Tim asks: >Did anyone find any real bargains or good deals at . . . York?
I bought a 342DC for $200 in VG condition. Does that count? The seller came down from $275, then took a check after refusing it. I guess Saturday was a quiet day in Silver Hall. York was crowded. Friday was a zoo, totally packed, no parking available. Saturday was lighter by far. I brought my wife and my 5 year old nephew, Caleb. Caleb (K for short, and he IS short) was not a real train enthusiast, though he loves all mechanical stuff, goes to Monster Truck shows and can't get enough of heavy construction equipment. Now, after a day and a half in the halls and a visit to Strasburg, he can identify every car and knows a steamer from a diesel from an electric (a "wire engine"). At the tables, he zeroed in on all the most expensive stuff. One of his "I like THAT!" finger points was an original Bassett-Lowke steamer in something much larger than Wide Gauge with a price tag displaying $6500.00. I thought, "Now here's something even his indulgent Aunt Denise (my wife) will have to say 'No' to!" I introduced K to Don Thompson and to Bill Parr and we looked all through White Hall (the greatest concentration of S-Gauge) for something to buy him for Christmas. We eyeballed all the freight and passenger gear at Lionel's big Flyer display. Now here's where I get in trouble with you guys. I have not been a fan of starter sets. We had that very labored discussion about them some time ago and I'm not looking to open that can of worms again. But, I will say that there was nothing that filled the bill for me in getting a modern day kid into toy trains within this gauge. As nice as they are, Don's SHS starters are too tame for a kid. They don't have sufficient play value for the five year old of 2002. They would have been fine competition for Flyer back in 1952, because, back then, when I was five, I was poring over Flyer catalogs and whetting my appetite for trains to run. I already had owned a starter set for 3 years and loved trains for themselves. Trains were a regular part of our lives in those days. Caleb doesn't know too much about trains. His key phrase was "Are they double-deckers?" Our Long Island railroad runs bi-level coaches now. It is his only link to real railroading, He sees no freight trains where he lives, so his interest was limited to passenger trains. It was just a question of relevance. I had to find a set of trains that would connect to his world. I did find it, too. Maury Klein, who shook Calebs hand, and who liked his nickname, has been building trains relevant to kids. More than any other manufacturer, K-Line is still building 'em like they used to. Caleb's other big interest is Army related toys. He had an Army theme birthday party last year. K-Line has an Army train set. When he saw it, his eyes bugged out. Let me describe it. You get an MP-15 diesel in Army green w/horn, an operating searchlight car, an operating radar search car, a work caboose with an anti-aircraft gun (w/ sound-uses the bell side of the horn/bell control), 3 flat cars with die cast loads: a troop truck, a helicopter, a jeep, 18 soldier figures, an oval of the new blackened center-rail snap-track, a transformer, wire, terminals, horn buttons, all that. List price, $260. Show Special, $200. Sold! This month, four more cars will be added, the cannon car, the missle transporter, a fuel tanker and a jeep transporter w/ 3 die cast Jeeps. An extra Jeep and a bag of 25 additional soldiers rounds out the offering. That will set me back another $150. Look at the K-Line catalog. When trains are remakes of old stuff, collectibles, early Lionel offerings, the text points it all out for us old farts. But there are plenty of trains that reflect modern, relevant railroading, while still providing color and variety. I was impressed by the CSX business train. I know K-Line is cutting some corners. Their Vista-Domes don't have the right windows and neither do the sleepers. But then again, that's in the best tradition of toy train railroading, isn't it? Down the road, if the train bug bites hard, Caleb can always switch scales. (In fact, when I kick the bucket, he's going to have a lot more S-Gauge than he planned on!) He can pass the Army set (and the Fire set and the Emergency set) on to his brother, Gavin, as he moves on. This weekend, I did my job. I started the process of passing the torch. I got K onto all the catalog lists. He's already getting mail. He's got a train set of his own. Whether the fire catches or not will be up to him. I'll keep fanning the flames every chance I get. If you want to pass on "The World's Greatest Hobby" you're going to have to do it one kid at a time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to get back to my K-Line catalog. Chris Zizzo S-Trains list sponsor: http://www.americanflyertrains.com All the Flyer you desire...books and accessories too! To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list send a note to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
