Son Kurt gave his little daughter Addison a basic Thomas the Tank Engine set for her second birthday a few days ago. She likes it, even though there are frequent derailments and the oval "layout" doesn't survive too long. Kurt was dismayed, though, in that the set did not come with a caboose. He suggested that Santa perhaps could get a caboose for Addi, plus maybe some more track segments. Well, Grandpa Santa has done just that. We have more track and a few turnouts now so that maybe we can do Bundy Junction and the Ft Wood branch. I also found a caboose - it even plays music! But, it just didn't look right, so I made a small modification. Pic attached. Ho ho ho - Merry Christmas to all! Ken
VERRRRY nicely done. BTW, for my benefit and others where did you get the Frisco Train Lines decal/sticker. I think we have an opportunity to infect/properly adjust the world of Thomas and friends. Maybe we can create more badging to be placed on more cars.......?
Keith - The coonskins are decals from the Microscale HO 87-85 set. These are the nose decals for E-units and F-units. I did my normal thing using Micro Set and Micro Sol, then sealed the decals under a couple of coats of Polly Scale gloss finish. Turned out great, and the coonskins fit nicely over the normal "Train Lines" logo that was on the caboose. Hope they last given the rigors of a 2-year old's RR! Doesn't look as good as a SLSF three-window crummy though! Forgive my Grandfather's pride, but a Thanksgiving 2009 pic of Addi and "Pops" is attached. Granddaughter #2 will arrive mid-April. Ain't it nice! Addi is a candidate for the cutest kid in Olathe! Wish I could grow hair like she does. Ken
Ken, thanks for the info. Addi is definitely the cutest kid I know in Olathe - and she isn't the only kid I know in Olathe!
We have alot of Thomas the Tank stuff as well! My son, Dustin was really into Thomas when he was her age. He's now 12 and once in awhile, he'll watch some of the videos. He has Percy with two "troublesome trucks" in HO, and Tomy made an N scale set with Thomas pulling Annie and Clarabelle, plus some wooden trains, and he has most of the die-cast trains that Ertl made for the Thomas series.
Great job, Ken! Another Frisco Fan in the making! My grandsons " Whittle Stop" R.R. is also Frisco equipt! Dan
Here's another young train enthusiast, my grandson... it hasn't been Frisco-ized yet... he hasn't let go long enough lol...
Nice! Looks like you had a very good Christmas. Addi really fell in love with her caboose. But, I think the main attraction was that it plays music rather than the Frisco coonskin heralds on each side, but so be it. She also got some more track, and Kurt built a "layout" with a couple of sidings. She's only two years old, so the layout lasted only about 15 minutes before she wrecked it. Great fun. But, she also got a new baby doll, and that was the big winner by far. Ken
It was a nice Christmas. He's still at the stage where anything Paw Paw does is cool. Sammy played with that for almost 2 hours sitting on that table during his 1st shift. It went to bed with him. He's already quite the comedian at 3y/o too.
