Thursday, June 13, 2013

Two boxcars for my $100 layout...


I'm old enough that I don't feel the need to receive birthday presents. My parents, however, insist on getting me one every year. It's always hard to decide what to ask for because I don't want them to spend a lot of money, but I also don't want something unless it's not a piece of junk. The past few years I've taken to asking for things they already have, like my dad's 35mm camera that he used when I was a kid. (It's broken now, but has a ton of sentimental value to me). This year though, I really couldn't think of anything. My mom announced that they'd decided to get me something for my train layout. I groaned inwardly... I couldn't think of any quality toy train stuff that wouldn't go above my self imposed price limit. My birthday came and went and I hoped my parents had forgotten about getting me something. Then at my son's birthday, my mom brought it up - "Have you found something for your layout that dad and I can get you? We really want to get you something..." <groan>... I told her I'd been looking but couldn't find anything I really needed, hoping this answer would satisfy them for at least another month. Not happening... the next night she called me and asked if I could pick something out soon because they wanted to order it before returning to their home in Bishop. <Gulp> - they want me to pick out something NOW? Where am I going to find something that I like and is also AFFORDABLE? Then I remembered Ready Made Trains. I've been kind of focusing on my HO scale Timesaver layout so O gauge wasn't even really on my radar. I do need some rolling stock for my $100 Layout (that I'll get around to building some day...) and these particular two cars actually have a family connection - my dad's uncle used to work for Western Pacific, and the Santa Fe car is just like the real ones I saw many times as a kid when we visited my grandparents in Sacramento and when I'd go on business trips with my dad in the summer to Mojave. Just as importantly, they're affordable - only $20 each which is a great price for O Gauge rolling stock. They arrived yesterday, and they're gorgeous. I'm happy with the cars and my parents are happy about getting me a birthday present. Next year though I'm going to lay down the law and tell them all I want is to spend the day together and eat some of mom's home cooking...

Related Pages:
Cheap Toy Train Layout
RMT Trains

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