Allan Spitz treats the listed opening and closing times of his Midtown Manhattan hobby shop (called Red Caboose) as approximations. He once locked a still-browsing customer in his basement store and then left for the night.
A recording of a railroad-crossing bell guides customers inside from 45th Street near 5th Avenue and down two flights of stairs, where they’ll walk narrow aisles flanked by walls of glass cases filled with locomotives, train cars and other vehicles, all coated in dust and organized in a way few but Allan can comprehend.