The "Little" Trains

What is it about trains that little boys like so much? Well, they're "gasheens," to start with, and that makes them interesting.
But why do grannies like trains?  That's easy. Because their little boys like them...

G had never heard of Thomas the Tank Engine before Noni came along. But it wasn't long before she was turning his battery powered car into Thomas. 

this wasn't it but it may have started with a
decoration from a 3rd birthday and a cardboard box

Things progressed from there,
and with the help of Granddaddy, G moved on to making her first "little train" track--a piece of plywood, some track, paint and a bit of imagination--it's portable, personal and on its second set of grandboys.

G's House

Noni's House

Granddaddy's Barn

Granddaddy's Tractor

The Pond

Dreaded "pyre" ants!

Iron Horse Farm Horse Barn

Horse (by Rachael)

G didn't stop there. The competition was on with our fav train store (Tom's Trains...alas, no longer with us.*). Remember going there? They had this little hand's on set up in the back to lure in the grannies...er children that looked sort of like this...

Well, the lure worked and G came home with a box set, and now Granddaddy had to cut some more plywood, etc. etc., and he's the one who had to set it up, of course, and bolt it to a table.

But G got to paint it and add some homemade structures (tobacco barn, hotel, motel) and a whole lot of thrift store finds. Some look a bit strange but...oh well.

So now G has trains in her upstairs hall and trains in Martha Wren's old bedroom and we might have just bought 12 hours of steam train DVD's at the Salvation Army Thrift in Myrtle Beach (Granddaddy's find).  Anybody know if the Norfolk & Southern RR is for sale?

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord.
Psalm 127:3

(*but visit Tom's Trains now at http://www.tomsmodeltrains.net/)