Brian's 23rd Birthday Report

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday celebration. We decided to visit Cockeysville, Maryland to check out a well-known train store called M.B. Klein, Inc. (known as Model Train Stuff). While it used to be entirely a retail train store like all other dealers, it became one of the most popular online hobby shops since the advent of the Internet. In preparation for this one-hour trip from my home, I looked up some Google images of the retail store. However, we were told that Model Train Stuff downsized its retail space as well as the showroom layouts in favor of its expanding warehouse, due to higher customer demands on the World Wide Web. Fortunately, for patrons visiting the store, computers are provided to order trains that are in the warehouse rather than in store. Once an order is placed, a warehouse employee carries a product and emerges into the store for pickup by a waiting customer. Although it is a clever idea for Model Train Stuff, I personally chose to go old-school by purchasing something available conveniently in store. It was nevertheless fun to see some trains waiting for potential customers on the shelves. I also enjoyed talking with some good people in this special place, but the best part I've ever had was chatting with a real engineer working for CSX! We ended up buying a railroad guidebook about the history of intermodal trains.

After exiting Model Train Stuff, we wanted to visit Ellicott City, MD in an effort to find trains running by. We were originally advised to visit St. Denis as the nearest railroad hot spot, but I thought going to Ellicott City would be more feasible. Additionally, this town includes a small museum that is actually the oldest surviving train station in the United States. Unfortunately, the station does not open on Tuesdays, and my birthday was ironically on a Tuesday this year. Instead, we briefly explored Ellicott City just to see the sights of the station, as shown in three of my photos. There were no trains passing through this town during our visit, but it was a terrific place to be. I'm hoping to come back to the Ellicott City station in the near future. Overall, I had a modest but not a bad birthday this year, and I'm looking forward to explore through a more exotic location next year.