Welcome to the "I'm dreaming of a click-clack-click-clack Christmas" edition of the Scoot...
Yeah I know... Tick tock; twenty days until the biggest, bestest birthday party ever. Another year has passed before my eyes so quickly I can hardly keep focused on today. We cannot stop time but we can take time to celebrate the birth of our Lord with the one we love. Man I really love this time of year; Christmas lights, candy canes, eggnog lattes, corn flake wreathes... people in public actually smiling!
I was sitting here trying to decide what to write for this edition when my 12-year old son pops into the office and says "Hey Dad, can we get the Polar Express out yet?"
What did I hear? My boy wants to play with a train! It would be a proud moment if it weren't so rare. I nearly fell out of the chair when my ears heard this. I stubbed a toe and smashed a thumb in my haste to get to that box quickly.
Sadly, he has no interest in my N scale trains and barely a nod of recognition for HO. I thought I hooked him when I showed him a new Blackstone K-27 but that lasted just long enough for him to remember he was in the middle of some video game challenge.
Now the Lionel train on the other hand, THAT has his attention. Always has. I first noticed it when he was simply captivated by a set some guy put on a piece of astro-turf on the floor at the Great American Train Show at the fairgrounds. We spent at least two hours laying on that cold concrete floor with twenty thousand people walking over us and he was in heaven.
I guess I am not surprised though. Every month I read the story of a newly inducted Master Model Railroader in the pages of NMRA Magazine and nearly every single MMR tells how he got started in the hobby with a new Lionel train he got for Christmas.
Coincidence? I think not. I think I see a correlation.
Maybe the Magic of Model Railroading starts with a fresh Lionel steamer rolling around the tree at Christmas...
Maybe you know a future MMR just waiting to feel that Magic?
So, with that, "Tickets Please!"
Bryan
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