My introduction to S-Gauge:
Chicago, mid fifties, winter... Excitement was in the air, it was cold and a pushy wind was prodding it's way down the lake. The invigorating smell of snow yet to come heightened my anticipation as I boarded the CTA at Wilson Street Station, after a ten block walk pushing into the weather.
A North Shore "Electroliner" stoped briefly on it's northward schedul
e to Evanston and Milwaukee. Boy it had a lounge/dinner, was I ever envious, wanted sooo much to look out the window, eating, hearing the clickity-clack of the rail beneath, increasing in staccato...accelerating away! Well I had another mission this day...on my way to the "Loop" to Marshall Fields and their great big Toy Department. It was a ritual for me this time of year...that is to visit and spend as much time as possible experiencing it, soaking the noise, toys, bright lights, the excited (like me) children running every which way, trying not to miss anything...and the grown-ups, a bit embarrassed that they were having a LOT of fun too!
The train arrived , squealing brakes, a whoosh of warm air laced with pungent aromas of searing brakes, oil and creosote....I inhaled deeply, it was good. Climbed hurriedly aboard the first car and just about ran to the front window seat, a sideways seat right across from the engineer's cab, a box about the size of a telephone booth. Now... I was o
n my journey... downtown, a pack of Wrigley's Doublemint, and I was all set.
I loved sitting there, as a conductor might or pretending to be the engineer, It was great, the track rushing towards us, on-coming trains, signals, stops at stations, all the noise and clattering over switches, flashes of blue-white light as contact was made or broken with the electrified outside third rail, and then... those roller coaster type turns, sometimes it seemed like I was hanging in mid-air, and the exquisite screeching of the wheels and rail against each other, neither wishing to relinquish, both complaining loudly.
Suddenly we headed downwards into a black abyss, a deafening roar of the subway overwhelms the senses, wheels complaining through a curve, lights and signals flashing by so fast as to seem almost a continuous band, lights approaching, a station stop, accelerating, ear-splitting noise, and dive under the river to come up and into Downtown - the "Loop". Alert now, anticipating my stop, bound out the door, up the stairs-three at a time, out into crisp winter and the canyons of tall buildings, the lake, the turquoise blue-green of the river, and many of the stores holiday window shows with animation.
There it was, the huge street clocks standing sentinel, and the grand edifice of Marshall Fields... almost unbearable, all the slow moving coats and package carriers clogging my way to get to the source of my longing, impatient youth
struggling to push through crowds, being rude, have to get there fast, I might not have enough time, or worse, miss something. What a grand glittering palace, I entered, dash to the elevator, the operator calling out floors, sounding like station stops on a railroad, I was just about to pop. Then as if magically transported to another dimension..."Toy department!" was hailed aloud, as the hand crank turned artfully by the operator brought us exactly to a stop, a slight bobbing up and down, and then as the doors were nudged away...there in front of me...oh my! oh my! oh my! ...were the lights, colors, sounds, smells ...there in front of me... paradise!
At that moment, everything made sense, everything was perfect I was the happiest kid in the world! Traversed the "windy city" by myself, overcame weather, crowds, subways, more crowds and my little fears of being "on my own" to prevail and find, in front of me a dream come true. A bit proud,and smug and rubber legged from the shear excitement of it all, the Toy Department of Marshall Fields drew me into the amazing maze of all kinds of toys, kids and grown-ups. My heart was about to jump right out, the mesmerizing sounds of train whistles, bells and clattering of rushing train cars of all kinds and sizes drew me like the "Pied Pipers" flute ever closer ever deeper into the cavern of toys.
Closer and closer the lights, the movement of dashing about trains and frantic accessories, The green landscapes, mountains, tunnels, streets with buildings and cars and even miniature people came into view. Bigger trains and littler trains and in-between trains - three rails, 2 rails and even a monorail, from the USA and Germany and elsewhere...Woweee! Marx, Lionel, Maerklin.
Continued on Page #3
Chicago, mid fifties, winter... Excitement was in the air, it was cold and a pushy wind was prodding it's way down the lake. The invigorating smell of snow yet to come heightened my anticipation as I boarded the CTA at Wilson Street Station, after a ten block walk pushing into the weather.
A North Shore "Electroliner" stoped briefly on it's northward schedul
e to Evanston and Milwaukee. Boy it had a lounge/dinner, was I ever envious, wanted sooo much to look out the window, eating, hearing the clickity-clack of the rail beneath, increasing in staccato...accelerating away! Well I had another mission this day...on my way to the "Loop" to Marshall Fields and their great big Toy Department. It was a ritual for me this time of year...that is to visit and spend as much time as possible experiencing it, soaking the noise, toys, bright lights, the excited (like me) children running every which way, trying not to miss anything...and the grown-ups, a bit embarrassed that they were having a LOT of fun too!The train arrived , squealing brakes, a whoosh of warm air laced with pungent aromas of searing brakes, oil and creosote....I inhaled deeply, it was good. Climbed hurriedly aboard the first car and just about ran to the front window seat, a sideways seat right across from the engineer's cab, a box about the size of a telephone booth. Now... I was o
n my journey... downtown, a pack of Wrigley's Doublemint, and I was all set. I loved sitting there, as a conductor might or pretending to be the engineer, It was great, the track rushing towards us, on-coming trains, signals, stops at stations, all the noise and clattering over switches, flashes of blue-white light as contact was made or broken with the electrified outside third rail, and then... those roller coaster type turns, sometimes it seemed like I was hanging in mid-air, and the exquisite screeching of the wheels and rail against each other, neither wishing to relinquish, both complaining loudly.
Suddenly we headed downwards into a black abyss, a deafening roar of the subway overwhelms the senses, wheels complaining through a curve, lights and signals flashing by so fast as to seem almost a continuous band, lights approaching, a station stop, accelerating, ear-splitting noise, and dive under the river to come up and into Downtown - the "Loop". Alert now, anticipating my stop, bound out the door, up the stairs-three at a time, out into crisp winter and the canyons of tall buildings, the lake, the turquoise blue-green of the river, and many of the stores holiday window shows with animation.
There it was, the huge street clocks standing sentinel, and the grand edifice of Marshall Fields... almost unbearable, all the slow moving coats and package carriers clogging my way to get to the source of my longing, impatient youth
struggling to push through crowds, being rude, have to get there fast, I might not have enough time, or worse, miss something. What a grand glittering palace, I entered, dash to the elevator, the operator calling out floors, sounding like station stops on a railroad, I was just about to pop. Then as if magically transported to another dimension..."Toy department!" was hailed aloud, as the hand crank turned artfully by the operator brought us exactly to a stop, a slight bobbing up and down, and then as the doors were nudged away...there in front of me...oh my! oh my! oh my! ...were the lights, colors, sounds, smells ...there in front of me... paradise!At that moment, everything made sense, everything was perfect I was the happiest kid in the world! Traversed the "windy city" by myself, overcame weather, crowds, subways, more crowds and my little fears of being "on my own" to prevail and find, in front of me a dream come true. A bit proud,and smug and rubber legged from the shear excitement of it all, the Toy Department of Marshall Fields drew me into the amazing maze of all kinds of toys, kids and grown-ups. My heart was about to jump right out, the mesmerizing sounds of train whistles, bells and clattering of rushing train cars of all kinds and sizes drew me like the "Pied Pipers" flute ever closer ever deeper into the cavern of toys.
Closer and closer the lights, the movement of dashing about trains and frantic accessories, The green landscapes, mountains, tunnels, streets with buildings and cars and even miniature people came into view. Bigger trains and littler trains and in-between trains - three rails, 2 rails and even a monorail, from the USA and Germany and elsewhere...Woweee! Marx, Lionel, Maerklin.
Continued on Page #3
