Milepost 1361
A couple of years ago, the NKPHTS held their annual convention in Buffalo, New York. There is always an opportunity there to rid ones self of excess rolling stock so I loaded up a few boxes and we headed east. It was my intention to simply donate the goodies to the annual auction but it was suggested that I set up a table in the vendors' area and sell it outright. I did this with the intention of giving my proceeds to the Society. Sales were good and I probably liquidated about $350 worth of stuff of which the cash went to the coffers. Since the Society doesn't really have any place to store excess items, I loaded the left-overs back into my car. To help me, a young man by the name of Brendan came along.
Brendan's dad is an active model railroader and most years, he and Brendan attend the Society's conventions. After we got all of the stuff in the car, I grabbed an Accurail kit and gave it to him "for helping out." He was thrilled to get it. I told him that I wanted to see pictures when the car was done.
Fast forward to this year's convention and Brendan's dad told him that I'd probably be there and that he needed to get me a picture of the completed car. According to his dad, the car was done quite some time ago but he never got around to taking a picture of it for me. Well, I didn't make the convention since we were on hand to greet our third grand child so his dad emailed me the photo above.
Brendan built the car himself shortly after I gave it to him. At the time, he was only ten years old! He sprayed the car's underframe & trucks with camouflage brown then weathered it with Pan Pastels. Brendan added the chalk marks with a sharp Primsacolor white pencil. For good measure, he toned down the car's bright silver roof with a wash of India ink and alcohol. Not bad... not bad at all, especially for a ten-year-old!
It is obvious that Brendan is taking after his father with his love of trains. I know that Brendan accompanies his dad on train-watching trips as well as the occasional research venture. What Brendan's father is doing for him is not only good for Brendan but good also for the hobby. The more young people who are interested in model railroading, the brighter the long term future of the hobby we all enjoy will be.
So now I'm going to issue a challenge to all of you... always try to have something around the layout or work bench that would be an age appropriate giveaway to some younger person who just might become a model railroader. You never know... that little seed may just fall on fertile ground and there will be another Brendan amongst our ranks.
dlm