Remember that feeling?

As a child you had a hobby and each time you played, it was exciting and your fantasy went wild. You played for hours.

Last year in the Fall I met Bruno Walser at a business meeting. Turns out he is Swiss, like me. He loves trains. Also like me. For a joke, I sent him a picture of me (about 5 yrs old) standing very seriously in front of my model railroad layout with a pair of pliers in my left hand. BTW I did all the wiring myself. I remember making an extension cord and it worked.

Bruno sent me a similar picture of himself.

We agreed that we’d go together to the Amherst Railroad Show 2016 in Springfield, MA, which is also the biggest in the States.

Bruno brought some friends who are serious hobbyists. Each of them has a model train layout at home. Space permitting, I only have room for a few old engines and cars.

I really had no idea what to expect about this weekend. But once I got closer to the exhibition, traffic came to a standstill. And I figured out this was serious! Traffic wasn’t for the nearby Mall or Sports Arena. It was 25,000 people looking for parking for the Railroad Show weekend.

Attendees were mostly men and families with lot’s of children. I hope that many of them build and play with the trains and are not distracted by digital devices. From an educational point of view, I believe this is important. Focusing on one thing and do it for hours. This counts for children and adults from 5 to 95 :).

“Don’t bury your eyes into your phone or tablet, don’t constantly multi-task. Enjoy the moment and look up”

It was a very special exhibition. You can tell that each of the vendors in their heart is a model train fan. So wherever you went and started to talk, they were excited. Happy faces all around.

This year they had a record of more than 50 operating model train layouts. Over the last decades, I had’t been following the technology too closely. It was exciting to see that computer technology has taken over here too! The trains are operated like real trains. Slow acceleration, slowing down when entering a station, and of course, the sound is real too. Vendors sold miniature houses, town house sets to build, cars, and backdrops. They also sold software, used equipment, pictures, books, videos, clothes and so many more items that even on the second day I found new things to look at.

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I hope you enjoy my pictures but you might want to watch the 2 videos below (not mine).
The 1st  video is an incredible display built in Switzerland which is open to the public.

The 2nd video is about real trains. It is about the longest tunnel in the world – 60km (38 miles). I assume everybody knows that Switzerland has one of the best train systems in the world and the Swiss remain pioneers in this industry and in general. In 1996 the Swiss people voted with 64% in a referendum to accept the Alp Transit Project. This is the longest train tunnel in the world. “We” looked 20 years ahead of our time and wanted to create a better environment. “We” were also willing to pay for it. Construction started in 1998.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do something similar in the States. Look a few years ahead, not just from today to tomorrow. Watching the presidential debates in particular on one party’s side does not give hope for long term thinking.

On a positive note: It is great if you can be excited about something :). I hope you are one of those lucky one’s. I know I am.