When David Braun was younger, he said he didn’t have a lot of money.
Braun loved model railroads and going to the Gilbert Hall of Science and Lionel headquarters in Manhattan with his friend, Mike Torregrossa, to see the electric trains.
When he and Mike came across a 4-foot by 8-foot piece of plywood on 16th Avenue in Brooklyn, they carried the wood home and Braun tried to make it into a train table. But, it didn’t balance well.
Growing up in Bensonhurst, Braun said he used to take the train to work at the Western Electric Company. Thus began his fascination with model trains.
When his sons, Michael and Scott, were children, Braun decided to get a 4-foot by 8-foot piece of plywood to set up train sets for them. Santa Claus brought the boys their first set. Braun put it together in the garage, brought it into the house on Christmas Eve, and set it up in the playroom. Scott had a figure 8 on the inside, while Michael had the outside loop.
“When the kids got older I said, hey, I can play with them now,” he said.
Years later, Braun made sure his daughter, Karen, had a layout for her family as well.
His interest continued as he got older. Taking the GG1 electric locomotive – the 7:20 a.m. from New Brunswick, since his family lived in North Brunswick at the time – Braun would get off in Newark while his wife would continue on to Penn Station in New York.
Eventually moving to his current home in Hillsborough, Braun made sure to install an extensive – and expanding – layout in his basement.
The main area is 17-foot by 17-foot, with space for a Christmas scene. The areas are connected by train tracks running over bridges.
He has some original vintage pieces, as well as some newer replicas. His first piece was a replica of a log loader, which sends dumped logs up a conveyor belt and transfers them to another car. His most expensive item is a coaling station from Lionel. He has culvert loader and unloader replicas from the 1950s. He also has a 1948 Lionel steam turbine that was a gift from a friend.
“As a kid, I wanted action – it was about freight [trains],” Braun said. “Now all the locomotives have announcements I watch it and listen to it. It’s real.”
Braun has various loops for the nine trains he runs: an “El” train resembling the elevated line in Brooklyn, complete with announcements at each of its nine stops; another train that travels reversing loops through a tunnel; one that passes through the New Brunswick train station; and a New York City trolley.
“I try to buy these things for a reason,” he said.
Most of the pieces are from Mike’s Train House and Lionel. He said the cars are classified by the number of wheels; the more wheels, the bigger the engine, the more valuable the piece, he said.
Braun made the wooden ties himself; he cut pieces of wood and stained them. To create the ballast, he used chicken grit, washing and painting it to resemble gravel below the tracks. Laying down the ballast took six months of daily work. He turned butter cookie and coffee tins into oil storage tanks.
In addition to the tracks, Braun has created a village. There is a Ford Sales and Service showroom with sounds; a Dunkin Donuts with a police car out front in honor of his police sergeant son, Michael; a fire department; a house on fire that has water and smoke capabilities – he said he has to refill the water for the hose as it evaporates; a Western Electric plant with cables representing the ones made by his previous company; a snow scene complete with an ice skating rink; Domenico’s Barber Shop, named after his wife’s father; and plenty of convertible cars.
“The scene is basically from the ‘40s and ‘50s, which is when I grew up,” he said.
In working on his train layout, Braun has learned a lot from his friend, Skip Dimmick, who also has built an extensive layout of his own. With the help of his friend, Braun redesigned his train layout in 2014.
“Skip suggested that I redo the train table, making it larger, stronger and higher,” he said. “Also, to change the powering from conventional transformers to the newer MTH Digital Command System. With Skip’s help and expertise, we completely transformed my train layout.”
Since the new table was higher, Braun could use a special chair that Skip built for him to roll under the board to do the wiring and programming.
Braun said he has “no idea” how many pieces he has now, though he wants to make a list eventually.
“I have more than I should,” he laughed, noting that he enjoys going to train shows, asks for pieces for Christmas and his birthday (which coincide), and has relatives stop at train shops when they are on the road. “Every time I see something that’s exciting to me, I want to get it.”
Sharing his passion, he gave each of his childrens’ families their own 4-foot by 8-foot train layouts, as well.
He also recently finally made it to The Holiday Train Show at The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx.
The 77-year-old plans to expand his own layout with another 4-foot by 8-foot section strictly for his older Lionel trains.
“It’s crazy stuff but I love it,” he said.
For videos of Braun’s train sets, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glta8Huc8Sg and www.youtube.com/watch?v=usaVj7DWa7M