Still Plays With Trains

I mentioned a few days ago that I would be changing my focus regarding model railroading. I think I’ll discuss that for the next few posts.

First, take it as a given that me and trains: we be mates. I have had a fascination with trains for as long as I can remember – literally! I have an essay in the works on my history with trains that I am preparing for posting on my planned StillPlaysWithTrains website. So reviewing my experience with toy or model trains, I recall I had a Marx O gauge steam engine freight train when I was very small – not sure if it was mine or someone else in the family, nor do I know what happened to it. Christmas of ’59 when I was eight years old, I got an America Flyer S gauge steam engine freight train that I had for several years and was destroyed in our attic fire when I was in high school. When I was in junior high I saved my money and (with Dad’s help) bought my first HO train set – a Sante Fe diesel streamlined passenger train and an oval of track. I then stayed with HO for years after that. While in junior high, my Dad put together a real nice train board for me – a 4’x 8’ sheet of plywood on a 1x2 frame with a wheel, chain, & pulley arrangement that allowed it to be stored flat against the basement wall, then lowered for playing. It was very cool!

Now, financial reversals and poor choices on my part in the late 1980’s made it necessary for me to generate money so I sold my HO trains. I went to several regional train meets, rented a seller table, and sold off a collection of twenty year’s building that took five good sized boxes to store. Now that is a key point: stored. I had not had a layout since high school. I had always planned to have one but we never had a place that had room for such, so while I slowly added to my collection of engines, cars, and structures, I had to keep them in storage, getting them out every year or so to admire and dream. I should mention that the collection took a big hit in the early 80s when we moved from Tennessee to Arizona. The trailer was too small to hold everything so one group of boxes we left in my wife’s sister’s basement included the trains. A couple years later when we could finally afford to have them shipped to us it was evident that their kids had gotten into the boxes at some point: there was a lot of damage and a lot of items were just missing. I never said anything – they were kind enough to store the stuff for all that time – I just cleaned up what I could and continued growing the collection when I could.

Then came Christmas of 2005. The Tom Hanks movie The Polar Express had just come out, and the Lionel company had issued a top quality entry-level set of the Polar Express in O gauge. My sweet wife got me one for Christmas! It’s beautiful. It was my first Lionel – ever! The engine is a Berkshire (2-8-4), is highly detailed and weighs a ton! The three passenger cars are lighted and have silhouettes in the windows depicting characters from the movie. Very cool!! Makes smoke and the whistle blows. Looks fabulous under the tree. The following year Sears came out with a Dept 56 series of buildings from the movie A Christmas Story whose scale matched the train! I built a little village under the tree with the Express chugging through town. It was great. See it here. I was hooked. I got the latest Lionel catalog, bought some issues of Classic Toy Trains magazine, and began to dream about my big O gauge layout. Whee!

Here’s the kicker: for my next birthday – about a year after getting the Polar Express – my Dad made me a present of an HO gauge train set! He knew I hadn’t been doing trains for a while and thought I’d like to get back into it. He was right! [Oh, the irony! See the following posts!] However, I was committed to O gauge now, so I called him and explained to him that I was thrilled with the gift and the thought behind it, but that I wanted to exchange it and why. He was fine with it – always has been an understanding fellow – so I sent the HO set back to the internet seller and exchanged it for the two add-on cars that had just come out for the Polar Express. Very cool! The train now had five passenger cars – a respectable looking outfit. And I am a proud three-railer!! To be continued…