― Herman Melville, Moby Dick
Since as long as I can remember, there has been a Marklin 1-scale model that has eluded me. Sure, I have seen it on occasion on eBay, but I have always been outbid, or the price was simply too high for me to be able to pay. But I have always been on the lookout for this elusive boxcar, and like Captain Ahab's obsession with Moby Dick, I have chased it across oceans. I'm happy to report that, finally, after ten years of searching, bidding, hoping and disappointment, the coveted 'Milka' boxcar is mine.
The Milka boxcar was only produced in 1989, and as a limited production model. A good friend of mine in England who regularly attends the 'Wormser Spielzeugauktion' noticed this boxcar, along with two others, in untouched condition in the auction listings in July. Since he was attending the auction already, I asked him to enter a bid on my behalf. Sure enough, I won the lot.
Now, perched on the freight siding in the Hoechst station on Carstenbahn One, I finally have my Milka boxcar.
Is that it? Is my car barn complete? Can I now be satisfied with my collection of some twenty unique boxcars? Oh, if only it were so. For as Herman Melville puts it:
“As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.”
- Carsten
