Hello All— Although I’ve lived in Texas since ‘79, I once lived in St. Louis. Do any of you folks up there remember a hobby shop from the 70’s called General Grant’s Hobby Haven? They had the most beautiful custom painted (Brass, I guess) Frisco locos. As a kid, I drooled over these....too expensive of course!
Ken, It was located in the General Grant shopping center on Watson Rd. Between Grant Rd. & Laclede Station Rd.
Thanks. I'd heard of it, but I never made it down there. I always had trouble staying away from Tinkertown on Clayton Road. Dropped many pieces of eight there! Also Dasho's, Henze's in the city, and long ago, Tom's Trains on Natural Bridge. I wish all those, and the many others like them, were still around. I do have a hobby shop here in south Ft Myers that is not too bad. He's survived now for about three years. But, usually when I need something, I go on-line. That's why all these shops disappeared! K
Yeah, I see your point on going on line, it's convenient, however, shipping cost vs sales tax comes into play. Years ago shipping cost was not expensive and less than sales tax until the oil crisis and the gas prices just left the building like Elvis did. Now it's S & H charge and it won't be long the sales tax issue on internet sales will be tacked on. Maybe the LHS might make a comeback!
Hi Chris Adams, As a kid I lived in Southhampton St. Louis. Walking to school I would pass Charlie's Hobby Shop on Macklind Ave. All those trains inside it, I would sometimes be late to Buder School. So the principal put me in charge as Captain of the school boy patrol. So I had to be sure all street crossing were manned and safe. Later as an adult, Charlie's Hobby Shop moved to South County. I could not get away from it. So I moved out of Concord Village to Eureka were I could rail fan and watch Frisco's and MoPacs. There and Pacific MO are some of the best places to watch the real stuff. Charles Ken, Ya, Tinkertown on Clayton Road was my Thursday lunch time stop, Ha Ha
I went to Charlie's Hobby Shop too! Where did you live around Southhampton? Did you go to Astro Hobby Shop on Watson Rd.?
First hobby shop I remember was going with Dad to Johnson's somewhere down in south STL. Then Charlie's on Macklind, Maplewood had a little shop on Sutton Ave, Tinker Town in Clayton, some little shop on S. Gore in Webster Grove, a shop in Kirkwood who was big on Lionel trains, Henze's (a Friday night tradition going up there with Joe Collias and Red Herzog until they moved to a crappy area). Then it was Friday night at Tinker Town after then moved. The owner didn't seem to have time to sell you anything, he was too busy reminiscing on the killings he made money wise during WWII. The co-owner was a good guy. Then my part time 1522 fireman and retired AF General and his friend took it over and it was great then. I'm not sure what we have in the St Louis area these days. Mark Twain Hobbies is a long drive for me. I'm forced to do a lot of small stuff buying on the net. I buy paint, etc, at Schaeffers in Sunset Hills but have no choice on most items. Even with tax/shipping, its less than buying gas. Like most other stuff from my younger years, I really miss LHS.
Santa (my dad!), brought me a set of Lionel streamlined passenger cars he picked up at Johnson's. Loved them. I pulled them with a yellow A-A set of Alco FA1's in Union Pacific yellow colors. My dad liked UP - we always had their calendar hanging in the kitchen. K
At one time--late '70s, early-mid '80s--anyway, Checkered Flag (was in Ballwin, has moved several times since, currently on S. Lindbergh) was a good train store. They carried brass that I drooled over. Dashos was better (because it was essentially all trains), but Checkered Flag carried a wide range when I was also into plastic kits. Des Pere Hobby (all of these were on Manchester at the time) didn't do much trains, but they had a killer selection of old, Long OOP plastic kits. I get into Shafer's now and again (when we drive to St. Louis); I need to find Tinker Town. What's the place down on Manchester closer to the city? Train Town?
John, South St. Louis & the 3 of the rail routes: I lived at 5507 Delor ~ 1-1/2 blocks east of Hampton Ave. Went to Buder School & Southwest high school. When really young the streetcar had an end of line loop at Devonshire and Macklind Ave. (that was 1 block from Charlie's Hobby Shop & 1 block from Buder School). I would ride in the car's back seat. That is why Devonshire is extra wide with the track down the middle. Took the streetcar to downtown to the Famous Barr* store. (* Remember the pneumatic tubes that took your payment cash upstairs to the office?). The 2nd floor of the loop saloon there was the first Southhampton Presbyterian Church. They sponsored the 1st of 2 Cub Scout pack s (#8) in the St. Louis Council, BSA which was one of the 1st Councils in the USA to start having cub scouting programs (~1922). Last I knew, the saloon is still there and the church is now a community theater having plays. I remember the switch locomotive that crossed Kingshighway near SW High School. It went south of there, the railroad went to Christy Clay Co mines. The clay made bricks. The bricks paved the streets all over St. Louis. My dad said , at the 1904 time of the World's Fair, Christy Clay Co mines were in the rural area surrounded by corn fields. The Bevel Mills restaurant was built by the A. Busch (beer company) so that A. Busch could have breakfast and dinner there halfway between their home Grant's Farm and the brewery. My dad said he had a friend that lived up in the top of the mill's tower . Does anyone know if the railroad row by Grant's Farm had anything to do with the Busch family's businesses and their business transportation to all over the USA? Did they have a private business railcar? That is some of the history of the 3 rails routes around that area. Charles Not often, but yes, went to Astro Hobby Shop on Watson Rd.
Charles, Yes, The tracks that crossed over Kinghighway south of SW High School (Arsenal) was MoPac /UP which was next to Vincel Pontiac dealer (Him Heap Big Trader sign). The Christy Clay Co mines was north of Kingshighway and Arsenal west of Kingshighway & Manchester & Macklind Ave. at the bottom of the Hill. The Italian community known as the Hill is exactly that. It is located at the top of The Hill. That is where I grew up and and rode my bike down to the Frisco and MoPac tracks. The tracks by Grants Farm was also MoPac/UP which is now a bike trail. I have to research the history if those tracks had anything to do with Grants Farm/Busch family. John
Charlie's was where I got my first brass. ATSF 2-8-0 and USRA 0-8-0 from PFM and Dad bought a Tenshodo GN 4-8-4 and a six car GN passenger train for the layout. Later on I got an LMB T&P 2-10-4 somewhere. Ahhh the good old days.
Yep John ( Peluso ) The Hill was mostly Italian and at Southwest High School they were over 1/4 th the students. The school taught French, German, Spanish and Italian. The only difference in the initial foreign language classes were that the first three were level 1 introduction and Italian started off at ~ level 3 abilities. The SW counselor insisted that I had to take a second semester of Spanish. So I checked with Washington Univ.... and the entree requirements for engineering did not require a high school foreign language. I got a written copy of that. To get the SW counselor to give in, I had to get my mother to visit him and present the written WU copy and that she approved of no second semester. Because of that I had to take Typing. That paid off. Foreign language? .... heck I could barely do English ! Charlie
When I was a kid in the 1950's, "The Hill," as it is now called, was known as "Dago Hill," an obvious reference to the fact that it was predominately Italian. At the time nobody thought anything of it. Both Joe Garagiola and Yogi Berra grew up there. In later years sensitivity to what might now be thought of as an ethnic slur caused the name change. The MP line that ran past Grant's Farm connected the St. Louis-Kansas City line to the St. Louis-Little Rock main line and served as a bypass around the crowded rail yards in downtown St. Louis. It got quite busy for a few years as traffic patterns changed in the 1980's. Today that line is a hiking/biking trail. area. The Busch family did have a private rail car called Adolphus, which was quite similar to a business car owned by the Wabash. For several years the Budweiser professional bowling team (Ray Bluth, Tom Hennessey, Cick Weber, Don Carter and Pat Patterson) used the car in its travels. The restaurant referred to in an earlier post was actually called Bevo Mill. It specialized in German cuisine. and I think for a time anyway it was owned by Jack Buck. It later ceased operting as a conventional restaurant and became more of a banquet facility. Today it apparently goes by the name "Das Bevo," and is once again a restaurant/ biergarten (beer garden), a type of outdoor watering hole (usually in the back yard of a neighborhood tavern) popular in St. Louis during the warm weather months. GS.
Wife and I discovered German cuisine a few years ago at the long time (since early 1960s) "Emmy's" down on 13th St in FS. We loved several dishes they served, but our favorite was the Jaeger Schnitzel w/red cabbage, German potatoes, salad w/house (a dill relish) dressing, complete with their rye rolls. WOW! Unfortunately, "Emmy's" closed a couple or so years ago and that was that. Just this week I learned to make red cabbage. (Turned out better than I expected!) Whipped up a "German-type" main dish consisting of fried/sliced bratwurst, fried potatoes and onions (fried in olive oil), seasoned to taste with salt, pepper, chives, and garlic powder. So, it may not be like it was at Emmy's, but at least we got to eat some German-type food. We enjoyed it tremendously. Andre
Charles et al... I actually lived in the Creve Coeur and Chesterfield area. General Grants was not close, but my best friend’s mother went down to that area for regular dental work (Friday evenings, if I recall). We would hang out at the shop while she was there. I lived just close enough to the Rock Island K.C. Line that if I heard a horn, I could ride my bike like crazy to catch the train. On occasion, that same friend and I would take a bike ride day trip to Pacific to watch trains (a pretty long ride for unaccompanied 12-year-olds! But of course my best St. Louis memory is getting to ride a switcher around Lindenwood, thanks to my father who had a friend that worked for the Frisco! I was also an insufferable writer to Mr. Martin Pomphrey, who would send me timetables, old tickets, etc. He always replied to this kid’s letters, even the one I wrote decrying the possible Frisco-BN merger!
