Last week I paid a visit to my friend Mitchell, a fellow toy train enthusiast. He recently moved to a new house, and laid out an electrical O Gauge train track which he was very eager to show to me. He also had some items for me which I needed to pick up, so I jumped into my Einser and drove to his new home.
I must admit that I wasn't prepared for what I saw: a big, fully functional electric track full of vintage toy trains and wagons, coaches, signs, buildings, figurines, etc, etc. In other words, a very special train track indeed!
I spent a few hours taking in everything I saw. The guy has done such an amazing job, and he's not even finished yet (or, as he said: a good train track is never finished!). It is truly magical to see these old trains (some are close to 100 years old) running over the tracks with their head lights on. The sounds, the smell, the sparks, the charisma they have is simply indescribable!
It was a joy to listen to him talk about these old trains, because his knowledge is truly vast, and his enthusiasm contagious. It does help that he spends time working on real steam engines (in fact he's a locomotive fireman, often to be found at the helm of these powerful metal monsters), because he knows everything about train tracks and track changes, traffic signs, etc, which helps in adding more realism to his own track.
At a certain point I asked him if I could take a few pics, which I did, and later on decided to dedicate this blog to him and his track. The pics were taken very quickly, so it wasn't like a photo shoot or anything, but I still managed to get a few 'presentable' one's, which after some working on them I'm sharing with you here.
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| This image and below: the engines have working head lights, which light up the track in the dark. A very special thing to watch! |
Mitchell and I share one thing in common: we love vintage toy trains that really show their age. We love the rust, the dents, and the scratches that time has left on them. These give them character, a 'personality' that makes them truly unique. When we buy these items, we leave them as they are, and wouldn't in our right mind dare to even think of 'restoring' them (for example by re-painting them) because we know that it would kill the magic and charisma that they possess. That evening I felt like a child again. Thank you, Mitchell, for allowing me a front seat view of your incredible train track!
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| This image: Mitchell's oldest coach, dating back to the early 20th century, hence more than 100 years old. |
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