Today I begin my first blog. That's a funny name: Blog. But, I feel that if I don't start blogging I could be caught in a blog way behind the rest of the modern world.
The main subject of my blogs will be my train postcard collection. I am very proud of it. I contains some postcards that are over 100 years old (this is verified by the postmarks) and some that were recently printed. There are postcards of steam engines, diesels, electric trains and a few of which I am not sure.
I grew up in Arizona and southern California watching Santa Fe trains in Flagstaff, Southern Pacific trains in Phoenix and Union Pacific in Los Angeles. Today, I am living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - will have been for 25 years in July of this year. Therefore I watch Canadian Pacific and Canadian National trains.
I used to collect all sorts of train memorabilia, but decided that I would never have a "complete" collection of anything if I didn't specialize in some particular area. I chose train postcards because they take up very little room. I got my kick start in this collection during "Klondike Days" at Northlands here in Edmonton. Great Britian was the guest country and one of the booths had a rather large display of postcards with drawings of trains on the front. I made what I thought was a great deal with the vendor. I got over 50 postcards for a very good price. My official collecting days began.
Over the years I have made similar deals with other vendors. I remember a coin and stamp dealer in Calgary who told me take all the train postcards I wanted; I told him I couldn't afford them all right now. He said to go ahead and take them all and pay him by cheque each month until they were paid off. He didn't know me from Adam (except I was wearing clothes) and yet he trusted me to be true to the handshake deal. A few months later he was in Edmoton for a trade show and I handed him the last cheque in person, shook his hand, and told him how great it was to be trusted like that.
I had run out of face to face contacts with people selling postcards so I went on line - WOW! There are quite a few sites through which I can continue to enhance my collection. I will continue to do so.
My future blogs will be mostly about the postcards in my collection. Every once in a while I will share a memory that a particular postcard brings to mind. I might share how I came to own a postcard, I might talk about two or three that are similar.
I am looking forward to putting my thoughts out there in cyberspace for anyone to see, but, also for me to have a written record of my collection.
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If you know anything about the history of the cards, the trains or the locations, please add them.