This video reminded me how much fun it is to browse at a well-stocked hobby shop.  The size of the inventory at the Red Caboose is amazing.  The narrow aisles lined with sparkling floor to ceiling display cases make exploring the shop feel like an adventure.  I wonder how they make a go of it, with what must be high rent in mid-town Manhattan and price competition from on-line stores.  I grew up in Queens in the 50s and never knew about this shop.  I'll have to stop by and buy something I didn't know I needed if I get to Manhattan again.

Thanks for a neat video.

Dennis

I used to go there back in the 70's when I was a kid. I've been going back on and off up until mid-2019 when I stopped in to see what has changed. The way you see the aisles and shelves is the way it looked back then. There's some hidden gems in that store. All you need is the time - and maybe a pair of surgical gloves....!

Neal

Narrow aisles, simply crammed full of inventory.... it might be a fun place to get lost in. 

The sheer amount of money he has in inventory on the shelves is kind of staggering. 

The stock they have is really amazing.

There is an entire display case of brass HO scale locomotives.

And I am not familiar with O scale/gauge, but it looked like an amazing collection as well.

Thanks for checking out the video.

Heath

The Red Caboose everytime I'm in NYC. It's a wonderland for model railroaders, it looks like the owner cleaned up the store a little before the video visit.

Cheers,

Anthony

That brings back memories. I visit that shop in the late 70s and again in the late 2000s.

(they almost hired me while I was in college. My reume was on file for years before they called!)

Seems it hasn't changed much.. general organization, much also still aout of place.  I see many more cars (autos) than in the old days.

The good days were when rolling stock was in kits from 20 manufacturers, seems to be 6 now, all RTR.  But I'm sure if you look hard enough, theres an antique (NIB) there somewhere.

No, I preferred the 2 shops that WERE across the street and upstairs.. gone since the 80s.

Does he still have a cat?  His old one was quite 'tolerant' of people, but standoffish... you know, cats!

(More stores in NJ that are worth the visit!)

Peter, Red  Caboose Was across the street up stairs. in the early eighties while in school I used to visit it on lunch breaks once in a while. I happened on one of those days to see the street blocked off and fire trucks pumping water into the building. Yes it was unfortunate that a diamond district jewelers company  (?) was on fire directly above the old train store! The water damage was a catastrophic event! What a mess with tons of diamonds in the gravitational water pressure!  I can only imagine the clean up and insurance claims!  Many months later the store reopened across the street where it is now.  The difference was there was a large ground story display window and no displays on the stairs. What a fantastic place and history. Alan is a great guy to talk to. The shop is awesome. 
back in the early eighties I happened to visit the shop for the first time out of curiosity and bought a model craftsman mag that started a lifetime of enjoyment. I did shop there when I lived in NYC. 
go check it out! 

Elderly talkative Siamese cats! I remembered them. That was long ago.

Thanks for this video. It brought back great memories of the days in the 1960s when I lived in NYC.  Carmen Webster still owned and ran the shop back then, and I would drop in to buy supplies and browse for hours at a time. Eventually I got to know some of the salesmen well, all of whom were active modelers and some of whom invited me to see their layouts (all modest in size, of course, as they had to fit in small apartments).

The current owner maintains a huge inventory for today's model industry. But the railroad portion pales in comparison to what Carmen Webster stocked in her day; all those cases of cars, planes, and boats were filled with model trains. Back in that day, there were a dozen cases of imported brass models alone. And the selection of kits and detail parts was unsurpassed anywhere else. I later lived in Wisconsin and frequented Walthers store in Milwaukee, but even it seemed less well stocked and certainly less well clerked. 

Frank