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OGaugeWatch.com is written by David Hartmann. View Dave's about page.
Members of the TCA are probably familiar with the name of Al Cox. His collection of tinplate trains is infamous. Sadly, Mr. Cox passed away this week in Shorline, WA at the age of 87. Read more about his passing here. Here are some other sources of information about Mr. Cox and his collection:
Tinplate Times Profile of Mr. Cox
TCA Train Collectors Quarterly qagazine article
If you live in the area of Freehold, NJ, be sure to check out the train show being held on 2/17 at the Knob Hill golf course clubhouse on Rt. 33 in Manalpan, NJ. Admission to the show is free but the organizers are asking that attendees bring a food donation or make a monetary donation to the Open Door Food Pantry of Freehold. The show runs from 10 am to 3 pm and a silent auction will be held from 10 am to 2 pm featuring a 1940 Lionel train set and a 4' x 4' layout. Get more information about the show here.
Trainz.com (a sponsor of OGaugeWatch) has purchased the SP Smoke Pellet business from Toy Trains Unlimited of Dallas, TX. Here is the press release:
Buford, GA - Trainz.com has purchased the SP Smoke Pellet business from Toy Trains Unlimited of Dallas, TX. Made using the exact same chemical mixture and pill size that was used in the postwar years, the new SP pills are just like the original’s and have that same distinctive scent. It has been over 34 years since Lionel made Smoke Pellets and there are literally hundreds of thousands of old Postwar Lionel Engines out there that are starving to smoke again. Available from your local hobby shop, or Trainz.com. The retail price is $14.95 per Bottle of 50 pellets.
Most model railroad buffs know Raymond Lowey as the person who designed Pennsylvania RR's GGI electric locomotive. He also was commissioned by the PRR to design the S1 an T1 streamliners. If your knowledge of Lowey stops there you should read the article about the designer posted on the Antiques and The Arts Online site. It's a quick and interesting read about the French born designer. Read the article here.
There is a great article on ChicagoTribune.com about Elaine Silets, a.k.a The Train Lady. The Train Lady owns a high-end model railroad layout design and construction company called Huff & Puff Industries. The article describes Ms. Silets $1.5 million dollar 44' x 27' O Gauge interpretation of the City of Chicago. There is a video as well.
Check out the article and video here.
Here is another interesting article about The Train Lady:
Have a spare $600,000 burning a whole in your pocket? Ever wish you owned a train collection worthy of a toy train museum? Well, you can own such a collection complete with the museum building for a mere $600K. The only catch is the museum is located in Brazil. The latest crazy toy train auction on eBay is for a museum of toy trains, collection and building, in the city of Fortaleza, Brazil. Not only is the price hilarious but the broken English descriptions are funny too. Check out the auction here.
My daily routine of maintaining OGaugeWatch was interrupted over the past month or so as I was searching and eventually landing a new job. Some interesting news items broke during that time that didn't hit OGaugeWatch as a result but are worth mentioning....
Be well everyone and look for more frequent updates to OGaugeWatch as a settle back into my daily routine.
Dave
Back in late September rumors were circulating that Bachmann had purchased Williams. Today Bachmann Industries circulated a press release today officially confirming the purchase Williams Electric Trains. From the press release:
Mr. Jerry Williams, President/Owner of Williams Electric Trains, Columbia, MD and Mr. Bud Reece, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing, along with Mr. Ed Winter, Senior Vice President Finance & Operations, Bachmann Industries, Inc., Philadelphia, PA announce the acquisition of the assets of Williams Electric Trains.
Read the rest of the press release here.
Its been awhile since the last issue of Model Railroading In The News. Enjoy.
Click on the link below to read on
The October issue of Toy Collector Magazine features a profile of Ted Maurer, the now former owner operator of Ted Maurer Toy Train Auctions (according to the article, Mr. Maurer turned over the business to his daughter Kathy Maurer-Wilson on January 1 of this year). A former school teacher, Mr. Maurer has been in the business since 1971 and has sold over 50,000 lots of trains. Read more about Ted Maurer here.
Remember the story of the Lionel collection amassed by LeNature's CEO using company funds? Well, the new owner of that collection, Grzyboski's Trains, posted some photos of the huge collection packed in a large amount of shipping containers as it was being prepared for transport. Check out the photos here.
Related Posts:
CEO Used Company Funds To Buy $1M Worth Of Trains
Corrupt CEO's Trains Sold
Rumors about Bachmann Industies purchasing Williams Electric Trains have been circulating around the web over the last few days. Bachmann produces model trains and accessories for almost all scales of model railroading and is known for it's reasonably priced products. An administrator on the Bachmann trains on-line forum denied that a deal had been finalized but did state that Bachmann is in talks with Williams. Read the statement here. This is an interesting play for Bachmann but seems to make sense since Williams is also known for its reasonably priced products.
Thanks for the tip David.
9/23/07 UPDATE: No official word from Bachmann yet but a supposed copy of the letter Jerry Williams, owner of Williams Trains, sent to model train dealers has been posted on several on-line model railroad forums including Bachmann's. The letter states that Mr. Williams retirement is the reason for the sale and that the settlement date will be on or about September 30, 2007. Read the text of the letter here.
Remember the story of the CEO that ran LeNature's into bankruptcy and used company funds to purchase more than $1 million in O Gauge trains? Well, the bankruptcy court sold the trains to Joe Grzyboski, Jr owner of Grzyboski's Trains in Scranton PA. Mr. Grzyboski out bid Scott Griggs, owner of Trainz.com (an OGW sponsor) with a bid of $680,000. Bidding started at $595,000 and continued in $5,000 increments. Afterward, Mr. Griggs stated his limit was $675,000. Read the entire story from the Pittsburgh Tribune Review here.
Related Posts
Here are a few stories from the last week or so that broke while OGaugeWatch was on vacation.
Issue #23 of Model RR In The News is packed with articles from around the country.
Click on the link below to read on
I found an article on the Advertiser-Tribune website, a newspaper out of Tiffin, Ohio, about a man and his trains. It's a familiar story - man buys trains when he is a young boy, trains get packed in storage for years, man retires and breaks out old trains and builds his dream layout. It's a nice read but there are two mistakes concerning Lionel trains contained in the article. See if you can find them. You can read the article here.
The Long Island Press published a nice article about Trainland, a train shop on Long Island. Trainland was the location used to shoot the scene in the Sopranos where Bobby Bacalla was taken out by a rival mafia crew. Read the article here.
UPDATE: Newsday also ran an article about the Sopranos and Trainland. Read it here.
While making the rounds to all the O Gauge websites searching for story ideas or news items, I stumbled upon an interesting announcement by the Atlas Model Railroad Company. The announcement proclaims that Atlas is now selling a package of HO track and components (for $100) that will help a Boy Scout groups complete the Timesaver or shunting puzzle requirement for the Boy Scouts of America Railroading Merit badge. Find out more about shunting puzzles here. Having never been a Boy Scout, I had no idea there was a merit badge for railroading. I did some digging and found the actual BS of A Railroading Merit Badge requirements and application here. Look it over and see if you have what it takes to earn your RR Merit Badge.
Bobby Baccala gets whacked while purchasing a Blue Comet. Lionel trains played a prominent role in the scene. Someone posted the action on YouTube. Check it out here. UPDATE: YouTube removed the video clip.
Christmas is long gone and model railroading is still in the news. I started the Model Railroading In The News posts a while ago to demonstrate that the model RR hobby is covered by the media well after Christmas. Articles about model RR show up in newspapers large and small across the country all year long. Click on the link below to read the most recent batch of stories. Enjoy.
The first issue of the new eMagazine, Toy Collector Magazine, is now available on-line. It contains a nice article about the National Toy Train Museum. Visit www.toycollectormagazine.com to download the inaugural issue.
Allied Hobbies in Culver City, CA was frequented by famous train enthusiasts Frank Sinatra and Tom Synder. Bruce Springsteen, Donald Sutherland and Rod Stewart also were customers. The owner of Allied Hobbies, Allen Drucker, has sold the shop to new owners and is retiring after 32 years in the business. The new owners will be re-locating the shop across the street from its current location. The article detailing the history of the store and Mr. Drucker's take on the state of the model train hobby is an interesting read. Read the article here.
Snackville Junction is a small diner located outside of Chicago in Evergreen Park, IL and is famous for delivering meals to it's customers using Lionel trains. It has been doing so for over 60 years. Jeff Silhan has owned the diner for the past 21 years and is hanging up his engineer hat for the last time on Sunday, April 29th. Read all about Snackville Junction in this Chicago Tribune article or view WMAQ NBC 5's news story about the diner here.
UPDATE 4/30/07: Another good article about Snackville Junction can be found here.
Spring is here and the model railroading coverage in local media is waning a bit but there are still some stories out there. Click on the link below to read on.
Christmas season may be over but there are still plenty of model railroading stories hitting the news. This installment of Model Railroading in the News is chock full of interesting articles. If you're a fan of Angela Trotta Thomas, the artist famous for her paintings that feature Lionel trains, be sure to check out the story about her in the Pocono Record. Enjoy.
Click on the link below to read on
Reuters released a good article today about how links to Harry Potter and the Polar Express are helping O Gauge model trains make a comeback. The article contains quotes from Lionel CEO Jerry Calabrese and Andy Edleman, VP of marketing for MTH. Check out the article here.
Kalmbach Publishing announced that Neil Besougloff, the current editor of Classic Toy Trains Magazine, is leaving that post to become the editor of Kalmbach's Model Railroader Magazine. According to the announcement posted on the Model Railroader Magazine web site...
Current MR Editor/Publisher Terry D. Thompson will remain Publisher of MR and four other Kalmbach titles, but will now serve as a full-time publisher.
"Neil's editorial experience and enthusiasm for model railroading make him a great fit for this position. He knows the magazine and the hobby, and he's done a great job as Editor of CTT," Thompson said. "I'm very pleased that Neil will be joining the MR team."
If you have at least 5 years editorial experience and some knowledge about the model train hobby send your resume' to hr@kalmbach.com.
This installment of Model Railroading in the News includes stories about an O gauge locomotive in the UK that sold for £12,000; a private layout 40 years in the making depicting the town of Pulaski, VA that has been donated to the town but they can't afford a space to display it; a Minnesota hobby shop going out of business after 40 years because of the usual suspects - competition from Internet retailers and fewer young people showing an interest in model building. Click on the link below to read these and other stories.
The Star Ledger, a Northern New Jersey newspaper, ran a story about Lionel's CEO, Jerry Calabrese. The story's focus is on how the New Jersey native is turning around Lionel. The most interesting news gleaned from the article is that Lionel is in negotiations with the owners of the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ with hopes of opening a Lionel Museum or exhibit there. Rumors had been circulating around the O Gauge community that Lionel was looking to establish a presence in New Jersey. Maybe the museum is that presence. There were a few other interesting quotes from Calabrese in the article.
Click on the link below to read on
Continue reading "Lionel's Jerry Calabrese Interviewed by The Star Ledger (NJ)" »
Check out this article in the German magazine Der Spiegel about the new model railroad items displayed at the Toy Fair in Nuremberg Germany. Warning, the pictures after the jump are not suitable for youngsters.
Bruce J. Walthers, chairman of Wm. K. Walthers, Inc, passed away on January 28th. Bruce Walthers was the son of Wm. K. Walthers, the founder of the W. K. Walthers company which first produced a model railroad catalog in 1932. In the beginning, Walthers catered to the O Gauge community but was instrumental in making HO popular. Bruce Walthers is credited with taking the company his father founded and making it the leading distributor of model railroading products that it is today. The majority of the pages of the now infamous Walthers catalog are dedicated to HO scale products. J. Phillip Walthers, son of Bruce Walthers, is the current president of W. K. Walthers.
Read more about Bruce Walthers on the Walthers website. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also has a piece about Mr. Walthers found here. Read more about the history of W. K. Walthers here.
The holidays have past and so the number of stories about model railroading is starting to drop off but there are still some good ones out there.
Click on the link below to read on
MTH announced yesterday in their electronic newsletter that some of the Premier steam locomotives appearing in the 2007 Volume 1 catalog will be produced with a wireless drawbar. The wireless drawbar will replace the Proto-Sound 2.0 wire tether that was used to connect the locomotive to the digital soundboard in the tender. This wireless drawbar setup was first introduced by MTH on their new HO scale locomotive.
The list of models to get the new drawbar includes:
Greenbrier 4-8-4 Steam Engine w/Proto-Sound 2.0 (Hi-Rail Wheels)
Class A 2-6-6-4 Steam Engine w/Proto-Sound 2.0 (Hi-Rail Wheels)
Canadian National 4-8-2 Steam Engine w/Proto-Sound 2.0
Z-6 Challenger 4-6-6-4 Steam Engine w/Proto-Sound 2.0
These locomotives will also receive an number of other tweaks that will make them look even more prototypical. None of the tweaks were listed in the 2007 Volume 1 catalog descriptions for these models.
MTH announced recently that all of the above models are in danger of not being produced because of low early order volume. Maybe the addition of the wireless drawbar and the other tweaks will spark enough interest for MTH to produce these models.
The decision to build these models will be made on 2/1/07 so get your orders in by 1/31/07.
Plenty of model railroad articles to read in issue #17 of Model Railroading in the News.
Click on the link below to read on
On 12/29/06 The Record, a northern New Jersey newspaper, ran an editorial response by Peter W. Kruimer that took issue with an Associated Press article The Record ran before Christmas about the model train hobby . Of course, as with most news stories about model trains, the article makes the assertion that model trains are for older men with deep pockets. The article also mentioned that the future of the hobby was unclear because kids are more interested in computers and video games. Peter's editorial response takes issue with both points and can be read here.
I had originally intended this post to stop at the end of the previous sentence but reading the AP article and Peter's editorial response provoked me to get up on my soap box and spout a few thoughts of my own.
Click on the link below to read on
Gilmore Reid, famous for his railroad watercolor paintings and former art director of Kalmbach Publishing died on January 2, 2007. Many of you may have some of Gil's work hanging in your train room. You can view Gil's work at www.gilreid.com. There are several videos of Gil discussing his paintings and career posted on Google Video. Find them here.
KARE11 News in Minneapolis/St. Paul Minnesota ran a nice story about the resurgence of model trains. You can check out the the video on KARE11.com.
What does a train collecting dentist do when his trains are banished from the living room in his Florida home? You guessed it. They now travel around Todd Weiner's 2,400 square-foot office on 160 feet of track. The shelf mounted dual track loop features bridges and tunnels where trains including Lionel's new Acela Express traverse the office. Read the entire Tampa Tribune article here.
NBC aired a piece entitled "Toy Trains Make a Comeback" on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. You can view it here (you have to watch a 30 second commercial before it plays).
Related Posts
Old Lionel Videos
This will be the final installment of Model Railroading In The News for 2006. As Christmas approaches newspapers and websites are filled with stories about model railroading. Enjoy!
Click on the link below to read on
According to an article in The Morning Call, a Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania newspaper, Steven Brenneisen of Ross Custom Switches in Norwich, Conn. is proposing to redevelop a 107 year old railroad storehouse outside of Jim Thorpe, PA. Mr. Brenneisen wants to build the world's largest model railroad (the article doesn't say but I'm assuming it's going to be O Gauge because Mr. Brenneisen's company manufactures O Gauge switches and track) as part of the redevelopment plan for the 42,000 sq. ft. two story building. He also is proposing to relocate his manufacturing operations into the building, bringing 10 full time positions into the area. The redevelopment will be privately financed.
Mr. Brenneisen's offer is falling on deaf ears as the article states local commissioners are determined to have the building razed now that the county has purchased the building and awarded a contract to have it demolished. Hopefully the commissioners will take a closer look at Mr. Brenneisen's plan and reconsider because having a model railroad manufacturer and the world's largest model railroad in an area rich in railroad history seems like a perfect fit.
Read The Morning Call article here.
UPDATE: Sign an on-line petition here to save the building.
As is always the case this time of year, stories about model railroading and the people who love the hobby are plentiful in newspapers around the country. The tradition of model railroading and its affect on family and friends is a common theme found in many of the stories in the 15th installment of Model Railroading in the News. If you ever dreamed about retiring and opening a train shop, the story
about a Minnesota couple and their hobby shops will make you jealous. Read this and many other stories by clicking on the link below.
There are plenty of news stories about model railroading in the 14th edition of Model Railroading In The News. Articles about public holiday model railroad displays like the one in the Duke Energy building in Cincinnati and those about train shows like the "S" Fest in Chicago are more frequent now that we're entering the start of model train "season". The USA today got into the act with a different take on model trains and there's news that President Nixon's library and President Rutherford B Hayes' center will feature model trains over the holidays. Also, the Union Tribune in San Diego published a nice article about prominent banker and renowned model train collector, Thomas Sefton, who passed away recently. Read these and many other interesting stories by clicking on the link below.
If you haven't heard, Target will be selling a Lionel starter set this year. As of last weekend, the set hasn't hit the shelves of my local Target yet. If you have to have this set and can't wait for it to show up in your local Target you can order it on-line from Target with free shipping. One catch, the free shipping expires on 11/11/06 so you better hurry. Check out Target's website for details.
UPDATE 11/14/06: Free shipping extended to 11/18/06. Also, you can get and additional 10% off using the following link to access Target.com: www.target.com. You won't see the savings until you get to the page where you choose the method of payment at checkout. [via Gizmodo and Dealhack]
Radio DJ Jon Brooks of WKOL "Kool 105" radio in Vermont is a big O Gauge fan. He is such a fan that he interviewed Roger Carp, editor of Classic Toy Trains magazine during his drive time morning rock & roll radio show. A member of the Classic Toy Train forum, darianj, was nice enough to record the 2 segment interview and Joshua over at the Prewar Times blog has the links posted here.
Check out photos of Jon's (aka Kooljock1) layout in the OGaugeWatch flickr group.
Lionel was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame today. Lionel Trains along with the Easy Bake Oven were the latest inductees into the Strong National Museum of Play Hall of Fame located in Rochester, NY. Both became the first electric toys to be inducted and join 35 other toys that include such classics as Candy Land, the bicycle, Tinker Toys and Play-Doh.
Read the complete story at Playthings.com.
Jerry Calabrese, Lionel's CEO, and Lionel Trains are the subject of an interesting article published in the NY Sun today. Mr. Calabrese was interviewed by the Sun and discusses Lionel's return to New York City and how he wants to "re-establish what Lionel's tradition was for its first 65 years and stake our flag back in the world of pop culture". The article also mentions that Lionel has signed a licensing deal with the makers of the Harry Potter movies.
Read the New York Sun article here.
In this, the 13th edition of Model Railroading in the News, there are a couple of the typical "trains are for big kids" articles and an interesting story out of Wisconsin about a couple selling a house complete with it's own 7 1/2" guage model railroad. Click on the link below to read these and other interesting stories.
It's York week so you can expect plenty of announcements from all the major O Gauge manufacturers this week. Atlas O started the fun yesterday by announcing the formation of the Atlas O Golden Spike Club. From the Atlas O web site:
“The purpose of this club is to give dedicated consumers an opportunity to obtain valuable information about Atlas O, LLC products and services, and provide them with the ability to purchase special items,” said Jim Weaver, vice-president of Atlas O. “Members will be able to purchase special products designed specifically for club members. Most importantly, any special cars offered to club members will always be decorated in prototypical paint schemes, a hallmark of Atlas O products.”
The cost to join the club is $50 per year. See the Atlas O web site for more details.
Related posts:
First Steam Locomotive For Atlas O Announced
Atlas O Announcements (Oct '06)
Fans of Korber Model's buildings will be happy to hear they are adding a new O Gauge building to their collection. A new single stall engine house with an attached machine shop will be unveiled at the Fall 2006 TCA show in York, PA. If you going to the show stop by Korber's booth at FF06 in the Orange Hall. Hopefully they will post pictures on their web site as soon as it is unveiled. I got a good look at some of Korber's products at the Spring TCA show including their new modular system and was impressed.
Atlas O made two announcements this week. First, they announced the offerings in their monthly "mini catalog" which includes 2 new items in the Atlas O Trainman line. Items include:
Atlas also announced they will be doing something new at the Fall '06 TCA York meet. "Behind the Booth" seminars will be held at 2:00 pm on Thursday, 10/19 and 10 am on Friday, 10/20 at the Atlas O booth (#LL-1, in the Orange Hall). Limited seating will be available and will be first come, first serve. The seminar will consist of 3 20 minute presentations. According to the Atlas O news flash email, speakers will be:
Click on the link below to read on
Installment #12 of Model Railroading in the News marks my first post since my return from an enjoyable family vacation at Mickey's house in Florida. In this installment we start off wit
