Dressed in blue and white striped overalls and a plaid shirt, a broad smile on his face, Larry Schneider looks every bit like a train conductor from a bygone era, and in a way he is — only his train ...

Go past the railroad crossing sign, descend a flight of stairs and there, in a basement store in Manhattan, crammed with as many as 100,000 items, Allan J. Spitz can usually be found behind the ...