Railroaded

Railroaded

He called himself curious. He had a vivid imagination, loved trains, wanted everything blue – turquoise if you could oblige him, had a loud laugh, had high energy, enjoyed his life, and had a crafty GiGi. He is a light in this world and his name is Trey. Trey was in the first grade and for a child who had issues with noise from infanthood up, he sure was noisy.

Day after day (after day), GiGi listened to Trey run dialogue on whatever film he had created and was running in his head. He used different voices and some of them had accents. It was really interesting to hear. GiGi realized Trey had a lot to say and she wanted to give him an outlet to get it out – and work on his handwriting and spelling at the same time. Trey was excited when GiGi decided to give him a journal and told him he could write whatever he wanted to write.

As stated earlier, GiGi tried to be a little crafty. She purchased a case of bound notebooks. From the case, she pulled out a small black notebook. She fired up her computer and her vinyl cutting machine and printed the following, in turquoise to oblige him, and placed the following on the book:

The Writings of Robert Lee Williams III

Volume I

Trey was also given two blue pencils. GiGi could not oblige Trey with two turquoise pencils, but he was satisfied with them being blue. He smiled. The smile reached his sparking eyes and GiGi’s heart. He was happy with his small black notebook with the turquoise words and the two blue pencils given to him on a love day usually reserved for wearing and displaying the color red. GiGi even made a pouch to carry the little black notebook and the pencils.

Trey wrote and drew in his small black notebook every chance he got and shared his work with his family. They would listen to his story and look at his drawings of all things trains. When he finished one notebook, GiGi would prepare another for him with his name and the next volume number.

Much too quickly, Trey outgrew the trains he played with as a little boy. His mother packed them and his small black books away as she could not bear to part with them. Trey started out playing with his cousin Tim’s trains (whose birthday he was born on) and throughout the years it seems like a million more trains were added to his collection. His mom wanted to save all things train for the time he may want them back. While Trey no longer played with his little boy trains, he did not outgrow his love for trains.

Fast forward a few years and Trey began to volunteer at the local train museum he visited frequently as a child. The people who worked there were model railroad enthusiast and welcomed him into the fold. They were happy to share their knowledge and Trey was happy to be the recipient of their time and talent in teaching him. The time came for Trey to go to off to college. While Trey could not volunteer on a consistent basis, he would try and stop by the museum while he was home for a visit and volunteered for a few hours as he could. Mr. Lionel, one of the gentlemen at the train museum, had no children and took Trey under his wings. He would invite Trey to go with him to model train conventions and they would work together in his man cave. The Train Cave took over the entire basement at his home. After Trey graduated from college, he moved back to his hometown to start his adult life. After about five years, Mr. Lionel told Trey he and the Mrs. were going to move and he was not able to take his train set up with him. Mr. Lionel wanted to make a deal with Trey. He offered to sell his home to Trey for fair market value and gift the train set up and most of the trains to Trey. After talking it over with his parents and doing due diligence in the purchase of a home, Trey agreed.

As Trey was moving in, his mom gave him his little boy trains and small black notebooks back to him. She also gave him some antique trains his dad found in a box on a curb. The people at the house had a yard sale after their grandparents passed away and everything that did not sell was placed on the curb and marked “Free.” Trey pulled out a couple of his old trains and small black notebooks and everyone had a good time reminiscing about Tim and Trey as little boys with their trains. Trey placed the container in a corner in the basement with the intentions of looking at the antique trains later.

Time marched on and Trey eventually married and had his own son, who is a light in this world. Trey and his wife talked about doing some work in the house to make it a better fit for the baby. They had someone come to the house and give an estimate. They needed $25,000. Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars. Where in the world would they get $25,000?

One day, Trey’s mom mentioned it was about time for his little boy to start playing with those trains he and Tim played with all those years ago. Trey had not looked at those trains in years. He had forgotten about the antique trains his dad had found. Trey and Mr. Lionel were still friends and they visited in The Train Cave. Trey wanted to show the trains his dad gave him to Mr. Lionel to see what he thought about them. Among the trains were a couple of trains still in their original boxes. The boxes were in good shape and it seems as though the trains had not been played with or they had not been played with much. Mr. Lionel had a friend who was a reputable model train appraiser and he suggested they go to her.

Mrs. Blackleaf appraised the entire lot of antique trains for $5,500 and knew someone who might be interested in purchasing the trains. That was a surprise as Trey thought they would go for a lot less. Trey agreed and Mrs. Black made the arrangements. Trey took the money gained from the sale, minus Mrs. Blackleaf’s fee, and set it aside. Mr. Lionel spoke with Trey and suggested he sell some of the trains he left him in The Train Cave in order to make things more comfortable for his family. Trey didn’t want to, but he could see the value in what Mr. Lionel was saying. A couple of weeks later, Mrs. Blackleaf contacted Trey to see if he had any other trains for sale. The gentleman who purchased his previous trains was looking for some others to buy. Trey said he did have some other trains. Mrs. Blackleaf set an appointment to visit Trey’s Train Cave to see what he had.

She seemed very excited about what she saw. She appraised the trains at $20,000. She created an inventory and took pictures for the potential buyer. After presenting the inventory and appraisal to the buyer, he not only paid full asking price, but paid Mrs. Blackleaf’s fee as a finder’s fee because those were exactly the trains he had been looking for.

Not only were they able to get the work done on the house, they were able to get a little extra done.

Three years later, Mr. Lionel passed away. Trey was so sad to lose such a great friend. Mrs. Lionel called Trey over to her home to pick up something Mr. Lionel left for him. As they visited over refreshments, Mrs. Lionel thanked Trey for being a true friend to Mr. Lionel. Mr. Lionel looked to Trey as the son he never had and appreciated the time they spent together. Mrs. Lionel asked Trey to follow her to the garage. There in the corner were twos large plastic containers with Trey’s name on it. Trey opened the containers and was shocked to see all of Mr. Lionel’s old trains in there, including the ones he took with him at the sale of the house. He also saw the trains his dad picked up free from the yard sale. Mrs. Lionel then handed Trey a letter from Mr. Lionel.

Dear Trey,

First, I want to thank you for being a true friend to me. You could not possibly know the amount of joy it gave me to watch you grow up to be the fine young man you are and to see you with your own son. I thank you and your family for allowing me into your lives.

Enclosed you will find all of the trains from The Train Cave and the trains your dad found for you. I wanted you to be able to make your home more comfortable for your family and I knew you would not accept an outright gift from me. Mrs. Blackleaf, the appraiser, is my cousin who played along with me to get your trains sold……to me.

Please enjoy the trains and do not try and return the money to Mrs. Lionel. It was her idea and she received great joy doing this for you all. Someone was a blessing to us early in our marriage and people helped all throughout. We are using this way to pay it forward. You will do the same some day.

Enclosed you will find the business card for Bonded Appraisals. I had the trains appraised and the value at the time was $125,000. Since then, the value of the trains have appreciated. Contact the company if you ever want to sell any or all of the trains.

May God continue to bless you and your family.

Your friend,

Mr. Lionel.

Trey re-read the letter in disbelief.

He turned to Mrs. Lionel and told her he could not accept such a gift. It was just too much. Mrs. Lionel stopped him. She told him it was an honor to be able to help them and she loves how her old home is still full of love and life. Trey hugged Mrs. Lionel. He loaded his vehicle with the containers of trains and waved to Mrs. Lionel as he backed out the drive. On the way home to share the news with his wife and to play with the trains with his son, Trey stopped at a store to pick up some small black books and some new pencils so his son could create his own stories. By the way, the store carried turquoise pencils and Trey was able to oblige his son.