Library Puzzlers
By Jan Athey, TCA Librarian Fall 2016
Here at the National Toy Train Library, we have several roles. Obviously, we collect and maintain a huge number of books, publications and ephemera about the history of the toy train hobby. And we keep the records of TCA as an organization. And we love having visitors, be they serious researchers or people just interested in what this hobby is all about.
Perhaps the most challenging role is in answering questions by members and others. They vary from “when was somethng built” to “I need to see a catalog showing the parts list for the XYZ locomotive.” Since this is our full-time job, and the Library has the unique benefit of its years of accumulating information, we are pretty successful in helping members deal with their hobby puzzles.
Ah — puzzles! Yes, that’s often what we work on! And once in a while we get a chance to throw some puzzles back at the membership! In recent months, we have shared several puzzles that we created with members through our “On the Track with TCA” emailings. Not only does this make for some challenges in creating them, but we hope it stimulates member recollections and interest.
For those who have not seen them, here are several from recent months, in PDF format. First, click the puzzle open, print it out, and try and solve it. Then, you can click open the solution farther down on this page.
The Puzzles:
