I'd like to relate a most pleasant surprise that I experienced this afternoon, relating to this thread.
Shortly past noon a FedEx man came to my door carrying a rather large, thin, box measuring about 14x20x3 inches. Although I'm currently awaiting the arrival for several small HO layout items acquired from eBay, the appearance of this large box puzzled me no end. At first glancing at the label I didn't immediately recognize the sender, but I was just about to leave the house so I simply put the parcel aside.
Upon returning home and beginning to open the box I realized it was heavier than any of my current mail-orders could possibly be. Once opened, the thing that I took notice of first was a cylindrical mailing tube within. Opening this revealed a beautifully rendered image of several New Haven diesels, one of which was seen in x-ray fashion. This puzzled me even further, as I could not recall having ordered anything like that recently. Only then did I notice that pressed against one inside wall of the shipping box there was something further. It resembled a bubble-wrapped piece of cardboard with the same large dimensions as the box. Was it some manner of spacer? Only when I started to remove it did it reveal itself to the source of the box's real weight. Turning the item over as I unwrapped it to see its face I was stunned to find that it was the metal NYW&B Centennial Commemorative sign by Beyond Real that I had ordered nearly two years ago at the NYW&B Centennial Celebration which I'm sure others of you also attended in New Rochelle!
The sign, itself is a truly striking and beautiful piece of artwork, rendered in an early 20th century style. It' wording commemorates the railroad's 100th anniversary together with depicting the image of a goddess holding one of the railroad's insulators aloft and two of the NYW&B passenger cars toward the sign's bottom. I'm sure others of you reading this placed orders for this same item at the time of the meeting. If you haven't yet paid Chris for yours beyond a deposit, by all means do so at this time as the sign is worth every penny, and more. It also may be possible that Chris has some extras from the run that still might be available if you wish to enquire. I believe that his website is cited either much earlier in this thread, or in the original meeting notice, which is also likely to be found here somewhere. Failing that, I'm taking the liberty to note his e-mail address below:
http://WWW.beyond-real.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I'll be going to my layout room to hang my sign on the wall!
CNJ999