Chris the Tank Engine

[Rusty]

Last month I was asking a lotta Qs and getting a lotta help; a common comment was, "show us the finished product". Well, it's not really that special from a PSE point of view but it was very important to a little boy :)

If you have regular contact with a 2-year old you know what a big deal "Thomas the Tank Engine" is. You will also know that these smart marketerers (is that a word? - probably misspelled) have a huge number of individual engines to buy; each named and each with a 'character card'.

The trip I just took was to go and see my youngest grandchild so I decided he needed a "Christopher Engine" (I made 2: one 'big' one and one scaled to fit on the 'official Thomas tracks') complete with character card. The Thomas Engines all have a face on the front so, of course, I put a face on his ;)

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1etMFmk9BtyFlclYdu6yah4qCPr7EJ_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1etMFmk9BtyFlclYdu6yah4qCPr7EJ)

Grampa earned some points!!

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1nCajDRviHKjXgnnXU524XLa7aDbKL1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1nCajDRviHKjXgnnXU524XLa7aDbKL1)

Rusty

[AngelicKim]

Rusty, that is a great page for your Grandson to always have to remember the great trains you made for him. You did an awesome job on the page and the trains themselves. You probably scored alot of big hugs for those.

[lindajay]

Rusty, isn't this "grandparenting" just the most fun thing ever?!!! Nice work on the trains, and good job grandpa-ing.;)

[Wendy]

Rusty ...

You did a great job with that ... very nice work indeed :)

... I love the montage of photos !!

Wendy

[kevq]

Rusty,
great job on both.
Not far from where we live there is Steam Railway called the Watercress Line. Every year they have a Thomas day, all the steam trains are decorated to look like the trains from the series. You wouldn't believe the numbers of children (of all ages) who attend.
Kev.:D

[Robyn]

Rusty.....

Fantastic work all round. Your grandchildren are VERY lucky to have you as their Grandpa!

[Llist]

Rusty

That is great!! My son is also a Thomas fanatic!!! I don't think we can get through an entire day without watching one of his dvds or playing with his track!!

Laura

[efarnstrom]

This is just too cute!! Our almost 2-yr-old grandson is enamored with the Thomas sets. We babysit for his parents two days a week. Believe me, the TV has to be on in one room playing a Thomas video, and Owen is in the other room with his track layout.

My husband and I wake up in the night with Thomas songs going through our heads! We only have 4 videos, so they are repeated over and over. I think Owen is going to get more videos for Christmas and his upcoming 2nd birthday, just to keep our sanity.

My husband won't thank me, but I'm going to show him your handiwork...after all he needs to put some of his woodworking tools to good use, doesn't he?

[Llist]

Es

I know what you mean with the songs. My son makes me dance and clap along with him... its fun though spending the time with him..

Rusty

Once again, great job!

Laura

[Rusty]

Thank you all for such kind comments

Es - tell your husband it's easy unless you try to make one to the scale that fits the tracks - in that case it's almost impossible to find and buy wheels small enough. I ended up paying a ridiculous price at a hobby shop catering to model automobile makers. Make a 'big' one - the kid is just as happy :)

Get the wheels first, then size everything else to that - because it's 'big' you can make it any size you want to.

I sure know what you mean - we went thru several videos also. I'm sure you have books as well - here's Gramma reading "Down At The Docks" to Christopher. He's obviously really into the story :)

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/18Yf1G9OHhl2agUwKueZCtDRqkp71_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=18Yf1G9OHhl2agUwKueZCtDRqkp71)

Rusty

[efarnstrom]

Rusty, thanks for the hints. We have the smaller scale metal set, while the parents have the larger wooden one. Right now Grandpa is making a toy chest for Christmas which he plans to paint blue with a No.1 on the side. He gets patterns from www.meiselwoodhobby.com, and I notice they have wheels, too.

I was looking at one of the train catalogs, and it is amazing what they have come up with...also a price to match! Fortunately, we can find the videos at Costco, and they usually have a train engine with a double set. He also loves to read the books...well he loves anything about Thomas.

[efarnstrom]

Just think of the exercise. Dancing and clapping hands, walking backward saying 'beep, beep'...I love it all.

I usually get the duty to quietly sit on the floor beside Owen and watch him play. He is just now letting me play a little bit. Maybe soon we can actually play together! It is interesting to see the stages these little guys go through!

[Rusty]

Es,
Meisel is very good; I have bought from them in the past. Rockler (www.rockler.com) is also good: they also have retail stores and that's where I bought the wooden wheels for my 'big Christopher engine'.

Gee, I wonder if I'm going to be accused of hijacking my own thread to talk about woodworking instead of Elements? :)

Back to the original subject... the folks on this Forum gave me the usual great level of help when I was asking all of my questions related to creating the 'character card' and the 'white picture' used for the front of one of the engines I built.

Those of you that are 'Thomas Purists' will no doubt fault me for putting a color image on the 'big engine'. I was overruled by the boss - she said, "Oh, he's too pretty for that dumb old black and white picture" (I sneaked a B&W image in on the little engine :) )

Rusty