# Found at Nicholas Smith Trains



## Bill C. (Jan 2, 2008)

About a week ago I was looking at Nicholas Smith's on-line inventory and spotted a couple of LGB Royal Saxon fouth-class coaches that I have admired for some time. I called on the phone and bought them. Lynn at the store told me she would put them on the "hold shelf", and today I picked them up in Broomall, Pa.. Little gems they are!

I cannot say enough nice things about Chris and his staff. My grandfather bought trains from this firm a hundred years ago, and I'm still at it, as are my grandsons, fifth generation customers.

Long live Nicholas Smith Trains.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Good score, I have one of those cars, and really like it.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Bill C. on 08 Nov 2010 03:16 PM 









About a week ago I was looking at Nicholas Smith's on-line inventory and spotted a couple of LGB Royal Saxon fouth-class coaches that I have admired for some time. I called on the phone and bought them. Lynn at the store told me she would put them on the "hold shelf", and today I picked them up in Broomall, Pa.. Little gems they are!

I cannot say enough nice things about Chris and his staff. My grandfather bought trains from this firm a hundred years ago, and I'm still at it, as are my grandsons, fifth generation customers.

Long live Nicholas Smith Trains.


Bill
One of our favorite spots along with lunch at the Thunderbird.....


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## Bill C. (Jan 2, 2008)

Garrett, I had tried to buy one of those on ebay but never had any luck. I felt fortunate to find two in boxes at Nicholas Smith. Above is a shot I took of some of the shelves there yesterday. On the second shelf from the top, center, is a car with a tag hanging down. I believe it is another one. What an amazing inventory the place has, and the pricing is realistic.

Charles, you have made me want to eat at the Thunderbird -- right next door. Next time we will do that. Yesterday we ate in downtown Media after taking a ride on the recently reopened Media-69th St. trolley line. A really nice day on a line that I consider a national treasure.


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## eheading (Jan 5, 2008)

Bill I am fascinated by your thread about Nicholas Smith, and your exploits with lunch etc. I grew up about 5 miles from Broomall and never knew of NS as I was growing up. And now that I'm in Florida, I've visited there!! It is quite a shop! We have a daughter who now lives in Kennett Square, so occasionally when we visit her I sneak up to visit Nicholas Smith!!! Anyway, your comments bring back lots of great memories.

Ed


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## Bill C. (Jan 2, 2008)

Ed, it is nice to hear from another Nicholas Smith customer. Better late than never to discover it. Bring money!

Above is a photo of the original NS store that Chris keeps on display at the Broomall location. The story goes that back in the early 1900s, the area around 11th and Arch Sts. in Philly, near the Reading Terminal, was where they sold electrical equipment of all sorts, when things such as electric toasters were considered high tech. Lionel Trains came on the scene and by 1909 Nicholas Smith was selling them. The store was still at this location into the 1970s, but in 1977 Chris bought the name and contents and moved it to Broomall in the suburbs of Delaware County.

My maternal grandfather, John Frey, born in 1889, told me before his death 30 years ago about how he personally got started in model trains and then went on to be a Nicholas Smith customer. Even as a young man, grandson of German immigrants, my grandfather had a clockwork train. His home, typical of many in the city at that time, still had no electricity, and the house was lit with gas. When he got married and bought his first home about 1910, near the Stetson Hat Company where he worked. gas still lit the place. By then electric trains had come on the scene so he then turned to battery power and was able to get his first electric train going. He tried to hook up a small generator to his kitchen tap, but his experiment failed. Eventually his house got wired.

In 1923 my grandfather purchased a standard gauge passenger set from Nicholas Smith. By the late 1930s he moved into O gauge with a steam passenger set. After World War II he bought a GG1 with modern passenger cars. Every Christmas he would set up a big Christmas Garden, as he called it, in his living room. Even though the layout was O gauge, during the holidays underneath it he would always put a few of the old standard gauge cars and the engine for me to play with when I visited.

I really loved those big 1923 cars and the electric-style loco, so finally about 1955 my grandmother said to my grandfather, why don't you give that set to Bill? He agreed, but first took the engine to Nicholas Smith to have the engine flanges restored, since they had big chips in them. When I got the engine back the wheels were perfect and the set ran flawlessly for years until I moved into HO in the late '50s.

Just this past year I gave the standard gauge set, now approaching 90 years old, to my grandsons. The pre-war O gauge steam passenger set belongs to my nephew, who is now the budget director for the Coast Guard. The GG1 O gauge set now belongs to my oldest sister and her husband. Due to those surviving passenger sets, my grandfather's name and that of Nicholas Smith are still household words even to the youngest generations of my family.

Meanwhile I hope to continue being a Nicholas Smith customer by purchasing more large scale equipment still on my wish list.


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## eheading (Jan 5, 2008)

Fascinating, Bill. Thanks for sharing a little bit of your family history!! I was into Lionel "O" gauge trains in the late '40's and early '50's.

Ed


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## Ward H (Jan 5, 2008)

NST, my favorite candy store! Always a fun trip. Kind of glad we don't live closer, couldn't afford it. 

Bill, I agree with Ed. Great family memories. Thanks for sharing!


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## Dr. J (Feb 29, 2008)

When I moved to Philly (Ardmore) 13 years ago, I had to find 3 things:
A good school district for our daughter
A house of worship where we felt comfortable, and
A Train Store. 
We live aobut 15 minutes from Smith's, and I have been there many times. I'm also delighted to report that I can buy Thomas the Tank Engine trains there using my company credit card, to re-stock the supply in my waiting room. (go to http://www.drcoplan.com/ and you'll see what I'm talking about).
Cheers.
Dr. J
PS: We found the other 2 necessities as well!


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

I also have one of the new MLGB ones, in DRG paint, something LGB never gave us. 

http://www.pizzatrains.com/2009%20L...090[1].gif

While greatly "overscale" (my H0e versions from the defunct firm "technomodel" are tiny) these are still really interesting models from LGB.


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## Bill C. (Jan 2, 2008)

Ed, Ward, Dr. J., on your next excursion to Nicholas Smith be sure to go five miles south via the Blue Route to ride the recently re-opened Route 101 trolley. Some advice on parking in Media: go to the end of the line at State and Orange Sts., turn south for a short block, and you will find a metered parking lot with a rate of 50 cents and hour -- bring quarters. More information on this route at septa.org

Garrett, that is another fine looking coach. Something about the interesting end platforms and monitor roof with clerestory windows that appeals to me.

Dr. J., it won't be long until NS gets some of those large scale James engines.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

I was always hoping that Lehmann would have done the post/baggage van. Here is the technomodell one: 

http://www.modellbahnshop-gera.de/H....html?XTCsid=563ede96014ed4c1abda724637a306d4 

The Epoch I scheme was a light tan color, VERY nice. 

http://www.bahnbilder.de/bilder/traditionsbahn-radebeul-267062.jpg


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,

WHen I was doing my undergrad at Villanova, I discovered NS one day. Actually, I remembered seeing it from a bus on the way to a sorority party. When I took summer classes in 97, I had a car and spent a few afternoons drooling in this shop. I have bought a few things from them over the years, and only had one bad experience, but it was resolved.


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## Bill C. (Jan 2, 2008)

Garrett, those are both nice little cars you posted. I have been thinking along the same line because I needed some small cars to operate indoors with my steam tram, but I have found that they also look good with my Porter and Mack. I bought a fakultative combine with interior benches on ebay (pictured above), and also via ebay a green postal coach, both by LGB. I also like to use them for a quickie run outdoors when I don't have much time to lug out bigger stuff, such as Jackson & Sharp coaches.

Mark, it is a tough decision to make between sorority girls and Nicholas Smith Trains. It would take the wisdom of Solomon.


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,

At the time, it was a 'no brainer'. In fact, I was thinking with my 'other' brain, since he seemed to know where he wanted to go. Besides, this would have been after NS closed for the day anyway!


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