i will also go with Amer's in Youngstown Oh. My grandfather bought me my first train set there(7 months before I was born). My grandfather asked Howard what train set he should get for his grandson, Howard replied how old is the boy to which gramps stated he will be born in about 7 months. Howard always remembered that first meeting with my grandfather. It was Lionel 675 freight set, still have it and it will be doing another Christmas around the tree.
Captain John posted:Living in NYC the Lionel showroom was tops...
Strange as it may seem but growing up in NYC I was never at Madison Hardware.
John,
I never made it to Madison Hardware in New York...For some reason we went to the Empire State Building on the way to Valley Forge, PA, when I attended the 1964 Boy Scout Jamboree...
What were they thinking? 
As it turns out, Richard Kughn moved Madison Hardware a couple of blocks from my office, so I was able to go after all -- usually on my lunch hour. I wish that I would have purchased more of the 1950's and 1960 Lionel catalogues. I think they were $5 Each at the time. The catalogues were in pristine condition other than the Madison Hardware stamp with the address on the front cover.
I was into HO as a kid. My favorite place to buy train stuff was Two Guys dept store in Rochester, NY. They had a decent hobby department and i could find plenty of AHM stuff which i considered the gold standard at the time. My favorite loco was an AHM 0-8-0 my father bought for me from that store one Christmas. I still have it.
The Home store in Scranton and the Globe store and Scranton Dry Goods! They always had trains running in the windows,Home store's was the best! My father was a Colonel in the Air Force stationed in California! Every Christmas we would fly home to Scranton because it was my parent's hometown! We'd set the trains up, afterwards pack them up and put them in Grandma's attic until we came home for Christmas again Good memories
Scott R posted:I was into HO as a kid. My favorite place to buy train stuff was Two Guys dept store in Rochester, NY. They had a decent hobby department and i could find plenty of AHM stuff which i considered the gold standard at the time. My favorite loco was an AHM 0-8-0 my father bought for me from that store one Christmas. I still have it.
Two Guys! We had those here in NJ and while I can't say I had a favorite train store as a kid, images of Lionel trains on the wall in the toy department is what I remember most about Two Guys. I remember 3 places as a kid, Two Guys, Sears and a local hobby shop a block from my uncle's house that we would go to.
The place my dad got his 1952 stuff from was gone before I could remember.
Today I am fortunate to have a favorite train store only about 10 minutes from my house.
Tony
NONE. There wasn't any hobby shop with model trains for probably over 100 miles in any direction of where I grew up. I never even saw a hobby shop with model trains until I was 11, when we were at Gettysburg and we stumbled across Gilbert's, when it was down by the battlefield.
In my early teens on trips from home in Florida to relatives in East Tennessee, we'd go right by Memory Station in Watkinsville GA. That was the first hobby shop I ever saw with some detail parts and decals. Later trips, my parents would make sure we had the time for me to look around and that we'd be through the area when they were open. Man, how I wish I could go back and show them photos of what I've done with my layout. I still have very fond memories of the place and the people there.
Later, I would read Model Railroader and see the 2+ page ad for Trainworld in each issue. Never got the place until last September (decades after I'd first seen those ads), when a pal of mine hopped a subway from Grand Central and rode out to see it. Problem was, we hit their mail order location and that retail store was a tiny little hole of a place. I'd never been so disappointed in my life until we later learned there was a nice retail store way out from there.
Great question. After I got my first set there was no need to take me to another hobby shop!! At least in my parents eyes.
As a 60 year old child now it has to be Mercer Junction!
Growing up in So Cal in the 1960's there were a number of them......
Knott's Berry Farm - There was a train only shop on main street of Ghost Town. They sold trains but it was 50% museum too. It had a number of loops of track around the walls that for 10 cents you made the trains run. I know they were pre-war and one was Standard gauge as I knew it was bigger than the Lionel at home. Knott's was free to get in back in the day and near my home so it was a cheap place to go on weekends for my folks.
Sears - The big old Sears in downtown Los Angeles had a large model train dept. And it sold used stuff I assume it took in on trade. It is what I could afford back then so I loved it. I bought a bunch of Marx track, the track with the molded black ballast, as I thought it looked so much better than Lionel. Look how long it took to get track like that again!!!
There was Hobby City on Beach that was good. Other big name hobby shops were to far away for me to talk Dad into taking me there!!!
1952, Decatur Al. , Western Auto, JC Penny and Sears Roebuck (catalog store) sold model trains. I think only Penny's had a layout.
However the layout I remember was in "Lyon's Electric Supply" not a toy store, I remember stopping by Lyons Electric many times on my way to the Decatur Daily to pick up the papers for my route (bicycle route).
Fast forward 1977: I called "Lyons Electric" to see if they still sold Lionel Trains and explained how as an 8 year old I would stop in his store on Second Avenue and watch the trains run and now I wanted to get my son a train. Mr. Lyons told me that he no longer put the layout up at Christmas ( don't think he ever sold trains) but made his day by bringing up fond memories of the good "o" days.
1977 Bought my son a Lionel Train "Rock Island 8601" I have this train, my Boys /grand kids have ZERO interest.
1988 (?) My Dad bought a Wabash 8601, his first train Dad was 72. I have the train.
2010 My wife bought me a train I was 66 then.
nuf said..
Have a great day
Brent
RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:Piscataway model train shop. It's still going strong. They have a Raritan River SW900 builders photo that I want..
Everyone drools over that iimage, myself included.
I used to go to Steve Varga's on Easton Avenue in New Brunswick, Woolco and Meyers on Route 18 East Brunswick and Sears on Route 1. I recall Sears having some display layouts in both HO and O late 60s early 70s
On the west side of Detroit it was Joe's Hobby Shop on Wyoming Ave. (later in Dearborn, also on Wyoming), the Train Clinic on Hubbell off of Grand River and Northwest Hobby on W Seven Mile.
Doug
Lasus & Sons 255 Huguenot St. New Rochelle, NY
postmastermc posted:On the west side of Detroit it was Joe's Hobby Shop on Wyoming Ave. (later in Dearborn, also on Wyoming), the Train Clinic on Hubbell off of Grand River and Northwest Hobby on W Seven Mile.
Doug
Joes added a store in Madison Heights. My oldest son and I bought track and some other items at Joe's for the layout that he built for his young sons. At the time, Joe's was having their closeout sale for that particular store. I would say the Joe's in Madison Heights closed right around the time that The Great Train Stores closed.
In this regard, my oldest son's favorite train stores were Birmingham Train Center, in Birmingham, which moved and became Train Center Hobbies, in Royal Oak - now closed. Another favorite was and is P & D Hobby on M-97 - fortunately, still going strong.
As a kid growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs I always remember going to the Jenkintown Hobby Shop in Jenkintown because my grandmother and her sister lived down the street from it and I always remember the great selection of Lionel and HO stuff they had there and also remember the Big Bash Hobby Shop on Tioga street which had a good selection of Lionel Trains at that time and also remember the Allied Hobby shops in places like Montgomery and King of Prussia Malls as well.
Baltimore, 1950's: Taubman's Hardware on both Eastern Ave. and Monument St., French's on Broadway, Belnord Hardware on Pulaski, and for Plasticville, Woolworth's. The day after Christmas sales were incredible (and dangerous if you were a small kid - being trampled by adults when the door opened wasn't fun). In the 60's, Two Guys Department Store (not trampled as much - I was in my teens and more nimble).
Trading Post Trains on Pearl Road in Cleveland Ohio. Old store front, metal embossed ceiling panels and trains from the floor to the ceiling. On the north side of the building is a large "Hudson on a flag" 1942 Lionel catalog cover billboard.
The only "train store" l visited and was aware of in Louisville, Ky. was Fischer's Hobby Center up a stairs on a side street off the main shopping 4th St. I bought Lionel O-27 track and switches and one crossing gate to add to my Marx. Mostly there l bought many of the Hudson Miniatures and Highway Pioneers antique model car kits, in wood and plastic. Where l saw the Marx l envied was in Sutcliffe's Sporting Goods, but it only appeared for the holiday seaaon, and then vanished, usually before l could get there with my gift money post holiday. It was there l saw but never owned then the LNE hopper and the Santa Fe stock car. Sears, and the two city dept. stores, Kaufman's and Stewart's, had displays of Lionel and Flyer.
Roy's Toy and Hobby. Summit NJ
Trenton, New Jersey Hobby Center, owned by William Krames (a founding member of the TCA), Sear Roebuck around the corner from the Krames store, in early 1950's.
I would have to say John Wanamaker in downtown Philadelphia. They had great displays plus a ride on the monorail was a real treat. Then Strawbridges and Lit Brothers, also had extensive displays.
As I got older, Jenkintown Hobby Shop was the place to go.
Dales Train station
mom took me there twice before she passed 5 years ago
she always encouraged my love of trains
got my first lionel there - the 1980 chesapeake flyer set and a chessie modern version of the 3469 coal dump car
thanks to my dad i don't have them anymore because he probably destroyed them when i left for college like he destroyed my 1500 dollar aristo craft B&O alco FA1 when i was in 5th grade
It's the same store as today - Hennings Trains in good old Lansdale, Pa.
-Greg
ConrailFan posted:ConrailFan posted:Madison Hardware first, then second there was this train store on 45th ST just off of Madison Ave I think on the 4th or 5th floor, I forget the name of it. I'd like to say The Red Caboose, but not really sure.
Polks- was the name of the store, Thanks for jogging my memory GG2340!
Polks was not on 45th St. In it's heyday, Polks occupied an entire building (5 floors) on 5th Avenue near 34th st.
Model Railroad Equipment Corp was in a basement on one side of 45th st.
I believe the place a few floors up was on the opposite side of the street, and was called the Red Caboose.
The last time I visited Polks, they were down to occupying the basement only. That was quite awhile ago.
As a kid growing up I visited Steves Hobby Shop in Downtown San Leandro, Ca. My grandparents lived in Oakland within walking distance of the Montgomery Ward store. During the holidays I would spent hours in the toy department watching the Lionel and American Flyer layouts. Later I often visited Lee, s Train service on Piedmont ave in Oakland. Great store with lots of trains diecast etc. Lees was an Eastbay landmark.
We didn't have any trains stores in Charlottesville, VA, nor any hobby shops that I recall. Sears & Roebuck, Firestone, Western Auto, and another place whose name escapes me.
Allied Hobbies on Pico Blvd.
Mikey
Spoonley the Train Man in Buffalo NY!
In Ft Wayne, the "big three" at Christmas were all within walking distance downtown - Krull's, Koehlinger's, and Wolf and Dessauers Department Store. Koehlinger's had the smallest selection, but it's specialty was bikes and safes. It still exists, but no downtown. The other two are long gone.
Back in the mid-1960's, my Dad would take me to his office in Bridgewater, NJ on Saturdays. And we'd always go out to eat for lunch, followed by a stop at TINY TOTS in Greenbook, NJ (located a few miles down the road on Route 22). That's where I saw my first Lionel trains. In its heyday, Tiny Tots was quite the toy/hobby "superstore" of its time. I can still recall my Dad and I browsing through the 1966 Lionel catalog on top of one of the glass display cases. And the store clerk pointed out that the Virginian FM diesel locomotive featured in the catalog for $65 was in-stock at the store and "on sale" for $52. Now in 1966, $52 was a lot of money.
That was just one of many visits to the store, but I can recall that particular moment like it was yesterday. 
Very, very fond memories. Thanks, Dad!!! 
David
In Park Ridge, Illinois--Hill's Hobbies. Wonderful memories!
Farmers Supply Co and Felsingers Hobby Shop in Lancaster, PA. Farmers was known for their huge operating display on the second floor.
After getting my first train at age 4 in 1956, "Santa" brought me a new operating car or accessory every year, and always installed it on the layout in the wee hours of Christmas morning. Many years later I noticed that Santa had been shopping at Farmers Supply for some of these items, and judging from the reduced pricing marked on the boxes, often got a good discount!
ConrailFan posted:ConrailFan posted:Madison Hardware first, then second there was this train store on 45th ST just off of Madison Ave I think on the 4th or 5th floor, I forget the name of it. I'd like to say The Red Caboose, but not really sure.
Polks- was the name of the store, Thanks for jogging my memory GG2340!
Yep, Dad would take me into "The City" on a Sunday morning. We would walk around Polks for hours. 5 or 6 floors. One floor was trains, one floor was models, one floor was figures. Dad would let me wander on any floor I wanted to. This was back in the early 70's.
Other days we would start at The Train-Station in Mountain Lakes in the morning, maybe stop for a "ripper" at Rutts Hutt and then end the day in the afternoon at Branch Brook & Co for more browsing.
Funny how the stuff I kept looking at found its way under the tree a few weeks later.
Murrays Hobbyland on Main in Bloomington,Ill and made it to Madison Hardware 1 time in the late 70 's. LOCOMOTION
In the late 50's Dad would get our Lionel trains at Kirkwood Hobby in downtown Kirkwood. Trains were the center of our lives and Christmas was "Train Time". Dad's rule was the first Saturday after the first snow of the season (or the Saturday after Thanksgiving) the trains were unpacked and set up. We would use an old ping-pong table in the basement. First was a single loop, then an loop inside, and the best was a double-decker with an even smaller loop.
My sister Becky, had the Lionel steam Hudson, Charlie (older brother) had the Erie F units, I had the Pennsy passenger. When the three trains were running, it was quite a roar!
Today, it's back to Lionel Trains and my layout centers around the PRR. You know, if I ever finish my layout, it will never meet the fun we had on the old ping-pong table.
Happy Holidays to all!
For me it was Madison hardware. I also liked Sel-Rite on 17s in Paramus, Nj. When I was a tween and started to earn some $$, I bikes to Ridgefield Hobby shop. When I was able to drive, I hung out a lot at the Loose Caboose in Bogota with Gary at the helm.
Cleveland, Ohio ............
Nobby Hobby Shop, Union Ave at East 103rd
Sparks Hobby Shop, East 131st and Miles Road
Riedel's Railroadiana, Babbit Road
Hobby House, Warrensville Center Road
Trading Post, Pearl Road
Lou N
Western Auto and Montgomery Wards were it for me.
For me in the Late 40's to the 60's it was Marshall Fields 4th floor on State St in Chicago. They had a great selection and free catalogs. Field's also had their own Premium Toy Catalog that was really anticipate every year, it was the start of the Christmas season. The catalog didn't have any sales just great items. They also had paper airplane demonstrations, that never worked as well at home. We would usually eat a meal under the big tree. I always thought that they had the only real Santa and all the others Santa's were just helpers, Also present was Aunt Holly and Uncle Mistletoe along with groups of carolers singing through out the store. I don't think my dad bought from there but bought them from a friend, below wholesale, which was very prohibited by Lionel. The only car we bought at Field;s was an AMT baggage car. Lionel's wasn't available yet. After the early 60's I started buying my own Lionel and LGB trains from Dispensa's Castle of toys in OakBrook Illinois. I new the Dispensa kids from their Carnival operations and school. I was treated very well by them. You couldn't do any better anywhere. I believe they had something to do with starting Geoffrey the giraffe and Toys R US. Good memories!
Buzz
Dobbs hobby shop on Broadway and 32 street in Bayonne nj. I could walk there. I remember the two guys in jersey city had a train dept. It really didn't matter because the trains were only out of storage for Christmas. That particular problem has been fixed.
