NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time

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NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by GojiMet86 on Wed Dec 13 15:13:18 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/13/nyregion/all-trains-all-the-time.html All Trains, All the Time Neighborhood Joint By EMILY BRENNAN DEC. 13, 2017 Trainworld, a family-owned store that sits fittingly under an elevated section of the F train in Brooklyn, is a modeler’s dream. Its walls are lined with MTH locomotives, wooden Thomas & Friends tracks and Piko freight cars. Stacks of Lionel Polar Express starter sets are piled high near collector bait like the company’s Pennsylvania Railroad GG1, with simulated sparks. Racks of striped engineer hats sit alongside shelves of plastic shrubs, tunnel molds and inch-tall people. And at the store’s center is a 16-foot platform with elevated tracks, Victorian houses, working lampposts, a bank, and a Sunoco gas station, through which three trains travel, led by a locomotive that puffs rings of maple-sugar-scented steam. For the 27 years Joannie DeVito has worked at Trainworld, she has observed its effect on even the most buttoned-up modelers. “It could be a 60-year-old man,” she said, “but you bring him into this store, and it’s like letting a kid loose in Toys ‘R’ Us.” At any time of year, you could find hobbyists here talking about the merits of modeling on O scale versus HO. But the store sees its most foot traffic during the holidays, when seasonal enthusiasts take their sets out of storage and ring them around their trees. Continue reading the main story By her own estimation, Kathy Thompson has been coming to Trainworld for 25 years. Every Christmas, she installs the eight-foot set she inherited from her grandfather — a wintry village on one side, a summertime farm on the other — on the porch of her home in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. That afternoon she was buying shrubs to replace some tired ones, while her husband, Mike, stocked up on spare parts. He didn’t want to find himself, he said, in an all-too-familiar position: “You put everything up, and all of a sudden two bulbs aren’t working.” Christmas even figures in the family legend that led to Trainworld’s founding in 1968. Anthony Bianco II, the store’s manager, recounted the tale of his grandfather discovering a passion for model trains. “One of his first sets that he bought, he set it up around the Christmas tree, and all the kids loved it,” he said, “but then he found out how much it was worth — packed it up and sold it.” After that, his grandfather started selling sets out of his home — an operation that involved his wife and all five of his children — and out of the beauty parlor he ran on Kings Highway, before opening a store on Avenue M. (About 30 years ago, the business moved to this location, at 751 McDonald Avenue.) Today Mr. Bianco’s two cousins work at the store, and his father, also Anthony, remains one of the owners. Another uncle and cousin, both named Ken, operate a sister store in Long Island, where Bobby Baccalieri’s fateful whacking in “The Sopranos” was filmed. A newcomer to the Brooklyn store’s staff is Marc Hamon, 26, of Teaneck, N.J. His 90-minute commute is mostly by bus, he said, and the subway car he gets is often, unluckily, a beat-up old Pullman R46, but he can look forward to a ride on the shinier, newer Alstom R160 he loves. Still, with few stores like Trainworld near his home, it’s worth the trek to him, a collector since he was in diapers. His current favorite: an Atlas model of a Providence & Worcester freight train, the timetable of which he knew down to the minute as a boy in Connecticut. “I grew up on that railroad going by,” he said — which gets to what he loves about modeling. “I like the aspect of being able to recreate something from real life.”
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Dan* on Wed Dec 13 15:41:11 2017, in response to NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by GojiMet86 on Wed Dec 13 15:13:18 2017.* I lived a few blocks from there. Not much else on McDonald Avenue, sort of a rundown area for 50 years. I like all the 'security camera' signs. The building is owned by '751 McDonald Ave LLC' which may be Trainworld itself. NYC property taxes = $39,572/year.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Catfish 44* on Wed Dec 13 17:43:47 2017, in response to NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by GojiMet86 on Wed Dec 13 15:13:18 2017.* Typical shit. They have to throw a jab in there on the R-46. What crap.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by murray1575* on Wed Dec 13 18:02:00 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by Catfish 44 on Wed Dec 13 17:43:47 2017.* I would agree. After the Rockwell truck fiasco was resolved and the GOH which was done on those cars they have served the system well. They have plenty of seats and they ride well and more quietly than the newer R160 cars.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Catfish 44* on Wed Dec 13 19:52:59 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by murray1575 on Wed Dec 13 18:02:00 2017.* Good post. Thank you.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Far Rockaway A Train* on Thu Dec 14 07:15:41 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by Catfish 44 on Wed Dec 13 17:43:47 2017.* What beat up R46s is he seeing? They look a hell of a lot better than those R160s. If they would brighten up the interior lighting.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Catfish 44* on Thu Dec 14 08:54:45 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by Far Rockaway A Train on Thu Dec 14 07:15:41 2017.* More millennial bullcrap about a beat up cars that were built before 2001. And that 211 will be a lowly replacement for them. R46 is a true rail car. And they're not in condition that 'author' says they are.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Edwards!* on Thu Dec 14 13:47:06 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by murray1575 on Wed Dec 13 18:02:00 2017.* Exactly. Love the R46...if only had built them 60ft cars instead of 75 ,they could have been seen every where. Now, the 211s are nice, but if you combine the two designs, then those cars will be fantastic.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by BILLBKLYN* on Thu Dec 14 14:10:28 2017, in response to NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by GojiMet86 on Wed Dec 13 15:13:18 2017.* This is where I buy almost all of my Lionel and MTH trains
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Kriston Lewis* on Thu Dec 14 15:12:38 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by murray1575 on Wed Dec 13 18:02:00 2017.* I remember them creaking a lot from my childhood. That issue seems to have been resolved after they were transferred to Pitkin, but it crops up occasionally.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Bill Newkirk* on Thu Dec 14 15:48:46 2017, in response to NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by GojiMet86 on Wed Dec 13 15:13:18 2017.* January 1979
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by IRTRedbirdR33* on Thu Dec 14 16:11:30 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by Bill Newkirk on Thu Dec 14 15:48:46 2017.* Bill: Was that the old store on Kings Highway? Larry, RedbirdR33
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by randyo* on Thu Dec 14 17:12:44 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by IRTRedbirdR33 on Thu Dec 14 16:11:30 2017.* I believe it was on Ave M.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by IRTRedbirdR33* on Thu Dec 14 17:22:45 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by randyo on Thu Dec 14 17:12:44 2017.* I believe your right. I did go there once many years ago and wasn't sure of the locations. IN recent times I've gone to the McDonald Avenue store. Larry, RedbirdR33
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Joe V* on Thu Dec 14 18:59:57 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by BILLBKLYN on Thu Dec 14 14:10:28 2017.* Sister store is in Lynbrook. You remember Madison Hardware ?
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Jackson Park B Train* on Thu Dec 14 19:26:50 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by Joe V on Thu Dec 14 18:59:57 2017.* yes. been to Trainworld on one of my rare trips east. and way back America's Hobby Center.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Catfish 44* on Thu Dec 14 22:36:07 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by Bill Newkirk on Thu Dec 14 15:48:46 2017.* Oh wow I remember there being a train store there. I had relatives that lived on E. 17th street off M. I don't remember what the store looked like but I do remember it being there. Very interesting.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by FYBklyn1959* on Thu Dec 14 22:54:37 2017, in response to NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by GojiMet86 on Wed Dec 13 15:13:18 2017.* I've never been in person, but I've ordered from then online. Good company. One time, a couple of cars that I ordered arrived with trucks detached. I contacted them, they told me to send them back and I got replacements in no time. If/when I ever get back to NYC, that will be a must visit for me (I think the Long Island store is larger, fortunately, it seems to be relatively close to an LIRR station).
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by HART BUS* on Fri Dec 15 11:01:18 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by FYBklyn1959 on Thu Dec 14 22:54:37 2017.* The Long Island Store is in Lynbrook and is a short walk from the Lynbrook station of the LIRR on the south side of Sunrise Highway, east of the station.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by randyo* on Fri Dec 15 16:24:35 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by HART BUS on Fri Dec 15 11:01:18 2017.* Unless It changed recently, I believe that the Lynbrook store is called TrainLAND even though it it's under the same ownership as Trainworld.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Henry R32 #3730* on Fri Dec 15 20:10:54 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by randyo on Fri Dec 15 16:24:35 2017.* Correct. And it is a reasonable walk, even in inclement weather (it was snowing last time I went there). There's also a White Castle along the way. The off-peak schedule is good too.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Joe V* on Fri Dec 15 20:14:08 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Fri Dec 15 20:10:54 2017.* White Castle is right at the station. There's a nice diner halfway between the station and Trainland on Sunrise Hwy. LIRR is smart enough to schedule the Babylon trains that sop to be roughly half way between Long Beach trains, so usually twice an hour service. It's a 35 minute NICE bus ride from Jamaica/Pardons
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by BILLBKLYN* on Fri Dec 15 20:56:40 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by Joe V on Thu Dec 14 18:59:57 2017.* Never been to Trainland or Madison's.
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by TUNNELRAT* on Sat Dec 16 09:12:41 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by Joe V on Fri Dec 15 20:14:08 2017.* white castle is being rebuilt.no belly bombers for a few months
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Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time
Posted by Joe V* on Sat Dec 16 10:59:44 2017, in response to Re: NYT: Trainworld: All Trains, All the Time, posted by TUNNELRAT on Sat Dec 16 09:12:41 2017.* They one that is there now is only 30 years old. It and the parking lot swapped places when they built the current one.
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