Makowsky, Fred Otto

Fred Otto Makowsky was born in New York City on 26 July 1888 . His father, Otto Maxmillian Makowsky, immigrated from Germany . When Fred was at an early age, his family moved to Stamford, Connecticut, where his father opened a successful barbershop on Relay Place.

Young Fred demonstrated a keen interest and an exceptional skill in crafting things at an early age. At age 13 he built his first model train, a sleeper passenger coach. It was built of cardboard, well- lacquered and painted and had wheels of thread spools. When 14 he build a working paddle wheel boat by modifying a small rowboat. Although he had several varying interests at that time, such as collecting butterflies, Indian arrowheads, and stamps and coins, his real love was railroads. He wanted to work in railroading, but his f ather discouraged such a "new-fangled" pursuit and directed him to engage in work of "more substance", such as bookkeeping. And so he obtained a job as bookkeeper, accountant working for the coal firm of Graves & Strang . He also had a job more to his liking -- engraving tombstones for Bounty's Monuments -- and did so well that he won a design contest for a Stamford City Monument.

Throughout his life, Fred Makowsky continued to be lured by railroads. On weekends he traveled throughout the country to view various cars or railroad stations, which he photographed. Over the years, he acquired an extensive collection of railroad timetables, train tickets, posters, photographs and other railroad memorabilia. He spent countless hours crafting metal railroad cars, paying attention to minute details in an effort to recreate them as perfectly as possible. All of these cars ran in his attic under electric power. He also crafted the tracks, along with realistic scenery, tunnels, turntables and other models.

Fred made it a point to attend the Chicago World's Fair to view the Railroad Exhibition, as well as the 1939 New York World's Fair. In 1937 he was offered a job designing and making scenery for backgrounds for exhibits for the New York Fair. However, he turned down the job offer, saying that if his hobby became his work it would cease to be fun.

Fred led a very modest life as a bachelor, living in Springdale, Connecticut, with his sister, who also never married. However, his spare time was filled with the vicarious excitement of a new and fascinating means of travel. Although he never could pursue the career he so longed for, one can't help but think that at least he could imagine what life would have been like as a railroad engineer as he crafted his trains, or browsed through his collections. He died on 23 December 1952, leaving a wealth of railroad memorabilia that would live long after him for others to enjoy as he did.

Written by Roy Makowsky, donor of the Fred Otto Makowsky Papers.

From the guide to the Fred Otto Makowsky Papers., 1890s-1952., (Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center .)