Trains

When did it start?  With the S-Gauge American Flyer train set in the 1950’s?  With the O-27 Lionel trains in the 1980’s – the train layouts that Steve built for the boys?  The desire to build an awesome train layout began long ago.  It came to fruition beginning in 1999 in partnership with Dick VanAlstine.  After Dave and Greg both left for college at the same time, Steve and Dick commandeered a large portion of the upstairs and built a 14×16 foot HO layout.  CJ got involved with some of the scenery, particularly doing artistic touches with the paintbrush.  Any visit to the Thole House from Fall of 1999 until Spring 2006 had to include a visit with the trains.  It was a continually growing project so many friends measured the progress of the trains from Deck Day to Deck Day. Regretfully the project came to an end in 2006 as we prepared to move to an apartment in downtown. It’s now a delightful memory with pictures.