@Arnold D. Cribari posted:Randy, what you shared regarding your mom sure struck a chord with me.
Like you and your mom, I took trains with my mom to visit the World's Fair in NY, to go shopping in NY City (including seeing the gorgeous train layouts at Macy's), and on our shopping excursions, we often stopped at the Horn & Hardart Automat.
What fun it was to go to the Automat, drop a few quarters in the slot and open the little glass door to get the delicious beef pot pie. Never had a better beef pot pie in my life than what they had at the Automat.
And, like your mom, mine was into steam engines, freight cars (particularly operating cars) and Plasticville (the church, barn, split level house and Cape Cod house).
Like you, I got my 1st train set in 1954.
We are so blessed to have such fond memories.
Arnold
Arnold:
Thank you for your reply sharing your memories. Your topics are GREAT! They stimulate the recall of good memories from our pasts.
My mother, like her father, was a lover of the railroad and rail travel. Over my childhood years, she took my brother and I on many trips to Manhattan. We saw many of the sights such as the top of the Empire State Building, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Mamma Leone's restaurant on West 48th , the observation deck on the RCA building, Macy's, Gimble's and shows at Radio City Music Hall.
Trips to the World's Fair were also fabulous with one minor down side. I saw the great Pennsylvania Station, that I remembered as a younger child when traveling with my grandfather, being demolished. It was heart breaking knowing that such an architectural masterpiece would be lost forever. I take comfort in the fact that I did see it with my grandfather who, as a former PRR employee, took my to parts of it not normally seen by the normal rail passenger. I was very lucky in that respect. I know that I also should enroll in Railroad Junkies Anonymous, but, I don't particularly want to be cured of my addiction!
If the TCA York meet is live this year, I would like to meet you in person. Though we grew up (?) in different cities, we seem to have a lot in common.
