Sadly I must inform of the passing of Stephen Paganuzzi on
December 18, 2004. Steve was responsible for much of the electrical work on the
Layout, but was probably known for another huge contribution to the toy train
hobby. Steve was the author of "Model Railroading", the well known
Bantam paperback first available in 1950. Steve was a good friend, always
willing to share his knowledge and equally excited about my project of re
creating the 1949 Layout as I am. He will be sorely missed.
The following is an article that I had
written for the Toy Train Paper And Memorabilia groups publication, The
TTP&M Extra. It was published in Issue No. 9 Fall/Winter 2001.
Model Railroading.
The Newest Guide
to the Most Exciting Hobby of Them All!
Model Railroading, the well known, well read Bible of
building a toy train layout in the 1950’s. First published by Bantam Books in
October 1950, this book was the final product of the work of “The Editorial
Staff Of The Lionel Corporation”. Who exactly was this “Editorial Staff”?
How long did they labor to write such a concise, easy to understand handbook
like this?
The “Editorial Staff “ consisted of Stephen Paganuzzi.
Yup, just Stephen Paganuzzi. Steve, as you may know, was one of the four men
that were responsible for the Lionel Showroom Layout of 1949. Steve had been
hired by Lionel in early 1949 as a Technical Copywriter and worked under Joe
Hanson, Lionel’s Advertising Manager. His job consisted mainly of making sure
that advertising copy claims were consistent with what the trains could actually
do. On many occasions he would make the trip to the Irvington factory and meet
with Joe Bonanno, Lionel’s Chief Engineer, to discuss what the trains were
capable of. With this understanding, he was able to make sure that there was
some truth behind the advertising claims.
During this time period, Joe Hanson sent him down 21
Murray Street in New York City, the first home of Diorama Studios, to help Art
Zirul, Bill Vollheim and Bob Sherman finish off the Showroom Layout in order to
make it ready for the Toy Fair. Meeting these gentlemen would prove to be very
instrumental in the production of the book. After the Layout was completed,
Steve would help out Diorama Studios with their projects in what he called
“his spare time”. He still had to do technical copyediting.
Around May 1950, Joe Hanson decided that this
handbook, part technical manual, part Lionel advertisement, needed to be
written. He suggests that Steve work on the project and go down to see George
Schleining. Schleining managed a small advertising agency with Frank Hazell in
New York. Hazell Schleining was more or less the parent company of Diorama
Studios as well as being involved with the production of Lionel’s yearly
catalog.
Steve took on the writing, mostly from home, and did
general sketches of what the illustrations should be like. These sketches would
be taken to Bob Sherman, who would almost instantly turn them into the finished
illustrations found in the book. When photos were needed, Steve turned to Bill
Vollheim. Almost all of the photographs in the book can be attributed to Bills
masterful handling of his Speed Graphic. Many of the models used in those photos
were from the Showroom Layout and were built by Art, Bill and Bob. Members of a
model railroad club that Bob Sherman belonged to built others. Most notable
among them was Walter Hill, who was responsible for many of the models,
including the House Under Construction.
For the information on real railroads, Steve made
many trips to Penn Station to interview the Stationmaster. Some text and art
came from previous Lionel publications.
In the time span of about three months, the work was
finished and ready for publication. The first printing would occur in September
1950. It was made available in October and was so popular, that a second
printing was run in December 1950.
Steve had decided to move on to another job in August
of 1950. But in the less than 2 years that he had spent at Lionel, he had
certainly left quite a mark.
An enlarged edition was planned and Lionel contacted
Steve to see if he would assist in the rewrite. Many trips to Scarsdale New York
were made to help the new editor to add yet more information to the book. One of
the most interesting sections is chapter 18, “Model Railroading as a Civil
Project”. This chapter would show the culmination of months of work by many
individuals, including Steve and Diorama Studios, in the famed P.A.L. layout in
Rochester New York. This third printing would be in October 1951.
This publication would be reprinted and updated until
the September 1961 when the Sixth edition, Ninth printing was released. So
timeless was this small novel that in 1990, Greenberg Publishing reprinted the
Fifth Edition, first published in October 1957. Not a bad track record for book
that took the entire “Editorial Staff” less than three months to complete.
First printing September 1950
JOSEPH L. MANIA TOY TRAIN REPRODUCTIONS
AND RESTORATIONS
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