Meet Engineer Bob
Owner of Sinterklaas Station
I'm going to tell you how we got our website name. I hope you enjoy my story. I have wonderful childhood memories of Christmas. The week before Christmas Eve, my dad and I would start the usually brisk New York day hunting for a full and robust fir tree that could be emblazoned with bright colored lights, beautiful ornaments, and dazzling strings of tinsel icicles. During the "hunt," we would stop for a mid-morning cup of hot chocolate topped with marshmellows and whipped cream at a local lunchenette. If it took us beyond noontime to find the perfect tree, another stop for a hearty lunch was in order.
That very evening, dad would set the tree in its base and meticulously adjust it until it was vertically strait in all directions 360° around the center of its trunk. Then we would all decorate the tree while snacking on finger foods and sipping Cola-Cola.
My favorite part of Christmas Eve was when mom sat me and my sister down in front of the lighted tinsel-glistening shrine and read the classic holiday story 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (see photo inset of book cover in the right sidebar panel) while dad roasted marshmellows on a skewer over a fire in the hearth. It was a wonderful book with a magical story that my sister and I treasured and loved for many years during our childhood.
My very first train consisted of an American Flyer steam locomotive and four freight cars that my dad purchased for Christmas when I was twelve years old. I have been model railroading ever since. The 1958 catalog page from which my dad ordered my train set is shown below. The complete set sold for $33.00. The average hourly wage in 1958 was $1.98; the minimum hourly wage was $1.00 or $40 per 40-hour work week.
I often reminisced about my American Flyer train set and that story that was written 200 years ago (1823); I wondered if there ever really was a Santa Claus. I did my homework and, much to my amazement, that's when I discovered Sinterklaas (other variations on the name are Sinterklaos, De Sint, and St. Nicholas). After reading about this very real and unselfish child-loving philanthropist, I knew what I would some day open my own model railroading hobby store and name it: Sinterklaas Station
Read more of our interesting and entertaining Christmas stories about the real Sinterklaas, the Gnome Conundrum (conundrum means mystery), and the New York Sun Editorial, and learn more about Santa Claus by clicking on the gold links located in the right sidebar panel.
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