Every year Winona Garden Railway, outside Guelph, Ontario, has an open house where you can run your trains, buy new and used equipment, meet new people and reunite with familiar faces to talk about the hobby.
The heat of noon was approaching and I realized that all the hours I had spent in my air conditioned office were not helping me. I drank all my water and tried to duck under the gazebo as much as I could for shade. I began feeling disoriented and my dialogue with fellow railroaders was starting to become labored. More and more, people were bringing locomotives from their cars to run on the layout. I realized what I really needed to take a nap and that I was not going to get the opportunity to run my newly purchased cars.
I began putting away my camera, drink thermos, train remote control and the new tankers cars. I went back to grab my Switcher locomotives from the car carriers when all of a sudden they were all scooped up and being taken all different directions. I was told that John had decided to sell them after all. With my locomotives in each hand I had to try to chase them down. One went straight into someone's vehicle and the other 3 went down to the used table. A gentlemen stepped in front of me and asked if I was selling the locomotives in my hands. Another car carrier made a u-turn to the parking lot before it hit the table. I found out my CN NW1 Switchers were rare from a small run of 50 ever made and he wanted to know where I got them from. A group of people who were also following the car carriers passed by me. I finished my conversation and half sprinted to the table throwing a NS car carrier on top of my locomotives. The cashier asked if I was taking both car carriers and I looked back to see 3 frozen faces with hands hovering over the last one. "No" I said "I don't want to be greedy". For $100 each I began to regret that. The excited look of the young man who grabbed the last one made me feel a bit better. In the past I too have had deals snatched away from me. I said farewell to everyone and took the long drive home to take a well deserved nap with Mary.
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