79 years ago today......My fellow Lionel Train lover.......

Skip, great layout scene and great story about the "Chairman!"  My mom also saw Sinatra live around the same time, when he performed at the Loew's State Theater in Providence, RI.  My parents were always loyal Sinatra fans

Your city scene above captions the essence of NYC for sure, and the billboard of "ole bones" adds to the flair...thanks for sharing a memory and your layout...

Great scenery.

The center of Times Square, at night, in the small triangular concrete street divider, is still my very favorite place to stand in the world!

I try to do it about every 10 years.

Mannyrock

Interesting fact: At this performance he was introduced by Jack Benny. Jack Benny was not a model railroader, but Rochester was! He had a Lionel setup, but can't find any photos of it.

@Mannyrock posted:

Great scenery.

The center of Times Square, at night, in the small triangular concrete street divider, is still my very favorite place to stand in the world!

I try to do it about every 10 years.

Mannyrock

On New Year's Eve you could take refuge under an NYPD horse.  Or watch the world go by while sitting outside the Port Authority Building.  John

Thanks for mentioning our paisan, Skip. Boy, was he talented. Always felt his acting was overlooked.

Happy New Year.

Tom

Looks amazing!  I can’t wait until we can return to NYC.  Loved Time Square area.  Happy New Year!

@CarGuyZM10 posted:

Interesting fact: At this performance he was introduced by Jack Benny. Jack Benny was not a model railroader, but Rochester was! He had a Lionel setup, but can't find any photos of it.

I had always read that Tommy Dorsey had a  Lionel Standard Gauge layout in his basement and that's how Frank got hooked. I also seem to remember that Rochester had Lionel trains. Might have been influenced by both.

I once read an article in Parade magazine where Sinatra said people would just send him their Standard Gage trains,  I guess so they could brag to their friends that "Sinatra has my old trains". They would just show up on his doorstep. Haha...must have been nice.

One more related tidbit...my friend Will Fiore had an antique toy shop here in Westfield NJ for years and sold some trains to Sinatra over that time. He said Sinatra would not call himself but would have one of his people call . He said the negotiations were always tough.

Hi Skip,

You have a fantastic layout!  You are a true New Yorker, and I always appreciate your annual posts on Christmas in New York.  Frank was number one in my family,  I saw him perform at the Tacoma Dome , to over 20,000 fans.  He was fantastic.  PBS has been running the Dean Martin-Frank Sinatra Family Christmas Show over the holidays.  The kids were great performers,  the only problem was that Dino Jr and Frank Jr were playing with a Switch N Go car set and not trains.  Just all wonderful memories.

I did make it to NY twice this year, and my son treated me to lunch in Little Italy,  I only wish my mom and dad taught me Italian....  Best wishes for the new year,

Dave

Skip - what a fantastic layout and a very realistic view of Times Square.  You forgot to mention that the "Camel" bill board on the left in the picture, produced "smoke rings" into the atmosphere (I guess pollution laws were different then (LOL) ).  We lived just outside Manhatten in NJ for most of my early life and I did see Frank Sinatra in person in the 60's at Rutgers University.

Don

I met and spent some time talking trains with "The Chairman of the Board" back when I lived in Honolulu in the late 70s-80s. Sinatra was a frequent visitor to the Islands, and was a friend of local attorney and businessman, the late Jim Sattler, who had what was considered the world's most complete collection of Lionel Trains, dating back to the very start. Jim also owned Honolulu Trains & Hobbies (where I bought most of my O gauge after getting back into the hobby) and he often helped Sinatra find trains for his collection. I met Sinatra at the train store, which he visited on occasion. While there, he was just another "train nut" like any of the rest of us, and loved talking about Lionel trains. I remember Neil Young being that same way when, back when I worked with Kalmbach Publishing, Neil would spend some late night beer-drinking time with our Kalmbach crew at the Holidome restaurant/bar. Great times that produced great memories!

A local hobby shop owner shared a story with me a few years ago about meeting "The Chairman" at one of the train shows in West Springfield.  He described the initial encounter as an entourage of several people coming down the isle surrounding this man in the middle of the group...the man was Sinatra.  He stopped at the table of my storyteller friend and proceeded to purchase several Lionel items...no negotiating, and one of Frank's associates paid for the items in cash.  The items were carried away and the seller was dumbfounded by what had just happened.  As a Sinatra fan and fellow American of Italian decent, he was off the charts bewildered and excited at the same time.

The best part of the story was that Mr. Sinatra came back to 'the seller's" table around the closing time of the show to talk more trains.  During the conversation, Mr. Sinatra asked the seller if he liked Mr. Sinatra's music.  The seller said yes indeed.  Mr. Sinatra mentioned that he'd be performing at the Providence Civic Center in the coming weeks and asked the seller if he'd liked to attend.  The seller said yes!  Mr. Sinatra told him that two tickets would be waiting for him at the back entrance of the civic center...this is incredible!!  To make a long story short, the seller mentioned to his lady friend at the time that Mr. Sinatra had invited him and guest to his upcoming performance at the Providence Civic Center.  The seller said she rolled her eyes with doubt as if this was a fable meant to impress her?  She accepted the seller's invitation and a few weeks later they pulled up to the rear entrance of the center, where they were greeted by security.  The seller mentioned he was nervous and had doubt as to the whether Mr. Sinatra would remember his offer.  If "The Chairman" had forgotten, this would be a major embarrassment for the seller and not exactly enhance the future of their relationship

The seller said to the security guard that Mr. So and So and is his friend are here as guests of Mr. Sinatra!  The guard left for a minute, returned, and the security gate opened.  The seller and his lady friend were guided up stairs to Mr. Sinatra's suite, where they shared conversation and a beverage on "The Chairman." Shortly thereafter, the guests were directed to the first row seats that had been reserved for them.  As the seller recapped the events of the night to me, his enthusiasm rang through to the point where I needed to pass on the story here as a life-long fan of "The Chairman of the Board!"

Fly me to the moon...!!!

This thread, and the post above in particular, is why I love this forum. Thank you for sharing this gem!