2009 Great Train Expo (Page 3 of 3)

Another new module was Alex's trestle over the fishing stream.

Cattle graze in the wetlands as a fisherman casts from a rock in the middle of the stream and a Santa Fe freight crosses the trestle.

That trestle module sits between the dairy farm corner and the Gilbert Siding.

A passing track off the eastbound mainline was nicknamed the Gilbert Siding because it features a series of A. C. Gilbert accessories from the 1950s and 1960s. The west end module is home to the floodlight tower, electromagnetic crane, and mail pickup stanchion. A plasticville yard tower oversees traffic in the area.

A modern day electronic reproduction of the 1950s Talking Station, illuminated by 1950s Gilbert street lamps, greets trains to the second module of the Gilbert Siding. A modern day Gilbert trailer truck carrying American Flyer trains pulls into the parking area.

Just beyond the station, a Gilbert operating flatcar stands ready to unload its racing car into the parking lot. A button on the outside of the module gave visitors the ability to operate the car. It was a big hit with kids of all ages!

Cows "walk" around the pens in the operating stockyard and up the ramp into the stock car.

Barely visible above the stock car is Gilbert's oversized Cow on the Track accessory that we call babe the Blue Ox's cousin. A button on the outside of the module enabled visitors to move the cow off the track every time it wandered out into the path of oncoming trains. That, too, was a hit with all us kids.

The oil depot and operating log loader mark the start of the third module.

In the middle, the barrel loader dumps shiny silver barrels into the waiting gondola car while Bart sells magazines and Chiclets gum from Gilbert's Whistle Stop newsstand.

The other two buildings in Gilbert's Whistle Stop set are the Frank & Beans stand and the brown Waiting Station.

On the siding behind the Whistle Stop set, the operating sawmill loads lumber into the waiting gondola.

Welcoming trains to the last module is Gilbert's operating baggage loader accessory. This module was in last year's show, but wasn't landscaped then.

And, finally, Gilbert's Whistling Billboard and Water Tank accessories. A button on the outside lets visitors lower the spout on the water tank to simulate putting water in a waiting locomotive. It's amazing how much kids love doing that!