BlueComet400 posted:My trains are many things to me:
1: A tangible connection to my Dad, who passed away way too young in 2001. The majority of my trains were his, and I watched him build the collection as a kid, going with him on many of his "hunts," including going to York starting in 1979.
2: A great escape from the problems of the day. I feel very fortunate to say I love my work, but it's also great to have a means to escape, and for me a few hours in the train room helps keep things in perspective. Running my old prewar clunkers gives me a feeling of "everything is going to be ok."
3: As time moves on, the trains remain important, but what has become more important is the circle of friends we have because of them. Thanks to the trains, the TCA, and forums like this, we have met people we wouldn't have met otherwise, and for that I'm very grateful.
John
Thanks so much, John, for sharing the above. I feel that many of us have had similar experiences, or aspire to do so.
I only joined this on line forum on or about November 9th, so I may be the newest kid on the block here. Also, in order to do on line tricks like attaching photos and inserting links to train songs, I had to bug my 31 year old daughter and 29 year old son to teach me these tricks over this extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend. I had to beg them to teach me these techy tricks, and they begrudgingly, but good naturedly, obliged. LOL
I also had a great connection to my Dad through trains and a need to escape through trains as John mentions in his first two points, but outside of my immediate family and a few local friends who are train collectors, I have not had a circle of friends like the ones John describes in his point # 3. However, I aspire to # 3 and am hopeful of achieving it through this fabulous on line forum.
My train collector friends are good guys and I hope to introduce them to you down the road. They have a lot of trains, some are fine repairmen, but they never get around to building a layout and running the trains they collect even though they say they will some day do that. But that day never comes. So I have been a relative loner as a train operator. I find my friends talking about building a layout, but forever procrastinating about doing it, very frustrating. I have a funny way to compare this with a normal, red-blooded, heterosexual man's romantic interest in a beautiful woman, but I will share this comparison with you folks when I meet you in person, but not on this forum because it's a bit crude, and would not be appreciated by our terrific new publisher.
My train collector friends often go to York. I went to York once about 2O years ago with my wife and two young children. I loved it, but my wife and kids unenthusiastically tagged along for the train show. However, we all had a good time at the TCA museum, riding on the steam train through the Amish country where the pretty young Amish woman flirtatiously smiled at me, the PRR Museum, and the Choo Choo Barn where my wife graciously let me spend a whopping $150 on the baseball figures now on my layout.
I've always wanted, but have never had, O Gauge train friends, who love to design and build layouts, make realistic scenery and run trains. I believe I have finally found that through this on line forum.
