Come and meet with Tom McComas of TM Books & Video along with other LCCA members. TM has been producing books and videos about toy trains for over 40 years. The last 30 have been out of three renovated barns in Michigan City, IN near the Michigan/Indiana border.
One barn features five layouts – Lionel prewar O gauge, the John Deere Country O gauge layout (where everything is mellow and even the cows are green and yellow), American Flyer S gauge, a 8X16-foot postwar layout, and a large Christmas layout filled with Dept. 56 buildings and O gauge trains.
Another barn contains a 20X74-foot Standard gauge layout featuring seven trains running on separate loops with an O gauge dog bone above. That’s on the second floor. On the first floor is a full-service hobby shop featuring an 8X16-foot FasTrack O gauge layout and four large rooms filled with trains for sale.
Joe Stachler and Bob Phillips, authors of TM’s new book, Modern O Gauge Remote Control – TMCC & LEGACY, will head a discussion group on Legacy. A question/answer session will follow.
But wait – there’s more. Bob is also an authority on the Civil War, and will give a talk on Lincoln’s assassination that will point out some surprising theories, including evidence that John Wilkes Booth was not killed right after he shot Lincoln, but rather he lived until 1903. Bob’s props include a full Northern Army colonel’s uniform, a officer’s sword, officer’s slouch hat, plus the Lionel O gauge version of Lincoln’s funeral train.
Lincoln’s funeral train stopped in Michigan City, and there is a plaque in front of City Hall describing the event.
TM is located exactly five miles west of the Hesston Steam Museum. Hesston features live steam train rides headed by a variety of steam engines, including a narrow-gauge Shay, a 14-inch gauge Hudson from Chicago’s Kiddieland, and a nice mix of steam and diesel engines on their one-foot gauge loop.
Hungry? After your ride on the Shay, visit Doc's Soda Fountain, a vintage 1930’s ice cream parlor. Tom will also have a hot dog wagon at TM selling famous Chicago-style hot dogs.
This is a great opportunity to personally meet with Tom McComas, who has had a profound influence on the hobby. His books exposed the hobby to thousands and his videos have exposed the hobby to millions. Tom has also been interviewed twice on the Tom Snyder Late Night Show and TM currently has a weekly show on the RFD cable network.
TM’s I love Toy Train series have sold millions of copies all around the world, and has captured the interest of people outside the hobby. TM has really done more than anyone in exposing our hobby to folks all over the country.
So if your interested in toy trains, meeting Tom Mc Comas, learning about Legacy, going for a ride through the woods on a narrow-gauge Shay, visiting a new hobby shop filled with toy trains for sale, learning stuff you never knew about Lincoln, and having a burger and real milk shake (made with ice cream – not air) in a vintage ice cream parlor, or enjoying Chicago-style hot dogs, stop by.
Let’s have some FUN!
Hesston opens at noon and trains run until 5.
TM festivities go from noon to 5.