Model Train Journal

A September 4, 2026 article on ourtownny.com: Beloved Hobby Retailer Red Caboose Reaches the End Of the Line - The last holdout of a dozen or so Gotham hobby shops will be gone by the middle of October, as its building on West 45th Street is slated to be torn down soon.

I visited it back in 2011 or 2012 and remember that it, like Peach Creek Shops in Laurel, MD, really smelled of cats!

Terrific little article...thanks for posting the link.

Back in the early 1980's when I worked for Pfizer, I was lucky enough to visit Madison and Polk's before they wound down and disappeared. The Pfizer headquarters was on 42nd Street, so a decent centralized location to walk or take the subway. NYC was pretty rough in those days, but never had any problems. The Red Caboose is unfamiliar to me, but sounds like quite a place. At one time Polk's had five floors, but by the time I got there they were down to just one (plus the basement). They used to have a big booth every year at the MFCA show in Chester, PA. Those were the days...

I dont know who loved that retailer but not many New Yorkers did. Have no idea how he lasted as long as he did. Prices were outrageous and the owner was a nasty old man

Well, obviously everyone doesn't share your opinoin. I can't imagine a hobby shop in Manhattan in the day and age. But, if he stayed in business all those years he did something right.

According to the article.
The culprit is a familiar if lamentable one: a developer is purchasing the site with plans to evict the existing tenants and knock down the building. A new tower is to be in erected on the footprint of both 21 and 23 West 45th Streets, adjoining five-story retail and commercial buildings.

Article is from Sept 4, so somewhat dated; "...a solution came in the form of a specialty auction house, slated to start hauling out the inventory a few days after Labor Day in small moving trucks."

Probably all gone 2-3 weeks ago........

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:Article is from Sept 4, so somewhat dated; "...a solution came in the form of a specialty auction house, slated to start hauling out the inventory a few days after Labor Day in small moving trucks."

Probably all gone 2-3 weeks ago........

Cabin fever will be auctioning it off

bluelinec4 wrote:Prices were outrageous and the owner was a nasty old man

The store also had a reputation for prices that suddenly went up when you brought an item to the register!

up148 wrote:But, if he stayed in business all those years he did something right.

I spent a few minutes looking thru the older google streetviews of the building. He appears to have been the only constant tenant the building had. The first floor had two different bars in it and that space appears to have been vacant between the two bars - it looked empty after the first bar closed and before the second bar opened. The upper stories appear to have been vacant the whole time because there were for rent signs on the building (for the all the years shown in the streetviews.)

HONDO74 wrote:According to the article.
The culprit is a familiar if lamentable one: a developer is purchasing the site with plans to evict the existing tenants and knock down the building. A new tower is to be in erected on the footprint of both 21 and 23 West 45th Streets, adjoining five-story retail and commercial buildings.

The buildings are in an amazing location, only about 1,500 feet from Times Square, but they're too small to be useful. On aerial photos, each building looks to be about 25 ft x 100 ft and I assume both are walk-ups (no elevators.)

A tower crane needs about a 30 ft x 30 ft foundation, so combining both sites gives a developer a large enough footprint to bring a tower crane onto the site and build a tower around it.

I recall stopping there once many years ago, maybe not at that location. He advertised in Model Railroader is the only reason I was aware of them. I was into HO at the time and don’t recall buying anything, but do remember the guy was not particularly welcoming.
I don’t think I stayed there more than 5 minutes.

Pete

up148 wrote:Well, obviously everyone doesn't share your opinoin. I can't imagine a hobby shop in Manhattan in the day and age. But, if he stayed in business all those years he did something right.

I never thought that everyone did But you obviously never met the guy or bought anything there If you did I guarantee you paid twice as much as you should have