When I was a kid, one of my favorite outings with my dad was visiting Franciscan Hobbies. Back in the 1960s and 70s it was tucked into an old 1920s storefront at 1935 Ocean Ave. The place was a little cramped and absolutely packed. Model airplanes, boats, and especially trains, stacked to the ceiling.

The owner Bill Gunther always greeted us with a big smile and knew us by name. Some of my best childhood memories are of buying trains from Bill. I think the first thing I ever bought there was a magazine. Railroad Model Craftsman, the one with John Allen’s railroad on the cover. I was already hooked on trains, but that issue lit a fire in me to build something amazing.

My dad ran Märklin trains from Germany, and Bill didn’t stock a ton of Märklin, but he always took the time to help. Sometimes he even climbed up to the loft to pull down a dusty box of Märklin items just for us. We were never rushed or brushed off.

Bill also sold me my first American diesel: an Athearn SW7 in Union Pacific colors. It had a flywheel drive and ran beautifully. I still have it. A little later, I saved up and bought a used Rivarossi Big Boy for $50, an insane amount of money for a teenager back then. Eventually, I traded it for something Southern Pacific once my tastes changed.

One day in the early ’80s, I spotted something wild in the shop window, a brand new Rivarossi Krauss-Maffei ML-4000 for $20. I bought it on the spot. That engine is still in my collection too.

Eventually, Bill moved the shop across the street into a bigger space. He later retired, and his son John took over. It was nice to see everything in a bigger space. But the internet and changing times after the millennium made it tough to keep a small hobby shop going.

Still, those memories are gold to me. Bill’s store was pure magic for a kid like me, and both Bill and John’s kindness and graciousness left a lasting impression.