Public TV channel KCET in Los Angeles runs a series of programs by Huell Howser which consist of him going to interesting places in California, talking to people, explaining the history of the place, etc.
On one program the Sinatra family gave their permission for him to do a program on the Sinatra estate in Palm Springs, or thereabouts.
On the grounds was a guest house containing an elaborate model railroad setup.
I have trouble imagining Frank putting on his engineer’s cap to go and play with his trains.
Actually I am an admirer of Sinatra’s singing talents. From what I’ve read though, I understood that privately he was a “dese, dose and dem” guy from Jersey.
I guess it’s not unlikely that he pined for an electric train as a kid and when he could afford it, got one.
My dad is somewhat of a model train enthusiast. He’s also very blue collar. It’s a great hobby in that people of all socioeconomic groups can participate.
It does remind me, though, of Don Corleone lovingly tending his tomato plants.
Have a look at the Mad magazine parody My Fair Ad-Man from the April 1960 issue (#54). Caricaturist Mort Drucker drew Sinatra as abeatnik-type artist at an easel, complete with beret and goatee.
Maybe the train set was acquired for Frank Jr. when he was a kid, and by the time he’d outgrown it, Frank Sr. had come to appreciate its worth, and kept it maintained.
The one and only time I saw Frank Sinatra in person was when my brother and I went to the Dodgers’ home opener with the Giants, in Dodger Stadium, in 1977, the Dodgers’ twentieth season in Los Angeles. (Dodger Stadium did not open until the 1962 season.)
Sinatra had been booked to sing the national anthem for the game. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite pass muster. He couldn’t hit the high notes without his voice breaking up, and I heard people in the stands laughing at him. What a comedown for a singer who was so well known. Incidentally, he was about 60 then.)
Well, the song has a range that is beyond that of most singers. Frank also forgot the words on one baseball anthem occasion. Maybe it was the same one.