LHS, Ed's Train Shop Lewistown, PA closing due to robbery

Thanks for sharing this story. What a shame. I hope they had insurance and consider reopening. I believe that there is much to be said about a 'brick-and-mortar' store.

 

Frank

That is very sad news.  I am pretty sure the owner(s) were working very hard to make a go off their business and then some low life steals from them.

 

I hope the police find the robbers and the merchandise but more so I hope the owners can recover from this and continue on with their business.

 

Ed

What a shame.

 

Richie

That is sad news. I never got to Ed's shop. I wish him the best.

That's terrible to hear. I really hope they catch the thief.

-Greg

Very disappointing story about your LHS. Hate to see this happen..........

Thanks for sharing this story.

That is down right sad and disgusting.

 

Can the owner get a list published of the items taken so folks can keep an eye out on the auction sites?

That sucks, how does a place get cleaned out like htat when so near to owners place. Also where does the stuff get sold?

 

I had a great local (near Pittsburgh) parts guy that was robbed then closed up shop. Log Cabin, sure miss him.

This is very sad to hear. I hope the best for the owners of the store. They seem like really nice people. To put it mildly thieves really stink. I hope someday they can re-open.

Toy Craft, a well-known hobby shop here in Norfolk, closed in 1988 after Mrs. Helene Plante, the owner, was robbed in broad daylight and tied up in the shop. No inventory taken, just money. She and her late husband Albert originally opened the shop around 1947. After the robbery she lost interest and didn't feel safe working anymore so she sold the inventory to Ralph Bobbitt who re-opened it in his TV repair shop. Now Ralph has retired so that's one less brick-and-mortar shop. I hate thieves, especially those who terrorize elderly people while committing their crimes.  

What a shame.

This is terrible, my brother and I frequented Ed's several times.  Ed is a very helpful and great to deal with.  Hopefully he will give us a list so we all can be on the lookout.  Jim

Jerry, I remember that.  Mrs. Plante was a very nice lady, Albert had a dry sense of humor to be sure, but he was as helpful as any LHS owners I've come across.  My wife and Mrs. Plante used to talk while I was looking around.

 

What happened to the stuff Ralph had in the store?  I used to pop in there about once/month after I got off work at the Naval Base.

  Ed Forsythe, Jr  runs a nice hobby/train shop and repair center in an area that has little in the way of trains . Ed's train repair and sales was the only train store in Lewistown and the only one that I know of in the Lewistown/State College area.  We shopped in his store several years back. The shop had quite a nice selection of stuff and an operating layout in the rear. I remember Ed as a very courteous, cordial and helpful guy. It is insulting to this hobby when we hear of a nice guy like Ed robbed.  Another train store closed by criminals.

At the last Allentown show there was an announcement that trains had been stolen from the Town and County Hobbies table. Point is that while 99% of train hobbyists are honest good folks, some bag eggs are even in this hobby. Its sad!

This world is going downhill very fast.

No values and no morals.

Very very sad.

Makes my blood boil!

I agree, we can all help by monitoring ebay if he can provide a list.

We model railroaders and dealers must stick together!

It's terrible that people rip off others. But to rip off a model train shop? I'm not sure if these guys were thinking or not, because how do you unload stolen model trains?

I hate to see anybody get ripped off, and hope the criminals get caught and sentenced to jail time.

 

On another note my local hobby shop owner(on Lantana Rd. WPB FL) had hurricane impact grade windows installed a few years ago and about 5 months later somebody tried to ram into his store but the window stopped their car. 

 

Lee Fritz

If you think things are bad now wait a few months and it will get much worse before it ever gets better. I look forward to when things will be better someday.

 

Lee Fritz

Gentlemen,

   Usually this kind of break in happens when the owners are not home, and usually it's a customer or somebody the owner knows.  I hope ED had insurance and that law enforcement in that area apprehends these low life thieves.  In reality this is a very dangerous situation, once these low life's start getting away with this house breaking  operation, it usually happens more than once. 

PCRR/Dave

If Ed can publish a list, we all can keep an eye out for someone trying to sell the inventory that normally doesn't sell trains in the PA area.  Its a long shot, but you never know.

 

I also hope he had insurance and can restock and continue on.

 

Pawn shops have to register items they buy against police lists in case of theft, so that avenue may be covered.  That may also produce some leads.

 

 

What is happening in a few months?  Simply look around us.  Very little to no consequence for illegal behavior.  Just look at recent wrongdoing, IRS, govt email being sent on private servers, Ferguson rioting, illegal immigration...who is being held accountable?  The distinct line between right and wrong is so fluid now that many have no problem ripping someone off.

Sounds like a burglary not a robbery. Hope Ed gets some of his inventory back.

Steamer, I lived very near to Log Cabin.  That was in the North Hills, off Camp Horne Road, if I recall correctly.  I remember that.  The robbery finished his shop.

 

George

This is a real tragedy.

 

I, too, would like to understand how these hot trains get fenced.

 

George

you're correct. I only got to go there once, usually did mail order. great place. Someone is steeling a lot of trains. This and Kruger St Museum, should be something showing up for sale somewhere.

you know, if one can't afford a camera security system, at least get some GAME cameras [ long range & night vision with no light needed] up and around. They are just as effective as well as less costly!

Oh nooooo! Ed is a quality repairman and I loved his shop! This stinks! I just learned last week that Sarver True Value Hardware was also broken into and robbed of ONLY the trains Mike sold! Mostly sets...MTH and Lionel....and stuff in the display case! I just wonder how these rimjobs get their loot sold? This really frosts my keister! Disgusting!

If we had a list we could watch for them on eBay.

Ed is a very kind gentlemen and I enjoyed visiting his store in my travels.

Eds store is a small house adjacent to his own home - in a small town that doesn't even have a stop sign and is miles from the nearest main road (Rt 322). If you didn't know Ed's store was there you'd drive past it.

I would venture to say that these persons knew his store well. Ed had a lot postwar items in his attic that was not on the showroom floor.

Think about the recent burglary in Wheeling too - these 2 stores are not all that far apart and I have a hard time accepting this as coincidence, but maybe it is.

As I recall, some of the more unique items at Ed's store were O gauge Penn State boxcars and tank cars. I too hope that a list is posted of what was stolen and these scumsuckers get caught and what they deserve.

This is really lousy news.  I stopped at Ed's every summer when we were back in Lewistown to see family.  I have several engines, a number of cars, buildings and other accessories I've bought from Ed over the years.  I can recollect one time I wasn't sure a particular MTH engine I wanted (a Dreyfus Hudson) would operate through 0-27 switches and Ed took several switches out of the boxes, connected some track and a transformer and we tested the engine through the switches right there on the floor of his shop.

Ed is a real gentleman.  He would open the store for me if I couldn't make it by during regular business hours and even invited my youngest son and I to his local model railroad club to run trains one time we were up there.

Lewistown definitely isn't like it was when I was growing up but, I hadn't realized things had reached this point.

Curt

Ed, should contact all train dealers within 100 mile radius of his store and provide them with a list of Items stolen. Isn't it about time for the Altoona train show. Might be a good place to look for his items. Homer City, is a lot smaller then Lewistown. Last week, some man walked into the S&T bank here in town and robbed it. 

Sad news for sure.  I was able to visit Ed's shop a couple of times over the past few years when attending a nearby swim meet.  Ed & his wife were very nice people.  It was my understanding that Ed was also active with the local Mifflin County train club in nearby Lewistown.  I hope that they are able to provide the authorities and hobby community with a listing of stolen items.  As others mentioned it would be hard to find a place nearby to unload model trains for money.  Keep eyes open on ebay, craigslist and the local flea market.  I was told that the Altoona/Blair County train show is the last weekend of March.  Most robbers aren't the brightest and likely not patient.

 

Unlike the growing and somewhat organized smash & grab type thefts that have occurred nationally at jewelry and high end clothing stores, if I had to guess, this was likely committed by someone local who will likely have a tough time getting it fenced or sold for quick cash.  Ed's location is mainly rural and easy to pass in the car if not paying attention.

 

As for those saying that times are getting worse, I may have agreed a while back, but somewhat sadly now think that this type of behavior is a fact of life - past, present and future.  Stealing has been around since the beginning of recorded history and the ebbs and flows of bad human behavior will continue.  To borrow a line from the Billy Joel song "Keeping the Faith"

"Cause the good ole days weren't always good.  And the tomorrow aint as bad as it seems"

 

I hope that Ed and his family are able to recover from this personal violation.

Well Chris, It takes TRAIN JERKS to rip off a train store. I would look at various sellers at the upcoming York meet. It hurts me deeply to say that in all my years in the hobby the past fifteen are proving to be the worst. Morals and Ethics are two words that very few people know the meanings. Even among the sellers at York there are those who push the limits. I don't care if they are TCA members.  

This is pretty low and mean through the bottom of the trashcan.I hope who ever did this gets caught.Here we have a man trying to make a go of it.And some low life dose this.

What a sad thing to have happen...bunch of scumbags. 

I remember about a year ago, seeing some brand new Lionel separate sale traditional rolling stock cars on eBay at an incredibly low "buy it now" price. They'd already sold of course. My first reaction was, "Ah man, I would have bought those at that price!" 

 

But then I got to wondering, these cars are not blowouts. And I know the wholesale margins... these cars were priced well below wholesale. Who can get these trains so cheaply to sell them below cost?

 

Hmmmm, now I have an idea.

 

So a thought for all of us: Yes, we all like getting our trains as cheaply as possible. But if something is brand new from a recent catalog - and you haven't seen it for sale from the major Lionel/MTH dealers as a blowout - then MAYBE something is wrong.

 

Both Lionel and MTH have dealer networks. It's not as easy for novice train sellers to get brand new recently released items, and then somehow to sell them below wholesale?

 

That doesn't mean we can outright accuse a seller of being a thief. But as a couple others above have pointed out, if you see someone selling a lot of recently released trains at rock bottom prices... someone who doesn't normally sell trains... that should raise a red flag.

 

It's one thing to see a bonafide train guy selling something new that he decided he doesn't like, and has priced it to sell. It's another to see someone unloading what appears to be an entire inventory of brand new trains, at rock bottom prices.

 

Without any of us becoming a self-appointed militia, maybe we can just keep an open eye during our normal train hunting. Many of us already know of some tell tale signs, like someone totally unknowledgable about trains who can't even answer a basic question, or someone who gets nervous or evasive when you ask "how can you sell this at such a low price."

 

Most of us are well aware of train items that are being blownout. If the big dealers have the trains at blowout prices, then it's a blowout. If the big dealers still have the items at normal street prices, something is amiss. Or as already mentioned, someone you've never seen before selling trains, who now all of a sudden is selling a lot of brand new recently released items.

 

And just bear in mind the old adage, if something is priced too low to be true, maybe it really isn't legit.

Guys and Gals....

 

I just talked to Ed and he asked that I let you all know that he is repairing the shop and going through the insurance process.  He and I discussed the posts here and agreed that while he greatly appreciates your well wishes, he prefers us to close the thread so that any speculation during the investigation and insurance processes is not tainted.  In addition, he has not made any formal decision to close and is still taking orders via his phone.  Ed is a member here on the forum and he has told me that he will give us an update sometime later.... meantime he wants me to thank all of you for your concern.

 

Alan