Just what is IT that attracts us to these train models? Many of us started with a toy train of some brand or another. Some of us grew up in the waning days of steam and the early diesels on the real railroads.
- Is it the vivid colors of prewar scale tinplate or an exquisite billboard reefer?
- Is it the symmetrical outline of a classic steam locomotive model?
- Is it the lights and switches on a control panel and the handle of a ZW?
- Or a digital control handheld unit?
- Or just sitting in your train den looking at your shelved treasures?
- Or reading a collector's guide or a rail history book?
- Running your trains on a small layout on a table top or carpet or a grand design layout with skyscraper buildings?
- Or the anticipation of receiving a new purchase?
- These tin, cast or resin objects that capture our imagination?
- The colors and sounds of locomotives running?
- The smell of the smoke pellets or fluids?
The pleasure of owning these objects is an intangible, yet very real feeling, that has been an important part of our lives, in some cases, for decades.
