The Passing of Joseph A. Grzyboski, Jr.......

Very sorry to hear this. 

I did not know him very well on a personal level, but saw him regularly and bought items from his booth at many local Southeast PA train shows over the last 20 years.

Condolences to his family and friends.

-Dave

My condolences to the Grzyboski family.

Sad to hear. God bless to his family and friends. He founded a great shop! 

This is very sad news.  I have done business with his store in the past and have no complaints, always treated me decently. My sincerest condolences to his family and friends.

My condolences to his family, that's sad news.  I've dealt with Joe a number of times, he certainly went before his time.

Very sad. I always enjoyed seeing him at York. What a nice man. 

My Condolences to the Grzybowski family. He is a loss to many in our hobby. A pleasant man to do business with.

Very good guy who really knew how to run his business. RIP Joe.

Very sad news. I’ve been buying trains from Joe for over 20 years... Joe was always cordial and helpful, even when he was accusing me of being a New York Central guy  (In fairness, I kind of am)

My sincere condolences to Theresa and the family.

Wow, a shocker. A great businessman with one of the best train stores in the country. I would always stop by his booth (usually one of my first stops) at York to check out his "York Specials."  Always came away a satisfied customer.

R.I.P

URRGGG!

May God bless his soul and his family.

My condolences to the family...great train shop and nice guy to deal with...he will be missed.

A true gentleman, always was an asset to this hobby, one of the good guys, rest in peace.

Sad news.  He was a conscientious retailer, and a scrupulously honest man.  My dealings with him were always positive.  Though I never met him in person, I will feel his loss.

My condolences to the family.  I had bought a few items via the internet but my cousin and I decided to stop by after visiting Steamtown.  We were the only customers there in the middle of the afternoon.  Joe walked all around the store with us talking trains.  We were there for about two hours and didn’t leave empty handed.  On our way home we both commented on what really nice guy we had met.

He will be missed.

I do want to add my condolences to the Grzybowski family, sad to lose nice people. May God bless and comfort his family.

Ray

Very sad.  My condolences to his family.

Marty

Sincere condolences from all on the O Gauge Railroading staff. Very sorry to learn of Joe's passing. He truly was one of the long-established figures in the hobby and will be remembered as a fine man to do business with.

Very sad. My condolences to his family. Always a pleasure to deal with. 

Gerry 

My first encounter with Joe was in the mid-1980's when I bought a Lionel 8615 switching loco and the valve gears on both sides were not in sync. Joe disassembled the valve gears on the counter and played with them to get them to work properly. Still have the loco and no issues since.

My condolences to the family.

Joe was a top notch train shop owner. I'm sure he will be missed by all his customers. My sincere condolences to his family. 

Had the priveledge of meeting Joeat a couple of YOrks where I always left feeling great with my new purchases and the chit chat.  He and his family are superb people and he surely leaves a void that cannot be filled.

My condolences to his family.

Ed

I am in shock! Joe always treated me fair and even though he was a 2 hour drive away I considered him my go to train guy. My wife,  my girls and I would like to send our condolences to Joe's wife, Theresa, and their family. I will always think of Joe when I run the trains I have purchased from him.

This is another one of those losses that is hard to face in this community. As echoed by Allan, Joe was a long established figure in the hobby. Admittedly, I am closer with his other Son, Joe III who is outstanding to work with as I have in various ventures over the last few years. 

My first memory of Joe Jr. was back in 2001 at the Lionel factory auction in Michigan. I was 15 at the time and on a pretty limited budget. I sat back for two days and watched Joe buy pallet after pallet of Lionel Trains. In my eyes, his wallet was bottomless. The one thing I really wanted was a set of Norfolk and Western aluminum passenger cars to go with my Warhorse J. A lot of them came up and I bid and bid until I was the last one standing. Turns out in my excitement I has actually won a lot of Pullman baby Madison passenger cars, not the N&W which were now on the auction block. I had just spent the last of my money and I was sick about it. Joe won the cars and I assumed that was the end of it.

Later in the day, my Dad prompted me ask Joe Jr. if he would trade his N&W cars for my baby Madison cars. Looking back in was a really lopsided trade in my favor. Joe just looked at me and said sure no problem, let's go make it happen and just like that I had my passenger cars. Little did I know at the time I would go on to work with him on multiple other projects about ten years later, but in that moment in my mind he was a solid guy. 

I still have those passenger cars on display in my basement and I still recall this story nearly every time I look at them. Joe will be sorely missed, but I take comfort in the fact that the store is in good hands with his family. 

May all your signals be green Joe. Until I see you next time my friend. 

Wow! So sorry to see this. My condolences to the family. I first met Joe back when the Allentown Train Meet first got started in the early 1980s. He was a staple at the First Frost and Spring Thaw shows for years. Sorry to see him pass.

Chris

LVHR

Very sad news, really sorry to hear this.  Our community just lost one of its pillars.  Always liked visiting his store, and browsing his merchandise at the meets.  Condolences to his family.  

Sad news indeed. I'll keep Joe  and his family in my prayers. 

May he rest in peace and may Light Perpetual shine upon him.

Fr. Earl 

Prayers up.

I add my sincere sympathy on the loss of this good man. I met him several times and purchased literally hundreds of things from his store over the past thirty plus years with never a problem. Never. Remarkable service. 

May God bless the Grzyboski family  during this difficult time.

Such terrible news and at such a young age. Condolances and prayers to Joe's family. He and his shop were a fixture at York and Allentown. May God bless his journey.

Sad news - don't know what to say

I have some things on my layout from Gryzboski's.  As I recall it, the service was quick and accurate.  He leaves behind a legacy of goodwill.  Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.

I was stunned to hear the news. Joe was one of the giants in this business.  What I most admired him for was not his hobby acumen, but the fact that his family always came first.

May his family get through this trying time. May God bless a good man who was called home so early.

Sadly

Ed Boyle

My sincere condolences to the Grzyboski family.

My eldest son’s first train set was ordered from Grzyboski‘s in 2005. It’s the reason we got into 3 rail O gauge. 

Nick H

Cannot say enough good things about this man and his business! I received many fine products at a fair price! Joe will be missed!

Sad news.  He was a conscientious retailer, and a scrupulously honest man.  My dealings with him were always positive. 

Same here! At Amherst, Allentown, Greenberg in New Jersey, LOTS convention in 2000 and at his store in Scranton! My deepest sympathy for his family! May they live on with his honest business practices.

Through the years I had many dealings with Joe Grzyboski starting in the late 70's . Joe was always helpful in that he always went out of his way to sell me the set only rolling stock singly and his prices were always good..  When I would see him at the shows I would ask, "do you know where I could get this piece" and most of the time he replied "its over here" . We would often talk about trains and Joe's knowledge was impressive. When the buying was hot and heavy on this end he always came through.  Joe was a pillar in this hobby and a giant in the industry. He's going to be missed. My heart goes out to the Grzyboski family with prayers for Joe. He was a good and decent man.

I’ve bought many things from Joe at Springfield and York. Condolences to his family.