Ron Hollander's ALL ABOARD

Bought mine in the mid 80's. It's still a great read.

In 1989 I lent my paperback copy of All Aboard to someone and never saw it again.

I've had that problem too. It's rare that I'll lend out anything anymore.

I enjoyed reading the book.

A great book

Ron's book was--literally--what got me back into the O gauge segment of the hobby when it was first published (1981). My girlfriend at the time gave me a copy as a Christmas gift, and the day after Christmas I went over to Honolulu Trains & Hobby and spent a ton of money on Lionel stuff. Have been heavily involved ever since.

One of the few train books that I keep nearby and pull out frequently. Great book.

I ran into Ron at York about two years ago as he was buying a like new Lionel cattle car and platform. Had a nice chat with him about the layout he was starting to build.

Great book! 

I particularly identified with Ron's imagined desire to someday go back to his old Brooklyn apartment in search of any hidden relics from his old layout. The same thought crossed my mind about our old south Bronx apartment where Lionel trains and I first met in 1951 when I was 5 years old.

Like Allan, I also came across this book early in my collecting days in the 1980s when I first returned to Lionel from HO.

Jim

I ran across this book quite by accident at the Nashville Flea Market in the early eighties as well. I bought it and kept it ever since. Ron's story was similar to mine in a lot of ways. This book stoked up my enthusiasm for the O gauge hobby again back then. I recommend it to anyone interested in O gauge trains.

Fortunately still have my copy bought in the late 80's. Great book and read. 

I should have mentioned that if you enjoyed "All Aboard" you will also like the series of articles Ron is doing currently for the TCA Quarterly magazine. 

Ron does a great job of recounting the thought processes he went through as an adult in planning and building that big layout we always dreamed of having as kids. He recounts how reality sometimes gets in the way of trying to incorporate all our favorite accessories and layout features.  

You will like his style of writing in describing all the tough decisions we face in trying to fit everything on that dream layout. It's a good depiction of how the kid in us all constantly butts heads with the practical thinking of the adult in us! 

Jim

Great book mine to is from the 80's.
Just bought a lot of books on eBay and I will be getting another copy today.
Original is starting so show its age.

Ron is an amazing author. As Jim mentioned, his articles in the TCA magazine have been great. I loved the series regarding the HellGate Bridge.

I'll never forget when I purchased this book.  I was on a business trip in Chicago, Ill. in early December of 1981 and came across it in a hobby shop in downtown Chicago on a Friday afternoon after work.  I glanced through it Friday night before going out on the town and was really looking forward to reading it.  I read it much sooner and much quicker than I expected.  Saturday morning I woke up with the worst stomach virus I have ever had.  I never left my hotel room for the next three days. All I did was lay in bed and visit the bathroom.  My constant companion was Ron Hollander's All Aboard.  As sick as I was I still loved reading that book.  I had been a train nut from birth but that was the first in depth book I had ever read about Lionel.  A couple of days later after fully recovering from my stomach bug I revisited that hobby shop and ended up purchasing all six volumes of Tom McComas and James Tuohy's  Lionel Collector's guide series.  They were  my insurance policy if my stomach bug returned while I was still in the windy city.  Thank God it didn't.  When Hollander's expanded second edition came out in hardback I bought it too.  I have read and re-read portions of these books many times and still find them entertaining reading.  If you are a Lionel fan they are absolute must reads.

I second Jim Policastro's comments on Mr. Hollander's current series of articles in the TCA quarterly.  He is a very talented writer who has a real feel for this hobby.

OK. You sold me.

Just purchased an HC edition on ebay.

This was for me, also one of the books that helped get me back into trains back in the early 80s.  The book was revised in 2000 for the 100th Anniversary of Lionel.  

This book was influential for me as well. I picked up a copy in the late 90's as a teenager. The book was my primer for Lionel history and taught me many things I did not know. 

I was delighted when Ron stopped by mu booth at York when I was writing The Madison Hardware Story and wished me luck. That still means a great deal to me along with the support and encouragement I have received from Bruce Greenberg and Bob Osterhoff along with countless others who have influenced the hobby.

As others here mentioned, the current series Ron is doing in the TCA quarterly is excellent.  

It's a great book. I used to check out a paperback copy from the local library in Santa Monica when I was a teenager back in the eighties on a regular basis. I am not a Lionel fanboy, but I do have some of their products and I appreciate Lionel's role in the world of model railroading. I always wanted a copy of it and I found a hardback copy at the local trainshow a couple of years ago for about $15.

Hey, guys, thank you all so very much for the kind words; steam whistle to my ears. I am touched and glad All Aboard! has brought you so much pleasure, and gotten many of you into training (say, do you think Lionel could throw a new Hudson my way?).   I have to admit, I do even sometimes reread it myself, more than 36 years after writing it!  And thanks, too, for enjoying my TCA Quarterly pieces.  With the encouraging support of editor Mark Boyd, I've now done 14 in this latest run (there were others earlier).  There's one more Layout piece that Mark has in inventory, and I just finished one on how the green light on the ZW affected me.  I am especially grateful that the readership has responded so positively to my writing very personally about how the trains have run through my life.

As you know from the Layout series, I now live out on far eastern Long Island, about two hours east of New York.  My interest in Lionel is if anything greater than ever, thanks to my new membership in the Railroad Museum of Long Island, inheritors of the 40-foot, highly interactive Lionel layout from Michigan.  Tutored by technical wizard Lenny Joerg, and other great guys at the museum, I may even get my dream layout finished (waiting for grain of wheat bulbs for my skyscraper building facades).  Years ago Lionel used to urge modelers to join a club both for what you could learn and for the friendship.  Having gotten both from RMLI, now I know what they were talking about!  Working now on a Quarterly piece on the museum.

Thanks again.  See you all at York (only three months away!).  BTW, I'd always be flattered to sign your books if you want to bring them.

Ron

Hi Ron,

Welcome to the eastern end of Long Island.What town do you live in?I'm in Greenport and have a casual relationship with a few of the RMLI staff and know Lenny from the York bus trip(coming up soon!)Maybe I will run into you at the museum on my visits with the Sepnoski boys and say hello.

regards, John K

Thnx for the "likes."  John, I'm in rocky point for three years now. At Riverhead layout most Tuesdays.  Been to Greenport several times. Great town.  You should come by the layout; ask for me. Yes, Lenny runs I think two buses to York.  A great service for those who want a Friday--only trip.  Do you go?

best

ron

Allan Miller posted:

Honolulu Trains & Hobby

Is that in Hackensack? 

@Allan Miller posted:

Ron's book was--literally--what got me back into the O gauge segment of the hobby when it was first published (1981). My girlfriend at the time gave me a copy as a Christmas gift, and the day after Christmas I went over to Honolulu Trains & Hobby and spent a ton of money on Lionel stuff. Have been heavily involved ever since.

This evening, while my wife watches murder and mayhem on TV (she's a mystery and detective show addict), I grabbed a few old issues of OGR Magazine, including the Run 324 June/July 2022 issue that includes Allan's article entitled Inspiring Words and Profound Influence, which is his tribute to Ron Hollander and his book, All Aboard, which I regard as the authoritative treatise on the Lionel Corporation.

After reading Allan's beautifully written article, I hunted down my weathered copy of All Aboard.  It's weathered because over the past 25 years I've read it at least twice, from cover to cover, but not recently. It's gotten plenty of wear from me, being one of those books that is read over and over again and treasured for a lifetime.

Allan is so correct in his article when he praises Ron's writing style. More than anything, writing style, and the artful choice and use of words is what gets me hooked.

Well, I'm delightfully hooked. It's going to be a long and most enjoyable night.

Arnold

I agree with everyone.  I love History and of course Lionel Trains!  I got this book before I even had a house to build a layout or started buying trains and couldn't put it down.  Anyone who hasn't read it, should pick up a copy.  It's a great book.