It’s all my Dad’s fault. See, when I was 3 years old, my Dad built me a layout for the Lionel trains of his childhood (a 2026 steam locomotive and set). It was 3 x 6 feet and had casters instead of table legs so I could store it under my bed. I can remember it quite clearly – the original plan was an up and over design from a Lionel track plan book, but the weight of the 2026 meant cranking up the speed to get it up the hill only to have said weight cause it to crash on the way down. So plan B was an inverted figure 8 with a 45 degree crossing and three sidings. This was 1972, and I was hooked.
I grew up in Glenview, Illinois, milepost 17 on the Milwaukee Road in North Suburban Chicagoland. My Dad enjoyed photographing and filming (Super 8) the rail action in Glenview. He compiled some footage and titled it “Trains out of Glenview”; don’t bother looking for it online or anywhere else – I have the only copy. He brought me to the depot with him on several occasions to watch the early Amtrak “rainbow”trains of the era come and go on their way to and from Milwaukee and beyond. I was amazed at these colorful trains, and Great Northern’s “Big Sky Blue” quickly became my favorite and has been to this day. And once again I was hooked.
By the time the above photo was taken on Halloween, 1973, it was too late – I was hooked for life. My Dad was a very interested man, and trains were just one of his many interests. It wasn’t his only interest that wore off on me, but it sure wore off the most.
This blog is a new adventure for me, and I will be covering all things flanged wheel from my perspective. I hope you enjoy it – feel free to let me know what you think. And I thought it fitting to open with this tribute to my Dad, because after all, it’s all his fault.
How were you introduced to the flanged wheel? Let me know below:
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