WHAT WERE YOUR FAVORITE TRAIN STORES AS A CHILD?

Don't recall any train stores where I grew up though there were seasonal displays in Sears & Roebuck (RIP) and Western Auto and Firestone Tire -- the latter two may also be gone by now.  Hard to keep up.

I do remember Mom taking direct route across town, which meant waiting for the trains in downtown Charlottesville VA. 

"Southern Serves the South"  

"C&O for Progress" 

Might have been a subliminal message there but I didn't catch it at the time.   I was too busy counting the railcars as they drifted past.

Toy Center on Granby Street in Norfolk VA. When I became a teen ager bought several HO Brass locos there as well as MR each month. The model railroader hobby help to keep me out of trouble when growing. For discount stores AHC in NYC was the store of choice. In the seventies bought a lot of Lionel from the local Sears.

PRRrat posted:

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Does anyone know a currently existing hardware store that sells Lionel or O Gauge trains?

The only one that I know that comes close is Tom's Trains in Ardsley, NY. It is a very nice LHS with a very nice operating layout that was, and I think still is, in the basement of a hardware store. The hardware store itself had a Lionel train displayed in its picture window, but did not as actually sell any trains. Arnold

C.T. McCormick's in Zelionople, PA about 10 miles north of downtown Pgh off I-79.  Trains on one side, drill bits, plumbing supplies, and all the tools on the other.

It makes sense that a hardware store still selling Lionel trains would be in PA, the O Gauge capital of the World IMO. That is a high compliment coming from a diehard lover of NY like me. Arnold

Pat's in Memphis Tn.

Lasus & Sons on Huguenot St. in New Rochelle, NY

Wild Bills, michigan

I don't really recall any hobby shops per se as a kid.  Most of my stuff came from department stores usually around Christmas time, Sears, J.C. Penney, Kmart, Murphy Mart, etc.  I do recall the first time my dad took me to a place that was like a hobby shop.  It was Charles C. Wood on East Market Street in Warren, Ohio.  That was in the early 70s so my memory may be fuzzy, but I think it was more of a guy with a layout in his home who repaired/restored trains rather than a hobby shop.  It wasn't until I was a young adult and able to drive that I really started discovering full scale hobby/train shops.  I visited a lot of those in western Pennsylvania in and around Pittsburgh.  Now any place I go, the first thing I do is look for places that sell trains.

Strasburg Train Shop that used to be at the Rockville Mall. They had amazing service and great prices. Many of my locomotives came from there.

Being from north west PA, I barely remember Amer's and Boardman Hobby.   My dad liked Amers, he told me once that the owner had a pristine Marx NYC copper set up on the shelf like my dad's. Though dad's wasn't close to pristine, since he received it as a 1 yo child in 1944.  One time he went back and it wasn't there, upon asking, he was told they sold it to a lucky someone for an extremely high price, something in the "4 digits range". This was probably in early or mid seventies.  There was also a shop in Hermitage, Plaza Hobbies, that was there for a while. Dad bought my first train there one Christmas. I had the choice between Lionel PRR F3 or a New Haven F3.  I took the New haven since I liked the colors better and there was a boat load of PRR stuff around anyways.

Oh the memories...

We didn’t have any Train stores in my area. But every year prior to Christmas, Joe The Motorist Friend & a local hardware store, Miller’s Hardware sold Lionel Trains. Both would have small layouts and decent inventory.  As a kid, I always looked forward to going to both and seeing the trains, and most of all getting a copy of the new Lionel catalog.  Many hours spent looking at those catalogs.  Those were the days!😀

The Hobby House at 610 Huron Road located in Cleveland Ohio.   No longer there but in when my dad took is there in the 60's in was a happening place.   I still recall the musty, oily smell inside.......   smelled like operating trains!!!!!!!

I had two,

Watertown New York during the late 60s very early 1970s, Westons Depart store. They had plastic car models the best selection of 1960s matchbox cars in the original yellow box for $.25 each. I use to get one everytime we went in. My Mom didn't have any trouble splurging on $.25 cents.

Chaumont New York during the same time period late 60s very early 1970s. Pearl's Lunchenette. Was a eat in counter and she had an entire wall dedicated to King size matchbox, plastic car models and cigar box cars. The cigar box cars were the best as you could take the bodies off the chassis and use them on your Thunderjet 500 slot car chassis.

Was a great time to be a kid.

Downtown Toledo had 2 hobby shops with year round layouts. But I had a local store that carried Lionel as well. It was a houseware's store but the owner was a good Lionel repairman and kept my 2 engines running like new.

Popi posted:

I had two,

Watertown New York during the late 60s very early 1970s, Westons Depart store. They had plastic car models the best selection of 1960s matchbox cars in the original yellow box for $.25 each. I use to get one everytime we went in. My Mom didn't have any trouble splurging on $.25 cents.

Chaumont New York during the same time period late 60s very early 1970s. Pearl's Lunchenette. Was a eat in counter and she had an entire wall dedicated to King size matchbox, plastic car models and cigar box cars. The cigar box cars were the best as you could take the bodies off the chassis and use them on your Thunderjet 500 slot car chassis.

Was a great time to be a kid.

I used the  matchbox delivery van cut the chassis off, cut the front fenders off and mounted it to the chassis of the thinner jet chassis. Used plastic wood at that time to fill the front up so I could drill a hole a-hole for the front mounting screw. Did this with it’s the first cars with the vibrating mechanism then with the newer motor driven cars. A lot of good memories. Always want ted to get the car and track crossover but never did (have one now).

Trains Nothing But Trains on South B St. in San Mateo, CA. I believe it was owned by a fellow named Bart Austin.  It' where I learned there was something else besides Lionel....including scale trains.  Iyt was probably gone by the mid seventies or eighties.  Also Hickory Dickory Dollar in San Carlos, CA  was a good source for Lionel and Flyer.

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Does anyone know a currently existing hardware store that sells Lionel or O Gauge trains?

The only one that I know that comes close is Tom's Trains in Ardsley, NY. It is a very nice LHS with a very nice operating layout that was, and I think still is, in the basement of a hardware store. The hardware store itself had a Lionel train displayed in its picture window, but did not as actually sell any trains. Arnold

Walker hardware in totowa n.j. sells trains.

Alabama Joe posted:

The Hobby House at 610 Huron Road located in Cleveland Ohio.   No longer there but in when my dad took is there in the 60's in was a happening place.   I still recall the musty, oily smell inside.......   smelled like operating trains!!!!!!!

Visited the HH many, many times back in the 1980’s and 90’s when Wally Jeffries owned it. A real old-time hobby shop feel, for sure. 

The building of the new Indians/cavaliers sport complex nearby destroyed their business as the city closed down the street (Huron) every time there was a game. The HH depended on Saturday business and some Saturdays no one could get near the shop. 

Darn shame. Very unfair to merchants up and down that street.   

Larry and phyls ice cream and hobby, Janesville WI

TownHouse, I think it was called?  Chicago

As a youngster A.B. Charles and Son's in Dormont Pa., Bill and Walt's in downtown Pittsburgh, but my Favorite was Trains and Things on Rt 51! After leaving the service in Feb. of 1976 I went to work there for the "Commodore" for about 8 months, I very much enjoyed my experience there! Then went to work for the B&O Railroad, which started my railroad career! 

Jsulli21 posted:

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Does anyone know a currently existing hardware store that sells Lionel or O Gauge trains?

The only one that I know that comes close is Tom's Trains in Ardsley, NY. It is a very nice LHS with a very nice operating layout that was, and I think still is, in the basement of a hardware store. The hardware store itself had a Lionel train displayed in its picture window, but did not as actually sell any trains. Arnold

Walker hardware in totowa n.j. sells trains.

 

I've bought trains there. They are almost two hours from home but I have family in the area and it is a pleasant diversion. My old high school was also down the street from them, but I wasn't into trains at that age. The local non-hobby store i used to deal with quite a bit was a NAPA parts store, who was also a Lionel dealer. Sadly, they've since closed.

PSAP2010 posted:

My first recollection of trains in a store was the Rhodes department store in Tacoma, Wa. growing up in 50s and 60s.  One floor was dedicated for toys at Christmas time. They had a train you could ride set up on the floor with a tunnel, which was a definite must ride for me.  I recall numerous O gauge engines on display in glass cases and on shelves.  Tacoma was about an hour or so drive from where we lived but we went there quite often since my grandparents lived there.  The closest store to a toy/hobby store in the town I lived in growing up was a Sprouse Reitz 5 & dime store.  They had some toys but no trains.  We did get a toy/hobby store in the mid 60s but I only remember it having HO.  They did have a large slot car track.

Larry

Hi Larry,

I remember riding that train at Rhodes in the early 1960s!   I ran across these digital images at the Tacoma Public Library  of the ride.  I do not remember much about it, except the tunnel has foil and colored lights.  The pictures indicate  the layout had a Milwaukee Hiawatha theme, not surprising since they had a large presence in Tacoma.     

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Does anyone know a currently existing hardware store that sells Lionel or O Gauge trains?

The only one that I know that comes close is Tom's Trains in Ardsley, NY. It is a very nice LHS with a very nice operating layout that was, and I think still is, in the basement of a hardware store. The hardware store itself had a Lionel train displayed in its picture window, but did not as actually sell any trains. Arnold

MR_P posted:

Being from north west PA, I barely remember Amer's and Boardman Hobby.   My dad liked Amers, he told me once that the owner had a pristine Marx NYC copper set up on the shelf like my dad's. Though dad's wasn't close to pristine, since he received it as a 1 yo child in 1944.  One time he went back and it wasn't there, upon asking, he was told they sold it to a lucky someone for an extremely high price, something in the "4 digits range". This was probably in early or mid seventies.  There was also a shop in Hermitage, Plaza Hobbies, that was there for a while. Dad bought my first train there one Christmas. I had the choice between Lionel PRR F3 or a New Haven F3.  I took the New haven since I liked the colors better and there was a boat load of PRR stuff around anyways.

Oh the memories...

I forgot about Plaza Hobbies.  I used to hit that after browsing through the trains at Kraynak's at Christmas time. 

Yeah, I don't remeber us buying anything from Kraynak's, maybe their after xmas sale if we had some xmas money.

Cheers !

We lived in Culver City From 1944 to 1953. I got my first Lionel set, a 2026 freight train on Christmas morning 1948 from "Colonel Bob's" train store on Pico Blvd. Every once in awhile for no real reason my Pop would drive me there and buy me something. In a way it was better than a birthday present or Christmas. The first time he did it, I got a pair of remote 027 switches. The next time was a KW transformer. They had a layout with real Gargraves track and a 0-4-0 switch engine that was no longer available. If you want to call them their number is RE1-37-17. LOL. Don

i went with my Dad to "two Guys" where we bought a #58 Rotary Snowplow  - still have and it runs - used o like the department store layouts - Sears, Woolworths, macys - can't remember all of them - loved the displays

Joske's in San Antonio

growing up in Pennsauken NJ ,there was a Lionel showroom and store ,on route 130 .Parents took me there often.

Hobbyland in Hackensack, NJ and of course Madison Hardware in NYC.

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.

That is correct. Great store, although the owner was a little quirky...

irish rifle posted:

Hobbyland in Hackensack, NJ and of course Madison Hardware in NYC.

After reading though this thread, I have realized with Madison Hardware being so famous, I am surprised it hasn't been mentioned more.

Woodcraft Hobby and Archery on Lake street in Minneapolis. When I was about 8 or 9, saw an American Flyer Royal Blue loco in the used section for ten bucks and went nuts for streamlined steam. Dad wouldn't go for it so I didn't get one until I was 20.

I grew up in Harrisburg PA and there was a train store in New Cumberland (still there), Russ's Hobby shop and Vince's Hobby shops in Harrisburg, but mostly we went to Miller's Auto supply and Joe the Motorists friend for Lionels. If you wanted Marx, you went to Bill's 5& 10 about three doors from Joe the motorist friend in downtown Harrisburg.  For Plasticville, all the above plus Lee's and Murphy's 5 $ 10's.

Great place in the 50's and early 60's to grow up in, AND the Enola yards just across the river to the west and the Rutherford yards just east of Harrisburg...loved that.

I think Madison Hardware is not mentioned because it was the "local" train store for those of us in the hinterland especitally  in the 50s and 60s.     I never heard of it until I was an adult.     But I was aware of the various local places that always had lionel at Christmas.

London Marine in London Ontario - boats, 2 big layouts, and a wall of Lionel trains.  My dad would take me over there from our home in St. Thomas (20 miles south) to look and shop.  Also, Fred Eaton's bicycle shop on Hiawatha St in St. Thomas - lots of HO and some O.   Would ride my bike up there and check it out - had lots of motivation but little money!  

Good afternoon, mine was Unkle Joes Wood Shed in Altoona PA.

Among the hobby items they had you also got a fresh pretzel stick from Benzels Pretzels also in Altoona when you came through the door.

It was a big deal when myself, brothers and sister got to go to Altoona on a Saturday night !!!

No doubt about it.....The Trading Post, Cleveland Ohio. Still going strong for over 65 years!

Another Brooklyn NY store that I remember that carried Lionel was Carnival Sports on Ave P and E.J Corvettes on Fulton Street in downtown Brooklyn.  Back in the 1950's and 1960's when I lived in Bensonhurst you couldn't go a mile without finding a store that carried model Trains. Later when I moved to NJ, I remember Two Guys department stores that always had an excellent after Christmas sales but then after getting married in 1975 the train shows started and I began purchasing there

Joe the Motorist's Friend...always a big selection of Lionel at Christmas. Ran ads similar to this:

are you referring to joe the motorist friend in Baltimore?