Full Steam Ahead

Trains. Not just any trains, but Lionel trains, according to the signs posted out front of a 100-year-old stone-faced building on Romaine Road. A blinking light directs the passersby to a sort of secret side door, which opens into the rhythmic chug-a-lug of a running train and its accompanying bells and whistles. There are two trains actually, and the miniature displays are all decked out for the holidays.

Welcome to The Train Station, a half-century Mountain Lakes family-owned shop for all matters concerning Lionel model trains. And yes, they still produce catalogues.

There’s industry-specific language at play that makes perfect sense to the enthusiasts who are in the market for parts, models or sets to fuel their collections. Owner and Laker Sue Shaw conducts a walk-through tending to all matters Lionel.

“This display here is prewar,” she says, gesturing to shelves organized by year and models. “These are Lionels from 1901, and then there’s postwar 1946 to 1969.”

Shaw is relatively new as the owner, about a year and change, she says. She and her late husband Dave ran the business together, but the origin story started when her late father-in-law Don Shaw opened the shop in 1974.

Dan White, director of procurement jumps in with the backstory: “The store came online in the old Mountain Lakes commuter station, home to what is now The Station Restaurant,” he says. “Laker Fred Mitchell operated an antiques store in the station’s waiting room, and Don would set up model train displays in the window for passersby.”

When the station closed and relocated, Don and his trains followed suit. The shop was originally housed on the second story of what now serves as office space and a clearinghouse of sorts for collections.

According to Ranjan O. Bose, chairman of the historic preservation committee, the current building itself dates back to 1925 and has served the community in several incarnations including as a post office, police department, and a once-popular soda shop called The Whistle Stop. A pole remnant of a former barber shop remains on the front of the building.

The train store remains true to its historic roots; Lionel is named for Joshua Lionel Cowen, the inventor and salesman who catapulted the toy train revolution in the early 1900s. But the store has also come on board with the technology of the times. Current starter sets come fully equipped with blue tooth technology and a universal remote that pairs with a downloadable app.

“The new trains have sound activated remotes with bells, horns, and conductor announcements,” Shaw says.

A collection of children’s favorites such as Thomas the Tank, Harry Potter, and The Polar Express are among the newer, interactive models.

“They’re designed for 14 and up,” Shaw says. But in the world of model train collectibles, the parents usually get just as involved—and excited—as the child, White adds.

Early Beginnings

When Shaw’s father-in-law took up shop, he initially operated the business on the second story, but then relocated to the basement level, a purposeful decision made with the understanding that train enthusiasts tend to display their models on the lower levels in their homes.

It goes without saying that the son of a model train shop owner spent a good chunk of childhood by his father’s side in the store. A graduate of Mountain Lakes High School, the late Dave went to Norwich University in Vermont, where he met Shaw, who was attending the neighboring sister college Vermont College.

The pair eventually returned to Mountain Lakes to start a family with Dave assuming ownership of the business in 1986. The store was so successful that Shaw was able to stay at home and raise their four children.

Throughout his nearly 40 years in store, Dave acquired a cargo’s worth of Lionel knowledge that he passed to his customers, who have retained it to this day. “Customers will often say ‘oh, Dave told me that’,” Shaw says.

Train enthusiasts tend to span the age spectrum, or, as Shaw puts it from “three to 93,” and the shop draws customers from across the country. Shipping is standard operating procedure that comes with the territory of running a niche business that boasts the largest selection of Lionel trains on the East Coast.

The business is well-known among the Lionel train community, and by default, so is the affiliation with Mountain Lakes, White adds.

The store’s reputation continues to create a buzz outside of the shop. Their model trains have reached A-list status and have been featured in Bloomingdale’s holiday window on Fifth Avenue, and most notably on the set of The Sopranos, specifically in the garage of the character Bobby Baccalieri, aka Bobby Bacala, who was known for his model train obsession.

In the late ‘90s, Dave was actually on location with some of the cast inside the garage where Baccalieri minded his trains. He was on site to test the trains. “The scene was shot 12 to 13 times,” White says.

While production design for “The Sopranos” fell under the jurisdiction of Bob Shaw—no relation (but also a Mountain Lakes High School graduate)—it was Dave who made the suggestion that made the scene a success.

“The director (David Chase) looked at Dave and asked, ‘Who the heck are you?’” White says. This came as no surprise to Shaw. “Dave was very observant and always had an answer to any question or a solution to any situation.”

There is proof in pictures, which were magnified into poster-sized portraits: The late Dave standing next to James Gandolfini and the train exhibit among a host of characters in Baccalieri’s garage.

A Legacy Carried On

Shaw speaks to Dave’s battle with cancer and how the business kept him going. His customers still impart the knowledge gained through him as in “Dave told me that.”

As of now, the store is full steam ahead for the holidays, and the trains are up and running. The busy season starts in October and powers through until February, Shaw says. “I didn’t think the store would survive without him,” Shaw says. “But the customers have been so supportive, and we’re still here.”

She also applauds her solid employee base who have stayed by her side.

“Many of them have real jobs,” she quips.

One such employee is Brian Jones, a train enthusiast who touts his childhood favorite Thomas the Tank for jumpstarting his hobby in model trains. Jones started frequenting the store in the late 2000s, and, under the tutelage of the late Dave, he worked his way up from model train operator to part of the Train Store family.

In addition to screen and window bragging rights, the store is also involved more close-to-home in events including The Sussex County Farm and Horse Show, Boonton Day, the United Railway Historical Society, and take-apart day in the school district.

As for the future? It’s here and on track.

Photographs courtesy of Ranjan O. Bose and The Train Station