What do you do when there’s a federal election on, and you’re worried about the outcome? You entertain visitors from out of town – that’s what! The timing was perfect when Scott Thornton (one of the creators of the ProtoThrottle) emailed to say he and his wife Sharon would be in town, and asked if he could visit to see the layout. Of course!

Back when Scott and his friends started selling the ProtoThrottle, I polled a few friends about whether they were interested in one. I figured we could do a bulk order to save some hassle on shipping. Hunter Hughson and Ryan Mendell were both interested, so I ended up ordering three of them. And since I figured that a dinner was long overdue with Hunter and Ryan, I invited them and their better halves to join us too.

I gave Scott a quick tour of the layout – well, not that quick: I think we disappeared to the basement for the best part of an hour. Once everybody arrived at my place, eight of us walked up to Harvest Kitchen – a neighbourhood restaurant that specializes in locally-sourced food and general yumminess. We had a wonderful time.

I was reminded, again, that the true strength of the hobby is in the friendships it fosters. For me, that’s more important than the trains themselves. I’m really glad Scott got in touch.

And it was a great way to forget about the election for a few hours.

Santé!