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681 4th. St., Oakland. Hours: |
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681 4th. St., Oakland. Hours: |
The Tin Plate Junction Team is made up of a combination of full timers and part timers. Check out the biographies of the team members below. If you want to join us, email Alan Evans or call him at the store (510) 444-4780 .
Al is the owner of Tin Plate Junction. A retired organizational psychologist, his passion for collecting vintage toy trains and studying railroad history led him to grow the retail business of selling and repairing toy and model trains.
Aladin grew up in New Jersey during the 1940's and '50s. His first Lionel train was a GG1 with Madison Cars. He remembers well Madison Hardware in NYC. During his teens he got into HO & HOn3 and has always enjoyed building layouts for all gauges of trains. He also loves to build craftsman kits and do scratch building. He has just returned from Goppingen, Germany were he was the guest of the Marklin Train Co. for seminars, tour of the factory, museum, and Bavaria. He also rode on the ICE-T. It was a great experience and has fostered a new interest in European trains and collecting especially Marklin and Trix which he specializes in at Tin Plate Junction. He started selling trains 15 years as the manager of Bill's Terminal in San Francisco. When that shop closed he took the remaining stock on to train show. Partnering with Alan Evans. He an Alan have been partners at Scale Rail/Tinplate Junction for 4 years. Aladin loves selling quality trains and related items to his customers who he considers his friends. He loves learning the new electronic systems available and building layouts.
Bruce Ide, a friendly member of our repair staff, grew up in the San Francisco, San Bruno area. Lionel Trains were around the Christmas Tree in his home. He put 20 years in the US navy as an electronics Technician. He got back into trains about 7 years ago. He isn't a layout builder. He collects N Gauge Micro-Trains and Books about Southern Pacific, Logging, Short Lines, and Interurbans. He joined the team at Tin Plate Junction in February of '03 and does our repairs.
I've loved trains ever since I was old enough to say "Choo-Choo". Got my first Lionel when I was 8 1/2 years old; Christmas '66. I still have it. I delved into HO and N gauges during my teen years for space reasons. However, by my late teens I returned to my beloved O gauge and stayed with it ever since.
As Sales Manager at Tin Plate Junction, my mission is to bring quality products and excellance in service to Tin Plate Junction/Scale Rail customers. Service with a smile!
Look forward to seeing you here.
George got into trains thanks to his Dad, and renewed his interest thanks to his son. As a boy he enjoyed running his 1970's and his Dad's postwar O gauge locomotives. As an adult, he is building an O gauge layout at home now with his son. He also enjoys train trips. He recently visited Portland with his family to see the SP4449. George redesigned the website and is trying to bring Tinplate Junction into the high tech world. Feel free to send any kudos or complaints to george@tinplatejn.com.