My dad corrected my story on his layout. It was in Younkers in downtown Des Moines but it was not in the window. Younkers had their main building (which was destroyed by fire earlier this year) but across the street they had another which was the Younkers Store for Homes. For the holidays they'd clear out a section of the Store for Homes and devote it to Christmas toys. In the back right of the store was the train section. This is where his display was setup.
My grandfather was always looking for a deal. After Christmas he went in to see what was left. He made a deal to buy everything that was leftover that didn't sell. This included the D-63 with the ZW and all of the layout parts, the two trains that were running on it, one which was pulled by the Erie Alcos and the other which was pulled by a 2026 steam engine. He also got a new pair of Western Pacific F3's and the 4 set of aluminum passenger cars. There were also other various accessories such as the light tower and some random train cars and I believe 726 steam engine that is long gone. He picked up the whole lot delivered to their house for $150. What a deal!
Wow, deal is right! Enjoyed reading that.
When I did a little research about Dealer Display Layouts one of the common stories I kept seeing was how Lionel dealers and other stores that had these layouts would sell them off after the holiday season, either whole as is or for the individual trains and accessory pieces. The other thing that’s interesting about these is how some layouts are still being “discovered” in basements and attics after all these years. And there are a few well-known collectors out there that have any number of these classic displays in great condition. I know “the other magazine” did a feature on some of these not long ago.
