A friend called and said that he had found some Lionel in the trash. Did I want to come over and see them? He thought I might find them valuable. (They weren't and I didn't, but it's the thought that counts.)
While hanging with him, another mutual friend stopped in to talk cars. He and the other guy were talking about a man who is recreating a modern version of a very rare automobile of which there were only three made. The auto in question is the Bugatti Atlantic.
I checked out the man's very deep and detailed website that documents his recreation. In one picture, he shows a slow-moving rotisserie that he used to make a very precise weld on a steering shaft. The power supply is a Lionel KW transformer, whose output is rectified and which then powers a windshield wiper motor that turns the shaft as it gets welded precisely.
Train references show up in the most unlikely of places.
I have permission to post the photo.
