William H

Photos by Ed Beaver.

It has been a busy week since Christmas at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. Display continues Saturday, Dec. 29, 10 AM-3:45 PM, Sunday, Dec. 30, 11 AM-3:45 PM, and Monday, Dec. 31, 10 AM-3:45 PM but scenery removed starting at 3 PM. Come out and see the Trackers’ trains running through the large Christmas Tree.

An overview of the layout, trains, Trackers, and Air Force visitors who enjoyed running the trains. Also another look at the wonderful gift stamp collage presented to the Trackers by AFRH resident Mr. Van Hayes. Show was held April 12, 13, and 14. One Veteran put it best: “Thanks for making us feel like kids again.!”

An overview of the layout, trains, Trackers, and Air Force visitors who enjoyed running the trains. Also another look at the wonderful gift stamp collage presented to the Trackers by AFRH resident Mr. Van Hayes. Show was held April 12, 13, and 14. One Veteran put it best: “Thanks for making us feel like kids again.!”

The Trackers received a beautiful one-of-a-kind, framed collage of stamps depicting trains from around the world as a gift from an Armed Forces Retirement Home resident. The collage of over 100 stamps from Ghana, Jamaica, Liberia and Luxembourg and over a dozen other nations was given during our April show by Van Hayes, a resident at the Home who has loyally enjoyed the Tracker AFRH layout every year since its inception four years ago. After our April 2017 show, Hayes decided to cull his considerable stamp collection for those with images of every imaginable kind of locomotive to assemble the collage. He framed it, too. Trackmaster Bill Knapp is receiving the gift from Van Hayes. According to Constance Maziel, the senior recreation specialist at the AFRH, Hayes served in the Air Force. At about 80 years of age, he is one of the youngest of the 300 veterans who live at the Home, most of whom served in the Second World War. Despite his age, Hayes keeps a very active schedule – just like our octogenarian Trackers. In the week leading up to our 2018 show, he served on jury duty. He also is a caller at the Home’s Bingo games. — Phil Barbara

Trackers Ed Beaver, Dave Sealing, Bill Knapp, Ron Tucker, Mike Fistere, and Bill Hakkarinen brought a 12 x 16 foot layout to school to help teach about railroads in Baltimore. 375 students from grades pre-K to 5 visited. The older students got to run the trains using the Lion Chief control system. Operation Lifesaver also gave a presentation, by Matt Donnelly from Amtrak.