Lionel and chemistry

In Riverside I was given a gift that kept on giving pleasure. It was an 027 gage Lionel train and a few feet of track.

I could play with it for hours. One of my favorite activities was to put a pair of popsicle sticks on either side of a section of track (in the space between the floor boards) and join them with a large rubber band. Then I would place the engine alone on the track and run it into the rubber band at top speed. The engine would slam into the rubber band and bounce back several inches.

Over the years, Dad helped me build a layout on a 4x8 plywood sheet. I built a grade and a tunnel myself. I bought automotive choke cables to work the switches. It was to be an unfinished masterpiece, however. While I went to college then work then marriage and family, the train stayed tied to the ceiling in Dad's shop. Over the years and events, the train disappeared.

A closely related side note: a white powdery substance covered the rails of the engine at one point when I used the train during highschool. I asked Mr. Sather, my science teacher, how I could figure out what the powder was and he showed me how to test for aluminum oxide. The white powder was aluminum oxide.