Shopping at the Whistle Stop Train Store as a Kid

I loved going to The Whistle Stop Train Store as a kid.  Wandering the isles looking for blue-box box cars always made my imagination go wild.  I opened one box after another.  If I had seen the box car in real life, the model always seemed a bit more special.
A daring part of me would build up and, every ten minutes or so, wander over to the next isle- powered engines.  I hardly dared open those boxes.  It was not worth falling in love with the shiny, new locomotives.  My heart would just have to have one.
But powered engines, come on.  That took a lot of guts to ask mom if I could get a powered engine.  Maybe a box car or two.  But powered engines only came with report cards or violin recitals, they didn't come because I just wanted one.  Best not fall in love with a powered engine.  At least not today.