January 1, 2002

Toy Trains

"Shall we show her the basement?"

"Sure."

My curiosity piqued, I descended the stairs to the basement, not knowing exactly what to expect. Two stairs from the bottom, I stopped in amazement. Rows upon rows of collectible trains, each car wrapped carefully in a clear plastic bag, lined several walls of the basement from floor to ceiling. The shelves were hand-made, and each one had grooves in it for the train wheels to rest in. Even though there were several additional shelves on the ceiling, there still was not enough room to display the collection that consists of over 400 engines and an untold number of cars. A small storeroom was filled with boxes of even more train cars.

While most of the trains are just for display, others are used on the train tracks set up on a homemade platform. A switchboard of complicated wires somehow operates the tracks, and engines pull the trains around in loops and circles. One machine lifts coal from one train car, then dumps it in another car, while another engine even puffs steam as it moves around the track, pulling its lighted passenger cars.

I probably could have watched those trains forever, and in no time at all several hours had passed. Until that day, I had never even thought about toy trains, or the fact that people might collect them. However, there are whole shows dedicated to the hobby, and collectors come from hours away to buy, sell and simply mingle with other collectors. Train collecting is apparently much more widespread than I imagined, and there are even whole magazines dedicated to the hobby.

It was after midnight when we finally emerged from the basement, and I couldn't believe the time had gone so quickly. There is something positively enchanting about toy trains.

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