A Toy Train You Can Ride?

[Martin Hash]

“I want one of these. I want to ride it,” my wife, Gwynne, told me, pushing a gift magazine in my face, open to a picture of a “garden train.” The picture was shot is such a way as to make the train look quite large.

“This is just a gimmick picture,” I told her. That engine is probably no longer than 10-12 inches… And look at the price. No way something big enough to ride on is that cheap. Gwynne was disappointed, and that made me feel bad.

At the office I told Will Pickering the “garden train” story. He owned a real train, so I thought he’d find the idea of a riding model train rather humorous.

“What she needs is a ‘live steam’ train,” Will told me.

“A what?” I asked. “There are toy trains large enough to ride on?”

“Sure. In fact, it’s a big hobby. There’s a club 20 minutes from here in Molalla. They’ve got a mile or so of track and a switch yard.”

I Googled “live steam, Molalla,” and by golly, there was a website with pictures and a map. Gwynne couldn’t wait to go see the riding train so we jumped in the car and drove over there right away. Apparently, this “live steam” riding train thing is all over the U.S. and Europe. There’re clubs all over: 3 within a day’s drive of our house. Gwynne stated in no uncertain terms that we too would become members of the riding train community… So my education began.

Thank god for the Internet. I spent hours reading hobbyist websites and trying to get an idea of what you buy and what you make yourself. Bottom line, as I got more and more educated, the less likely it seemed we could do something like this.

First off: these things are big. Big enough to ride on but small enough to put the engine in the back of your pickup when you’re taking your train around to the different parks for the weekend.

Second: wowser, these things are expensive, and of course the one Gwynne wanted was priced like rare art, and was hard to get a hold of. Gwynne wanted a “Winton Mogul,” where “Mogul” is the model of the train (a coal burning engine manufactured from the late 1860s to early 1890s, seen in innumerable westerns… The classic, old-timer train look). “Winton” was the name of the guy who designed the blueprints for the miniaturized version. These things are cast iron which is machined and assembled by fine craftsmen. Often, the designer also built and sold trains during his lifetime but at one per every couple years to manufacture, there weren’t too many “originals.” A Winton, designed and built by the man, himself (and who’d passed away 30 years ago) is “kid’s college fund” kind of money. These trains weren’t toys; they are treated like treasures, including provenance and certificates of authenticity. Basically, Gwynne wanted an incredibly expensive piece of jewelry that belonged in a museum. After flailing around for a couple of years, I gave up on the idea.

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Picture in Wallet

Then… There was a message on our answering machine. It was from my friend, Mark Shaw. “I’m down here at an old car show in Modesto, and there’s a guy in the booth next to me who carries a picture of a Winton Mogul in his wallet. I asked him and he said he owned one and would sell it.”

“You going to call him back?” asked Gwynne.

Frankly, by this time I was somewhat frightened by the idea of owning a riding train: the expense; the work; the time; the knowledge. I’d rather forget the whole thing, but Gwynne kept asking so I called Mark back.

“Hey, Mark. What’s the deal on the Winton?”

“Oh. I haven’t seen that guy since I called you a few days ago,” Mark began, and I let out a sigh of relief to have the issue off my back, “…But it just so happens that I’m sitting at the side of the pool here at the hotel, and he’s right next to me now! Wanna talk to him?”

Now I was really caught… Events were conspiring against me to once again bring “live steam trains” into my sphere of influence. However, I still had an easy out: Winton Moguls were exorbitantly expensive.

“No, don’t put him on. Just ask him how much he wants.”

There was a short pause. I hoped it would be so much I wouldn’t even need an excuse.

“18 thousand.”

“18 thousand?”

“And that includes 3 cars, a caboose, and 600 feet of track.”

“But 18 thousand? What is it – a copy?”

“He says it’s the real thing.”

Well, I didn’t have an easy excuse – in fact, I’d be just another poseur if I didn’t snatch up this opportunity. It was expensive but not for a “Winton Mogul.”

“Tell him I’ll buy it.”

I could hear Mark say, “He’ll buy it” to someone then I said “goodbye,” and hung up the phone. Deals like this – I mean over the phone, fly by night, impulse buys where no money or name is exchanged, don’t usually come down… Too flaky… But this deal had a life of its own.

The next weekend, Mark came over to my house. “Hey,” he said. “I’ve got my truck and trailer outside. Let’s go up to Arlington and pick up that train.”

I would have loved a valid excuse just then but I didn’t have one so I grabbed a soda and a blank check and jumped in for the ride. Not only was Arlington relatively near (3-1/2 hour drive) but the usually formidable Seattle traffic was light: we arrived early.

Dave Ellis was a well know old car buff. Mark knew him from the “Horseless Carriage Club” tour circuit, and said he had a nice collection of cars. There was a big warehouse on the property that certainly looked like a mechanics dream – I was anxious to see inside… When Dave opened the rolling overhead door, a men’s Nirvana lay before us. Just to give you an idea: every car buff dreams of owning a Boattail Auburn, the iconic art deco roadster of the 1930s… Dave had 4 Auburns. He also had over 100 pre-1900 bicycles, 2 steam calliopes, several other antique cars, posters, signs, tools, and a plethora of male hormone inducing ephemera from a bygone era. Hanging from the ceiling was a scale model, vintage remote control, 4 gas engines, WWI painted B17 Bomber with a wingspan over 6 feet! But star among all those glorious playthings was a Winton Mogul resting majestically on its maintenance platform.

“Who do you want me to write the check to?” was the first thing out of my mouth.

So far, I’ve installed almost 700 feet of track, 120 feet of 3-foot high trestle, and 1000’ of ballast roadbed. I watch “live steam train” DVDs I buy off ebay, and my brother, Marshall, calls me from “live stream train” parks he visits on the East coast. The masterpiece itself has yet to be fired up by me, and it hasn’t even been run in a decade but the neighborhood men gather around it like a shrine whenever they come to visit, and we talk psi, torque, and other manly topics.
One thing that puzzled me was where Dave had got the low, low sales price… But even that mystery was solved when, while going through the records, I found that the train’s original cost in 1972 was $17,999. I think Dave is getting on in age and is simply looking for good homes for all of his friends – like most “collector” guys do when their time is coming. I think this because Dave came to visit my house last year, to see the Winton and check on how I was getting along with the track… And he brought with him that B17 Bomber: he thinks it will look great hanging in my Family room.

B17 Bomber.jpg

[Martin Hash]

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Bronze Zoo

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Maze

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Model Pump House

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Old Pump House

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Model Station

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Old Station

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Current Station

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[Martin Hash]

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[Martin Hash]

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