Manor Hobbies, Woodhaven, Queens, NYC and Savoy Merchandise, West 23rd St., NYC.
Toy Craft was my store of choice for Lionel in Norfolk from 1956 until I went away to college in 1970.
Toy Craft
3904Granby St.
Norfolk, Virginia
My Dad said they used to buy their Lionel and Marx items at Calvaresi's Hardware Store in Republic, PA (1 hour south of Pittsburgh).
His Father purchased our Lionel 1503WS set there in in the mid 1950's and quickly traded in the 1033 set transformer for a 275w ZW.
I had Marx, before succumbing to HO, so the only all year hobby shop with trains in Louisville, Ky , Lionel, was Fischer's, written up in one of the 3 rail mags. Woolworth's toy dept. had occasional Marx outside the holiday season. Sutcliffe's, a sporting goods store, had all brands, Marx, AF, and L then, but packed all away right after Christmas, when l showed up with gift money to add Marx 3/16 cars, so never got any additional cars. Sears in Louisville had the best, basement, holiday train display, but the two major dept. stores had displays, one Lionel, and the other, AF, and are remembered. (( I still remember wishing the AF U.P. 4-8-4 was three rail, and liked AF (MoPac?) PA's, too))
@leapinlarry posted:When I was 8 or 9, back in the early 1950’s, my dad would take our family to Dallas, (we lived in Dennison Tx.), to Cullum and Boren Sporting Good’s store where they had a hugh Lionel train layout and beautiful display of trains. They closed in 1981. From the time I turned 21, we shopped in Nashville Tennessee at “Phillips Toy Mart” and they are still in business today, a beautiful store. There are a lot of stores that I could list, but these were near my homes. Happy Railroading Everyone
I see Looney Tunes on the drive-in's screen!
San Antonio in the 50's was Joskey's and Dibbles
Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.
American Auto stores on Wyoming Avenue in Kingston.
My favorite place. Gone but not forgotten. The building is now a bar in Akron, Ohio.
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Two hobby shops in downtown Toledo sold electric trains. We had a local store that sold household goods and Lionel trains. The owner also repaired them.
Amer's Hobby Shop in Youngstown, Ohio
Lenny, that is truly a sad photo of years gone by.
Growing up in Brooklyn you’d think I had a lot of choices, but most of my young life experience was with Macys and Madison Hardware. Macys was across the street from my mother’s office so it was really easy. Its not so much like I bought much from them, but it was a great place to watch and dream. Especially, during the holidays when they had the holiday display running. They helped me get my Christmas list going.
Madison Hardware was mostly for parts. It was a long round trip subway ride from East Flatbush, but normal enough growing up in the city. Lou and Carl weren’t exactly friendly since I was a kid and not a big spender. But, I took it in stride since that attitude is SOP in New York.
Most of my trains were presents so the major asset I needed was to be able to practice delayed gratification. That seems to be a lost art.
Alan
@colorado hirailer posted:I had Marx, before succumbing to HO, so the only all year hobby shop with trains in Louisville, Ky , Lionel, was Fischer's, written up in one of the 3 rail mags. Woolworth's toy dept. had occasional Marx outside the holiday season. Sutcliffe's, a sporting goods store, had all brands, Marx, AF, and L then, but packed all away right after Christmas, when l showed up with gift money to add Marx 3/16 cars, so never got any additional cars. Sears in Louisville had the best, basement, holiday train display, but the two major dept. stores had displays, one Lionel, and the other, AF, and are remembered. (( I still remember wishing the AF U.P. 4-8-4 was three rail, and liked AF (MoPac?) PA's, too))
Your Flyer 4-8-4 for 3 rail operation wish can come true - Gilbert made 3 rail O gauge trains prior to WW2 which were built to 3/16ths scale proportions, and the UP 4-8-4 was one of their nicest pieces. They look especially nice pulling a string of Marx 3/16ths O gauge tin litho cars. Here's a 572 3 rail UP 4-8-4 in action:
@Dave Warburton posted:Jaye & Jaye Hobby in East Cleveland, Ohio.
Hey Dave,
Thought you'd like this picture.
Lou N
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The Postwar era ended four years before I was born, but to a kid growing up near Des Moines, IA, the place to go for three rail trains was Doug's Train World on University Ave. For HO and N gauge you went ot Hobby Haven but for three rail nothing compared to Doug's.
@Joe Connor posted:Several people mentioned Two Guys, which was also my local train shop. For those who don't know, Two Guys was one of the first big-box stores and had locations throughout the northeast.
If I remember correctly, Two Guys stocked Lionel trains only at Christmas. On December 26th, all the remaining Lionel inventory was put on sale at 50% off. If you got any cash for Christmas, this is when you could really making a killing!
I grew up in Morristown, N.J., only about 30 minutes from Lionel's Hillside factory, but I can't recall any local shops that stocked a lot of Lionel. The closest was Leitner's Toy Store, which was a Lionel dealer and carried a tiny bit of Lionel. What I remember about Leitner's is that they sold replacement chemicals for the chemistry sets we all had back then. I'll bet about half those chemicals are now considered hazardous materials! I also remember that Leitner's was so old-school that even the kids who worked there after school had to wear neckties.
I grew up and still live in the area (heck, worked at the Two Guys in Morris Plains, my first job), grew up in 60's and 70's there. There used to be Rich's hobbytown, which originally was in Parsippany where the Holiday Inn is just before rt 46 and 80 cross, they had some Lionel (though were more scale trains and other hobbies). They later moved a bit west on Hook Mt Road in Montville (it was a repurposed church that later became Gametown arcade and then a restaurant, is an empty lot now).
The other place, that still exists, opened up in the early 70's, Mountain Lakes Train Station. It focused on Lionel, still does. It especially focused on post war stuff. Problem with it is that it is basically expensive, you will pay MSRP there (and when post war was at its peak, well...the prices there still look like that). Still nice to have a local place, and they do repairs.
And you recall well, Two Guys only carried trains around the Christmas holiday season, by Jan 1st it was all gone. Mostly sets, and maybe some holiday themed cars if I remember. I also remember talking to someone from the toy department (manager) about it (this was late 70s), basically said they knew the week after Christmas they would be taking back a ton of stuff that didn't work,he spent a lot of time testing engines and the like to see if it was in fact broken (MPC quality was, well, what it was), he had been there like 12 years and said it started being like that in the late 60s.
@bigkid posted:I grew up and still live in the area (heck, worked at the Two Guys in Morris Plains, my first job), grew up in 60's and 70's there. There used to be Rich's hobbytown, which originally was in Parsippany where the Holiday Inn is just before rt 46 and 80 cross, they had some Lionel (though were more scale trains and other hobbies). They later moved a bit west on Hook Mt Road in Montville (it was a repurposed church that later became Gametown arcade and then a restaurant, is an empty lot now).
The other place, that still exists, opened up in the early 70's, Mountain Lakes Train Station. It focused on Lionel, still does. It especially focused on post war stuff. Problem with it is that it is basically expensive, you will pay MSRP there (and when post war was at its peak, well...the prices there still look like that). Still nice to have a local place, and they do repairs.
And you recall well, Two Guys only carried trains around the Christmas holiday season, by Jan 1st it was all gone. Mostly sets, and maybe some holiday themed cars if I remember. I also remember talking to someone from the toy department (manager) about it (this was late 70s), basically said they knew the week after Christmas they would be taking back a ton of stuff that didn't work,he spent a lot of time testing engines and the like to see if it was in fact broken (MPC quality was, well, what it was), he had been there like 12 years and said it started being like that in the late 60s.
Ah, the memories. I can remember being in Rich's Hobbytown on Route 46 only once, in about 1965 or so. They had a pile of motorized units for sale for $4.95 each. I bought a ballast tamper, which I had never seen before but which impressed me as incredibly cool. As for the Train Station in Mountain Lakes, that was the store I wish had been around in the early '60s!
@Lou N posted:Hey Dave,
Thought you'd like this picture.
Lou N
OMG, Lou, you have NO idea how happy I am that you shared this photo! I have looked and looked for photos of Pappy Jaye’s and here out of the blue you share one! I will get an 8x10 print made immediately and it will be framed on my train room wall very soon. With pride.
Thank you SO MUCH for kindly posting this. It puts a huge smile on my face. Such an important part of my childhood in the 50s and 60s. 
@MTN posted:Your Flyer 4-8-4 for 3 rail operation wish can come true - Gilbert made 3 rail O gauge trains prior to WW2 which were built to 3/16ths scale proportions, and the UP 4-8-4 was one of their nicest pieces. They look especially nice pulling a string of Marx 3/16ths O gauge tin litho cars. Here's a 572 3 rail UP 4-8-4 in action:
I have my own O Gauge Flyer 4-8-4 that's under repair at Brad's Train Repair in either Chesterfield or Mt. Clemens, Michigan. I wonder how long that's taking since the engine and matching tender themselves are scarce.
I went to Jack Colliers Toys for Men growing up in San Francisco and Lees Trains in Oakland,always left drooling.Dad got the 1948 Berk and Madison Cars and then the GG1 in 49.
