Glenn, this sounds like a good Meet an S Gauger - can you forward to Bill
Fraley?? Jeff
________________________________
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> CC: [email protected]
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 12:18:22 -0400
> Subject: {S-Scale List} Re: A True Story about a real train store
>
>
> 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
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
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