At age 76, I still pine for the 1940’s when Christmas day was a kid’s dream. Under the tree (Yeah, I know I’m Jewish, but wasn’t Christ one of ours?) were many orange white and blue boxes with just one word printed on them and it was that word is what then dreams were made of…the name, Lionel. It was this experience that drove me and most likely most of you folks into this hobby.
Most likely, I’ll get a pair of gloves, belt, several pairs of boxer shorts, and of course a new wallet. Sure I’ll be grateful and say thanks and hug my wife, but still I wish there was some kind of a model railroad thing to open. Wives often claim they do not know what to get a model rail who seemingly has everything, but what most do not understand… it does not make a difference whether we have a dozen or just one of what she buys. It is the thought and still a thrill (for me, at least) to again get a choo choo for Christmas. I hate giving her suggestions as then the surprise is sort of compromised.
Point…If there is still time, suggest to you wife or partner, a train, railroad book, or kit… or even modeling tools. would be greatly appreciated, even though you may have a dozen of them.
I’m not 100% sure but I believe my wife might be getting me one of the Bachmann Spectrum 4-8-2 Light Mountains and I think my parents will get me one as well but I can’t be sure. I seem to be the only person in my family who likes using eBay so I tend to get the money from family members and I order it and have it mailed to their houses.
I do agree with you about telling them what you really want, it does take a lot of the surprise and wonder out of it but at the same time you won’t end up with something that totally doesn’t fit your RR. My mother is German and she loves giving me German things for Christmas and I showed her the Reynaulds website and I have a feeling that I will be receiving something from there as well (excited!).
Best wishes to you and everyone else in this forum!
There will be a Norfolk Southern 86’ double door boxcar nicely wrapped waiting for me under the tree. How do I know? Because like some others, I had to order it myself. That’s okay though, because my wife wanted to get me something for my train collection, and that’s always a good thing.
No. Which is why I got 4 Athearn Topeka cabbed GP-7’s delivered c/o UPS yesterday; my Christmas gift to me. My birthday gift to me was a BLI ATSF 2-10-2.
When I got back into trains maybe ten years ago, I felt like I was a kid again. All the family has things they can get for me now and I am the easiest one on the list to buy for. On Christmas morning I race down the stairs with my kids pushing them aside as I go. (not really)
Before Christmas I go on to PWRS website and make up a list of all the things I would like. It usually is about $40,000 or more worth of stuff. I print it off and they can pick and choose off the list. I get lots of little things that cost only a couple of bucks, that come in handy, but are things I would likely never buy myself. I have also recieved a Loco on more than one occasion. PWRS are great in the fact that even though the relatives are in there shopping for me, they still credit my Porters account with the points.
Last year I got $225.00 in PWRS gift certificates along with this haul.
Getting to be a kid again has made Christmas fun again. It makes getting ready for the twenty plus people we get for dinner every year a lot less work.
It may ruin the surprise but I give my wife the shopping cart from my favorite online train store and it magically ends up under the tree on Christmas. This year she was real busy with her business and a trip to Seattle to see her dying father so I sent the order and paid for it and was home when it was delivered. We had great fun teasing each other about my opening it to make sure everything on the packing list was there. She said she could do that herself and I could just wait until Christmas to actually get my hands on the train stuff. In the end I am still excited to get train stuff for Christmas however it gets here.
Well I bought a Lionel Polar Express for around the tree (even though it’s on a table near the tree so the dogs don’t chew on it). My 3 year old grandson and I have already been running it. He loves to blow the whistle as well as start, stop, and reverse it.
I sent my wife the link to the walthers website for a k-d boxcar. Last I checked they’re sold out. Will I be a lucky one? We’ll see if I was good this year. I also asked for hobby shop gift cards from the brother-in-law. I want to try my hand at scratchbuilding.
My wife and kids know me as someone who, over the years, buys trains on the internet, and also sells them occasionally. FedEx boxes and USPS boxes are frequently sitting in plain view when the kids come home from school. They know when daddy gets another train. The frequency of boxes containing trains appearing on our doorstep has increased lately.
If I happened to get a giftwrapped box under the tree, and after unwrapping it, it revealed yet another train, I strongly believe that my entire family would just roll their eyes and get up and leave the room!!!
I’d rather give a list of things I’d like for Christmas that way I still don’t know what I’m getting and I don’t end up with a 1970s Frisco box car and a 2006 Ford Thunderbird on a 1950s inspired layout.
