N5CJonny:
LOL! That's a good response from that young lady! Did you end up marrying her? 
Bantam Book:
It's very gratifying to read that this thread of mine, and my use of Bantam Book illustrations, has rekindled pleasant memories for you.
I can't begin to explain how many hundreds of hours my original, and this replacement, Bantam Book have rewarded me with. Over time, I think I've come to enjoy the artist renderings (such as I've been sharing) as much, or more, than the actual pictures therein. For some reason they seem to stir my imagination more, as well as spawn more daydreaming about what I would do with 3-rail if I had a lot of space, and could just cast care and $$ to the wind.
I have discovered, and continue to discover, that for me 3-rail is primarily about nostalgia. It transports me to simpler times, it retrieves memories of childhood fun, it draws forth images of Kansas City railroading, and has the potential to indulge me into childhood dreams about having a model railroading empire similar to the ones pictured and illustrated in The Bantam Book. Plus, I just like handling them. I like the size of the traditional rolling stock, I like the heft of the engines, I even like the smell of cold engines! (To say nothing of The Scent Of Ozone when they're running!)
Strangely, I just like having them around.
Ah well, I never claimed to be "normal". 
Andre
