I went to the West Nyack Elementary School from five to eleven. In the Spring, sometime in May usually the School had a fair for the kids on a Saturday. This one Year, I guess it was 1967, I rode my bike up to the school. It was a big deal to ride my bike there because my Dad would never let any of us ride our bikes to school. He'd seem too many kids pull too many stupid stunts on bikes while he delivered milk.
When I got to the school I went in the front door and went to the left to the cafeteria/ auditorium where the fair started. The Fair also ran outside along the side of the building where the Teachers would park down toward the back of the school where a basketball court was and other things to keep the kids busy.
I walked around the fair seeing the same old booths. The ever popular Booth to win a goldfish by getting a ping pong ball in a cup. At one booth, a thoughtful Parent had donated some train cars. I remember two cars there clearly only. One was a bunch of missiles on a train car and the other was a bumper type engine on another. I looked them over. The bumper type engine on a flatbed car was the type of engine that would go in one direction and when it hit your hand or other obstacle with it's bumper would go in the opposite direction until it hit another. Next to it was a train car with missiles on it. I loved both, but I thought I might get in trouble for spending all my money on these two items. I thought about both. What if the engine didn't work. If I bought the missile car I'd just lose the missiles, which should I take? I finally decided on the bumper car engine. I paid for it and bought it home. I put on my album, The Beatles, 'Something New' and set up the train tracks. I didn't really think the train would work, I mean it came on a flatbed train car and the reason it was given to be sold is it didn't work. To my surprise it worked. I played with it for a while and then decide to return to the fair for the missiles, but they were gone. The Train is still with the set and as of this time Eric has it or maybe he has passed it down to one of his kids. Maybe the Train still works to this day.
