All Aboard Neal's N-Gauging Train To See His Sidetracked Hobbies

BY LYNN AND NANCY NEUHAUS/STAUNTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Neal’s N-Gauging Trains and Sidetracked Hobbies is located in downtown Staunton at 100 W. Main St., and Neal Carnaby is the owner of the small business hobby store. He has been at this current location for approximately ten years. N-Gauge is a play on the size of the trains that Carnaby specializes in. When it comes to selling model trains to model train enthusiasts, he deals in a small scale track and train.

For as long as he can remember, Carnaby has been fascinated by trains. He travels all over the country offering his products at model train shows. He’s also a presenter at two shows in England using his time there to purchase items that he resells in the U.S. While some collectors may model a certain period or even a day in time to replicate their trains, Carnaby models the time period when trains’ engines were switching from steam to diesel. He has all of the building kits for scenery, villages and war games including working street lighting and traffic lights. He carries a couple different sizes of trains: the most common of trains, HO, and Lionel, being the trains adults such as Carnaby grew up with, and N-Gauge, which is the third most popular train set.

Carnaby also carries a large assortment of Hot Wheels, some farm toys and a few dolls along with Melissa and Doug wooden toys. Almost as if on cue, as the interview was coming to an end, a train was heard several blocks away going through town. Carnaby quietly made a comment that caught Nancy’s ear. So she asked, “You know what those whistles mean?” He answered, “Two long, one short, one long means the locomotive is entering a crossing,” which is exactly what the train was doing.

Neal’s N-Gauging Trains and Sidetracked Hobbies is open six days a week, making it convenient to stop in and see everything that Carnaby has to offer.