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All Aboard the Lionel Trains' Bryant Park Holiday Pop-Up

By Cynthia Drescher

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  • The Hogwarts Express is around $335. Just in time for a very HP7 Christmas.
  • The limited-edition Holiday Store boxcar is $55.
  • Everybody wants a $550 Acela, right? That's like 5 one-ways on the real thing.

What is the most classic Christmas gift you can think of? Some may say a Radio Flyer wagon, or a steel runner sled, but we've got to go with a train set...specifically one that merrily chugs around other presents underneath the tree. And of all the train set brands, the classic one that still remains popular is Lionel.

Last week, Lionel made buying the perfect train set ridiculously easy with a pop-up shop right at Bryant Park. The space is pretty large, and thus they're stocking everything from train layout miniature figurines to giant boxes containing electric versions of the Amtrak Acela ($550-ish), or Harry Potter's Hogwarts Express ($350-ish). But if you're not in the mood to stick a train set into the already cramped corners of your apartment, you can at least enjoy the working layouts they have up and running.

The pop-up will hang around until just after Christmas, and it's kind of the ideal place to take your young kids before or after hitting up the ice skating rink across the street. They'll want stuff, of course, but there are stocking stuffer items like Lionel T-shirts for children, train DVDs and cute little watches for under $25.

Other gifty items include Lionel mugs, stamped metal signs with vintage Lionel advertising and a $55 limited-edition boxcar, specifically for this store, this year. We can promise that there'll be trains, trains and more trains, but we can't promise that the Harry Potter Hogwarts one won't sell out.
· Lionel Trains to open Holiday Pop-Up Shop [NewYorkology]