By Merlin Lessler —<\/p>\n
I live in a train station. A horn blasts! A quiet toot-toot would be more pleasant, but the loud blast is okay. Then comes that wonderful train wheel rumble; it continues for ten minutes or more. One of my favorite sounds.<\/p>\n
We moved to a new location last year, close to the tracks. I couldn\u2019t be more thrilled with the proximity to the railroad rumble. I\u2019ve been a train nut since 1950 when I found an electric train set under the tree. It eventually grew into a two-level layout, with three train sets running at the same time, gated road crossing, lighted Plastic-ville houses, tunnels, and more.<\/p>\n
Thanks to my father\u2019s efforts to \u201chelp\u201d me build this wonderland, primarily by handing him a tool or a piece of track and listening to him yelp and say, \u201c#@*&#,\u201d when he hit his thumb with the hammer. A lot of my friend\u2019s fathers \u201cHelped\u201d them too.<\/p>\n
I grew up and eventually duplicated the layout myself, but on a modest scale. I bought a train set, houses, scenery and other items at garage sales and flea markets. It was constructed to fit under our Christmas tree and spent the rest of the year out of sight, in the attic. I eventually replaced that under the tree layout with an LGB big train set that ran on a high shelf around the room in my \u201cman cave.\u201d <\/p>\n
I could then watch it from my recliner and hear the clickety-clack as it circled overhead, sending me to dreamland within just a few minutes of \u201creading\u201d my favorite novel.<\/p>\n
I recreated that same set-up in the next house we moved to, but since then we downsized and moved again; I now don\u2019t have a place for my train anymore, but the loss was made up for by the real trains that rumble by throughout the day. They work the same magic that my model train did, sending me to dreamland, as I \u201cread\u201d in my recliner. I wake with a startle when a second train comes through, blasting its horn to warn the public to get off the tracks. My first thought is, \u201cWhere am I? In a train station?\u201d<\/p>\n
When the fog in my brain subsides, I realize it\u2019s just a train passing by and go back to my book and let the rumble put me back to sleep. I love living in this train station. <\/p>\n