauge. This book is "How to Build a Model Railroad" by Marshall McClintock. This one appears to have been ghosted by American Flyer.

By the way, Ron attends our local train swap meet here on Suffolk County, LI, he is certainly a nice enough guy too

A memorable passage in All Aboard for me  has always been the paragraph where Ron figuratively mentions chasing the lights of the Lionel Limited and speculates about what we are really searching for with our fascination for these toy trains. He later concludes his philosophical musing by imagining himself and his childhood chum, Mitchell, simply enjoying a dessert at the Plasticville Frosty Bar. A fitting ending to a great read!

Y’all have convinced me.  While I enjoy reading Ron’s stories in the TCA Quarterly, I’ve never read his All Aboard book.  

After reading the glowing comments in this thread, I decided it was time to remedy that omission and ordered a copy on eBay.  Looking forward to it arriving in the next week or so and enjoying what must be a good read!

Curt

Hey Jim - that’s really cool 👍🏼

Curt - you’re going to love it 

Many of us have reread our copies of All Aboard multiple times; it's that well done!

I have three copies of All Aboard - one softcover, one hardback, and the updated edition.  I hope at least one survives all the re-readings in good condition. The book reflects dedicated, wide-ranging research and great writing skill to maximize both learning and enjoyment for the reader.  I consider publication of this book one of the most significant events of the second golden age of Lionel and this hobby.   It was this book's description of the York meet that got me to finally find a couple of TCA members to sponsor me - I bought the book in 1981 or 1982 and attended my first York in October 1989.  

It was published in 1981. I had been a TCA member since 1974, and my favorite train author before All Aboard was Louis Hertz. Hollander's work did not diminish Hertz's impressive achievements, but added an indelible  personal and emotional dimension to the canon of toy train history.