Birthday Find

Sometimes it's hard to keep a secret. And sometimes it's oh, so worth every bite of the tongue.

In June we went to the mini Antique Week in Bouckville. My son and I were in the lead on the dash to our favorite vendor with the rest of the family right behind us. As we negotiated the crowds, I caught sight of a big blue engine out of the corner of my eye. I frantically waved at it behind my back while I kept my son's attention on getting through the crowd.

Fifteen minutes later, the family showed up where we were digging through boxes of trains. I got a small thumbs up but not a word about the blue engine. I had to wait until after my son was safely in bed that night to discover what a find I'd made.

It was a G scale Bachmann Big Hauler. The Blue Comet Atlantic City Express. A complete Ready-to-Run set in its box. A G scale like he's always wanted. Just like his hero Jim Zim runs. For only $30.00. And we had to hide it until his birthday. I don't know how we managed it.

We gave it to him at the end of the day on his birthday after everything else was done and everyone was gone. He just stood there looking at it for a moment, then a big smile slowly lit up his face. Then he started jumping around like a maniac.

We set it up in the living room. I gave him special permission to leave it set up overnight (normally all tracks and trains must be off the floor at bedtime). I let him stay up past bedtime to run it.

The noise that woke me at four o'clock the next morning? Yes, indeed! He was downstairs running the train.

I barely saw him the next day. He was in the living room, running the train. When its wheels started squeaking I declared a vacation for the poor thing until the oil we ordered for it got here (these trains are supposed to be oiled after every six hours of run time),

I don't know which of us loved this gift more- him or me. He loves it because it's a big, beautiful G scale engine and he's always wanted one.

I love it because it runs like a (quiet!) dream despite being over twenty years old. The engine is lovely in its detail, as are the tender and passenger cars. The cars are lit and it chuffs and wheeshes at just the right volume. The clear instructions were still in the box and lots of fun if you like comic books and heroes. And the Bach Man helpline is still active if you need to talk directly to him. The best part was the incredible deal we lucked into.