Hi Rob,

 

Thanks for posting a very interesting video, I enjoyed it.

 

Alex

He has a amazing collection. The video only shows a very small portion of what he has. His PW collection may be the best in the country. Plus he is a really nice guy.

 

 

 

I had at one time a VHS tape of layouts that also showcased Ed's layouts. It was from the early 1990's. David is right, that's just a small portion.

Amazing collection.

This is indeed, a fantastic collection of trains and dealer displays, and as david1 has stated, Ed is a super nice guy.   Ed's knowledge of Lionel dealer displays is truly profound, so I hesitate to correct him, but the 8' x 8' dealer display shown in the video is a D-165 from 1956, not 1954, as stated.  You will note that the 465 Piggy Back set features prominantly, the first time a hand-operated accessory was featured on a 8' X 8' layout.  Interestingly, a review of the accessories on this layout from 1956 (the Lionel instruction sheet D-165-9 is dated 8/56) features accessories newly produced in 1955.  This is typical, as the development cycle of these layouts was begun after the Christmas rush the previous year, with the prototype mock-ups and photographs for the advance/dealer catalogs being completed by February of the product year (in this case 1956) for Toy Fair in New York City, so it was generally not possible to include the latest and greatest from the given product year.  The displays generally lag behind by one year.  There are exceptions, of course.

Rob,

Thanks for posting !

When he was on the golf course his bag had a sign on it.
"WANTED - LIONEL TRAINS"

I remember him from his golf career, but was unaware of his love of Lionel trains. Enjoyed the video.

I was also questioning his characterization of the Storytown layout built by Lionel.  I was at Storytown at least once in the late 60's and was not aware there was ever a model train display there.

The layout for many years was displayed in the lower station in the storytown area of the park, it was later moved to the building by the entrance. It showcased many of the Plasticville buildings built based on the Storytown park. All collectibles!

So, is this the layout?  It doesn't have any Plasticville on it.

He sets up outside at the Holiday Inn every York. He is a retired PGA golfer. I have known him a long time.

 

I will definitely stop by next April to see his stuff!

 

It was a great video.

 

Dave

Ed bought the entire collection of Boyd Mason's Lionel trains who owned The Hazlet Train Stop in Hazlet, New Jersey many years ago. Boyd had a museum in his store plus an enormous layout.

The Storytown layout was the subject of an article that appeared in CTT's "Electrifying Toy Trains", their 2007 annual special magazine.  The article detailed the history of the layout including how it was ordered from Lionel for the (then) princely sum of $450! (imagine having Lionel build something like that today for that price!!).  The layout was built in May of 1955 and, typical of display layouts, featured accessories from the previous year.  In this case, almost every accessory catalogued in 1954 was present.  The layout consisted of four 4' X 8' sections for a total area of 8' X 16'.  Since the layout was to be a permanent display, Lionel used celastic (a sort of course cloth impregnated with celulose acetate and meant to be activated with acetone that was used in the theater arts and shoe business) for the mountains instead of the usual fish glue impregnated felt that was used on most displays, which has helped to maintain the integrity of the display almost 60 years later (Lionel used celastic for their showroom displays in 1949 and 1958 also, as well as the famous layouts for PAL in Rochester, NY).  Two ZW's powered the layout, mounted on a large sloping control panel at one end of the layout.  Joe Tornabene, the Vermont auto dealership magnate, purchased the layout at auction when it was decided to close the display at Storytown, then known as "Great Adventure".  The park still exists today under that name, owned by Six Flags, although it does not have any toy train displays to my knowledge.  Interestingly, Ed states in the video that he bought the layout in 2008, just after the layout feature in the CTT annual.  I suppose the article acted as a "catalog" for Ed - he had to have the largest factory display layout Lionel ever built for his collection! Couldn't have ended up with a nicer guy and it certainly complements the other amazing stuff he owns.  The D-165 8' X 8' layout in the video appears to be the one formerly owned by Dick Kuhn that was displayed at his Carrail exhibit.

Rob,

 

That flyer brought back memories. Thanks.

awesome collection. thanks for posting

Classic Toy Trains had two articles about Ed and his collection and the display layouts.

June 1989 and January 1993.

 

Neal Jeter

Did the lady say "Ed Dougherty of Boothwyn, PA"? 

Bill