# A nice surprise under the Christmas tree.



## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Now that the dust has settled a bit from Christmas I have time to post on this.  My wife surprised me this year when she handed me my "big" present-- it was a big box.  The tag said "to my Husband, I hope you never grow up."   I was totally mystified so I tore off the paper, cut the tape on the box and opened it up to see a brand new Cricket Mk II in shiny black!  I had ordered one a while ago and my wife knew about it so she contacted Mike Krionderis at Westminster Locomotive Works.  He was on board for accelerating his usual timeline and there you have it.  I had a new steam engine waiting for me under the tree.
 
Well I don't really have to say how many big points my wife scored with this move.  I was totally surprised.  I had no clue what was in that big box until I opened it.  I haven't had time to fire it up yet, and I got rained out today, but I mounted the couplers and have gone over the owners manual.  Hopefully tomorrow I will fire her up!
 
I will report on my maiden run and hopefully post a few pics.
 
Regards,


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Eric M. on 27 Dec 2009 12:57 AM 
Now that the dust has settled a bit from Christmas I have time to post on this. My wife surprised me this year when she handed me my "big" present-- it was a big box. The tag said "to my Husband, I hope you never grow up." I was totally mystified so I tore off the paper, cut the tape on the box and opened it up to see a brand new Cricket Mk II in shiny black! I had ordered one a while ago and my wife knew about it so she contacted Mike Krionderis at Westminster Locomotive Works. He was on board for accelerating his usual timeline and there you have it. I had a new steam engine waiting for me under the tree.

Well I don't really have to say how many big points my wife scored with this move. I was totally surprised. I had no clue what was in that big box until I opened it. I haven't had time to fire it up yet, and I got rained out today, but I mounted the couplers and have gone over the owners manual. Hopefully tomorrow I will fire her up!

I will report on my maiden run and hopefully post a few pics.

Regards,


This post is useless without pictures!!!

We want vids!!!

Please.









tac & A The Lane County Boys
www.ovgrs.org


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)




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## Bruce (Jan 3, 2008)

Congrats on the new Cricket. I also have a MkII in black from the first batch. 
Just a little tip. Mine was very very tight when new. So tight I thought it had a problem, it wouldn't even run by itself. 
I ran it on blocks about 10 or 12 firings and it finally smoothed out. 

Now it runs like a champ and pulls a big load for such a little engine. It will run between 20 and 25 minutes. 
Have fun. 

Bruce


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

Hi Eric,
Two things come to mind.
Did your wife learn this skill somehow, perhaps from a book?
If so, could you advise which book I should buy my wife.
Failing that, does she have an unmarried sister!!!!!!??????
Enjoy yourself,
All the best,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Did your wife learn this skill somehow 
Wives are not clueless when it comes to gifts - they learn the give-and-take of wedded bliss very quickly. 

Mine expects a new piece of diamond jewelry every time a new steam engine turns up!


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## Jim Overland (Jan 3, 2008)

My wife is a weaver who has as many looms as I have locomotives. She also gets weaving magazines as I get train mags. 
It is nice that we both have the addiction 
jim


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## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

My wife has her addictions as well. And, in fact, she did get some nice jewelry this year. I still have to give her credit for tracking down Mike at Wesminster Locomotive Works. Crickets aren't exactly on the shelves of your average train shop. As requested-- pics:







My new cricket in shiny black livery.







Front view.







Mike installed brass wheels on my loco instead of the standard steel (to make the deadline)







A peek inside the cab. I have tried to fire it and I think Mike was in such a rush to make the Christmas deadline that something is out of wack. It seems to have a valve issue. Mike said he'd mail me a new piston valve because the one I have "may have been machined too long" None the less, it's a gorgeous little engine and I am confident I'll have it running in no time. Regards,


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Sweet! I can just see you now, chasing that thing around the track. Trying to get your head inside the cab to play engineer. Oh, the kid in all of us.

Thanks, Bob


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## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

My surprise arrived early, a few months ago. And, it was my Christmas gift to myself--Well, somebody had to.


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