Long-Time Hatboro Business Owner Dies

Al Wipplinger, the owner of Village Hardware and Hobbies in Hatboro died on Sunday at age 72.

Hatboro business owner Alvin C. Wipplinger Jr., a self-described “big kid at heart” introduced the lure of trains and accompanying railroad tracks to a new generation of enthusiasts. Wipplinger, known to many as Al, not only created the Main Street Hatboro Model Train Show – which wrapped its seventh annual event last month – he also bought and sold trains through his borough business, Village Hardware and Hobbies. Wipplinger, of Horsham died on Sunday. He was 72. Following his death, folks who worked with him on all things trains, said the borough’s train show, which doubles as a fundraiser for the Main Street Hatboro program, would continue. “He provided the leadership that was necessary to get this thing off the ground,” Al Zollers, a …

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