The following article appeared in the Courier News on September 25, 2008.
Husband's hobby grows into model train shop in Somerville
By MARTIN C. BRICKETTO
STAFF WRITER
Jan Kucsma, owner of the Big Little Railroad Shop, has an easygoing manner pointing out the pint-sized trains, tracks, pieces of scenery and other items on the shelves of her West Main Street business.
But Kuscma gets very serious over the idea the shop's goods are cold, collectible items that the purchaser should hide away in a closet.
"These are toys," Kuscma said, insistently. "Play with them."
The shop has more than trains for sale, including a wide variety of models from cars and planes to military vehicles. In the back of the shop, a looping, multi-level slot car track with controllers is set up, with boxed versions for purchase nearby.
Kuscma said the store will soon change its name to the Big Little Railroad Hobby Shop to reflect its broader offering. The Big Little Railroad was the nickname the Central Railroad of New Jersey gave itself, according to Kuscma, who said NJ Transit presently runs on the old railroad's line.
The one thing that isn't for sale is Pennsy, a reformed "Jersey City street dog" who docilely roams the shop. On Wednesday, Sept. 17, Pennsy - whose name is short for the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. - was doing in-house advertising for the store, wearing a green shirt that read "Got Trains?"
Kuscma, an avid train watcher and a leader in the local 4-H Train Masters club, said the business started in 1991. It grew out of the train hobby of her husband, Jeff Kuscma, who passed away in 2000.
"I was a typical wife, and we'd talk about it and I'd say, "Oh yeah, really? Sure,"' Kuscma said about his hobby. "He passed away and I was stuck with this. So it was a real sharp learning curve. Now I think it's fun. I thoroughly enjoy it."
Jeff Kuscma's picture is on the wall behind the register.
"He's still looking over my shoulder," Kuscma said. Other items on the wall include a photograph of soldiers in Iraq enjoying a train set that included donated equipment from the store.
Trains which the store sells come in different scales from companies such as Lionel, Atlas, Athearn, Kadee and Bowser. The models often reflect the transition era for trains in the 1940s and 1950s when they were switching from steam to diesel engines along with more modern trains, Kuscma said.
Model trains can allow people to flex their artistic muscles by decorating the tracks' surroundings, build cars and train-related structures, or carry their interest in geography or history to the next level by having the set reflect a particular place and time, Kuscma said.
The shop seems stocked with much of what a serious train enthusiast could want - and items it doesn't have are just a phone call away - but its appeal is broader than that.
"People are attracted by the trains in the window, and then they come in to see what we have, and we have things for people other than trains," said Kucsma, who paused for second before adding, "And then they all come in to see the dog too."
By MARTIN C. BRICKETTO
STAFF WRITER
Jan Kucsma, owner of the Big Little Railroad Shop, has an easygoing manner pointing out the pint-sized trains, tracks, pieces of scenery and other items on the shelves of her West Main Street business.
But Kuscma gets very serious over the idea the shop's goods are cold, collectible items that the purchaser should hide away in a closet.
"These are toys," Kuscma said, insistently. "Play with them."
The shop has more than trains for sale, including a wide variety of models from cars and planes to military vehicles. In the back of the shop, a looping, multi-level slot car track with controllers is set up, with boxed versions for purchase nearby.
Kuscma said the store will soon change its name to the Big Little Railroad Hobby Shop to reflect its broader offering. The Big Little Railroad was the nickname the Central Railroad of New Jersey gave itself, according to Kuscma, who said NJ Transit presently runs on the old railroad's line.
The one thing that isn't for sale is Pennsy, a reformed "Jersey City street dog" who docilely roams the shop. On Wednesday, Sept. 17, Pennsy - whose name is short for the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. - was doing in-house advertising for the store, wearing a green shirt that read "Got Trains?"
Kuscma, an avid train watcher and a leader in the local 4-H Train Masters club, said the business started in 1991. It grew out of the train hobby of her husband, Jeff Kuscma, who passed away in 2000.
"I was a typical wife, and we'd talk about it and I'd say, "Oh yeah, really? Sure,"' Kuscma said about his hobby. "He passed away and I was stuck with this. So it was a real sharp learning curve. Now I think it's fun. I thoroughly enjoy it."
Jeff Kuscma's picture is on the wall behind the register.
"He's still looking over my shoulder," Kuscma said. Other items on the wall include a photograph of soldiers in Iraq enjoying a train set that included donated equipment from the store.
Trains which the store sells come in different scales from companies such as Lionel, Atlas, Athearn, Kadee and Bowser. The models often reflect the transition era for trains in the 1940s and 1950s when they were switching from steam to diesel engines along with more modern trains, Kuscma said.
Model trains can allow people to flex their artistic muscles by decorating the tracks' surroundings, build cars and train-related structures, or carry their interest in geography or history to the next level by having the set reflect a particular place and time, Kuscma said.
The shop seems stocked with much of what a serious train enthusiast could want - and items it doesn't have are just a phone call away - but its appeal is broader than that.
"People are attracted by the trains in the window, and then they come in to see what we have, and we have things for people other than trains," said Kucsma, who paused for second before adding, "And then they all come in to see the dog too."
Jan Kucsma demonstrates the new slot cars that she carries at her store, the Big Little Railroad Shop on West Main Street in Somerville.