Berea, Ohio train show in Cleveland, Ohio.
Miles: 200.
Train show, old high school friend's layout and 'memory lane'.
NOTE: it appears some pictures don't show up in the listing but can 'click' on them to see them.
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Train show:
Long day: left my house at 4:45 AM and got home at 7 PM.
Not a bad drive. 3 hours, all I-71; mostly '3 lanes' and 75 MPH.
There were 5 buildings to visit at the fair grounds.
1st building.
Some nice plastic buildings at very reasonable prices.
Interesting pictures made with beads.
That has to be a lot of work!
Met my 'long time' railroader friend Gary from Lancaster, Ohio.
He's 'mostly' NP.
My old high school friend John giving a clinic on 'static grass'.
First time I've seen him since we graduated in 1964, last millennium!
Pictures of his layout posted later.
2nd building.
3 rail.
Lots of nice pictures.
'Touch' control panels.
3rd building.
Merit badge.
'printer' buildings.
3 rail.
4th building.
S gauge.
In case you want to buy some 'stock' in a railroad!
Some brass available.
Dave from Middletown, Ohio.
Just about anything you may want in S gauge!
5th building.
Cleveland is Div 4 of the NMRA.
HO gauge. Large 'U' shape layout.
This seller had an engine I've been 'looking for' but way too 'high' in price.
N gauge. A large 'U' shape with another layout in the center of the 'U'.
Nice large radii.
...and yard.
4H club.
Kids having fun.
Lightning 'storm'.
As in 'Christmas story': 'fragilee'.
Booty:
More 'flats and gons' for 'open loads' and, of course, another 'state of Maine' car!
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John's 'Bay Lines' railroad.
Very impressive work done with 'kit bashing' plastic kits and excellent 'weathering' of buildings and 'rolling stock'.
It's not easy to do 'good weathering' as it's an 'art' and John does a great job of weathering his equipment.
Staging yard.
cool: using plastic 'down spouts' for 'storage'.
John says there will be an article on this in one of the 'future' magazines.
Excellent urban setting.
Excellent job on the 'signs'.
I like the 'drain'.
Many of the buildings are 'modular' so they can be replaced by other buildings.
The 'red based' building replaces the 'multi story' building.
His house is on Lake Erie so a great view 'out the window'.
The house is 'multi-generationally' owned.
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Americana and 'memory lane'.
I 'grew up' in Cleveland so had to visit old 'tromping grounds'.
Route 42 in Cleveland is also called Pearl Road and I, presently, live several hundred feet from route 42 in West Chester, Ohio.
Rt-42 was the 'highway' from Cleveland to Cincinnati. I remember my dad telling me he took '42' for a bowling tournament in Cincinnati: that must of taken 'awhile to drive'!
Arbies original building built in the early 60's not far from my parent's house in Brook Park although they 'modernized' it, unfortunately!
My parents house that they had built in 1959 at around 19 grand.
I think it was around 24'X36'. Most houses were much smaller than today!
The important thing: it had a basement so I could build my first 'large' layout 
This used to be a 'Lawsons' convenience store. Anyone who 'grew up' in Cleveland remembers Lawsons; one of the first before '7 eleven'.
Lots of trains 'run' through Cleveland.
'They' finally replaced this bridge: the road under it was fairly close to the bridge so the bottom of the bridge had a lot of 'scars' from trucks hitting it on W 150th street.
Control tower next to the bridge.
Multi tracks.
My first house and, of course, a basement layout!
The 'rapid transit' was only a few blocks away so I 'rode' it 'down town' where I worked before I got transferred to Cincinnati in 1979. An excellent 'rapid transit' system that goes from the airport on the west side to 'down town' and then to the 'east side'.
When I was around 7 years old, we lived in a house like this on the East side. Huge porch and I had my Lionel train set in the attic: very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. The attic had 'steps' so easy for storing 'things'.
Typical house sizes 'way back'!.
The 'old' high school.
'All weather' track and lights.
Had none of that when I played football and track!
Never wanted to fall on the 'cinder' track!
We had an outstanding football team when I was a senior: we averaged over 40 points a game while the opponents averaged less than a touch town. By the 3rd quarter I was on the 'bench' as we were so far ahead in 'score' and the under classmen got to 'letter' .
Had the 'pole vault' record when I graduated.
Build in 1959: very modern 'then'!
Interesting: they've include 6-8th grade in the school 'system'. Of course, they expanded the building 'greatly'.
Fortunately, they bought a huge piece of property back when it was 'cheap' and nothing 'around'.
A great asset for Cleveland is the metropolitan park that is about 60 miles long and circles Cleveland that most people are unaware of.
Some cool bridges in the park.
Back in the 'old days' the bridges were just a road that 'ran through' the river and during 'heavy rains' the road would be closed do to flooding. Now, they put in bridges.
Lots of 'open area' for baseball, picnics and a path along side the road for running and biking.
The park is 'respected' so people keep it clean and don't litter.
A very old bridge.
The one next to it in better shape!
My 2nd house in Fairview Park. Of course it's a ranch with a full basement!
I think we bought this house in 1976 and then got transferred to Cincinnati in 1979.
A lot of the houses there were ranch style.
Across the streets bungalows: would make nice retirement homes!
