Westmot, New Jersey.
My aunt and uncle started the store
in the 1940s.
This is a basic outline of what I know about
Eleanor (Stack) (Aunt Eleanor) Sattler.
Aunt Eleanor was born into a creative family
of florists with a strong work ethic. Born
September 4,1913, she helped in the family
business (Stack's Flowers) until she left home
to study at Pierce School of Business in
Philadelphia. She met William Bud Sattler
through my Uncle Bob in the late '30s. Bud
was in the candy making business when they
married. Sometime in the '40s Bud developed
an interest in toy trains and became a distributor,
out of the home's basement, for A.C. Gilbert's
American Flyer Trains. I remember as a boy
going over after Christmas at Grandmas to see
this big layout in their basement with train boxes
and parts all over. Since I spent the first 10
years of my life seeing 3 rail track under the
tree with tin plate and then 0-27 Lionel trains,
I was quite fascinated by 2 rail "T" track and
realistic trains like A.C. Gilbert produced.
Bud and Eleanor never came to family Christmas
parties because Bud believed he should service
what he sold even on Christmas day. With my
Christmas money I purchased my first American
Flyer set from them in December, 1952. By
1954 the business had grown to the point where
they opened a storefront at 14 Haddon Avenue
in Westmont, NJ. The business grew with the
sale of American Flyer Trains, Plasticville buildings
and personal service. Bud worked long hours and
holidays and Eleanor managed the business and
kept the books. When A.C. Gilbert died and
American Flyer quality started to decline the
Sattler's started to stock brass HO products
which became the main stay of the business.
Bud passed away in 1982 (I believe) and Eleanor
kept the business, in fact it grew steadily with
Bruce Kohler as store manager. Eleanor kept
going to train shows and sold from tables at
train shows and flea markets. She always looked
for original American Flyer pieces and sold them
to her selected customers. In 1993 she celebrated
her 80th birthday with no sign of slowing down in
the train business. A short time later we heard she
had a heart condition and the doctors told her to
stop selling trains. She stopped for 2 or 3 months
but then went back on a 2 day a week basis. On
Christmas day, 1996, she was telling me about
another train show she would have a table at. On
that day she gave me several American Flyer cars
in very good condition and a 21165 Erie in good
running condition. She had also cleaned out the
basement at the store and gave me two boxes
of parts and literature.
Aunt Eleanor passed away in the spring of 2004.
The rest of my story.
My family set up Lionel trains under the Christmas
tree in the 30s and 40s and put them away on
New Years Day. As an aspiring young architect,
I was interested in the scale look of buildings and
trains so in 1952 I bought my first Gilbert 0-8-0
switcher set. When I went to college in 1959, I
packed the trains in a trunk for the next 30 years.
When I set them up in 1989 as a Flyer layout, I
wasn't satisfied with the look so I choose my
childhood environs (Stony Creek Branchline of
the Reading Railroad) as the prototype and started
to model buildings and scenery using gargraves
track and Gilbert trains. Today I have over 80 pieces
of original Gilbert American Flyer engines and rolling
stock. I also have a diesel engine painted for the
Reading 50s era and a Reading Beeline caboose.
Since 2002 when I wrote this article I have added
an American Models Trainmaster diesel & many
American Models and S-Helper Service cars painted
for the Reading Railroad.
Staying on the NPSG branchline
of NASG track, Glenn
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