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Recalling The Fun Of Model Railroading |
By:
Mike Mathews |
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Recalling the Fun of Model Railroading
Mike Mathews
There is an interesting story about a man who once used to dream about operating his own personal and large model railroad set-up in a cozy corner of his home basement situated in Central Pennsylvania. He played around with his own innovative ideas about the designs and also taught his son and niece about the thrills of model railroading. The niece still remembers those cherished times she spent tending the railroad models.
Even though the niece no longer keeps in touch with her cousin, she is still very much in touch with the immense interest in model railroads that grew along with her age. She still fondly remembers the time she spent with her uncle in the basement during those days.
In fact, her uncle incorporated one fact about central Pennsylvania into his train set. That fact related to the names of the train stations in central Pennsylvania. The uncle and train lover managed to find some model train accessories that broadcast the names of certain train stations.
This was in a time well before widespread use of the personal computer. It was during the 1960s, when the public began to enjoy the advances made in audio technology. One model train manufacturer, possibly the maker of Bachman model trains, put out a system that allowed the train operator to have announcements made while a model train stopped at a model train station.
The niece and her enthusiastic uncle incorporated that train announcement system that mentioned the train stations in central Pennsylvania, into their own private setup. When working, it called out to the fictional passengers, for instance, the name of the Paoli rail station in central Pennsylvania where the trains coming from and going to Lancaster stopped frequently.
The uncle was well aware that his lovely niece had visited the Paoli station earlier. Thus, he thought of an idea to surprise his niece by calling her over one day and making her witness the model announcement system calling out the name of the Paoli station. The niece was thrilled beyond expectations to witness that something she had experienced in real life could be replicated in such commendable manner in an imaginary world.
That little girl has now become an adult. She has never met anyone who has devoted their life to repairing model trains or building model railroads. She has worked with a man who loved trains. At one time he lived less than 5 miles from a store that was full of model trains and train accessories.
That man has now moved to New England. The store with the model trains has moved one block further north. The corner store that once held so many model trains is now selling photography equipment. The woman who once visited the Paoli train station was in both the old train store and the new photography store.
She fondly recalled how her dear uncle initiated her into the fun world of railroading. Had he been there with her, he would have definitely fancied the idea playing around with the digital cameras as well. In all likelihood, he would've bought one such camera and placed it next to his old-time, cherished railroad setup. Maybe, he would have clicked a picture or two of his family involved passionately in model railroading.
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Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article61552.html |
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