Tim Treon's Trains: Atwood man's collection is child of old's dream

Every year at Christmas time, Tim Treon of Atwood, Kansas, collects trains and toys . One of Tim and his wife Diana's oldest toys is a Dayton hill climber. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

ATWOOD, Kansas -- When Tim and Diana Treon moved to Atwood, Kansas, 11 years ago, they brought with them at least 500 pieces of toy trains. "We've bought lots of toys since then," Diana says, with a laugh.

Tim now has an extensive collection of train sets, toy firetrucks, ride-on trucks, airplanes, wind-up circus toys, railroad lanterns, bells, horses and horse-drawn wagons, pedal cars ... the list goes on.

Tim collects Lionel, Wyandotte, Dayton, Buddy L, Structo, Smith-Miller, Keystone, Sturditoy, National, American Flyer ... the list goes on.

The hill-climber. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

Some pieces are extremely rare, some are hand-made and one-of-a-kind, others are part of limited sets.

The couple has some collectible boxes. "Some people in Lionel buy only the box," Diana says, amazed.

Some of the toys and trains are reproductions and painted bright-and-shiny. Others are old, with a scratch-and-dent, rubbed-paint patina created by all the kids who played with them. "Tim likes that kids have played with them, and that they show it," Diana said.

Tim Treon's train sets. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

Tim and Diana moved to Atwood 11 years ago from Versailles, Ohio, having come to visit John Mickey -- who served with Tim in the Navy in the 1960s -- and stayed.

At that time, they also were moving closer to their youngest daughter, in Castle Rock, Colorado.

"The neighbors are great," Diana says of Atwood.

Both Tim and Diana are retired -- Tim, from farming and demolition, Diana from a position with Clopay Manufacturing.