I remember as a little girl, his train boards and the creativity he would put in them, He had a Christmas themed board that he would have under the tree...It did not seem like Christmas until dad set his trains up.
So, back in September we were at their house going through a few things and checking on the place. We went out to my dads old wood shed. There sitting on the floor was a large Rubbermaid container gently packed with his HO trains. Ones I had not seen in years, but remembered fondly from all those past Christmases, and all those times I would stand in his "man cave" watching him play with them.
We had been in the shed before the funeral in August and they were not sitting out like we found them that day, so I was afraid my brother had left them there so he could take them on a future visit. After a call to my sister she said go ahead and take them...as far as she was concerned dad gave them to the boys before he passed away.
So we did....This past week, we went to a hobby store and honestly I had no clue where to start, the last I knew you had to buy special track and adhere it all to a piece of plywood....boy have things changed! We met an elderly man there who gave us some insight, and introduced us to "EZ Track" it all snaps together and you don't need the ole plywood... It is all NW needed....we put together a little oval track and the kid is hooked, and He has been playing with them ever since, He has taught himself how to take them apart and do some repair work and has gotten 2 or 3 of the old engines running again, I think its been at least 5 years since dad had done anything with his trains, so some of them are kind of rusty...
This was dads "Santa Fe" steamer...I remember him putting a little fluid in the smoke stack so it could blow steam out....
This Amtrak was one of dads favorites....I remember he would hook up all the passenger cars and they all lit up....
It did me good to see something my dad loved so much brought back to life, I immediatly called my sister and she got quite overjoyed about it. I know Dad was here when we first got them running and he is up there smiling and happy that his grandsons have his precious trains, and learning more about the hobby
-JUGM
