Toy Fair was a wee bit of a disappointment as compared to previous years. Gone were MTH, Atlas, Marklin, K-Line, TM Videos, ETS Trains, and OGR.

Although Lionel’s display was a third as big as it has been, they Hornby and Athearn were the only other electric train related companies that I saw.

THE CAST: From left to right, my friend Howard Singer (urban historian and attorney extraordinaire—he insists that he was a train geek in a previous life); TCA member and LOTS BOD member Mike Rotolo; LOTS Charter Member and e*Train contributor Bill Meyer; and TTML member and e*Train contributor Shannon Sikora.

Here is the Lionel operating displayin it’s’ entirety. Some say that this may be the last year for Lionel at Toy Fair. As an accountant in “real life”, this makes the most economic sense. With the advent of the Internet; online catalogs; and Top Ten dealers and Superstores; the Ma and Pa and smaller stores can make their purchase orders directly with Lionel or their distributors without attending and incurring the expense of Toy Fair. A normal barometer in business is that any form of “advertising” needs to bring in twice as much in additional revenue as the total cost of this venture. Considering the expense of transportation, setup and breakdown of the displays, travel and lodging expenses for the Lionel personnel, etc., somehow this may the beginning of the end.

Richie Gruntsmacher and Former NYC Fireman Al Schwartz at Toy Fair.	Bill Meyer listens to Lionel VP John Brady.

Lionel President Bill Bracy speaks with Shannon Sikora. Hopefully they will take my advice and produce a carfloat and apron to go with the Lionel tugboat for complete Marine/Rail adventures.

e*Train Editor (hey, that’s me), Bob Mintz poses with the conductor from the new Polar Express. Attorney Howard insisted that I give him photo credit so he can feel like “one of the boys”. So here goes: Photo courtesy of Howard Singer.

Latest Toy Fair Boxcar # 29919.

Also see an e*Train article on previous Toy Fair boxcars by Frank Samaritano at::
http://www.tcamembers.org/articles/collecting/boxcars/index.html

Lionel Associate and York resident Mike Newcomer, poses with Bob Mintz and character from the Polar Express. Photo by Howard Singer.	A mock-up of the Polar Express, along with Lionel partners Pepsi, Kraft Foods and Amtrak. I wish that a prototype of the Acela was on display.
Bill Meyer actually speaking with Al Schwartz on my cellphone after we all got separated in this cavernous hall, giving an update as to the Lionel Toy Fair “The Magic of Lionel” catalog.

Our parting shot from the Lionel display.

The actual articulated movie characters from the Polar Express, plus one unique “character.”

The Athearn display.

Singing was heard coing from another booth. At first I thought that it was the kettle-like whistling from the Hornby Railway Co. Live Steam OO Gauge Margate Works. Upon further review, our own Ron Morris was doing the Diva impersonation. Hopefully, that is not a tearaway shirt and Janet Jackson is NOT in the building.

Upon my ride home, a stop on the LIRR, the new AIRTRAIN linking Jamaica Station with New York’s Kennedy Airport was spotted.

See ya next year, if there is a next year!