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Norm Marshall Wooden Toy Pull Trains On My Patio Workbench

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
In the mid-80s, I was stationed at Tyndall AFB. My workshop was on the patio on the back of our home. I would drag my Shopsmith out onto the patio, run a power cord out the window. My workbench was some rickety sawhorses with a few 2x4s laid across them. For an assembly table, I sometimes used the trampoline we had for the kids. Not the best work table, but it was huge, and if it rained, I didn't need to put it away.

As the crow flies, we lived less than a mile from the Gulf of Mexico. Even during a drought, convection storms were coming in off the gulf. The rain was a constant threat, so I tried not to get too much stuff outside. I usually got plenty of warning, so I seldom got wet. The sun was another issue. Let a cast iron table sit for long in the Florida sun and touch it with your bare hand, and you will be sorry. The Shopsmith aluminum tables didn't get that hot.

I made a lot of little projects in this makeshift shop and a few large ones. The pull trains in the banner were one of the projects. My daughters each got one, and the rest were given away as gifts. When I set up the Odin's Toy Factory Etsy store, I needed a banner. It had to be wooden toy-related and something that would fit well in the banner space. I drug out every photo I could find of toys I had, hoping I would find something that would work. When I found the trains, I knew that was it.