Allied Model Trains Sold!
The Saga of the Sale..
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Allied Model Trains, which has existed since 1946, has been sold by the current owner, Allen Drucker, who has operated the store since 1975. The store was initially located on Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles until 1990, when the current facility in Culver City, shown below, was designed and built for a model train store.
Rumors that Allied was going to be sold had swirled around the store for years but gathered momentum last August when the owner abruptly cancelled a long running program that supported model railroad clubs. After the 2006 Christmas season, regular store patrons noticed that some of the newest items were NOT appearing on the shelves at Allied but were displayed at other stores. Then, on March 10, all speculation was laid to rest when a notice, 140094631582, appeared on Ebay offering Allied Model Trains, for sale. The terms specified were $1.00 for the business and $500.000.00 for the inventory. The notice went on to say that the present landmark store had been rented to a camera shop effective June 1, 2007 so something was going to happen one way or another. Allied had just completed a ten-day sale offering 10% on everything in the store. Just as soon as the sale was announced another sale started offering 30-80% off everything in the store.
On March 19th, the following announcement accompanied the Los Angeles Division PSR-NMRA quarterly publication, "L. A. Coupler":
Dear Fellow N.M.R.A. Members,
I have owned and operated Allied for 32 years now, and it is time to turn this wonderful business over to someone new. So not only are we holding a huge moving sale, that we hope each and every one of you will take advantage of, I am offering this 61 year old business for sale for ONLY $1.00 plus the cost of remaining inventory. this is an unbelievable opportunity for someone who would like to make their living working with model trains. Please see my listing on eBay for all the details, Item No. 1400946315782. In the mean time, I hope to see many of you in the days ahead, shopping for bargains at the "the world's largest toy and model train store."
Thanks for all the years of support,
Allen Drucker
By March 20th, an offer had been received for Allied and the Ebay announcement was so modified. The very next day, a local Culver City newspaper, the FRONT PAGE, published an article about the sale of Allied. Readers may draw their own conclusions. Culver City is not losing a landmark. The building is remaining. In fact, Culver City is not losing anything at all. This sale is a win-win situation for almost everyone concerned. Samy's Cameras will make the building much better known than Allied did. After all, a lot more people use cameras than model trains.
On March 26th, the Allied employees were told that the store had been purchased by three individuals, Fred Hill, Brian Brooks and Nick Barone and that the store would be move to the north of the present store to 4371 Sepulveda Blvd, located on the northwest corner of Barman Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard and shown in the next photo.
On March 27, large signs went on the windows announcing a "Moving Sale" with the "30-80% off" terms.
These sales initially turned out to be the greatest thing since the old Great American Train Shows. Bargains like an MTH HO scale PRR K4s Pacific with DCC/Sound/Smoke for $280.00; MTS Imports PTC/PRT 1923 Double End streetcar (painted/brass) for $209.00; and a Broadway Limited RSD-15 Diesel-Electric Loco with DCC/Sound for $180.00 were routine. Since more items were brought from the warehouse continuously, some railfans visited the store every single day.
Another bigger sale started on Thursday, March 29th and Trolleyville was there when the doors opened. Little green cards announcing this sale were mailed to a wide data base.
Thirty people were waiting to enter the store when it opened at 10:00 AM. By 10:30 AM it took up to one hour to reach the register and pay for any items. when you got to the register you were greeted with the following notice:
The building got so crowded that people began to be stopped at the door and not allowed to enter until someone left. An announcement was made by the owner that this was due to the local Fire Department. Allen performed this "guard duty" himself, leading some of the customers to speculate that "five-finger discounts" may have been more of a concern. The crowds on succeeding days were much more manageable. When our reporter asked Allen what he would be doing after the sale of Allied was completed, he said ".. anything that does not involve employees..." So it will probably be some sort of solo venture.
Trolleyville confirmed the completion of the sale of the business with Fred Hill and Brian Brooks on Monday, April 2nd. The sale was final and the new location rental agreement was complete. Fred stated that he had already taken control of the Allied web site. Allied Model Trains will be moving to 4371 Sepulveda Boulevard. The new 4250 square foot facility will be operated by Allied Model Trains, LLC, (Nick Barone, Brian Brooks, and Fred Hill). They started working on the new store recently and hope to be open in July. This sale could result in an ideal situation for west side model train lovers as three of the most personable, knowledgeable and customer-oriented model train individuals in Southern California will be operating the NEW Allied Model Trains! One thing is relatively certain. Any customer that has frequented Allied Model Trains since 1975 will miss Allen Drucker in one way or another. Allen had a tendency to be a real character on more than one occasion. This produced many colorful tales which made great talk around the water cooler and other model railroader gathering places!
Just when we thought everything would be settling down to a sell-out of current inventory, on April 26th, the following little yellow card appeared at many customers mailboxes:
When we visited Allied, we discovered that Nick Barone, an employee of Allied since 1975 and one of the three new owners, had been "retired" from the store due to "conflict of interest". As we said earlier Allen always provided "color". But the real excitement is yet to come. In an interview with Brian Brooks, one of the new owners of Allied Model Trains, the NEW Allied Model Trains will be a "pure" train store. There will be no Department 56 items and no model planes or model cars, except for those that support model railroading. The NEW Allied owners started working on the new store toward the end of last month. Train lovers can expect quality, courtesy and the conduct of business in professional and enjoyable surroundings. See you in July!
The East Penn Traction Club
A Premier Traction Club!
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The East Penn Traction Club, Inc. is a nonprofit Pennsylvania corporation based in the Philadelphia Delaware Valley, USA, with over 300 members from the local area and around the country. Less than 45% of their membership reside in Pennsylvania. But 25% of their membership resides far from their immediate areas, including the far west states of Arizona and California and foreign countries including Canada and Japan. Many traction business owners are also members, including MTS Imports, Joel Lovitch and Custom Traxx' George Huckaby. Members share a common interest in the history and modeling of electric powered rail transit vehicles, known more affectionately as trolley cars. The models actually take their operating current off of the miniature overhead wire, just as the real ones do. East Penn is perhaps best known for its adoption and promotion of modular layouts, having refined the standards formulated by the late Everett F. Wood in 1969. These standards allow individually-built, portable sections to be connected with each other. This concept allows the quick assembly of large layouts capable of complex operating possibilities. Modular layouts are well suited to the sharp curves, short trains and compact scenery typical of real electric transit lines. The layouts, built in 1:87 (HO gauge), 1:48 (O gauge), 1/2", and 3/4" scales, are familiar to those who have attended hobby shows along the East Coast, and have done much to introduce trolley, interurban, and rapid transit modeling to the general public.
In the spring of odd numbered years, the club sponsors the largest trolley-only model meet in the country. The meet draws the premier modelers and model trolley manufacturers from all over the country for a weekend of viewing models, layouts, films, photos, slides, model contests, and “how-to” clinics on subjects ranging from hanging trolley wire to modeling subway cars. In addition, the latest in trolley kits, parts, bodies, etc. are offered for sale as is prototype data such as photos and books. The next meet, the 18th held so far, is on May 4, 5 and 6th. this year the event is being held at the Pavilion at Villanova University. Check our Meet Page for the latest on this event.
The club also sponsors periodic fan trips over local transit systems featuring rides on everything from the latest state-of-the-art electric transit vehicles to carefully restored historical cars. This years trip is scheduled to be on Route 15, the line served by the 18 PCC II's. These unique cars were re-manufactured from 18 of the 1947 and 1948 PCC cars some of which served the Route 15 trolley line until 1992. A popular yearly trolley calendar featuring photographs of various regional trolley lines is also produced by the club and sold to members and the general public.
The club meets the first Friday of every month from September through June. Meetings are typically held at various members’ homes or public meeting places (church or fire hall, etc.). Members receive a monthly newsletter covering club activities and the location of the monthly meetings. Club dues are just $10.00 per year. If you would like to attend a meeting, join our group, receive a copy of the modular layout standards, purchase our calendar, or ask questions about our club, send Mail to Gary Reighn (webmaster@eastpenn.org).
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Ex-Newark PCC Cars Enter Service in San Francisco!
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Early in the morning of April 9th, Car 1078, dressing the colors of San Diego Electric Railway, was released for service on the F-line. Three additional cars are scheduled to be released before Memorial Day. The active heritage streetcar fleet in San Francisco now numbers 44, including:
Ex-Philadelphia PCC cars - 13
Ex-Newark PCC cars - 11
Ex-Milan Peter Witt cars - 10
Original San Francisco PCC cars - 3
Original Pre-PCC Cars - 3
Ex-New Orleans streetcars - 1
Ex-Melbourne streetcars - 1
Ex-Blackpool tram - 1
Ex-Belgium PCC - 1
On top of this there are many cars in the inactive fleet, including Ex-San Francisco PCC cars, some of which may be renovated and added to the fleet as the demand continues to grow.
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Custom Traxx Previews the MTS PST "Brilliner"!
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On April 10th, Custom Traxx previewed the MTS Imports, Inc. HO scale brass model of the Philadelphia Suburban. The model was the production sample and was used for final measurements prior to the production of a complete finishing decal set for the car.
Custom Traxx had examined the pre-production sample earlier this year and the results were reported in the December 2006 issue of the Times. We thought that that model was excellent but there were some minor corrections needed. All corrections were made with this model.
The decal set should be available by late May or early June and are planned to be included with the models when they are available.
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Southern California Traction Club Runs Five-car Pacific Electric "Blimp" train at appearance!
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The Southern California Traction Club appeared at the South Coast Botanic Gardens on April 14-15 for the eighth time since the club was founded in 1995. At the clubs first public appearance in April 1997, which was also at the South Coast Botanic Garden, the club found itself with five Suydam models of Pacific Electric "Blimps". These cars were called Blimps because they were so large compared to the rest of the Pacific Electric equipment. The coaches were 72 feet long and the combines were 67 feet in length, much longer than anything else operated by the Pacific Electric when they arrived on 1942. the next photo shows George Huckaby, one of the founders of the SCTC, operating the Innovator 3500 throttle bringing his models of PERy 498, 418, 427, 402 and 413 out of the yard.
The SCTC uses five such Innovator throttles on every display. One throttle controls each side of the rectangular display and the fifth control yard movements. The next photo shows the five-car train gliding through the downtown area.
Operating five powered cars of this size on the layout is a challenge. First the layout has had to be designed for the large clearances needs by these huge cars. Secondly, any derailment or dewirement usually results in damaged equipment or overhead wire of some kind. Third, all five cars must be in good operating condition and the coupler heights must match. If one car ceases running, it is dragged along by the other five, resulting in flat wheels and maybe broken drive belts. Fourth, all trolley poles must be clean and operable to avoid dewirements that can derail the train. Trying to rerail the train with five powered cars results in practically shutting down that portion of the layout. These are the reasons that operating a five-car "Blimp" train has not been attempted since April 1997. The final photo shows the train easing itself down the club four-track section.
This is usually a fun show in which to participate and this was no exception. Many of the public, previously unexposed to the world of model railroading, get to enjoy the handiwork of all these modelers. There were six other layouts exhibited at this show, including the 20's and 30's Modular Group, long known for exceptionally detailed modules.