WHAT WERE YOUR FAVORITE TRAIN STORES AS A CHILD?

Both the Lionel and American Flyer/Gilbert showrooms/stores in New York City.

I used to go to Street Hobbies  (Al Street the Train Man) in Columbus, Ohio as a kid. I was into HO at the time and he had a great selection of HO stuff. Also did repairs on my locomotives too.

handyandy posted:

I used to go to Street Hobbies  (Al Street the Train Man) in Columbus, Ohio as a kid. I was into HO at the time and he had a great selection of HO stuff. Also did repairs on my locomotives too.

Was that the train store in the basement of a hardware store, located just down the street from the big Lazarus store??

I remember a shop in the basement there that was packed with Lionel items. This was back in the 50's and early 60's.

Jeff

Jack Colliers Toys For Men in SF and Lees Trains in Oakland,a long time ago.

Mikey

Growing up in Cleveland, The Hobby House on Huron Road was the place to go.

I also fondly remember going to Jay and Jay Trains in Euclid, OH with my grandparents.  Smaller selection but it was closer to home and didn't require driving downtown.

My father always took me to Potomac Trading, years and years ago. Still there although it has been years since I've walked through the door.

Our local "chain" was my favorite when into HO, N, and G.

When I got back into O (as a "big kid"), Engine House Hobbies and even more so, Catoctin Mountain Trains. Sure wish I could still walk in the door of Catoctin Mountain Trains!

H.L. Child n Son in Northampton, Ma

Long gone

Sears Roebuck & Company in Steubenville, OH.

George

Dennis GS-4 N & W No. 611 posted:

Growing up in the Detroit area, the Downtown Hudson's Store, and Lopo's cameras and Trains were my favorites.  The downtown Hudson's store had a huge number of Lionel trains for sale, particularly at Christmas.  Hudson's was the large department store in Detroit.

Les Gordon's Trains and Kelly's Koin Kupboard here in Indianapolis. One memory of Les Gorden's was the large pile of Girl's Train Set's he had in the late 50's that were marked $15. He ended up painting several just to get them sold. Both places (and owners) are long gone now.

Steve

Besides the train shop in Columbus Ohio, I mentioned above, my favorite shop in my hometown of Marietta, Ohio, was Swan Hardware. The toy dept. was upstairs on the 2nd floor. Always a nice Lionel Dealer display layout there, and a good stock of the latest Lionel items.

On Lake Street, Minneapolis. Long gone now, of course...

Number one on the list in NYC was Madison Hardware, my favorite bar none. The second was close to where I lived on Long Island which was Willis Hobbies. Willis did not have much O gauge stuff, but was very strong on HO, which I was also into as a kid.

In the 50's, I went to Trost Hobbies at 63rd and Kedzie on the southwest side of Chicago. Most of my original trains were bought there, and I remember perusing Model Railroader and being disappointed that the pictures only showed trains on two rail track. The store closed in 2006 after a 78 year run, and the space is now occupied by a Mexican Bakery.

Mill City posted:

Dennis GS-4 N & W No. 611 posted:

Growing up in the Detroit area, the Downtown Hudson's Store, and Lopo's cameras and Trains were my favorites.  The downtown Hudson's store had a huge number of Lionel trains for sale, particularly at Christmas.  Hudson's was the large department store in Detroit.

 

WOW!  Thanks Mill City.  Brings back some great memories.

mowingman posted:

handyandy posted:

I used to go to Street Hobbies  (Al Street the Train Man) in Columbus, Ohio as a kid. I was into HO at the time and he had a great selection of HO stuff. Also did repairs on my locomotives too.

Was that the train store in the basement of a hardware store, located just down the street from the big Lazarus store??

I remember a shop in the basement there that was packed with Lionel items. This was back in the 50's and early 60's.

Jeff

No, this shop was out on West Broad Street in the '70's and '80's.

AMER's, A mile or so south of the market street bridge in Youngstown, Ohio.

SMC Model RR Center  SI, NY

Berkshire President posted:

Growing up in Cleveland, The Hobby House on Huron Road was the place to go.

I also fondly remember going to Jay and Jay Trains in Euclid, OH with my grandparents.  Smaller selection but it was closer to home and didn't require driving downtown.

Jaye and Jaye was my go-to store growing up in the Cleveland area in the 1950's. Very fond memories of the place. Nice layout running in the rear of the store, too.

AB Charles and Sons and Bill and Walt's Downtown Pittsburgh.  There used to be one out on Route 51, can't remember it's name but we stopped there a few times as well.

The Iron Horse became a favorite when I became a big kid.

All, sadly, are gone.  I believe Bill and Walt still have a store in Oakdale?

PRRronbh posted:

AMER's, A mile or so south of the market street bridge in Youngstown, Ohio.

Ditto! It's where my first Lionel train came from, followed by many more. Howard Amer's employees even built my first home layout--a birthday gift from my dad. Still ranks as the largest layout I have ever had.

Madison Hardware first, then second there was this train store on 45th ST just off of Madison Ave  I think on the 4th or 5th floor, I forget the name of it. I'd like to say The Red Caboose, but not really sure.

Trainland- Lynbrook and Brooklyn, NY.

Still in business today. An episode of the Sopranos was filmed there.

http://www.trainworld.com/?gcl...CMzNACFQhMDQodCQkMkw

Piscataway model train shop. It's still going strong. They have a Raritan River SW900 builders photo that I want..

Hobbit posted:

Les Gordon's Trains and Kelly's Koin Kupboard here in Indianapolis. One memory of Les Gorden's was the large pile of Girl's Train Set's he had in the late 50's that were marked $15. He ended up painting several just to get them sold. Both places (and owners) are long gone now.

Steve

Les Gordon's...the last location was virtual next to the greatest donuts shop on the planet--LONG'S BAKERY!  These were/are two of my favorite places ever!  Many great memories.  :-)

Alabama Hardware on Government Street in Mobile.

I was born in 1948, so that pegs the era. The Lionel display (it was "yuge" to a 6-year-old) was very near the front door. Later, in 1957, I asked for the new catalog, and the nice lady - she was subbing, I think - inadvertently gave me their dealer "advance" copy. I still have it. Black and white - and the new N&W "J" was in it. Still my favorite PW locomotive (versions of the scale Hudson excepted - maybe).

Later, a few blocks away on Dauphin Street, I started going to a more "hobby" shop - and I forget the name - and saw my first zinc Mantua HO steamer kits - the Mike and the Pacific - and they looked so real. HO became my goal, but didn't survive my teens and driver's license. (Those zinc kits are one of the reasons that I love the Lionel and MTH "Pilot" and "Engineering" locos - talk about nostalgia...)

Anyway, I know - not the Rust Belt, but it happened here, too.

HL Childs in Northampton, MA!  Was such a cool place! Child World was also great! 

Dennis GS-4 N & W No. 611 posted:

Hudson's was the large department store in Detroit like Macy's in Chicago.

 

Correction: Macy's is a NY store and wasn't  in Chicago until 2005. Chicago's department store was Marshall Fields.

My childhood favorite was Dispensa's Kiddieland in Oak Brook Terrace, IL with Hill's Hobby in Park Ridge a close second. 

In Boston it was Jordan Marsh on the 5th floor.

Dennis GS-4 N & W No. 611 posted:

Growing up in the Detroit area, the Downtown Hudson's Store, and Lopo's cameras and Trains were my favorites.  The downtown Hudson's store had a huge number of Lionel trains for sale, particularly at Christmas.  Hudson's was the large department store in Detroit like Macy's in Chicago.

Lopo's Cameras and Trains was a local store on the Northeast side of Detroit, not too far from where I grew up. Lopo's had a good selection of trains, and, since my father was a camera and 8mm movie buff, he was an easy "mark" to get to take me to Lopo's.  I fell in love with a Brunswick Lionel GG-1, which was the out-of-reach price of $49.95 as I recall.  My dad and I had that loco taken out of the counter-top display case twice to look at one fall-winter.  Fortunately, the same loco was brought by Santa that Christmas.  Funny how dreams sometimes come true.

Dennis - what was the hobby shop on Woodward and 8 mile.  Had a large crossbuck that lit up for a sign - said hobby  shop... I can remember it was the only store my Dad  would  drive from Plymouth, Mich to shop at. I believe after it closed it became a book store and the large crossbuck sign was  there for years...

The Train-Station, Mountain Lakes, NJ.

Branch Brook and Co, Bloomfield Avenue, Newark NJ,

Polks Hobbies, Mid-Town Manhattan, NYC.

and the two that were in Carlstadt and Wallington NJ I cant remember the names of

ConrailFan posted:

Madison Hardware first, then second there was this train store on 45th ST just off of Madison Ave  I think on the 4th or 5th floor, I forget the name of it. I'd like to say The Red Caboose, but not really sure.

Polks- was the name of the store, Thanks for jogging my memory GG2340!

JDADDY posted:

"Dennis - what was the hobby shop on Woodward and 8 mile.  Had a large crossbuck that lit up for a sign - said hobby  shop... I can remember it was the only store my Dad  would  drive from Plymouth, Mich to shop at. I believe after it closed it became a book store and the large crossbuck sign was  there for years..."

JDADDY,

I know exactly the hobby shop that you are referring to, and, it did become a book shop.  I can't remember the name either, and I actually think the cross bucks may still be there.  I still have some that things I bought when they were closing out the store, including some items for my Super "O" track.  Great memory!!!

Birmingham Train Center had moved to Royal Oak, renamed Train Center Hobbies, and was located north of that hobby shop. Both were on the same side of Woodward.  A real model railroader's "Dream Cruise"!!!

My father and I would prowl the inimitable Billy Arthur's in Chapel Hill, NC, in the late 60s and early 70s.  Mr. Arthur and his shop were like Christmas all year round.  A great American.    https://www.ourstate.com/billy-arthur/

After Billy Arthur's, it was the A&M Toy Store chain in East Tennessee.  The home store on Ringgold Road in Chattanooga had a great big Christmas countdown above the front door.  And this was a sign a person had to climb up to in order to change the numbers.  No electronics other than a flood light.    Christmas Memories at the A&M Toy Store

As a grown up kid, I have to second SJC above in missing Catoctin Mountain Trains.  Simply the best. 

There were two places:

The first was the train store in Middlesex, NJ which disappeared almost 15 years ago. The owners were very nice (husband and wife as I remember), and I remember they had some very rare Thomas merchandise and a nice HO layout. I believe the store went away when the husband died.

The second was in the Train Station in Mountain Lakes, NJ. The owners (Don and David Shaw) were great guys AND very knowledgeable. I remember the display cases with the postwar classics like the F-3's and FM's, as well as the big demonstration layout. That's where I first got to play with a 164 log loader, a 352 ice depot, and a milk car. It's probably my favorite store close by in Jersey to this day, and still provide great service. They also had some nice Lionel Hudsons, including the 100th anniversary gold Hudson I wanted a lot. They still have it on a shelf, by the way.

Living in NYC the Lionel showroom was tops. Altman's on 5th Ave. & 35th street had a great layout where the SF ABA & aluminum passenger cars went under a lake of real water through a plastic or glass tube. Impressive!

Macy's on 34th street also had a nice layout. I worked there during the Xmas season in 1963 selling Lionel Trains & Aurora Race car sets. A lady came in one day and wanted to buy her husband a Steam engine for Xmas. I showed her the Lionel Hudson that sold for $198.00. She said that her husband would probably kill her if she spent that much but I talked her into it. Shortly after Xmas her husband came into the store and asked for the kid who sold his wife this engine. The manager of the Toy Department pointed him towards me. I was getting a little nervous.He introduced himself and he just wanted to thank me for talking his wife into buying the Lionel Hudson.

Strange as it may seem but growing up in NYC I was never at Madison Hardware. 

Baltimore City .... it was MB Kliens  They had every thing Trains ! every body went there

Still in business but in Cockeysville MD .... 100 years in business unbelievable and that's where I still go.

I think going on the internet as " ModelTrainStuff" years ago in addition to moving the brick and mortar store has saved and increased their business big time .

Living in a very rural area of Alabama, all I had was the Sears and Roebuck catalog, and then somehow I found out about Hobby Surplus sales in New Britain, Mass. They sent lots of black and white catalogs which I wore out....My mother would take me to Birmingham, AL at Christmas  and we bought stuff at Sears. I remember seeing BIG Lionel displays at Sears, but I never had anything but Marx. Two years ago-- I was on a trip to Massachusetts, and I made the pilgrimage to see just what Hobby Surplus Sales looked like, and it is a big toy store, with maybe 50% devoted to trains. I bought a used K-Line Caboose (we were flying) just so I could say I had bought something.  Lots of fond memories of toy trains, and a lot of education to a 7 to 10 year old. I still love all things mechanical. I am currently trying to work this magic on our 8 year old grandson.

Starrett's, Portland Maine.  I believe the shop went out of business with the demise of the original Lionel company.