Chad and Laura: Train Show

On November 22nd, we took the kids to the Great Train Expo, a model train show, at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. We weren't sure how the kids would like it, but it turned out that they LOVED it! Even now, over a month later, they still ask if they can go back to the train show again. They were having so much fun that they didn't want to go home.

Cecilia looking at the buildings for sale. Some of the stuff was VERY expensive, so we had to keep reminding the kids that they could look but not touch.

Grant found some train books. He stood there and just flipped through the books for about 10 minutes.

The detail on the model train setups was amazing! One of the displays was based on a real railroad that had run in the area and included details like a paper mill (with a cutout in the roof to see all the machinery and such inside), a papermill, a bald eagle nest on one of bridges, a grizzly bear den under another bridge, and even water barrels on the bridge.

Later, we discovered some Lego trains.

We saw some bigger model trains

More trains for sale.

An amusing model

There was a guy from Seattle that had driven down with his wooden train set up. I talked to him for a little bit while the kids were playing with the train sets. He is a aeronautical engineer by day, but got into the train hobby when his kids were little and really excited about trains. He apparently had tons and tons of train and track pieces, so he started building his own track setups. And now he has a whole website devoted to how to make setups like this, along with the train cars, the decorations, and the actual tables the pieces are all connected to. You could tell that he was really passionate and really enjoyed watching the kids all playing with the trains!