Train Show

Yesterday we attended a Train and Toy Show.   I enjoyed it but not as much as Far Guy.  After I was done shopping I went out to the lobby and found a comfy chair to people watch and wait for the shopping to be done.  Seems like I was the Biggest Shopper of the day.

I thought for sure that this would be coming home with us…I suppose because it was a reproduction…it stayed there.

I like looking at the tin toys.

This is a plate used from 1940-1969 the pattern is Great Northern Mountains and Flowers.  I thought this guy was way overpriced…oh well if I ever see any at a garage sale I will snap them right up!

So what did I buy?  A comic book to read in my comfy chair in the lobby and a gift for Far Guy.

Now he has more little people to paint.  The box is probably worth as much as the people inside.

Train Show

We went to the Train/Toy Show over in Fargo.  We usually go every year.  It was a great day for a drive and when I got nice and cozy warm I had about 20 cat naps several naps along the way. (Far Guy was driving and Chance was back seat driving!)

If you have ever taken the train you have watched a conductor put one of these down for you to disembark the train.

I like to look at all the toys…well except the tractors…and there was lots of those.

The old calendars were impressive.

I had a nice conversation with a young man about 11 years old who just began to collect Lionel Trains…it is his birthday soon and he was hoping to get an engine that gives out smoke…fun to see a new collector…he wanted to know what I had purchased I showed him…people to paint and a Post Office…I was just holding the bag for Far Guy!  (The little boy’s parents informed me that he was indeed getting an engine for his birthday.)

Just for the record I have no idea where Far Guy will find space for the Post Office.

Train Show

The Train show is slowly becoming a tractor show.  We walked around and found a few goodies….I bought a Year 2000 Lionel Hallmark Christmas Ornament.  Far Guy bought some O Scale people and a transformer and some decals.   It was a fun outing on a very nice day…it was about 70 F…great weather for October!

 

I had fun looking at the old toys but there were fewer of them than last year.

Then there is retro.

We have gone to this show for the past three years…many vendors stay the same…and their “wares” stay the same too.   I saw one item that I was interested in only because I have never seen it before….and I don’t need to start collecting train cars…so I left it there.

After the Train Show we headed to Petco…Chance loves going in there…he was a gentleman and got a new collar…red and reflective and a few treats.  I had to walk down some aisles looking only at the floor. (I wish they didn’t have snakes.)

Train Show

A few weeks ago we went to a Train Show.  It actually had lots of old toys and tractors and some trains.   I have a blast looking at all the old tin toys.  The art work is wonderful.

 

I did see a Lionel Train that was interesting.

The boxes were there and everything.   I was tempted.  Instead I bought some dice and some marbles.  My jars are full again..guess I need more jars.

I started collecting dice and marbles because they were small and would hardly take up any space at all…anyways that is not working so well anymore.  I guess I must be a dice/marble hoarder.

I made two rounds of all the exhibitors in the Crystal Ballroom.  Then I headed to the hallway to people watch.

Every little kid that came by had to play in the water.  Can you imagine how germy that water is?  I watched two sisters about 7 years old lounge on the edge…I was certain that one or both would be going for a dip.  One Mom gave her kids pennies to throw in the fountain and told them to “Make a Wish.” 

I played around with my camera.

Far Guy made about six trips around the exhibit hall.   He was happy…he said he had seen it all.  What did he buy?  A red truck, a figurine and an airplane..not a train car in the bunch:)

Train and Toy Show

Sunday we took off and went to the Toy and Train Show. It has been marked on our calendar of events for a few months!  It was interesting.  This year there were many more old toys.

Some old guys must be hoarding these toys..

I enjoyed looking at all of them.

The Magic Garage and Car Box was just as much as the Magic Garage..and I did not see a car.

I recall that my brother or maybe Danny B. had a metal building..it had metal tabs and you lined up the tabs to put the building together. Sometimes the tabs would have been moved back and forth so much that they would break off.  Far Guy said that there were playsets called Fort Apache, The Rifleman and Wagon Train.  The one on the left is from a Western Ranch Set and the one on the right is possibly from The Rifleman.

This one caught my eye right away.  Then Far Guy caught up with me..and it came home with us.  It works..as in.. it still winds up.  There were no cars.. Far Guy found some on Online..so at least we know what we are looking for now.  The ones Online are $50 each..so we will scour antique shops and garage sales..who knows what we will find.

Since this was “a date” my date bought me a new/old book.

1927 was a good year!  It only has twelve pages..but they really knew how to make books back then.  The colors are awesome.

Oh yes..it was a train show.  I wanted a Lionel Car that has horses or a giraffe that move their heads up and down.  Far Guy was looking for a Lionel Merry Go Round. We struck out…there was one giraffe car but it was missing parts.  Far Guy did buy a new signal that should light up..he is working on it..trying to figure out where he can place it! :)

** It was cloudy early Sunday morning..no Iridium Flares,  Orionid Meteors or Northern Lights were seen.

Trains

We went up to Thief River Falls Minnesota to a train show on Sunday.  We drug the Grand boys and their parents with us.   Far Guy even won a subscription to a Train magazine.

Since I worked on Saturday..we missed the first day of the show..it was held in a Hockey Arena.  That is an old Marx train headed into the silver trestle.  The show was okay, not fantastic..but sometimes it is all about the networking..I met two very talkative men and found out about a few train shows coming up in North Dakota and in Canada.  The Antique Shops were all closed on Sunday..but Dairy Queen was open! 

We stopped for a photo op, the train displayed is very much like the train engine that Far Guy has upstairs. 

What were we looking for at the Train Show?  I was looking for cows with little stands that have little bumps on them.. Far Guy was just looking..it is interesting to see what different people have.  I think Far Guy bought an O scale truck that he will fix up and repurpose. If I had known how much his train collection was going to grow..we would have designed a room around a train set.

One of Far Guys friends from high school gave him his old train set from the 1950’s… a whole train set..can you believe it?  I couldn’t, I said “Surely he wants it for his grands?”  Apparently not..  Far Guy will just have to build more shelves.  He has lots of new to him “stuff” up there…someday I will take more photos and count all his train cars.  Pre war..post war..HO and O..I am getting to know all this train talk:)

A Hobby Gone Wild

Far Guy has  only a few hobbies. He makes “stuff” for me..like custom built furniture and cabinets and he enjoys woodcarving..and knife making, at least before he tried to cut his finger off.  He now has a special glove and he can grasp with his fingers for a short time..not long…he carved a bit yesterday at our carving get together.

Saturday we went to St Cloud to The Granite City Train Show.  Talk about a packed place.  Far Guy knew what he wanted..I picked out a few things for him..some old Marx light towers..and some plastic brown telephone poles. I am all about the accessories.  He walked by one table and said “I used to have this car as a kid. I think we blew it up with firecrackers and it accidently started on fire so it had a hole melted in it.”  For ten bucks he is back in business with that car again.

The building was wall to wall people and it was hard to walk..I was scanning the building for emergency exits..so I went outside and sat down for awhile. I had fun talking to the “train guys” outside having their lunch at a picnic table.  They oohed and ahhed when they found out that my husband has his trains upstairs..they were both basement dwellers.

When I returned inside I finished looking at the tables that I missed. I noticed Far Guy way over in the next aisle…checking out his billfold..counting.  I knew he had two things that he wanted, a Scrambler..and I knew he didn’t have that much money on him.  The other thing I had no hope that he would ever find..but he did.

 

It is a Lionel 1958 Desoto Rail Inspection Car..yes siree he wiped out his entire stash, and was grinning from ear to ear.  It was a great find.  He set his train off the track to run this baby around solo..it is a beauty.

He started out with one small shelf along this wall a few years back. Last year he designed and built this cabinet to house the extra cars that were not running on the track…it is now full.

He has been busy fixing and repairing all winter, the helicopter car is fully operational now.  The car carrier is filled with little cars, the hospital car is white again, and the missile car is loaded with missiles, the crane car works, and all the flat cars are loaded.

He “thinks” he may have enough train “stuff” for awhile. He did say that he has some doubles..and maybe he should get a table at next years train show and sell some of his duplicates. I think he should just build another cabinet to go on another wall.  His hobby certainly has developed..into a hobby gone wild:) 

Train Show

Last weekend after "grandsitting" we high tailed it to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.  There was supposed to be a huge train show there and Far Guy had been looking forward to it for months.  When we walked into the mall we both looked at each other and said "This is it?"  One track with a couple of old guys and a kid, nothing to swap, nothing to buy unless you want to go to the Hobby Shop.   Far Guy was so disappointed, I felt sorry for him.  It was a good set up to create awareness about the hobby of trains, it was just not the type of train show we were expecting.

Yesterday we travelled 3 hours to a real train show, a swapping, bargain, everything you could ever want to find under one roof train show.  Far Guy was a good shopper..he got one piece that was part of his original train set..Lionel  (his engine and coal tender are from 1951)..magnatraction.. and O scale in train talk.  When he gets the "new/old" piece cleaned up and working I will take some photos of it..I have been hearing about this piece for years.  We are still looking for the helicopter that flies off one of the flat cars..and the logs that are unloaded from another car.  Oh and a Desoto car that is less than 165 dollars, maybe at an estate sale or an auction..you never know.   It is good to have a hobby where you are always looking for something, the hunt is part of the adventure.

Now who in their right mind would buy this?  A brass train..I asked if I could take a photo..they said "Knock yourself out"   It is beautifully exquisite..but at a thousand dollars for two pieces..I will wait until I win the lottery.

I visited with a number of men, these train guys are really friendly, the place was packed..you could hardly walk. Far Guy was like a little kid grinning from ear to ear!  I took his first few bags of treasures out to the car and walked Chance in the rain..then we sat in the overhang of the building and enjoyed the rain falling.

I did make one purchase.  Something for Far Guy to add to his collection on the wall upstairs in his train area.

I have always been fascinated with the lifestyle of Hobo's..just travelling from one town to the next on the trains.  Carrying everything that is important to you in a red hankie tied to a stick slung over your shoulder.

They are giving away a door prize, it is a Lionel Nascar Train Set O Scale..Far Guy says he hopes I win so that I can begin my very own train layout upstairs.  I know there are many women that are involved in trains, I am just not one of them..I am more of a support person..who likes to stop at all the Antique Shops along the way to a great Train Show! :)