Model Railroading in the 50s and 60s.


Thanks for your history T.C. How fun to have worked in a hobby shop. Always wanted to own one; but, where I live I lack the customer base and now that the Huge Hobby Companies control prices the competition is to fierce to allow the little guy to make it!
 
It was a lot of fun and we made a good living, especially when the fair trade laws were still in affect.
We were in a shopping center with a Woolworth and a Sears and my grandfather had it in his lease that the two could only carry a certain percentage of toys and hobbies in there stores.
So when I was a kid part of my job was to spy on them and report back to my dad as to how much RR product they had in stock.
I remember one year Woolworth had a ton of AHM in stock and with one phone call from my grandfather most of it was gone the next day.
Can you imagine that happening in todays world, A Ma and Paw telling Wallyworld to fair trade.
After that the lease changed and the trade laws went away and eventually so did the business with the upcoming of mail order .
This thread brings back some good memories for me .
T.C.
 
T.C. said:
I remember one year Woolworth had a ton of AHM in stock
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I always looked forward to the Woolworth Christmas stock up of railroad equipment. Our local five and dime was a Ben Franklin, but I could always convince my parents to drive the extra 6 miles to get the the Woolworth. Of course the big treat was if we got to go to the big Woolworth downtown. It carried twice the stock of the suburban and later the mall stores.
 
All I can say is my dad never knew what took me so long to walk 150 foot and back ?
We carried a few pieces of AHM but Woolworth had it all, "BigBoys" and other steam and pass. trains and logging trains and ........... and.......... it was so kool !
Great times.
T.C.
 
T. C.,

I know many cities had similar layouts and setups -- but did you by any chance live in Indianapolis? What you describe is VERY similar to the layout of a south side mall, where the hobby shop was just two (or maybe three) stores down from the Woolworth's. After college, I had the good fortune to land a part-time job at said hobby shop for four years, and absolutely loved it! I only left when my "main job" took me to a city 800 miles away... :(

I'd been a "train nut" since I'd been a little kid, but wandered away as a teenager into the world of plastic military models. When I worked at the hobby shop, I was their military model specialist. But some of the "old guys" tricked me back into railroading by handing me an undecorated Blue Box hopper, a bottle of tuscan red paint, and a sheet of decals -- and asked if I'd build it up for one of them. When I was done, they said, "Naw, you go ahead and keep it." And with that slight exposure, the "train bug" was back!

Ah, good memories!

Regards,
Tom Stockton
 
We live in Florida Tom, at the time my family owned the only toy and hobby shop between Melbourne and WPB on the south east coast.
Now that I think about it, another one of my duties was operating the train layout in the store through the Christmas season . Was I a spoiled kid or what ?
Yes all good memories !
T.C.
 
One of the things I have noticed is that most of the retail outlets that where in business back in the 50s, 60s, 70s and even 80s are no longer advertising in model railroader. Charles Ro, AHM, IHC, Mitchalls, Ted Engine House, Standard Hobby, etc. etc... The only one that I still see is Trainworld/Trainland, which is still in business. I don't believe that the internet put these companies out of business, as any business man with a pulse would recognize a new-great-opportunity for increasing sales, like the internet.

Businesses come and businesses go, without doubt. Some have longevity, some don't. However, for all these retailers to be gone is an interesting thing to think about!
 
I couldn't say what happened to those mail order places. I do remember that we never sold MRR in the shop because my dad didn't like the discounted adds in them.
Said it was like cutting your own throat, we did carry Narrow gauge gazette and a few others that did not have the adds.
I would think that places like Evil Bay and Tower hobbies had a lot to do with the others going out of business, also remember those were the years that radio control really came into the picture taking a big share of disposable income away from the RR hobby.
I'm sure there are many theories on that subject .
T.C.
 
I don't think that many people moved away from Model Railroading to pursue Radio Controlled Model Airplanes, as the two are completely different hobbies. I have been involved in R/C, yet I quit that to do Model Railroading.
 
Oh it wasn't just airplanes, it was boats, cars, motor cycles, tanks submarines just about anything you could imagine gas, fuel and now electric.
Who knows ?
I will quit on this topic now as I don't want to spoil your thread with a bunch of what killed the hobby post, I'm sure it's been hashed over enough anyway.
T.C.
 
T.C. Having been involved in R/C I understand very well the various facets of that hobby! Nobody is any sadder over the demise of the local hobby shop, than I am! However, to blame one hobby for the down turn of another makes no sense to me. All of the hobby shops I have ever been in, do not cater to one specific hobby, they have all catered to all hobbies.

We are discussing the hobby of Model Railroading in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. I have enjoyed your on point discussion on working at your fathers hobby shop, don't stop! You bring insight into what most of us would have loved to do, work at a hobby shop!
 
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Mark, I agree and didn't want to turn this into another "who put the shops out of business " threads .
I am enjoying the memories .
T.C.
 
I've mentioned in past posts how many books Kalmbach publishing had out. As of December of 1983 they have 34 books they are publishing, covering everything from just starting out, Scenery. Primers, how to wire and everything in between.

Standard Hobby Supply, my old standby, now has a 5 page ad.

Russ Larson is still the Editor of Model Railroader and The December 1983 is the 600th issue of the magazine. Interesting since this month is now the 1,000 issue. Also this month signals the beginning of Malcom Furlow's build of the San Juan Central and PFM is still on the back cover.
 
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I have copies of MR from the 70's and I may have to pull them out and start reading the older issues. Then, there's Craftsman Model Railroader (correct name?). I enjoyed that magazine as well.

I've seen the San Juan Central in person, quite the model railroad in a smaller space.

Mark, what has been your favorite article so far that you found in Model Railroader?

Thanks for the updates.

Greg
 
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Railroad Model Craftsman.

The purpose of what I am doing is going over all the issues to find articles I want to go back and read. However, I have read the Articles on John Allen and I think they will end up being my favorites.
 
Mark if you happen to run across a list of electronic projects from back in the day could you please post what issue it's in ?
I would like to find that electronic project I built 30 plus years ago.
Thanks T.C.
 
I have seen many electronics projects in the 40 years of MRs I have look at, you'll need to be more specific on what you built and give me the decade you think it was from.
 
It would be from the 80's, I just thought they may have posted a list of projects through the years in one of the issues ?
It was a polarity checker for a reverse loop using DC power and LED's.
Not a big deal, if you run across something like this I would appreciate posting the issue month and year.
Thanks T.C.
 
Mark D.,

That's a great idea -- going though back issues and making notes of things or ideas that interest you and that you'd like to come back to.

I know that MR used to do an annual index. But sometimes you couldn't tell by the title if it was something you'd be interested in.

Plus, you never know when you'll stumble across something that wouldn't interest you 20 years ago, but now it would. Excellent idea!

Regards,
Tom Stockton
 
Some of you have made comment, wondering why the magazine has shrunk from around 150 to sometimes more that 200 pages in the 1980's and 1990's, to the less than 100 pages of the year 2016's issues, I've found that until around 2005, the page numbers had consistently reached over 130. From that point onward the page count has consistently dwindled. My guess would be that the editorial staff made the decision to reduce the page count. I wondered if it had been because Neil Besougloff had taken over as editor, however the reductions started before Neil had taken over the editors position in September of 2007. This reduction in page count is certainly a "Less bang for the Buck" situation. Looking at the magazine's Masthead, in February of 1985 (as an example) it lists five people as some type of editorial staff and five people in the Art Department. These would be permanent-paid members of Model Railroader. This past issue, May of 2017, shows six people as permanent staff and five people in the Art Department. However, now there are four people in permanent positions as Model Railroader Video Plus (MRVP) staff. MRVP was started in January of 2013. It certainly could be argued that MRVP has become responsible for added content to the magazine. However, if you are unwilling to part with the extra $44.95 per year to subscribe to MRVP there is no added content for you.

I don't blame anyone for being disgusted with how this is all shaking out! I can only say that I still find the magazine pertinent to the hobby and enjoy my subscription to MRVP and the All Time Digital Archive. The information I have just given might cause some to drop their subscription to Model Railroader! This was unintentional. However, this information is pretty much par for the course in today's modern world!
 
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