HENNING’S TRAINS 75th Anniversary Party, THANK YOU ALL

Do you want us to email us our names, even if we are attending?

If you are attending you do not need to email your name. Thanks.

Just bring your credit card.

 

Being big Reading railroad fans we were happy to receive a few containers of "Famous READING Antracite" from Mr. Z's Black Diamonds ( zucalslgl@yahoo.com ) to give a way during our Anniversary party this Saturday.   

This is a nice little article that was recently run in our local newspaper along with a few added pictures of our history.

 

 

Start A New Family Tradition at Henning’s Trains

 

An American Tradition since 1900

 

          There are not a whole lot of names that scream out “American Tradition” like the name Lionel Trains does (except maybe Coca-Cola). Lionel has survived the test of time and continues to be an American Tradition since 1900. For many families the Lionel trains have been passed down through generations like a family heirloom, circling the base of a Christmas tree each holiday season or running through a village in a small world on plywood in a basement somewhere.

 

Since the 1900’s, the toy’s that meant Christmas to young boys and girls were the trains that circle under the Christmas trees. Even today, when most children have never been on a train, the toy still ranks among the 10 most asked for Christmas gifts.

More than just a Family Tradition

 

        Another great survivor of time is Henning’s Trains of Lansdale. Henning’s has been serving the model railroader since 1939, now celebrating their 75^th Anniversary. Henning’s Trains was started as a side business out of the home of self tinkerer Harry Henning Sr. as a toy train repair service. In the beginning it was just doing repairs to the toy trains that his wife Regina would bring home from the Woolworth & Co. store on Main Street in Lansdale where she enjoyed working in the toy department, in particularly during the busy Christmas season. During that time she had families bring their beloved Lionel toy trains back that needed some sort of service without anybody to do. So she thought her husband, who loved toy trains himself, would be able to help with the problem at hand. Soon Harry was doing all the train repairs for several stores and setting up a repair shop in his basement to take on anyone’s toy train needs.

 

        Harry & Regina had 2 daughters and 3 sons. Their oldest son Harry Jr. seemed to inherit his fathers love for the toy trains and helped his father with the side business. As a teenager Harry Jr. was ready to take things to the next level and convinced his parents to allow him to turn part of their garage, behind their Lansdale residence, into a hobby store. Before long he took over the whole garage. Soon, after starting a family of his own, Harry Jr. turned this little family side business into a full time career. As the store needed to expand he moved for a couple years to Hatfield and then for several years on Main Street in Lansdale. In 1985 he moved to its current location on Line Street in Lansdale and is helped part time by Harry III and full time by his son Bill whose children now help out making them the 4^th generation in the family business. 

 

 

        What started out as a side business by Lansdale resident Harry Henning Sr. before WWII repairing toy trains had turned into a lifelong career by his son Harry Henning Jr.  Henning’s is a long time authorized Lionel dealer and service center. They carry new & used Lionel toy trains and accessories from a basic starter set to everything needed to create your own railroad empire including a fine selection of books & videos.

 

        In the toy train collector world Henning’s is nationally known for its very extensive collection of repair parts for both old and new Lionel trains. In fact, Henning’s is also a licensed manufacturer of several old Lionel replacement parts molded and manufactured right here in Pennsylvania. They also have ‘Collector Color’, their own paint line with carefully matched colors to the originals used for restoring old toy trains and an exclusive on a line of high end tools designed specifically for toy train restoration work.

 

 

 

        In a time when many hobby shops have struggled Henning’s still succeeds.  Henning’s Trains has had a boost in recent years by moving onto the internet which helped to open their doors to the world. With their own web site www.henningstrains.com and their own Ebay store they now do as much business from the computer as they do in the store. But don’t worry, Harry says he “feels having a store with friendly employees where people can still pick up and handle a train before purchasing or being able to stop by to get one repaired is the most important part. You can’t get this service on a computer.”

 

 

 

Lionel Trains .  .  .  .  like a family heirloom

 

        If you haven’t visited Henning’s yet then by all means stop by. They are located on the corner of Penn & Line Streets in Lansdale, across from Memorial Park.  Just look for the model trains running outside in front of the store or the large train mural on the side of the building.

 

 

        Henning’s brings back great childhood memories while at the same time creating new ones. If your family doesn’t have a train then it is time to start a new tradition. And remember, No Christmas tree is complete without a train circling underneath.

 

 

 

128 S. Line St. Lansdale, PA 19446

215-362-2442  -  www.henningstrains.com

Fantastic story Bill!!  AND..WOW....I feel like it is my birthday with all of the great deals!  HAPPY 75TH and here is hoping for at least another 75 years!

 

Alan

That story really brought back memories of old main street! Thanks for sharing.

 

---Greg

I just wanted to thank you guys for the great time again, and congratulate you once more on 75 years in business. I had a great time today, and really got a kick out of the cake (even though it's horrible to think that we just cut up another Reading Crusader lol)

 

 

It even smoked!

 

 

 

HENNING’S TRAINS 75th Anniversary Party

Congratulation, best wishes for many more years.

Excellent store layout.

  Click photo to enlarge

The smoking cake was the pinnacle, that was pretty tricky.

 

Congratulations on 75 years of service to the model railroading community and to your store celebration.

Congratulations on your anniversary and let the family story continue 75 more!!!

Congratulations on 75 years, Best wishes for the future!                                                        

It is nice to see good and decent people succeed in their business.  Congratulations.

I had a great time today at the event! Good times with fellow forumites and I picked up a PRR round roof boxcar and pre ordered the MTH 44 tonner. 

It was great to hear stories about how the Henning's got started and it's a credit to them they've stayed in business for 75 years.  Congratulations!

I'd also like to thank the other businesses and individuals who donated door prizes. You are a credit to the hobby for supporting a competitor!

-Greg

Great story, fantastic looking cake. Congratulations on 75 years.

It was a good time for sure!  The cake was as tasty as it looked.  I even won a door prize!  The turnout was great for a cold, rainy, PA day.  Congrats to the Henning family!

It was a great time to see some fellow formites and the family of the Hennings train shop. 

 

Thanks for for all you guys do at the Hennings train store for the hobby and the local area.

Also  ordered 3 86' freight cars while I was there. Gotta have a few of them for the modular layout. 

 Last piece, went quick.

 

 

But, should have used the Super Chuffer to get the smoke airborne!

 

Was a great event and Joanne and I were proud to be able to help out on this special day!

 

Special thanks, to H3 for the to go package in aluminum foil!

It would be nice to post the door prise winner's and once again acknowledge the doners.  Who won?

 

 

I don't think Harry retained who all the winners were but I'll check.

 

We would like to give a big 'THANKS' to a few businesses for their generous donations for some of the prizes to be given away during our anniversary party.

• Brennan's Model Railroading
• Carmen Mauceri of Hobo Junction
• Famous READING Anthracite from Mr. Z's Black Diamonds
• GarGraves Trackage Corp
• JLM Trains, L.L.C. Restorations & Rubber Stamps
• JT's Mega-Steam
• Korber Models
• Weaver Models

Congratulations on a great 75th! Thank you for all of your help over the years. Wish I could have been there.

 

Bob