Dear Mr. Pratt,

I enjoy reading Model Railroad News, I would like to see more on my most recent interest, G scale.

While attending Cass Technical High School in downtown Detroit, Michigan, (1950- 1954), I worked for Downtown Repair Service which was on Duffield off Woodward in downtown Detroit. John and Harvey Lakin were the owners and their business was the repair of electric trains for all the large department stores located in the downtown area at that time. We had a very large inventory of replacement parts for all makes of trains and test stations which we designed and built for our use.

Back in those days trains were thought of as children’s toys and it was a struggle just to pay the rent. We could not make any profit on the sale of new trains because the department stores would under price the small train dealers like us. Repairs were our sole business.

I still remember the Lakins and I have fond memories of those after school hours spent doing what I really enjoyed. John and Harvey are gone now, the downtown department stores are gone, and Duffield street was replaced by a paved parking lot a long time ago.

I still have both O and G scale train layouts which I enjoy with my grandchildren, and I often think back to the fond memories of Downtown Repair Service. I wonder if one of your readers ever heard of our business.

Donald F. Brenner
Washington, Michigan

In the fall of 1982, I strolled into Franciscan Hobbies for the first time not knowing what to expect. I didn’t buy a thing, but before I left I had asked the owner, Bill Gunther, if he might be needing any help at the store. I was new to the area, and was having a hard time finding steady employment. I had been a modeler for many years, and had just ended an eight year career on the Norfolk & Western. Even though he had never seen me before, he was gracious and took down my name and phone number. I left figuring I’d never hear anything from him.

To my surprise several weeks later, I got a call from Bill asking if I was still interested in helping him and his sons, John & Chris, for a while. It was eight days before Christmas when I entered the shop for the second time, and for my first day of work. Talk about a trial by fire! I have never before (or since) seen so many people in such a small space!

Well, after a week of non-stop customers leading up to Christmas, I figured things would really slack off. Yea right. As hard as it was to believe, we got busier. Things didn’t slack off until spring, and never did get real slow even during the summer.

Toward the end of the summer I had to make a decision to stay, or to try to find fame and fortune in Fort Worth. As great a boss as Bill was, and as much fun as working in a hobby shop can be, I had other things to consider. Unfortunately, I never did find fame or fortune here in Fort Worth; but I do have some great memories from Franciscan Hobbies. Like the fact that during my last week there I was still finding things (that I didn’t even know we had) tucked back in behind other boxes. So, I found it gratifying, in a sense, to read that you feel Franciscan Hobbies is a “must see.” It’s a San Francisco tradition that deserves mention...honorable mention.

Gary Roe
Vice President,
Wabash Railroad Histoirical Society

— Ed

Dear Editor,

Concerning the poor paint on the new Life-Like RDC-2 cars, we have issued a caution to all members of the B&MRRHS: The aluminum paint on some of the new Life-Like B&M RDC-2 models appears to have been applied too thick resulting in a very rough finish. While we are waiting for Life-Like to resolve the problem, it is strongly suggested that modelers remove the model from the box and inspect it before purchasing same. If this is not possible, make certain that the shop you buy from has a good return policy.

Bruce C Bowden, Co-Editor
B&MRRHS Modelers Notes