This is the Time of Year when a Boy Thinks about Trains

[Teasing the Korean]

I generally am obsessed with trains between November and January, and then I try to not think about them too much between February and October.  

Edited December 12, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[Niko]

earlier today, while cycling on an abandoned train line past the remains of a fake airport (that the nazis had built to trick the allies), my two companions (one heavily invested in toy robots, the other a connoisseur of model trains) came to the conclusion that from an investment point of view Lego is the future for the coming decades

[mjzee]

My son loves model trains.  He was started in this habit by his uncle, who has loved them since being a child.  My son has O, HO and N gauge, as well as Lego trains (the Lego trains have their own tracks, engines and remote).  He currently focuses on N gauge.  O gauge is great, but it's hard to find the area needed to set up a nice layout.

[Milestones]

I'm an HO scale all the way. I went with this full title as a youth.  Trains and buildings were huge at Christmas.  These days it's pretty much limited to one boxcar on a railroad crossing in my office.

I ride real trains from time to time--in fact, two vintage trains (steam locomotives) this past summer in West Virginia.

  

[Rabshakeh]

Brio for me. Sometimes the kids are allowed to play with it too 

[clifford_thornton]

On 12/13/2021 at 9:20 AM, Milestones said:

I'm an HO scale all the way. I went with this full title as a youth.  Trains and buildings were huge at Christmas. 

  

Same. Love the real thing too and am lucky to live mere blocks from the CSX River Line in Kingston.

[sidewinder]

I’ve got some Triang/Hornby stuff boxed up. Haven’t used it for about 50 years. OO scale.

[danasgoodstuff]

Trains and Tunnels! - Bing video   strangely satisfying.

[mjzee]

On 12/13/2021 at 9:24 AM, Rabshakeh said:

Brio for me. Sometimes the kids are allowed to play with it too 

When my son was little, he had many Thomas & Friends trains that look like they ran on Brio track.  He still has the cars...how can you throw away Percy, Edward, et al?

[Rabshakeh]

43 minutes ago, mjzee said:

When my son was little, he had many Thomas & Friends trains that look like they ran on Brio track.  He still has the cars...how can you throw away Percy, Edward, et al?

Absolutely. Those are the friends you grow up with. 

Mine has a Henry and a Gordon for his Brio track. Off brand, I think 

45 minutes ago, mjzee said:

When my son was little, he had many Thomas & Friends trains that look like they ran on Brio track.  He still has the cars...how can you throw away Percy, Edward, et al?

Absolutely. Those are the friends you grow up with. 

Mine has a Henry and a Gordon for his Brio track. Off brand, I think 

There's a great bit in Graham Lock's Forces In Motion when Anthony Braxton suddenly starts getting excited over choo choo trains.

[Teasing the Korean]

It's that time of year.

I'm starting to think about trains again.

Anyone else?

[mjazzg]

Only will they run on time to get me to my folks at the Xmas holiday

[clifford_thornton]

I think about them daily all year.

[Rabshakeh]

55 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

It's that time of year.

I'm starting to think about trains again.

Anyone else?

Why at this time of year? Shouldn't you be thinking about sleigh rides and/or reindeer transportation?

[Teasing the Korean]

4 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

Why at this time of year? Shouldn't you be thinking about sleigh rides and/or reindeer transportation?

Oh, I do think about sleigh rides and reindeer, but I do a fairly elaborate HO winter MCM layout every year under the aluminum tree, so I tend to obsess over trains this time of year.  I've always associated trains with the holidays, though not exclusively.  I'll post some pix when I have it set up.  I try to set it up later rather than sooner so the cat has fewer days to destroy it, although based on how well-behaved he was last holiday season, we think it was our late, beloved Siamese cat Pyewacket who was the culprit of the destruction in past years. 

[Rabshakeh]

2 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Oh, I do think about sleigh rides and reindeer, but I do a fairly elaborate HO winter MCM layout every year under the aluminum tree, so I tend to obsess over trains this time of year.  I've always associated trains with the holidays, though not exclusively.  I'll post some pix when I have it set up.  I try to set it up later rather than sooner so the cat has fewer days to destroy it, although based on how well-behaved he was last holiday season, we think it was our late, beloved Siamese cat Pyewacket who was the culprit of the destruction in past years. 

Okay. I'm up for photos.

[Ken Dryden]

My cousin’s husband in Tampa bought a duplex, half of which he uses for his extensive train layout. I sent him a CDR of various train themed songs, not all jazz.

[Teasing the Korean]

This year's train show was a bust.  They're very hit or miss.  Last year there were a bunch of younger people selling off their Dads' or Grandads' trains for pennies on the dollar.  No such luck this year.

[JSngry]

Do you have this record, Mr. Boy, sir?

or

or essentially so:

 

[Ken Dryden]

I’ll have to find my playlist, but I remember including two Ellington tunes, “Track 360,” “Happy-Go-Lucky Local” and Mulligan’s “K4 Pacific,” one of the tunes played by his big band that Concord Jazz chose to omit from his CD with Mel Torme and George Shearing.

[Teasing the Korean]

20 hours ago, JSngry said:

Do you have this record, Mr. Boy, sir?

No!  The music I most frequently pair with trains is my beloved Happy Housewife micro-genre, which I wrote about here:

 

[JSngry]

That Train To The Ranch song got some pulse to it!

[Teasing the Korean]

1 minute ago, JSngry said:

That Train To The Ranch song got some pulse to it!

I'll check it out.  I also have this train compilation from Ace Records:

https://acerecords.co.uk/all-aboard-train-tracks-calling-at-all-musical-stations