Two kindred spirits, seperated by seventy years.

The Great Train Show - Fairplex in Pomona

August 3, 2018

I’d like to tell you that Animated Meat has always been a staunch supporter of asking the tough questions in the noble pursuit of the truth. However, I’d be lying to you if I did. Friends and readers, asking tough questions requires follow through. Follow through can be exhausting and there is no guarantee that the noble pursuit of the truth will ever yield anything. Take this situation for example. My son Jacque has been in love with trains since before he could walk. He has been pointing at iron horses as long as I can remember.

As he has grown, his level of fascination has intensified. I have had no choice but to take him out to see every train themed attraction I have been able to find. On our journey, I noticed that he wasn’t the only little critter out there with a burning passion for trains. In fact, it turns out that there are two distinct demographic groups that like to cluster up around locomotives and diesels. This observation has lead me to the tough question I been following through on for the last two years. Why do little boys and old men love trains so much?

My quest for an answer brought be to the Great Train Show at the Fairplex in Pomona. The Great Train Show is a traveling exhibit where people can buy and sell model trains. Up for grabs at the show are trains in all gauges and states of repair. The vendors carried everything from brand-new, in the box trains all the way down to some pieces that can best be described as intensely well loved. While I cannot claim to be an expert because I only picked up a few items, it seems as though haggling over prices is very welcome.

Trains and commerce as far as the eye can see.

In addition, local clubs are welcome to come out and display their train sets. The displays that they bring out are remarkable. I’m not talking about an old Tyco sitting on top of a sheet of plywood and a couple saw horses. These displays are massive and cover huge expanses of real estate. I have only begun to dip my toe into acquiring model trains. It is staggering to consider the dollars and time invested to create these model railroads. Yet, around each one of the displays were squadrons of little boys and old men, buzzing around like bees.

The Great Train show is an annual event and Jacque and I have attended it at different locations. However, one reason why the Pomona Fairgrounds is a good place to take the train lover in your life is because it is home base for two other train exhibits.

Waiting for that noon time train to appear.

Directly in front of the bungalow the Great Train Show calls home for one weekend in July sits the Fairplex Garden Railroad. Supported by your generous donations, the Fairplex Garden Railroad is a volunteer-maintained G-scale train display. It has over 10,000 feet of track and multiple trains criss-crossing through several different displays.

This is what 10,000 feet of track look like.

If a visit to the Great Train Show and a pass through the Fairplex Garden Railroad isn’t enough to satisfy the train lover in your life, the Rail Giants Train Museum is just a short walk away. The museum is home to a collection of restored, full-size steam locomotives and diesels. Most of the trains are open so that a curious explorer can climb aboard and see what it was like to be an engineer.

As I bring this entry to a close, I can provide plenty of evidence to support my question. However, I do not think that I am any better informed as to why old men and little boys like trains so much. Like I said before, asking tough questions requires follow through. Dear reader, I can assure you that there will be plenty of follow through as Jacque and I drop pins in the map as we attempt to find an answer.

This entry was written after a visit to the Great Train Show on July 14, 2018

How about some more trains? When in Los Angeles, pay a visit to Angel’s Flight. In Sacramento, stop by the California State Railroad Museum.

Knott's Berry Farm - Buena Park, California

July 23, 2018

For a long time, Knott’s Berry Farm was popular for the wrong reasons. They weren’t noteworthy for being the first amusement park in America, as they should be. Unfortunately, they had a reputation for being the cheap park with rollercoasters that happened to stand in the shadow of Disneyland. It felt like they were catering to teenagers and begrudgingly set aside a little of the park for families. However, it is evident that they have spent a lot of time cleaning up the park and investing time in their staff. The recent incarnation of Walter Knott’s roadside attraction on Beach Boulevard is a welcome one and a noticeable change from how it was operating a few years ago.

Jacque taking a spin on the Huff Puff ride.

Since Animated Meat packed up its global headquarters and moved to Orange County, I’ve made a few visits to Knott’s Berry Farm. Up until recently, it hurt to go there. There was so much potential for the place but it consistently fell short of the mark. The crowds were massive and the park seemed to be incredibly understaffed. It looked beat up and tired. It just didn’t feel like anyone cared about the guests’ experience. While the price of admission was cheaper than one to Disneyland, that was really the best they had to offer. I remember a time a few Decembers back when I looked at a cutout of Snoopy and thought, “Come on, man. You and Charlie Brown are better that this”. I swore the park off and It wasn’t until I was given a free ticket this spring that I even bothered to return. I’m really glad that I did.

This image was taken by a park employee. He saw the two of us trying to take an awkward selfie and volunteered to commemorate Matilda's first ride on Ghost Rider.

The change is noticeable in the air at Knott’s. It’s an undeniable vitality that seems to have corresponded with the park’s seventy-fifth anniversary. It’s almost like that scene in A Charlie Brown Christmas when the Peanuts gang spends a little time and effort in dressing up Charlie’s tree after realizing it wasn’t so bad in the first place. Someone has decided to give the park the love that it deserves. That amounts to a superior visit for the guest and in my case, a better chance that I will return.

As the park opens, those who inhabit Ghost Town go to work.

There are flowers here. There doesn't have to be, but someone took the time to make it so.

The staff really makes an effort to make each guest feel welcome. This comes in the form of costumed actors who tell an ongoing story in Ghost Town, to a friendly clerk in a gift shop, to a ride operator who takes the time to offer to take a photo for this author and his daughter after her first ride on Ghost Rider. In a very Disneyland way, management is visible, each armed with a trash pick up tool. I am happy to report that the park is a clean and amicable place to go.

The first amusement park in America is finally getting the treatment it deserves. Gone are the days of the five cent disturbance because they aren’t just catering to teenagers anymore. It really feels like someone cares about the place and wants the people who walk through the gates to have the best possible experience. There is a mix of rides for the little ones over in Camp Snoopy, thrill rides for the older folks, and some places to explore in Ghost Town that add a little magic to the visit. It all adds up to a move that takes that grand old park in the right direction.

This was written based up visits on March 10th, July 3rd, and July 13th, 2018.

Knott’s Berry Farm

8039 Beach Blvd.

Buena Park, CA 90620

714 220-5200

Looking for something a little smaller in Orange County? Take a look at Bunnyhenge or M and M Nursery.

Good job, Snoopy. This place is deserving of the Charles Schultz legacy.

Unassuming to say the least. However, inside is a realm of pure imagination.

M and M Nursery - Orange, California

July 4, 2018

When the archaeologists sort through the American empire, my bet will that none of them will think that our civilization put any value on novelty. They may piece together the Home Depots and Lowes that will litter the far expanses of our domain and will conclude that we, the people of the early twenty-first century worshiped the powerful gods of automation and convenience above all else. Home Depot is a cathedral built to exalt automation and convenience. Need some succulents? Don’t worry about thinking. The well-managed superstore overlords have been studying the data and they have considered everything. The garden center is laid out exactly as it should be. Get those succulents and be home before you even realize you left.

M and M Nursery, on the other hand, will confound those same archaeologists. While the remnants of the super stores will only build their grand unifying theories of our predisposition for saving time, this little family own business will throw a monkey wrench of made beautiful novelty into their discussions. M and M Nursery is the antithesis to Home Depot. Instead of being grabbed tight, pulled in, and spit out, this nursery opens its arms, welcomes you in, and makes time stop.

There's a fairy garden nestled in that little read wagon.

My objective was to stop and pick up some plants However, what I found was a wonderful shop devoted almost entirely to fairy gardens. There wasn’t just one or two, or even a table full. There were row after row of them in every imaginable fashion. Fairy gardens for the sun, fairy gardens for the shade. Small fairy gardens. Big fairy gardens. Fairy gardens that incorporated water. Fair gardens that made use of old red wagons. Fairy gardens followed by intoxicating fairy gardens.

At M and M, even a cracked pot has value.

I wanted to move quickly like I would in a Home Depot, but I couldn’t. Novelty sang out to me with her quiet but captivating voice. She forced me to stop and look around. I forgot about my responsibilities and my checklist. A half hour slipped by unnoticed. I found my way through the displays of the fairy gardens into a small building where they actually sell everything that a person would need to build one of these little marvels. I spoke with Beverly Turner who was as warm and welcoming as a person who has built a career around fairy gardens should be. Not only has she literally written the book on fairy gardens, but she also teaches classes on them and thankfully has posted her videos here.

M and M Nursery is a wonderful place that will confuse archaeologists and will spark debates among the academics in the millenia to come. Should this document survive to that era, I would like to communicate to them that the spirit of novelty is a powerful one. She took hold of me at M and M Nursery and has not let go yet. As I sit and commit my experience to the Internet, know that I can’t help but think that I’ll return there one day and will begin to build my own fairy garden. It will be a fairy garden that will celebrate novelty and will stand in open defiance to automation and convenience.