A World of Toy Trains in Parsippany

Ed Prendeville had thousands of toy trains when he was a kid, and even learned how to read by reading a Lionel toy train catalog, which has been published every year since 1901.

At his Route 46 store, he places a 1910 blue and yellow Lionel standard gauge trolley on the counter. Its color is faded in some spots, but for the most part it appears like it can be played with today.

“About $4,500,” Prendville responded when asked the price. “But there are certain things you don’t like to see leave.”

This is the There are other toys here, like model boats and cars, but Prendville and his crew of three primarily deal in old toy trains.

Prendeville purchases and sells all of the major American and European pre-war manufacturers like Lionel, but also other brands like American Flyer, Bing, Ives, Marklin and many more.

If you're missing a train to go with your set, maybe an accessory like a side of the tracks train depot, calling the Train Collectors Warehouse should be a priority.

“We’ve been doing this a long time,” Prendville said while standing in an aisle of his shop. Floor-to-ceiling boxes are filled with trains, train parts like tracks and transformers. “Our world is toy trains,” he said with a smile.

The Train Collectors Warehouse is 2,900-square-feet, and contains many American and European prewar (prior to World War I) and post-war (1945-1969) trains, as well as some modern trains from 1970 to the present.

The Lionel name is the one most associated with toy trains, and for good reason. The prime manufacturer of model trains, Lionel made them in huge quantity, and variety, and made colors and models that weren’t made, or are rare. “Lionel has changed hands several times in the last 30 years,” Prendeville said, “and for a long period of time it was improve, improve, improve. “

From 1954 until the late '50s, sales of toy trains went down and in the 1960s, the demand declined, and quality took a dive substantially as well. Is train collecting ebbing?

“Well, people who had stuff as a kid are getting older,” Prendeville claimed. “However, lots of kids nowadays like trains, especially with Thomas the Tank Engine, Polar Express…”

 “And Harry Potter,” added Doug Prendeville, Ed’s son.

“They’re also making more elaborate stuff now, like transformers with remote control. Some are much better in that regard. People reconnect with what they had as a kid,” Ed Prendeville says as he shows me a classic: a Blue Comet standard gauge train.

"That train ran from Jersey City to Atlantic City,” recalled Hank Manfra, another Train Collectors Warehouse and employee.

Thanks to the warehouse, it will never have to stop.