Choo Choo!!

To say our son loves trains is a major understatement! He has loved them since he was very young. He started with Thomas the Tank Engine and quickly grew into the big-boy trains...LIONEL...where his nickname came from. His first train set was given to him when he turned 2 years old by Edward and I. Since then, he's collected set after set after set...not to mention the single boxcar, hopper, engine and tons of accessories here and there. Some of his trains are pretty cool!

We promised him that when we moved into our new home, he and Daddy would begin to create their layout in the basement. He is in the process of planning the layout on paper...the way the professional toy train collectors do it. So far the plan measures approx. 28' in length by 4' in some places and by 8' in other places. It's not built yet, but I promise that once the layout has begun, I'll post it all on here. Until the area of the basement has been cleared out (hopefully within the next few weeks) they can't begin. For now, he's having fun setting up mini layouts on the floor. Here are some photos...

Command Central! He wants to set up one area with all the controls on one large transformer.


Simple layout where he can run 4 trains at once.


See the smoke coming from the engine? Pretty cool! This is his NY Central passenger set, one of my favorites! He's got tons of trees, cars, signs and even electronic accessories that will be added to his layout once it's built.


The engineer hard at work. See that pile behind him? That's where his layout will be...most of the boxes will be emptied and gone, so once we go through them, he'll have plenty of space.


The train station




Sweet-Pea helped him with the accessories on this layout...thus the zebra next to the track! I believe it's from his circus set. =)


Someone just missed the train!


I think I'm just as excited about this layout as Lionel is. I tried running the layout with 4 trains going at once and it wasn't easy! It sure was fun though!

For those of you who know us and live nearby, feel free to stop over once in a while to help run the trains. Lionel sure would love to share his passion with you!

"All aboard!!!"