Merry Christmas & What did Santa Get You and the kids!!!

[M1FredQ]

Merry Christmas to all at Bachmann who work with a love and passion for this hobby that brings a lot of joy to all us "kids"!!!

Santa is bringing a WBB CNW big Hopper, a Chessie GP-38 and a CN Gondola with the barrels!!!

Dad's Getting the Seaboard RS-3!!!!! Mrs. Klaus has been workin on that !!!!!!

[M1FredQ]

Oh and yes more  TRack!!!!!!!!!!

[rogertra]

Nothing.

Don't ask for nor want people to waste their money on buying me model railroad stuff for Christmas as people generally do not know what I need.  I am very scale, location and era specific.

I really need track, particularly number six switches but track laying has ground to a halt since Atlas's production facility in China dumped them for a better deal from another company.

There's been a lack of Atlas code 83 track and switches for months now and I also need half a dozen code 100 switches for my staging yard.  So, until deliveries start to happen, no track laying.  

 

[jward]

word has it that my better half is getting me an ipod big enough to hold all my music, almost 5k songs. music is my other big passion besides trains. Amtrak will send me a couple passenger trains, and ns is going to be ornery and not run anything at all, so i'll probably drive over to demmler and see what goodies csx has left sitting around for the holiday.

stuff for the layout? most of mine sits in boxes because I long ago ran out of room......

[Doneldon]

No one gives me any presents any more. I get what I want for myself. So ... people ask me how old I am this year and I pick a random number. Then they buy gifts for a child that age and I give them to charity. This avoids disappointment all around as well as making me seem sufficiently virtuous that my wife doesn't say too much when I purchase trains for myself. Well, sometimes she has something to say but I keep my buying pretty reasonable, at least from my perspective.

Mostly I just try to outlast Christmas. My father died suddenly on Christmas Eve when I was a kid and my mother died suddenly on Christmas morning some years ago so the whole thing is an experience of being completely out of sync with the rest of the world. It's crazy, I know, but I expect to die on Christmas. It's a family tradition, after all. But I always feel great when I wake up on the 26th. It's like my contract has been renewed for another year and, best of all, Christmas won't be everywhere for a while and I can feel like a normal person.

All of that notwithstanding, I hope each of you has a truly wonderful holiday and lots of warm, happy feelings with your families.
                                                                                                                                                                                                      -- D

[AGSB]

I'm getting a Dynamis Pro Box and a Bachmann 2-6-0 CN Mogul with sound. Found 2 good deals on Ebay.

[jettrainfan]

No bachmann products this year but I can take pictures of the ones I own with my new camera and listen to my Alice Cooper Flush the fashion CD that I got from my sister as I run them. Model Citizen comes to mind, cause they got me fooled again! Every time I go to the club the little guys keep moving around, last time one was being eaten by a nuclear bush from under the porch. 

[Jhanecker2]

don't have any kids .  So I treated myself well ,  got a good deal on a couple of   bachmann  train sets in HO scale & now own  a Ringling Bros.  and  B. & B.  , and A Chattanooga  Train set . Didn't  have any   0-6-0  locos  in the collection .   Now if my lottery tickets would  payoff . I would be "amused" and  so would my bankers  .   The   IRS  ,  they are never amused but always interested .  Hope everyone had a marvelous Christmas   and will have a healthy &  prosperous   New  Year .  "Prosit zum Wohl "  !!! J2.

[M1FredQ]

doneldon

Sorry to hear about your parents passing on Christmas.

My Mother in Laws' Dad and Brother both died on Christmas Day. They were fishermen in Galway Ireland and a hugh storm came up and they both ran out to the harbor to beach the boat and they drowned.

There is a old Catholic lore that says that those that die on Christmas Day go to Heaven.

Dean Martin died on Christmas Day. I grew up listening to his music as my parents loved him and Frank Sinatra.

Losing a parent is always a big blow. I know it was for me. What's interesting is my 5th child a son was born in the same year my Dad died. That kid loved trains from a early age at at age 4 found my Dad's trains which I had packed away and kept opening the boxes and wanted me to set them up. I did have a G-Scale train for around the Christmas tree but did not have a permanent set up. Well because of Joey we set up  Dad's trains and having those locomotives come to "life" again really brought back a lot of memories. Since then we have added a lot more pieces( mostly Bachmann !!-Thanks Bachmann) and are having a lot of fun making new memories, telling stories about my Dad and "Uncle Joe" who he is named after, who also would come over and help us build mountains and paint them as he was a professional artist.

Thanks for sharing your story.

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

I got a lump of coal  Oh wait! I can break it up and use it as a hopper load 

[M1FredQ]

GG-1

You're an optimist

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

GG-1

You're an optimist

I try! 

[Doneldon]

Fred-

Thank you for your kind words and the story about your son and your father's
trains. Trains are one of the ways I keep contact with my Dad, too.
                                                                                                       -- D

[M1FredQ]

I forgot to add Joey just turned 10 last month. So for 6 years we have been having alot of fun together.

On another thread I ranted about how Joey went from having some reading difficulty coming out of Kindergarden and by 2nd grade was reading at a 6th Grade level!!!!!!!!!!!!

When his teachers asked what we did I said we read train magazines, books and work on his "Train Layout".

THis hobby actually GIVES to us a lot more than the joy, fun, and pleasure of our particpation.

In a recent book Neil Young wrote Right off the bat from chapter one he talks about model trains and what it has done for his autistic child. We the hobbyists have benefited SO much from what Neil Young did for his son.

It truly is a 2 way street. The gold also lies in the lasting memories and friendships we make. I can say everywhere I go when I visit a hobby shop and start chatting with other train folks, they are nice people and always willing to help out with a question about a particular item wiring etc.

I always enjoyed Neil Young's music I have enjoyed him even more since learning what hobby he loves. I personally believe his input helped save an industry that was in a crisis.

Anyway hope to read more stories

Thanks always for sharing!!!!!!!

[James in FL]

Santa was good, or at least thought I was.

2 GP-7's, with a third along the way, along with an RS-3, all Southern road.
E-6 AB Southern.
A modern tank car, again Southern.
A ballast hopper, undec.
And a Southern caboose already with metal wheels and knuckle couplers.
Also have some 12.5r EZ-Track coming with the lokies.
That will tide me well into the New Year.
It's great to be in N scale.

Happy New Year