RA was, for me, a giant living piece of American folk art. It was a snapshot of one man's hand-built take on life in Central Pennsylvania, an era of small towns, big cities, and the country at its industrial peak. I guess all of our layouts are a bit like that. His family, its caretaker, likely had expanded it far beyond what he had ever envisioned. It, like the Choo-Choo Barn in Strasburg, was/is epic in its size and grandeur. It looked tired that day, however; half the trains weren't running, nor were quite a few of the animations. Kate Smith still belted out God Bless America, though, in a crackling, well-worn recording.
I came away that day with a fist full of postcards and a small magnet to remember I'd been there. The magnet's been stuck on the front of our refrigerator ever since:
I haven't read what will happen to it, but I suspect it will be carved up and bits auctioned along with all the other fixtures of the place. Twenty years from now, few will remember it. Time marches on.
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