Trains, Trains and um more trains...?
It's funny how you can live in a place for over 10 years (well, minus 4 years in Eastbourne, but that's not the point) and one day discover a magically special place that you never knew existed... You can drive past it a couple of times a month, and never even think about what that great big sign saying 'Illawarra Live Steamers' means... Wollongong continues to surprise and delight me, almost 11 years on...
On Sunday we went to a 4th birthday party. A train-obsessed 4 year old boy's (aren't they all?) birthday party. And it was held at the Illawarra Live Steamers park in North Wollongong. Now I had never heard of it, but the locals knew exactly what it was - a gorgeous shady park, encircled with train tracks. And a cute little station. And miniature steam trains. Loads of 'em. And once a month the club members all bring their steam trains to the park and drive little (and big) kids around and around the park all day. It rocked!
Unfortunately I discovered something else whilst there... something I'm not too happy about. It started when MrB almost burst out of skin with excitment when he realised what a treasure the ILS is. And continued when he started babbling about wanting to go on the LMS. The huh? I hear you ask...? The LMS. It's a train (well der...) but a particular train. A train that MrB had when obsessed with model trains. A train that his father still has, and which he's going to do up when he (MrB's dad) rededicates his life to his model train set soon... This has me worried and perplexed. Surely if I was Catholic this would be grounds for an annulment... how can he have kept this, this thing secret from me...?
And apparently we're going back next month (the last Sunday of every month! We now have the schedule on the calendar!) with MrB's dad and train-obsessed nephew.
The horror! The horror!
On Sunday we went to a 4th birthday party. A train-obsessed 4 year old boy's (aren't they all?) birthday party. And it was held at the Illawarra Live Steamers park in North Wollongong. Now I had never heard of it, but the locals knew exactly what it was - a gorgeous shady park, encircled with train tracks. And a cute little station. And miniature steam trains. Loads of 'em. And once a month the club members all bring their steam trains to the park and drive little (and big) kids around and around the park all day. It rocked!
Unfortunately I discovered something else whilst there... something I'm not too happy about. It started when MrB almost burst out of skin with excitment when he realised what a treasure the ILS is. And continued when he started babbling about wanting to go on the LMS. The huh? I hear you ask...? The LMS. It's a train (well der...) but a particular train. A train that MrB had when obsessed with model trains. A train that his father still has, and which he's going to do up when he (MrB's dad) rededicates his life to his model train set soon... This has me worried and perplexed. Surely if I was Catholic this would be grounds for an annulment... how can he have kept this, this thing secret from me...?
And apparently we're going back next month (the last Sunday of every month! We now have the schedule on the calendar!) with MrB's dad and train-obsessed nephew.
The horror! The horror!
Labels: Curly Girls, here there and everywhere
posted by actonb at 8:35 am
15 Comments:
Ha! The sleeper awakes. You'll have him visiting Rob Byrne's blogspot for house decorating ideas soon, AB. It's a higher calling, you know.
You'll be pleased to know that steam trains and religion have a solid history together: Thomas the Tank Engine was written by a Reverend, to entertain his bed-ridden son, whilst the late Eric Treacy was known as The Railway Bishop, for his remarkable photography of the last days of steam in the UK. He actually died "on the job" as it were, on a station in the Yorkshire Dales, photographing a special steam train excursion. God moves in mysterious ways etc etc.
You can (and should) check out his story here: http://www.nrm.org.uk/exhibitions/treacy/start.asp
Worthwhile alone for the home-page shot of the squire in his robes!
oh. dear. god.
Oh, and now is as good a time as any for my statement of disclosure:
Mountjoy, too, had a kiddie birthday party at a place exactly like ILS, over at West Ryde (The Sydney Live Steam Locomotive Society, apparently ~ but I had to look that up. 35 years on, it is still going strong).
Too funny!!
I think it has something to do with not having male children to share the whole cars/trucks/trains thing with.
This may just be the outlet he's been looking for!!
MrC has built our girls the Taj Mahal of cubby houses (no ducking required on entry)so that when they no longer require said cubby - it gets converted into HIS space with cable TV, mini-fridge and most likely air-conditioning as well.
Boys will be boys!!
Donnie - I always knew his Dad was obsessed, I though MrB just kinda went along with it. Turns out he wasn't. Bloody hell.
Our church in Eastbourne has a real live train spotter. His holidays were spent driving around the country looking at trains. He stayed in a hotel that was just train carriages. He had The Book that he used to write down the numbers of the locos he'd seen. Weird.
Mex - It will not surprise you that every single adult female at this party had 'forgotten' to wear the closed-in shoes necessary for train travel. Was a pretty cool party though. The babes were still raving about blue trains yesterday...
Chez - I don't know, the girls all adored the trains... But your cubby sounds great! I'm trying to interest MrB in building a replica aussie homestead in the backyard, and he's trying very hard to put it off...
Is that the twins in the first shot?
One of them doesn't seem too keen on the whole trainorama, AB ... She's reaching out for a hero ...
LaRue - She was waving Chesty... Not drowning. I didn't see Miss M most of the afternoon - except when she was eating of course - her and Oscar, her best and oldest friend, spent the entire time on the trains. Poor Oscar. He's spent almost his whole life being bossed around by Miss M. Ever since he came visted her in hospital just after she'd been born, aged 1.
Ok. She's waving with a 'what on earth am I doing here this thing smells and I don't like it' expression on her face. While the other one simply looks resigned, and I swear is throwing you a bit of a 'thanks, Mum. Really. Thanks ... I'll get you for this ...' with her eyes.
I'm sure the church would consider this 'interest' of his sufficient grounds for an anullment.
Or at least substantial public ridicule.
aha! the politics of the blogroll got to you!
...and trains. yeah.
my dad always tells this story how when he was a kid, he had a train set. but his dad set it up and he was never allowed to actually touch the damn thing.
in fact, he still has the train set and set it up once when we were kids.
and we weren\'t allowed to touch it either.
Oh man.
Terrifying. You realise that Byrnes will find this, don't you?
Even scarier - MrB is on the slippery slope....
LaRue - she loved the trains. Loved em I tell you.
Shroom - Oh, the public ridicule is coming, don't you worry about that. Heh. that's a bit of Qld nostalgia for you.
Mars - I was positive I'd already done it, coz you're in my BL, and I kept looking at my template going huh? where's it gone. I am a dozy idiot. But it's done now. And you're even in the 'special' group. Ha! Lucky you.
Apparently the train set at MrB's place was set up all the time in the rumpus room. It may or may not have been removed after MrB managed to convince his older brother to put his braces on the electric line. And then proceededto flick the switch...
W - Byrnes wouldn't dare. And no slippery slope. I'm stamping this out now!
Oh my - aren't those little trains and the men who care about them just the cutest things! You really do have to wonder how people get into crazy things like ride-on miniature trains. Good on them though, cause every one needs a hobby and that one is better than shopping for shoes!
Yes ... she loved it.
I see a slippery slope, but it aint the one W's seeing, I don't think.
Does 'living vicariously through your child' mean anything to you?
I kid ... I kid.
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