Our Resident Engineer

We've got a "train man" in this house. Ever since he discovered Thomas the Tank Engine, when he was about 17 months old, Ray has been crazy about trains. We've spent hours and hours learning about trains, reading about trains, playing with toy trains, drawing trains, building various track set-ups, watching videos about trains, visiting train displays, riding on real trains, talking about trains..... trains, trains, trains. I never knew (or wanted to know) so much about trains. He loves them. He dressed up as Thomas the Train for THREE Halloweens and had THREE Thomas/train themed birthday parties. He wants to be an engineer.

I am very happy that Ray has such a strong interest in something. It wears on me though. So, I was more than thrilled when Jon volunteered to take him to a big train show that came to our convention center last weekend. They had a wonderful time.... as evidenced by the 20+ pictures Jon took of Ray looking at trains. Ray can stand for hours just studying model railroad layouts and trains.

I wish I had my camera when they pulled into the driveway and Ray hopped out of the car with a big blue bag. The look of pride and excitement on his face was priceless. My first remark - to Jon - "What did you do?" Apparently Ray took his Christmas/birthday money to the train show so that he could buy a "souvenir." With Ray's $30.00 and $25.00 from Jon, they purchased Ray's first ELECTRIC train. We've moved from wooden Thomas trains to plastic Geo Trax to a real "model" train. And, according to Ray, this is just the beginning of his collection.

Jon and Ray spent the evening setting up the tracks and learning how to run the train.After Ray went to bed, Jon stayed up coloring the signs and "tinkering" with the set. I think he's as excited as Ray.

And for the past several days all I've heard from Ray is "When are we going to get more parts for my model train?" and "We need to buy a board and some chicken wire and build a giant layout." I think this really needs to be a father/son hobby. I've made a point of not touching the train and showing no aptitude or understanding of how it works. I think we may soon need to seek out a "train mentor" for this young enthusiast. Any recommendations? Are there clubs out there for kids? For now I am providing a corner in the living room and secretly plotting a way to move the giant train collection to a shed or something. Come on over if you[re up for an afternoon of railroad adventures!