It All Started With a Love of Trains
Still Plays Trains didn’t begin with a business plan. It began with a little boy who loved trains.
Our son was just 18 months old when he watched The Polar Express for the first time, and from that point on, trains became a big part of his life. By the time he was six, we decided it was time to find him a real train set of his own.
Around that same time, an uncle passed away who had kept some of our family’s childhood trains. Those became our first three trains—and, although we didn’t know it yet, the beginning of something much bigger.
Three Trains Turn Into a Hobby
We soon drove about an hour to attend a train show, where we happened to meet a gentleman named Lee McCarty. As luck would have it, Lee was an American Flyer expert and train repairman who lived only about a mile from us.
Lee took us under his wing and taught us about American Flyer trains, repairs, collecting, and the hobby itself. Over time, he became a close friend and eventually our business partner.
He also introduced us to buying and selling train collections. For the next four or five years, we worked together, finding collections, buying trains, and bringing them to shows.
Then COVID changed everything. Train shows disappeared almost overnight, and sadly, Lee passed away not long afterward.
But what he taught us stayed with us.
Growing One Collection at a Time
We continued buying and selling trains on our own. During the pandemic, there weren’t any shows to attend, but the trains kept coming in. Before long, our inventory had grown considerably.
When train shows finally returned, so did we—and we quickly realized that the traditional setup of a few tables wasn’t going to work for the amount of inventory we wanted to bring.
So we started experimenting.
We added rolling racks that allowed us to display far more trains and parts alongside our tables. They worked so well that we eventually bought a trailer specifically to transport the racks and inventory from show to show.
We added credit card processing so customers had more ways to pay. We implemented a barcode system to better manage our growing inventory. And now, we’ve taken another major step with StillPlaysTrains.com.
From Our House to Our Warehouse—and Now Online
Eventually, there were so many trains that our house was being overtaken by inventory. That was probably a pretty good sign that our little hobby had become something much bigger.
Today, we operate out of dedicated warehouse space filled with trains, parts, accessories, and everything else we’ve accumulated along the way.
Still Plays Trains specializes in S Gauge and American Flyer trains and parts, with an inventory that continues to grow as we purchase additional collections.
Our website is the next chapter in that story. We’re working to bring the same selection customers have seen from us at train shows to collectors across the country, while making it easier to find the individual trains and parts they’re looking for.
We’re Still Learning. We’re Still Growing. And We Still Play With Trains.
One thing hasn’t changed since those first three trains: we’re always trying something new.
Whether it’s a better way to display trains at a show, a new inventory system, expanding our warehouse, or building an online store, we’re constantly looking for ways to make buying trains easier and more enjoyable for our customers.
We’re collectors and train enthusiasts ourselves. We understand that sometimes you’re looking for a centerpiece for your collection—and sometimes you’re searching for that one little part you need to get an old train running again.
Either way, we’re glad you’re here.
Welcome to Still Plays Trains.
It started with three trains. We’re still playing.
—
Brian & Dawn Stopar