First, I’m not offering anything now to trade. Instead, this Forum topic is about my experiences, and possibly yours, with trading trains and the advantages of trading, as opposed to selling, trains.
Mom, you were wrong about this!
Why on Earth would I say that?
Well, this all started for me when I was about 9 years old.
I had the good fortune of having both of my parents love Lionel trains when I was a kid, and my mother probably loved them more than my father.
One day, when I was 9 years old, I had a friend over at my parents’ house. He had a Lionel NW2 Erie diesel and I had Lionel 2055 and 2065 baby Hudson steamers. WOW, the name of this friend 64 years ago just popped back in my head: Carl Sherman. Carl asked if I was willing to trade one of my baby Hudsons for his diesel.
Now, the story gets a little dramatic (I hope you find this true story entertaining because that’s my primary goal, almost always, whenever I post anything on the Forum. Lol.
Now, back to this true story. Unbeknownst to me, my mother was lurking in the background and witnessing this possible train trade. Before I could express to Carl my enthusiastic acceptance of his offer, like the Wicked Witch of the West, my mother swooped down on her broomstick and nixed the trade including scolding me by saying: Don’t you ever sell or trade any of your Lionel trains, yours are a lot better than those of your friend!
So, now this true story gets even funnier (I’m laughing hysterically as I write this).
This thwarted trade happened around 1960, my mother died in 1991 at the age of 81, and I never sold or traded any of my trains until Rusty Rick came along around 2021, who is a local train nut friend, who enjoys weathering his trains, and who is also known as Ringo Rick because on the side he gets paid for doing a Ringo Starr act at local restaurants and bars performing Beatles songs on the drums and singing them along with Karaoke instrumental tracks.
(Rick and I have a lot in common including a joie de vive, a love of trains and a love of performing music and writing songs. I’m almost certain we are, and will continue to be, lifelong friends).
(Rusty/Ringo Rick is a great guy but is not interested in being part of any on-line forum notwithstanding the numerous times I’ve told him he would love this Forum. We are members of our local O Gauge train club known as the Railboys.)
About 3 years ago (in year 2021), Rusty Rick proposed that we make a train trade. I told Rick that was unthinkable and shared the above true story of how my mother thwarted my 1st train trade. When I did that, we both laughed hysterically.
Rusty Rick was very persistent, and miraculously convinced me to make my first fully consummated train trade.
I don’t remember the details of that transaction because since then, I’ve made at least 10 such fully consummated train trades with him.
Jeez, this saga is getting rather long. I apologize for that but hope to finish up soon and get your feedback.
IMO, making train trades, especially with a train nut friend nearby, has some great advantages and can greatly enhance one’s enjoyment of the Greatest Hobby in the World.
First, trading trains may enable you to get something you love in exchange for something you no longer love, and paying no money. This can happen if you trade trains that have approximately equivalent monetary value.
Secondly, if you make a trade with a nearby train nut friend, what you give up is not completely out of your life. Why is that? You can subsequently borrow from your friend whatever you gave up or subsequently visit your friend and run it, photograph it and/or videotape it on his layout.
The last trade I made with Rusty Rick, which happened 3 days ago, was awesome for both of us. Before I share the details of that trade, let’s first hear from some of you, my dear Forum friends, about what you think of the above and about your experiences with train trades.
Good night, Arnold
