Madison Hardware!! I grew up in New York
I lived in Cincinnati and lived at Davis Trains, Joe Davis was a great guy. Steve Rider his repair guy was a friend of mine but I have lost touch with him over the years. He fixed alot of my trains. I also first met Jim Barrett at Davis Trains. There was also a shop in Hyde Park section of Cincinnati called Garden Trains, It was a high end store,lasted about 5 years
@Cincytrains posted:There was also a shop in Hyde Park section of Cincinnati called Garden Trains, It was a high end store,lasted about 5 years
I visited that shop back when the National Garden Railway Convention was held in the Cincinnati area some years ago (I can't recall exactly when). That was one of the beautiful train shops (any scale) that I have ever seen. Truly spectacular! Of course, the pricing was also very high end so I didn't make any purchases, but the visit was sure a memorable one.
@jjames9641 posted:Let's not forget Big Mike from Train America in Canfield, Ohio I am sure a few of you on here know who I am talking about!!
Most definitely! Big Mike is a close friend and has been for years. The shop(s) he had were located just a few miles from where I now live. We still stay in touch (his current location in NC is just a 20-minute hop from my sister's place outside Charlotte).
Island Trains was a great store, and Henry was very personable. I believe he now does internet sales only.
Train America in Canfield, as others have mentioned. The big layout (I think it was 3 levels?) really inspired me as a kid. That was at what I assume was the original location. I wish someone had photos of it!
Amer's was awesome too! My grandpa took me in there as a youngster. I talked to a guy while I was an engineering intern at the foundry in Hubbard. I think it was Howard, given his age. Anyway, we talked for almost an hour about working in the mill. He worked at Wean United if I remember correctly. I really appreciated that. He gave me plenty of encouragement. Great guy, great shop!!
Anybody in Youngstown area remember Brothers Trains? I'm not exactly sure where it was. I think it was on Market st either my New York Music or headed out towards North Lima. I was only there one or two times. They focused more on MTH if I remember right.
Then of course there's Mercer Junction. I miss the heck out of that place!
Frank Hare's IRON HORSE near Pittsburgh was a great store, and Frank was a good friend, may he rest in peace.
Does anyone remember or dealings with Doug Dubay- Doug's Trains in Iowa, Stan Orr in New York, Al Cox in Washington/Oregon area, can't remember which state?
Another store I should have mentioned but forgot was John Wanamaker Department Store at 13th & Market (Now Macys) had a very nice train department (all year) in the toy department back when department stores had employees that knew what they were selling. A young lady named Shauna usually was working there and she knew a lot about electric trains.
I loved going to Long Island Train & Hobby in Mineola, NY when I was a kid. A great, old school train shop. Boxes everywhere, trains on display, and that back room with best of the LTI offerings of the late 80’s and the 90’s! Very little left on LI these days.
I went to Train Express multiple times in Indy as I lived within a 45 minute drive. They changed locations but no matter where they were, I always went. I always wondered about Harry after the closing. He had worked there since he was a kid. He was highly knowledgeable. Helpful and just a really good guy. I miss those days.
We are blessed and fortunate to have Stephen Nelson (Mr. Muffins Trains) in Atlanta, Indiana. It is an hour from home but a HUGE blessing to have an exclusive O scale shop within striking distance.
Interesting to see there's a few of us who got back into the hobby through Train Express. I too did make my first new purchases from them in the early 90s when I returned. My "local" (a 40 minute drive) hobby shops were in the Detroit area and included Wild Bill's and P&D. Both are closed, but P&D still has an online store, at least. While I'm glad I can still order parts from them, it's certainly not the same as in store browsing.
Rob
I once had the pleasure of manning the old Train America store, the one that sat way back of off Boardman-Canfield Rd. Mike was out of town on business for a few days. Man was I in hog heaven!!!! Great times to remember... New trains to look at and f course operate the big layout!
Amer's was an awesome shop, started shopping there about in the mid 80's, just a classic hobby shop and great guys as Rich mentioned above.
Brother's Trains, was always loaded with MTH, spent the rent money there more than once, LOL. BillYo414, if I remember correctly, they were on route 7 heading towards North Lima on the west side of the road. They also had moved once to a smaller location further North on route 7 but on the East side of the road this time, I don't think they were in business much longer after that. Great guys to deal with.
The list can just keep on going, there were a lot of dealers near me from Cleveland to Youngstown to Pittsburgh. Man were those great days!!!
Anyone remember The Train House in Warren, Ohio on Mahoning Ave. They use to sell Lionel from there basement I was my understanding they started selling Lionel in the 50's. My late father's 2056 freight set was bought there by my grandparents in 1952. That is the set that created the monster in me today!!! I still have it, of course.
On the Train Express, I ordered a lot of trains from Larry. It was always a pleasure dealing with them another class act!!!
If we only had the ability to travel through time and visit ALL of the hobby shops that once were!!! Imagine the fun.
Jeff
I forgot one. Does anyone remember Ted Darett? I don't know if I spelled his last name right. Ordered train stuff from him years ago.
Jim's Train Shop in Austintown, Ohio. Been there a few times. Nice guy, had a lot of used postwar and drawers of junk Lionel pieces.
"Emil and Eds" Joliet IL. Mostly a repair place. Went down in late 70s I think,
@Lenny the Lion posted:Jim's Train Shop in Austintown, Ohio. Been there a few times. Nice guy, had a lot of used postwar and drawers of junk Lionel pieces.
Lenny what years was that? Do you know Jims's last name? Sam from the area was in the Austintown school system.
Ron
@PRRronbh posted:Lenny what years was that? Do you know Jims's last name? Sam from the area was in the Austintown school system.
Ron
Didn't know his last name. I'd like to say it was in the early to mid 90's. I believe it was in a plaza on Boardman-Canfield Rd. if I'm not mistaken. My travels used to take out to the Youngstown area each week. That's pretty much it.
As a young kid in the 50s and early 60s, I used to go to the Monroe Toy Shop on Monroe Ave near Goodman Street in Rochester, NY.
It was near my grandmother’s house, where I went for lunch (from school) every Thursday for many years.
They had one of the Lionel dealer display layouts and lots of orange boxes to check out.
Great memories!
The closing of Brasseurs' Electric Trains in Saginaw, MI this past September (2023) is a serious loss.
Bob.
M.B. Klein in Baltimore. When I was in graduate school in Baltimore in the early 1970s, I used to stop by M.B. Klein to look at the O-scale models on display, and I often visited the B&O Museum downtown, which had an O-scale layout on display.
While not exactly like going to a "store," it was also a treat to visit Bill Wolfer at his garage in Philadelphia, where he had shelves of O-scale equipment for sale (including his O-scale PRR electric locomotives).
I also ordered stuff from Train Express in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I never met the folks in person but had great customer service from them.
The 2 train stores I miss the most are The Hazlet Train Stop which was on Hazlet, NJ and The Big Little Railroad Shop in Somerville, NJ. I went to the Hazlet Train Stop many times when I first got back in the hobby in the late 1990s and early 2000s. What A great store and great museum. Unfortunately, once Boyd Mason passed away that spelled doom for the store. I wonder what his opinion would be of all the innovative products that came out since he left us?
Years later I spent many a fun afternoon hanging out at the Big Little Railroad Shop talking trains with the owner. She wanted to retire and I can't blame her so that ended that store.
M&G Hobbies in Delran did not have a long run. However, the store opened shortly after I got into trains, and quickly became my go-to spot for trains and advice. From what I remember, George, the owner, had been a long time employee of Ted’s Engine House in Pennsauken, NJ. M&G did not survive the downturn in the 2000’s.
George had been working at a store near my home, but he passed away last week.
@colorado hirailer posted:…… a store with trains was the florist and trains south? of Lancaster in Pa., that burned.
Frey’s Evergreen Plantation and Trainworld in Willow Street, Pa., just south of the city of Lancaster. It burned down in 2004 from faulty ballast in a light fixture in the train sales room. They lost over $900,000 in trains, shrubs and decorations but their tens of thousands live Christmas trees were untouched. They did rebuild but I don’t know if they are still selling trains. After the fire I noticed that the gentleman that ran the train department had tables in the Orange Hall at the York Meet and also worked in one of the gift shop buildings at the Strasburg Railroad.
In the early 1990s I bought a Frey’s Evergreen Plantation Williams custom painted box car from them. They also did a Williams custom Notre Dame Fighting Irish reefer a few years later that I also bought. I wonder how much custom work Williams did in their heyday. I don’t recall ever seeing anything else by them.
@Scrambler81 posted:M&G Hobbies in Delran did not have a long run. However, the store opened shortly after I got into trains, and quickly became my go-to spot for trains and advice. From what I remember, George, the owner, had been a long time employee of Ted’s Engine House in Pennsauken, NJ. M&G did not survive the downturn in the 2000’s.
George had been working at a store near my home, but he passed away last week.
I am sorry to hear of George's passing. I remember him quite well at Ted's in Pennsauken and purchased several pieces from him, most notably Lionel's Fallen Flags 4 Western Maryland freight set headed up by a NW2 Switcher in 1989. I still have that entire set and it operates very well. After Ted's closed George worked part time at Antique Trains in Turnersville, N.J. for Rich Bimmer and then went on to open M&G Hobbies in Delran, New Jersey. I only visited M&G on one occasion. George was a nice soft spoken guy and he was extremely knowledgable about Lionel Trains.
Thank you, Traindiesel. After visiting Frey's during a couple of York weeks, on a later next return, l thought l was on wrong road, as building was gone. I vaguely remember stopping at what looked like a roadside stand, and glum lady told me they didn't sell trains any more.
@jjames9641 posted:I once had the pleasure of manning the old Train America store, the one that sat way back of off Boardman-Canfield Rd. Mike was out of town on business for a few days. Man was I in hog heaven!!!! Great times to remember... New trains to look at and f course operate the big layout!
Do you know where specifically it was? I can picture the parking lot but nothing around it and I'd love to know where to actual site was/is. I remember when they moved to the first floor of the big building down the street. Do you have any photos of that big layout?
@jjames9641 posted:Brother's Trains, was always loaded with MTH, spent the rent money there more than once, LOL. BillYo414, if I remember correctly, they were on route 7 heading towards North Lima on the west side of the road. They also had moved once to a smaller location further North on route 7 but on the East side of the road this time, I don't think they were in business much longer after that. Great guys to deal with.
I only remember one location with an unfinished layout. I was a little kid back then and was only in there once or twice. I'll have to go for a drive and see if I can find the old building.
@jjames9641 posted:Anyone remember The Train House in Warren, Ohio on Mahoning Ave. They use to sell Lionel from there basement I was my understanding they started selling Lionel in the 50's. My late father's 2056 freight set was bought there by my grandparents in 1952. That is the set that created the monster in me today!!! I still have it, of course.
On the Train Express, I ordered a lot of trains from Larry. It was always a pleasure dealing with them another class act!!!
Never heard of that one. It's amusing how far their effects reach though haha
@Lenny the Lion posted:Jim's Train Shop in Austintown, Ohio. Been there a few times. Nice guy, had a lot of used postwar and drawers of junk Lionel pieces.
Any relation to Austintown Hobby? I wasn't sure if the business morphed from Jim's to Austintown Hobby maybe?
All you guys bring back memories of the Austintown, Canfield, and Boardman area. Did you all forget about Trigg marine that sold trains and Bayliner Boats? That dealership was nearly next door to Train America as I remember. Train America was at the end of a long lane with alot of undeveloped property. I believe the building is now gone and a large hotel occupies the spot. It is all developed now. Canfield /Boardman is a retail hot spot. I am over there all the time as my wife and I found a Mexican restaurant we like, I think about Trigg Marine and Train America everytime I pass by the old locations.
@jini5 posted:All you guys bring back memories of the Austintown, Canfield, and Boardman area. Did you all forget about Trigg marine that sold trains and Bayslimer Boats? That dealership was nearly next door to Train America as I remember. Train America was at the end of a long lane with alot of undeveloped property. I believe the building is now gone and a large hotel occupies the spot. It is all developed now. Canfield /Boardman is a retail hot spot. I am over there all the time as my wife and I found a Mexican restaurant we like, I think about Trigg Marine and Train America everytime I pass by the old locations.
Back in the early 50's Trigg was almost across from Amer's on Market st. After Christmas they sold their Lionel stock off for 50%. It was 53 or 54 I received the Lionel Red war bonnet Santa Fe F-units. Right after Christmas Mom took me to Trigg"s picked up the four streamline passenger cars and a C&O switches all for half price.
Ron
Billyo414, jini5 is correct about the location and what it looks like today. I don't think I have any pics of the layout at Train America.
As a kid, my dad bought me American Flyer S from a place called The Arthur A. Haven Co. in downtown Los Angeles. I also have fond memories of Russ Hafdahl’s train shop in Ghost Town at Knott’s Berry Farm and Hollywood Hobbies.
But, all these memories and no photos? Here are a few from my archives:
I appreciate the help and history @PRRronbh, @jini5, @jjames9641. Maybe @Mikado might have a photo of the old layout?
Before he passed away I would order from Dick Wolfe at Model Railroad and Hobby Shop in Memphis. After his children took it over the business didn’t last very long.
Neal Jeter
Niagara Hobby and Crafts in Buffalo, NY. I bought my first Atlas O locomotive there while we were on vacation. They had a huge inventory of MTH and Atlas O trains. I remember my wife and daughter spending quite a bit of time in the doll house department. Ironically, I ended up in the dog house department after I bought the engine 
Tom
Max K Trell was a hobby shop and Lionel Service Station in Stamford CT in the 1950's. About half the store was devoted to Lionel Trains. Not a lot of stock as I remember. Also gone is Caldor, a CT based high end regional discount store. Caldor sold brands like Waterford and Nikon. They had free in-store photography workshops. Caldor was not a big Lionel retailer but they did carry more than sets. In addition to sets, they sold Lionel freight cars, track, accessories and Life Like products at discount. Great for a train kid with limited resources.
In Pinebrook NJ, there was a place called Rich's Hobbytowne. Was quite a unique place. The building was an old church with an addition added. When you walked in on the first level there was a mini museum of trains, model ships and cars etc. First place I ever saw LGB trains. Store sold RC planes, plastic model kits, trains and many other items. I think they closed sometime in mid 1970s. I found online this article about the history of the store, unfortunately it doesn't have an exterior shot of the last location which was the old church.
https://www.riggenho.com/hobbytowne.htm
The store at one point became a video arcade named Gametown. A google image search for "game town pine brook nj" has a picture of the place.
@Mark V. Spadaro posted:Island Trains was a great store, and Henry was very personable. I believe he now does internet sales only.
When I was living in Old Bridge I had won an auction on eBay. I noticed that the seller was in Matawan and I asked if I could pick the item up, which I did. It was Henry and he was renting a warehouse. He gave me a tour and said that he wanted to set up a retail spot where like-minded people could hang out. He eventually opened up a store on route 35 (If I remember correctly). I was there maybe once. I know the store is gone, and I'm not sure if he still is in business. I believe the website is gone too. He used to set up in the Orange Hall at York in the far right corner.
My father had bought me a couple of Lionel cars from Fishkin Brothers Camera in Perth Amboy, NJ back in the 70's. I just researched and found that the store had closed in 2004.
Back in the 2000's I frequented The Hobby Shop in Matawan, NJ. They were an MTH Mega dealer and I certainly dropped a lot of money there! I've moved north, and I believe the store is still there. The last time I was there the train selection had shrunk quite dramatically. It was once a family-owned business. I know the husband had passed, and the wife eventually sold the store.
@ed h posted:In Pinebrook NJ, there was a place called Rich's Hobbytowne. Was quite a unique place. The building was an old church with an addition added. When you walked in on the first level there was a mini museum of trains, model ships and cars etc. First place I ever saw LGB trains. Store sold RC planes, plastic model kits, trains and many other items. I think they closed sometime in mid 1970s. I found online this article about the history of the store, unfortunately it doesn't have an exterior shot of the last location which was the old church.
https://www.riggenho.com/hobbytowne.htm
The store at one point became a video arcade named Gametown. A google image search for "game town pine brook nj" has a picture of the place.
Thanks for posting about Rich's Hobbytowne, Ed.
I remember it back when it was on Route 46 in Parsippany (pictured on the webpage you linked to) . I was pretty young, so my memories are somewhat vague. On one occasion, I went in there and saw a pile of a dozen assorted motorized units for $4.99 each. I snapped up a No. 54 Ballast Tamper, which I still have.
Here's the weird part. The store on Route 46 has been gone for more than 50 years, but as soon as I saw the photo on the webpage, I recognized and remembered the trains painted on the store's facade.
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