Magazine alert: Trains Magazine Big Boy issue

The perfect Easter basket present has been found! Trains magazine is now promoting their upcoming Big Boy issue, which will detail the process of bringing back to life the Union Pacific "Big Boy" engine. They are promising 100 pages of information on the restoration process for California's No. 4014. These 1940s engines were legendary for the power they brought to railroading over the mountains of the west coast. In my house, the story of the Big Boy has been a long-time favorite and my Senior Engineer can rattle off facts about its wheel alignment, engine power and service routes faster than a baseball fan can recite game stats. Parents, our schools (and our kids' future employees) want to see our young people develop their non-fiction reading skills. Even though its not a "kids" magazine, this is the kind of material that will get them excited about reading and developing those abilities. 

Big Boy: On the Road to Restoration is due to be published in April, with reservations (at a discount price) available on their website now. 

http://trn.trains.com/upbigboy

Birthday shopping in the model kit aisle

On the wish list ... for next year

Just before Halloween, the kids and I were in Hobby Lobby for costume shopping, when we were sidetracked by my son's preferred location in the store -- the model kit aisle. (Revisit that moment here.) Today I was back looking for birthday party activity ideas -- "Can it be an Egypt theme, Mom?" -- when I stopped in the same aisle for present buying. The beloved Big Boy locomotive kit is still there, but, honestly, I'm just not ready for the many, many, many pieces. So, it's going to be a Power Trains birthday, and I'm thrilled to report, not only does Hobby Lobby stock Power Trains, but they also accept the 40-percent off coupon from their weekly ad for them. Joy! There's hope that my budget may survive the Christmas season! 

Hobby Shop Happiness: Train Toys for Bigger Kids

The Union Pacific "Big Boy"
at the National Railroad Museum
in Green Bay Wisconsin

What do you do when your children are too big for the Thomas the Tank Engine and Chugginton toys, but still LOVE trains? Two words: hobby shop! We're in the middle ground for kids who love trains -- too big, strictly speaking -- for the train toys that first became beloved in preschool and not quite old enough -- especially when there's a curious toddler in the house -- for real model railroading. That doesn't keep me from being dragged over to look at model trains at every possible chance by that discriminating second grader.Our mission to Hobby Lobby yesterday was to secure the pieces needed for a King Tut Halloween costume -- a departure from many years as a train engineer! Never fear, the first love is always near and dear to his heart. While I was looking for the materials we needed, he asked to look at the model kits aisle. Three happy discoveries were made:

• Our local Hobby Lobby, after a period of limited model train items has "new model trains, Mom! Look at this! Look!" Guess we weren't the only ones feeling the loss. 
• They are also stocking Power Trains, which is the perfect toy to bridge that age and ability gap between all things Thomas/Brio/Chuggington and all things N Scale/HO Scale/G Scale. 
• Amid the model car kits, my future engineer was thrilled to finally discover (how long has he been searching for this?) the Revell Big Boy Locomotive model kit. And suddenly, the money being saved in the piggy bank has now been redirected to a purchase of that very kit. Sure, it's for ages 10 and up, but he's ambitious. (And I'm not about to discourage saving up dollars or interest in history.) 

Soon, we got back to our shopping purpose, but not without looking at the very same aisle one more time before we left, just to be sure those wonderful things were still there. 

The Big Boy in real life!