IN MEMORIAM - LOU CAPONI

I only met Lou once, at York. What a character!

When the Good Lord made Louie, he threw away the mold. He was truly one-of-a-kind.

I didn't know that Lou passed - he was a very talented individual.

My condolences to his family and friends.

First Neil, then Jim and now Lou - 2020 has got to get better!

Louie was a real bird. At York one time he had a car for sale at something around $35. Some guy offered him something like $15. Louie threw the car on the floor, stepped on it and crushed it and said "okay - $15".

@Lionelski posted:

I didn't know that Lou passed - he was a very talented individual.

My condolences to his family and friends.

First Neil, then Jim and now Lou - 2020 has got to get better!

Lou passed in 2013. Doesn't seem that long ago.

How many were at York  when Louie had the girls dressed in cutoff bib overalls swinging around passing out his booth location cards and coupons? 

No matter how he struck you, the fact is that, in his actions, he had a heart of gold.  There are many stories that were shared on this forum (including one from Mike Wolf) shortly after he passed away that attested to his kindness, generosity, and character.

Lou was one of a kind in a very good way. Helped many people in and out of the hobby and never told anyone about these good deeds.

Among many other things, Lou was a very creative Lionel/LCCA product planner. A lot of us still enjoy the end products of his handiwork.

Lou also had a temper, which he kept under control in most cases. However, I was privileged to witness one of his more magnificent blow ups. ( I had tables near his)  Lou had a nice set of Prewar metal skaters and skiers on his table at what I thought was a reasonable price. A fellow came by and offered him a very low ball price for them.  Lou politely refused.  So far well and good, except the guy came by at least six or seven more times with the same offer! Near the end of the show, he came by again with the same  offer, this time with a much different result.  Lou reached over, took a hammer and bashed the figures to bits. "Now you can have them  for that price" , he said. Word quickly went around the show about what had happened and a golden hammer was made to properly mark the event.

I gathered up the pieces, had them photographed and they became a Collector's Gallery. Felt it was the least I could do

One of many Lou Capone stories. I bet there are lots more we could put in here as part of his memorial to celebrate his memory.

Ed Boyle

Lou was a great guy   Had alot of fun with him

@MartyE posted:

Lou passed in 2013. Doesn't seem that long ago.

I knew that at one time but I guess I forgot, Marty. Maybe my subconscious wanted me to forget.

Time flies real fast. Lou was one of the good ones

@hold*on posted:

How many were at York  when Louie had the girls dressed in cutoff bib overalls swinging around passing out his booth location cards and coupons? 

Now THIS would have been a good argument for allowing cameras at York!

Possibly some of you can recall the roster of Lou's planned and designed LCCA special products. Wasn't one of them the Halloween General? Also, I think some tinplate?

You are right about the Halloween General and the tinplate projects, but there were many more LCCA and Lionel items that were produced over the years.  I would love it if someone would play historian on this...it would run to a significant amount of great  material. Lou was prolific as well as creative when it came to product train design and making good things happen.

Ed Boyle

Lou made the LCCA rock with his ideas and creations.  He did 2 tinplate sets in O gauge.  One was a NYC 5 car passenger set and also a streamliner.  They quickly sold out.  He did a few other items and had some interesting plans going before he passed.

I would see and talk to Lou at the train shows and met him at York.  He was truly a personality.

Norm

Lou was a good friend. When you had a problem, or needed to know something Lou was the go too guy for many  of us.

Rest in peace buddy.

Lou was a no nonsense person whose common sense was hard to dismiss.  If he advised an individual or a company to consider a plan of action it would be their loss not to take it to heart.  There is at least one top heavy company who frequently shot them selves in their feet disregarding his counsel.

Another thing I noticed about Lou was if he was somewhat unsure of something he was up front and inquired for better understanding.

If you were close to Lou you could trust that he would protect your back.  Just an all around great guy.

Being somewhat familiar I can say one of the words that would describe the Caponi family above all else is "Kind".

After MTH stepped out of two rail early on Lou went out of his way for us by encouraging MTH to get back into two rail production.  Which of course they did.   Again,  Thank you Louie!

Forgive me if wrong. Did he go By "loco louie" at train shows? bought first PS1 set from him.

I have one of Lou's LCCA tinplate sets, the Lakeshore Limited. Lou and MTH did a great job on it. I recall the correspondence I received from him and LCCA was just ripe with enthusiasm. We don't see that so much anymore.

Peace brother.

PD

All the operating accessories he and Lionel & LCCA were collaborating on would have been really neat. He had some really neat ideas. The postwar Alco set reruns and General set are very nice. Too bad all those accessories never made it to production after Lou passed.

Hmmm... I wonder what Lou loved more... Toy Trains or racing his 1970 big block Chevelle at Maple Grove Dragway.  I think Chris Ganse (Nicholas Smith Trains) built his motor at Chris's other business,  K+G Speed Associates in Broomall PA. 

Lou was my Great Friend and an Icon in the Train industry.

Oh if you want to see the Gold Hammer come by our Booth at York  and I can show you how it works.

if we ever get there again.

SAL GAMBINO/PRESIDENT ELECT LCCA

DohertyNJ,

Yes, Lou went by Loco Louie. I bought quite a few cars from him over the years when he was in the old Yellow Hall at York. BTW, Mario Evangelista (gg1man) would help out at his booth at York; that's where I first met Mario.

I'm glad someone got this thread going again. It's good to think again about some of the folks we've lost. I can't believe he's been gone since 2013!

Stay well, everyone. Hopefully we'll have a York in the spring.

Chris

Lou designed many products for the LCCA , not to mention Lionel, MTH and many other special item runs through out our hobby. He also was the first to lease Amtrak special excursion runs for the LCCA. He put together the Big Boy run out of Vegas for one of the clubs conventions. He also served as club president a number of years.

He truly gave a lot of himself in many ways. RIP Buddy.