Yep, you read it right. We are taking a 3-year-old camping. That might be stu-u-upid enough by itself, but wait! There’s more.

It’s November: very, very cold.

And on a beach: 3-yr-old wandering around dangerous surf.

At a campground that brags about the rattlesnakes and coral snakes. Oh yeah, and the hundreds of alligators.

With no planning, because we decided to go… today.

And — worst of all — no trains.

I am, officially, an idiot.

Oh, did I mention that he still sleeps in a crib at home, and I’m pretending he’ll take to a sleeping bag like magic?

And I don’t even have an excuse. I actually did this same thing last year, and it was a horrendous debacle. And I do mean debacle — ice, rain, hurricane-force winds, freezing temperatures, and no preparation on my part for any of those conditions.

I remember the park ranger, yelling over the storm:

“So, you think you’re gonna keep a 2-year-old chitlin alive in this madness?”

(Me, with utter confidence in my masculinity): “Oh yeah. No problem. We’re ready. And I brought a month’s supply of firewood.”

(Me, 24 minutes later): “Do you know where the nearest hotel is?”

“Yup, I figgered you’d be back, so I called to set y’all up in a room.”

(massive relief): “Oh, thank you, kind sir!”

“But they ain’t got no rooms left. No sir. Said the nearest vacancy was in Dubuque. 1,158 miles northwest. Just turn left at the sign that says ‘thanks for coming (idiot).’ “

I’ve pretty much erased from my mind just how bad that was. It took a year, but now I’ve started having these sweet dreams of how nice it will be to prance in the woods with my sweet little guy, searching for bugs and snakes, giggling in the warm sunshine.

Or in the ice storm, while being chased by alligators.

“Yup, nearest available room is Albuquerque, 2,414 miles due west. [Under his breath…] Idiot.”

Yup, easy add-on couplers. Has anyone else noticed that fewer and fewer Geotrax vehicles can be hooked together? What really got me going was the Friendliest Team–twin trolleys, Chatty and Chirpy, that are so friendly they can’t couple to each other or anyone else. No hooks, no loops, nothing. What does that mean to my 3-year-old? The trolleys sit off to the side, because playing with them means it’s hard to play with anything else. No trains, no long lines of every-car-we-own consists. For a kid who loves trains, that’s what it’s all about. So I decided to do something about it.

What I’ve ended up with are molded plastic couplers that can be attached to any Geotrax vehicle. (Or anything else in the world, for that matter, though I’m not sure why you would, but hey–you buy, I’ll sell, whether you stick them on your Geotrax or on your pink plastic flamingo. No difference to me.) Since the Geotrax line has a wide variety of “bumpers” where there should be couplers, I’ve made them with a mounting surface that fits as many as possible. Over time, I might make a few different varieties to fit a few specific vehicles that are problematic, but don’t hold your breath… this generic version fits almost everything.

I should have pictures and more detailed information up by tomorrow, along with pricing and ordering info. My goal is not to get rich off of these; they won’t be outrageous. Stay tuned!

The ride was about what I expected; Jonathan enjoyed it, though, and I’m glad we had the opportunity. We got much more excitement out of watching Thomas drive. If you go to one of these events, I recommend asking right up front where the best viewing location is to see Thomas start up. That’s the exciting moment, as he belches smoke and steam and the driving wheels slip. We also watched him from above, standing on a bridge. He tooted his tinny English whistle once as he went under, his engineer leaning out the window and waving.

One of the things Jonathan enjoyed most was the Norfolk-Southern engine on a side track. They allowed visitors into the cab, let them sit in the driver’s seat and handle the controls. With the engine running, it was a great experience to push the throttle and hear the diesel roar. And it’s always a delight to blow the horn!

Other highlights included rides on a “caboose train” and a large HO-scale model railroad set up by a local club.

Finally, Jonathan received a GeoTrax Grand Central Station set as a birthday gift. This is the “expanded set” with extra cars and a DVD. JB was so excited he just didn’t know how to express it. Aero is his new favorite — he asked if he could sleep with Aero tonight.

Lots to talk about over the next few days… notes on Thomas and Geotrax and TrackMaster and more. Stay tuned!

• Geotrax trains run easily on both the old blue track and the new brown. They don’t have a traction surface (track top), however, so they can’t pull much.
• The wheels on Trackmaster cars will fit between the rails on Geotrax track, although they have a very bumpy ride.
• Unfortunately, the drive wheels on Trackmaster engines are a tiny bit too wide to fit between Geotrax rails. That means you can’t run Trackmaster engines on Geotrax.

I assume that’s the sticky wicket; I think people are wanting to run Thomas on Geotrax, not the other way around.

I’ve been pondering this for a while, and I don’t have a good solution. There is a cheap Thomas (the $6 Pull-Back) that is approximately the same size and proportions as Geotrax trains, but it’s not a simple conversion to mount the shell on a Geo engine. As Geotrax trains get bigger, due to adding the gear complexities of reverse and the ability to fit little people inside, those pull-back shells seem smaller each day. The trains in the Mail Delivery set have similarly-sized shells: just a bit too small to make an easy conversion. Does anyone know of a Thomas toy that is a little bigger than the pull-backs? For example, how large is the whistle-and-go Thomas?

You can always put a Trackmaster Thomas on the back of a Geotrax gondola, then tell the kids that Thomas broke down and Geo has to save him!

Any thoughts? I’d love to develop a simple and inexpensive conversion that people could easily do themselves.

Quick to be helpful, I answered, “It’s right over h… uh… where’s the smokestack?”

That’s right. Geotrax, well known for their great detail (check out the horseshoe prints on the hill), forgot to put a smokestack on this steamer.

This is an engine reminiscent of the classic 4-4-0 American. But it doesn’t have a tender, either; that only leaves three options.

1. Maybe it’s a saddle tanker (just being obvious here, since it has saddle tanks on the sides). But a saddle tanker needs a smokestack, so this really isn’t an option after all.
2. Maybe it’s a “fireless.” That’s the only kind of steam engine without a smokestack; it’s just a big tank that would be charged with steam. But then it doesn’t need the saddle tanks, so what’s up?
3. Maybe it’s a fake — a gas or diesel or electric engine that just has a steam-like facade built around it. We frequently take rides on a similar “steam engine” locally. Unlikely, though, since they are placing this in the era of the Old West. The great irony of this possibility, of course, is that it really is an electric engine made to look like a steam engine.

While I’m whining about picky little things, I might as well give you one more: the Amazon page linked above lists the engine’s name as “Rusty the Steam Engine.” Not quite right: Fisher-Price named it “Old Rust” and even trademarked the name.

Toby the Train talks about trains and tracks arrives in an official-looking manila envelope with the NS logo. That’s a pretty exciting thing in itself! Toby the train takes you through pretty standard railroad PR:

• We do very important work
• Our workers are the best
• Stay safe around trains and tracks
• Don’t play on tracks
• Stop at crossings
• We’re a green company

But our three-year-old is oblivious to all that — he just knows it has pictures of trains, and crossing gates… excitement on every page!

While you are the Norfolk Southern site, it might be worth checking their company store. They have a good bit of NS-branded merchandise at very reasonable prices, such as a child’s engineer hat for $4.75.

Not a big Thomas fan? That’s okay! The manufacturer, Peg Perego, has made a John Deere train — and it’s much cheaper, to boot — as well as a Santa Fe Express and another Santa Fe Express with caboose. These sets also have a figure-8 expansion track set available.

If that’s all too rich for your blood, you can always step back to the Thomas Pop-Up with Annie and Clarabel for $45 or, if that’s too pricey, just the Thomas Pop-Up by itself for $19.72.

It’s all about track

You can never have too much track! HiT finally got it, and they are filling the need with the Backpack of Track and the Track Expansion Pack. Both are just packed full, lots and lots o’ track. Good stuff!

I noticed that the packaging says “requires assembly.” Well, duh!

One of the GeoTrax advantages is their fantastic system of elevated track, and TrackMaster is trying to compete. Every track set comes with a number of risers and elevated pieces. Unfortunately, these still use the same system as the old blue track. It’s not a stable or sturdy as GeoTrax and really doesn’t allow for complex multi-level designs. Similarly, they have continued to use the same bridge systems - wimpy. Overall, though, huge improvements here.

Remote control

The centerpiece of the TrackMaster makeover is Thomas at Tidmouth Sheds. This set even gets its own advertising video! It’s a beautiful roundhouse and turntable, and of course that remote control — they’ve learned something from GeoTrax. If this is the future of Thomas toys, I like where it is going.

More rolling stock, better detail

Numerous trucks and track sets are now available. I’m pleased to see both a focus on new rolling stock — these cars are what make up a real train, after all — and on much better detailing.

Lots of sets for the grandparents

And aunts, uncles, siblings… products like these are easy gift options, and always having “one more set” out there to add to the collection is good. TrackMaster hits the ground running. The product line has only been available for a few weeks, but look at what is already available:

• Thomas at Tidmouth Sheds
• Hard at Work at Brendham Docks
• Sodor Lumber Yard
• Thomas at the Station
• Sodor Copper Mine
• Birthday Celebration
• Sodor Adventure Set

More activities, better prices, and flexibility

Most of those sets contain a building or factory that is a good toy by itself; many have functioning parts that interesting. These are much more useful toys than the old Tomy sets! Sets can be had for as little as $15, which is better than past offers. And all sets come with adapters to connect them to the old blue track, so you aren’t abandoning your current system.

All things considered, HiT has made some huge steps to close up the gap with GeoTrax. They still have some weaknesses, such as the lousy coupling system, but overall this is a greatly improved line of products.

I suppose it’s pretty normal to make a train out of cardboard boxes, but this time Jonathan and I got a little bit carried away. We’ve been collecting big diaper boxes for about as long as he’s been alive; they are a handy size, very sturdy, and have nice “handles” cut in the sides. We decided they would make a great train.

We found some photos of a steam engine (the original Polar Express, Pere Marquette No. 1225) and printed them out, then adhered them to the sides of the box. At Jonathan’s request (read: demand!), we added a smokestack and the very important cow catcher. Just the right size hole cut in the top allows him to climb in and be the engineer.

A few more prints turned another box into a tender, then more for a hopper car and a tank car, and we had a nice little freight unit going. I have to admit to a special advantage: the ability to print onto adhesive-backed vinyl, in essence making giant stickers.

Unwrapped diaper boxes make up the rest of the train now, along with a wire rack and a hand-held sweeper. (Anything makes a train, when coupled to something else!) One morning I went downstairs to find that he had loaded each box up with stuffed animal passengers. He’s had a great time playing with it. Ah, these are the days!

Nestled on main street in this little town outside of Charlotte, the NC Transportation Museum is a hidden gem with the goal of becoming a premier destination. It is located in the former Southern Railway locomotive repair facilities, and their displays are centered around a wonderful roundhouse and turntable. The first happy surprise is that there is no cost to enter the museum: it is free. Yup, F-R-double-E. Gotta like that.

Most people start their visit with a ride on the train. Prices are better than reasonable: $6 for adults, $5 for kids and seniors, and kids under three are free. Their collection of locomotives is large enough that they rotate their motive power monthly; check their web site to see what will be driving at the time of your visit. Of particular note is that you can take a ride in the cab for only $10, first come-first served. That single thing might be the most impressive element of the whole place.

The train departs from their (beautiful) depot to the roundhouse. It stops to let people unload, then heads back. Tickets are needed for this outgoing leg of the ride, but not for the trip back. Thus, clever planning can get you several rides for one low cost. I’d suggest riding out, touring the roundhouse, then riding back; then, take a walking tour through the gift shop and various displays in mechanic’s buildings, which will drop you out right back at the roundhouse; hop on the train again for a free ride back.

The roundhouse is home to an impressive collection of heavy metal. On the steam side there is a Shay, two 2-8-0 Consolidations, a 4-6-0 “ten-wheeler,” a 2-10-0 decapod, a couple Porters, a saddle-tanker, and a fireless. All are in good condition, and several are (more or less) operational. The diesel side has too many to list, including an E-3, E-8, FP-7, Amtrak F-40, GP-9, GP-30, Fairbanks-Morse H-12-44, and a Baldwin AS-416. Notable inclusions are three major passenger engines: two of the classic Southern green-and-white E- and F- series, and the unmistakable purple and white of the Atlantic Coast Line. The Southern engines are regularly used to run the passenger routes, along with several other diesels. Sadly, no steam is currently used.

Also inside the roundhouse are the museum workshops. At any given time there will be a dozen engines and cars in the shop being worked on. Easy access lets you watch the work happen.

While at the roundhouse, hop onto the turntable for a ride. It does cost an extra buck, but they give you quite a few spins.

Between the roundhouse and the station are long workshop buildings that house nice collections of automobiles, a few planes, and a gift shop. We ran out of time to see more than a glimpse of the main auto collection.

A major development is in the works as they convert the enormous backshop into a new display space. It looks good so far, but has a long way to go.

There is much more to see and experience. The entire collection of equipment is enormous: 13 pages long, in the latest list. Much of it is in fine cosmetic condition. There are many normal pieces — boxcars and the like — but there are also some unique items. One particularly fascinating example is a one-of-a-kind monster machine built by the Norfolk Southern to drive the tracks while scooping up ballast, cleaning it, and spreading it back out.

Across the street is a great model railroad shop and a small restaurant with good burgers, dogs, and ice cream.

Give it a try. This is a museum that won’t disappoint!