Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

The Train Station Talked

What do you call a kid who doesn’t believe in Santa? A rebel without a Claus !

For those of you who know me you should know that one of my favorite tunes is Amazing Grace and I ran across this rendition on Facebook this morning…eerie and beautiful!  Enjoy!

Soulful Amazing Grace on Bagpipes ???

Absolutely lovely. ???Featuring —–> The Snake Charmer ft. Barcelona Pipe Band Follow her, and The Music Show!

Posted by The Music Show on Monday, November 5, 2018

I went walking this morning and did four additional miles through the wildlands of Rossmoor.  BTW, later on today I got a text from Zachary and he passed my while I was strutting down the avenue and he honked the horn…guess I was listening to the radio and did not see him OR I thought it was just another car full of women who found my strutting irresistible and had to honk??!? (Yeah yeah, I know… the car with the women had a Braille Institute sign on the side).

Over 1,000 miles this year!!!  Life is good!

Just a few more pictures are needed.  This frightening beast was hauling Christmas presents away from the house.   I knocked on the door and talked to the nice lady but, for some reason unknown to me, she thought I was a bit off the ol’ rocker!  Hey, I warned her!

Remember, I said “Wildlands”… That Reindeer looks pretty mean!

After the walk,  we relaxed enjoying the afternoon and preparing for a problem solver (Translation: Drinks at Melanie’s on the bay!) around 4:42 PM (when the sunset occurs). 

We went to Melanie’s and the beach seemed to be socked in! Dang…No sunset tonight then all of a sudden…the sky was set ablaze with magnificent lights…you just never know!  We sat there and described the formations and colors to each with with extreme alacrity,

Click to see full-sized image

It was just amazing…I texted several people showing them the photos.  The color right after the red was like Lapis Lazuli.  The clouds were amorphous.  We watched it for about 20 minutes and the Sun sank into the west and the colors dramatically changed from orange to red to purple to dark gray. Whoda thunk?

After getting home, we visited with each other and then I took off at 8:30 PM for an MRI of the shoulder…it is getting worse and I have to do something.  I did not get home until 10:15 PM so we watched two episode of “Blue Bloods” before crashing at 11:45 PM.  The MRI wasn’t too bad but the bench they had me laying on was a torture rack in its previous life!

You ask about “The Christmas Memory”…Thought you would never ask…

Christmas Memory #11 – The Talking Station

I did love and still love trains and, as a spoiled child, ai had a train layout that was 20′ by 15′.  With great help form Mom and Dad, we had trains everywhere!  Mountains, lakes, rivers and no train station?  This was circa 1953 or 1954.

I saw the “creme of the crop” train accessory, a talking train station,  in a catalog but it was way too expensive for this family.  $39 in those days was a fortune!  The American Flyer catalog was my version of the Sears Catalog!  Just the button for that train station that made it play sells for $19 on eBay today!

It was Christmas Eve and we headed to Ralph’s Christmas Party (see previous memories) and when they passed out the presents, they was one from the Lebowitz’s.  I knew it was an expensive sweater..I just knew it!

Well, to my amazement, when I opened the box it was an American Flyer TALKING TRAIN STATION. See the video below.

I wanted to leave the party immediately but alas, I had to wait until I got home.  It was absolutely amazing.  It was a long long night.

That station was the centerpiece of my train layout for years and years!

Thank you Ralph, Carolyn, and Paula for a wonderful memory!

While researching my memories on-line, I ran across this YouTube video and it was exactly what I had 60 years ago..amazing!

To make the station talk, that is, make the announcement one had to push the button.  I had this mounted right next to the transformer and it got pushed a lot.  I used it so much it broke and I replaced it with three door bell buttons so anyone watching the trains run around the tracks could make the train station jump to life!

Those were good ol’ days…I wish we had them back with the medical advances we have today…it would be perfect. 

About Paul

Just an old retired guy trying to finish out my last years on this planet. I lost my best friend and wife in early 2020. I was blessed again by reconnecting with Dr. Mary Côté, a long-time friend. Mary and I got married July 28th, 2021, and are enjoying life together and plan to spend the rest of our lives being a blessing to our friends and family.
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