I am 67. I got a degree at the Maryland Institute in Interior design but got into renovation while in college and as I was about to graduate started asking “what am I really going to do for a living”. Landlord at the time who I had given free labor to (was bored alot) said “have I got a deal for you” and sold me three shells of apartment buildings on the fringes of a good neighborhood along with a job. Retied first time at 29, then got married and had kids and there went retirement. Retired second time at 52.
maybe people should update their profiles
I am 16, will turn seventeen in November. I will graduate high school in 2022.
I joined last year, however I had been reading the forums many years before the point.
I started off with HO scale and I am still with it to this day. Initially I was interested in only North American railways but my tastes have shifted overseas to China two years ago. I was fortunate enough to travel with my family every three years to China to visit our extended family and purchase a item from the Bachmann Shanghai shop every trip before it’s closure.
My home layout is a 4x8 built on a foam core base with plywood reinforcement, started in 2012 and construction is still ongoing, albiet slowly.
Well, I just turned 70.
I was born, raised and lived in Maryland until I joined the US NAVY in 1969.
During my 6 years in the NAVY I found and met my wife of 46 years. She passed away almost 3 years ago.
I worked for an airline which changed names 3 times from 1978-2013 as an Aircraft Inspector. Worked on some great aircraft and also Airbusses!
That unfortunately had me stuck in Scum City (Houston, TX) for 35 years. I loved Texas but hated Scum City.
Retired in 2013 and moved to the NW Arkansas area in the mountains.
I started out with American Flyer as a child changing to HO about 1960. Around 1977 I changed to HOn3, then HO again moving into Sn3 then S standard gauge. In 1996 I again changed to HO and have been there since that time.
I model the Western Maryland Ry in 1954 by proto freelancing.
I started custom painting in 1973 having been inspired and taught the art by Joe Luber of Pro Custom Hobbies. It’s my favorite aspect to this hobby.
Currently working on the layout in a custom built 14x16 building.
oldline1
I’ve tried, but can’t get rid of the wrinkles on what used to be my “good side”.
Wayne
I joined this and the Bachmann forum in 2008?
I am 63, born, raised and still live in Maryland. I did spend one year in my teens living in Huntington Station, on Long Island.
Originally from the area south of Baltimore, I now live northeast of Baltimore in Havre de Grace, where the mighty Susquehanna River joins the Chesapeake Bay.
I am married to my wonderful wife Donna for 26 years now. Before that I was married to my first wife for 17 years. I have three children from my first marrage, and Donna has three children from her first marrage. And 10 grandchildren in all…
Yes, I married young the first time…it did last 17 years…
High School education with some college level study, mainly in Architecture and Historic Presevation.
Originally trained and started out as a draftsman, I have worked both in the field and as a project manager/designer in many trades, electrical, plumbing, industrial refrigeration, carpentry, architecture and HVAC.
I have also sold MATCO TOOLS, been a shop foreman in a BMW store, and wrote service for several brands of new car dealerships.
Today, and for the last 20 years, I have been self employed as a historic restoration consultant, residential designer, and master restoration carpenter.
I began model railroading at age 10. My father was a “holiday modeler” setting up a large Christmas layout every year when I was young.
When I was 10, we moved into a house with a basement. My father set up the trains, building a nice “L” shaped layout with the two 5x9 platforms he had used for years in the living room for the holidays.
This time with elevated track, hidden staging, semi-automatic block control and more.
He quickly turned over creative control to me.
At age 13 I was working in the local hobby shop, at age 15 I was accepted into membership at the Severna Park Model Railroad Club, and at 19 I was managing the train department of a another
I’ve only recently gotten involved with The World’s Greatest Hobby.
I was born in Florida, and for 35 years I lived three blocks from the ocean. Got tired of the heat, the bugs, and the tourists, so I moved north (Atlanta) to work on some very large high-profile multi- multi-million dollar engineering projects.
Got tired of the heat, the bugs, and the traffic, so I chucked it all and moved to a small little farm two miles outside a dinky little town in the mountains of west Virginia (west Virginia, not West Virginia).
Ten years ago, the economy changed and circumstances beyond my control required that I relocate. I now find myself living and working in an even dinkier little town in the high desert of Wyoming. And I build small little tiny structures.
Not yet retired, but starting to think about it.
Robert
Hello, hello —
<<< Joined the Forum in August 2003
<<< Looks like I have 10.3 k posts [:-^]
I’ll be cresting the big sixty-four here in a few weeks. Been railroadin’ one way or another since I could walk.
Here I am with dad holding me on the C&O 2707 when it was placed on display in Cleveland back in 1957:
April_RR_C&O2707 by Edmund, on Flickr
Then a year or two later on the East Broad Top, riding the private car Orbisonia, of course:
EJT_EBT_20_edited-1 by Edmund, on Flickr
We even tip-toed into Canada a few times for some of the great C-N fan trips through the '60s:
6218_Chatham-cab by Edmund, on Flickr
Looks like I’m giving the Churchill Victory wave there.
Dad built a 4 x 8 layout in the basement for “us” but it wasn’t long before I pretty much took control, with his help:
First_HO-1962 by Edmund, on Flickr
Dad’s father and his three brothers all worked for the Boston & Albany their entire careers other than a little stint in Europe in the early 1940s. I applied at one railroad, the Erie Lackawanna here
The earliest post I can find is 2001. I’ve been here longer than that.
I’m 80 and have been modeling on and off since I was 6.
Modeling this time since 1983.
At home, I model in HO Scale.
Retired at 63.
Live in Anderson IN
Have been a member of the Madison County Historical Society for the past 16 years.
Came into the society to put on a model train exhibit and am still there with a much larger 3 room exhibit. At the society, I model On30, O scale traction, S gauge, HO, HO Circus Train exhibit, N scale and O gauge (Lionel)
Have a layout at home since 1983 when I closed the hobby shop that I owned.
Am a member of the New York Central System Historical society for umteen years.
My Web site just turned 25. That’s a lot of years and information for railroads running through Anderson (and Traction, too)
Been married over 50 years. The wife tolerates the trains. Is the recording secretary at the Historical Society.
Thoroughly enjoy Jerrell’s Show Me Something. contribute occasionally.
That’s enough!
I live in Northeast Ohio.
I’m 73 gaining on 74.
Joyce and I celebrated our 52nd anniversary this past June.
I retired from the Coast Guard in 1995, a LCDR, Naval Engineer, after 30-years.
I finished my BA, Business Administration from Columbia College and then a Masters in American History at Cleveland State. Worked at the Cleveland Police Museum for 10 years, starting as collection manager and ending a Curator of the museum.
Started my HO-scale BRVRR in 2003 and joined the forum in 2004. The original 4x4 layout in the utility room has expanded to the current 4x10 BRVRR in a spare bedroom.
My oldest grandson was fascinated with trains, particularly steam engines and Santa Fe Warbonnet diesels. His little brother, now 14, is still fascinated with trains, steam engines again. The first locomotive was a SF F7. I model the NYC and Santa Fe because I liked their liveries. We’ve added Pennsy and UP plus a few others that have fascinating steamers.
Its a rare week that goes by we don’t go train watching at Olive Street in Elyria, Berea or other hot spots in northeast Ohio.
In addition to trains, I read a lot, maintain a website which will turn 16 next month, have mild interest in computers and digital photography.
I try to contribute to WPF weekly and to ‘Show Me Something’ as often as I can find time to do so.
The forum has proved to be a rich source of information and ideas for the BRVRR and is one that I check on almost daily.
Thanks to all of the forum participants out there.
I joined June 2005 and have gotten up to just over 4,000 posts!
Turned 30 this year, but I’ve been in the hobby since I was 6 months old (proof is in our family videos)!
Homeschooled through high school, then got a 1-year community college degree.
Currently a technician and patent-holding product engineer.
Been in central IL my whole memorable life.
Main scale is HO. Also have some N, 00, O and Standard.
Finished layout portion is 7’ x 4’, but will be expanded with a 5’ x 3’ + 4’ x 4’ section.
Era and area don’t matter to me. If it looks interesting, I’ll get it!
Some other interests include, gaming, custom PC building, baking (not gonna lie, my cheesecakes rival the Cheesecake Factory), plastic models (cars, ships, etc), and some gardening. I was also a hot Wheels collector until the product line got too huge and kind of boring. I’m also a sound and video engineer at my church, and used to be really good on the piano.
It helps to have multiple hobbies. Whenever I feel burned out on one, I can just switch over to another for a while!
I’m 72 and join the forum in 2001… I model in HO although my real love is N Scale…
I live in Ohio.
I see I wasn’t the only one to retire in his early 50’s. In my case, I was flat-out told by my Base Commander, with three years until retirement, that I was not going to be promoted. He said I was too close to retirement. Well, his actual words were, “You’re too old.” So, I took an unaccompanied posting to National Defence Headquarters to max out my pension (best six years in rank), and pulled the plug 13 months later.
At 52, I inherited my recently late mother’s seaside property on Vancouver Island, and retired to a life of bliss. Then two adult daughters returned home. [:|] So, I went to work teaching officer professional development exams on line. One of them was Leadership & Ethics, also part of a BA curriculum in General Military Studies, but the course was generated and taught as part of the Department of Military Psychology and Leadership. That lasted for about seven years in total.
I built two layouts in the basement of that place, then a third out in the loft above the ‘barn’, which was a barn-looking hip-roofed garage not quite double-wide. Then, things started to show substantial wear and tear, and costs began to mount. We decided to sell and move into town. It was a happy coincidence that my aged father wanted to sell his place and move into a first-floor condo nearby. So, we purchased his place. The deal was sweet. He dropped the price $10 if we agreed to take it as is (he didn’t want to clean up the exterior. He installed a new water heater, and the roof and deck were just five years old by then). It also came with a nice garden maintained by my father, a master gardener.
I’m 68 now, have atrial fibrillation, and have recently dropped 22 pounds. I used to be a competitive runner, but poor sleep, late night snacks, and sleep apnea helped to place me on the road to metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and more serious hea
I’m 56, I live in the Ottawa region, Canada. I have a post-graduate degree in social sciences. Not yet retired… Married, and we have two boys.
I’m into HO, HOn3 and HOn30. I loosely model CP, CN and the local logging and mining lines that disappeared from our area in the 1970s. I am finishing a portable O scale layout.
My dad was not a model railroader. But as a construction entrepreneur, he taught me a ton of things about wood, fasteners, tools and paint… I also like fiddling with old 1:1 scale cars. I own a 1986 Alfa Romeo that I enjoy driving in the summer.
Simon
Hello,
I am 72 years old, and have been modeling since the early fifties, I got a Lionel Train set in the early fifties and graduated into HO Scale with a Gilbert Set followed by the Tyco General Set.
I have an Associates Degree in Data Processing and Bachelor of Business Administraton Degree which I earned in 1971. I ended up working mostly for construction companies which accounts for my moves from my hometown of Toledo, OH to various locations including Loveland and Denver CO, Allentown, PA, Achorage, AK and now back in Cleveland, OH. I have had the opportunity to work with our project managers and engineers on some challenging project like the dam on top of the mountain in New Jersey, the Alyeska Pipeline, the Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska and numerous building and electrical projects. Also did some contract work with Timken, Goodrich Landing Gear and other manufacturers. Spent 4 years training Harley-Davidson Dealers on how to utilize the Dealer Management Software including accounting.
I have never built a home layout but will be starting soon as I am now semi-retired and waiting for this disruption in the economy to start training a replacement at work. I have collected a lot of stuff over the years including a lot of brass steam engines back in my single days of the 60’s and 70’s. Have been weeding out the incorrect models and refining my modeling, painting and decaling skills over the last few years.
I have been a member of various Model Railroad Clubs in Toledo, Anchorage and Cleveland areas along with NMRA Division memberships in Toledo and Colorado.
In addition to model railroading, I sang in various church and dicocesan choirs, I bowled in numerous leagues and am the Secretary-Treasurer of two leagues here in Cleveland as well as a Director of the Cleveland USBC Association.
I don’t know when I started on this forum, and my history here is all messed up when I changed my E-mail address, so my posts went down to
Hi all!
Joined 2014 with 595 posts.
Age 19
Currently entering sophmore year of college (UIUC)
Major in Mechanical engineering, but have great interest in other engineering majors.
I live 30 minutes outside of Philly, PA (Paoli)
Scale: HO
I got into this hobby simply because I loved the moving valve gear of steam engines. It inspired my choice of major. I entered the rabbit hole of model railroading since age of 8, and haven’t seen the end yet!
Current layout is a 4’x8’ due to lack of space. Layout is of a “The Virginian” MRR 2012 Project layout.
I have 90% steam, but I got early diesels(F units) and a single Amtrak F40ph. I model the PRR in the late 40s and Santa Fe in the early 50s, but also have a little NYC,SP, and B&O mixed in.
I mostly enjoy the restoration side of the hobby. You can tell because my unfinished layout has been on stand still for a while now!
I also enjoy Naval History (mostly WWII), playing World of Warships(ship game), Photography(Instagram: charles.li.photography), and circuitry.
I joined in March 2012 and have 570 something posts, and am a few weeks away from 57 years on this planet.
I spent many years as an alternative school teacher, but I am currently a professional home inspector. I have a degree in business.
When our kids were young, I also spent a lot of time doing custom model building and painting for a couple hobby shops. This allowed my wife to be a stay at home mom, so our kids never went to daycare. They are now in their mid 20’s.
I am currently in scale / gauge limbo. I have some space to build a layout, but I have built so many different things over the years, it makes it hard to decide. Am leaning towards N (which I began modeling in '74) or HO. My dad was an HO modeler.
My other main hobby is motorcycle restorations. I love to ride dirt bikes!
Sixty nine turning 70. Semi retired attorney from Maine. Started with Lionels in the 50s and 60s with my dad. Had a nice HO layout for my kids in the 80s and then switched to a nice little N scale Atlas Gulf Summit Line with my son in the early 90s. Catzilla, a damp basement and my son growing up and losing interest led to scrapping that one. Moved to a new house with a big dry walk in daylight basement without cats in 2008 and turned the remains of my old N layout into a new 4 x 8 which is now pretty much complete and operational. Most locomotives and cars are 1990 Atlas, Kato and Bachman all still working after 25 years. Now adding a second larger N around the walls. Track work around 80% complete. Should drive the golden spike this winter. Both layouts are loosely based freelance on East Penn-- PRR, Reading, LV – where I grew up and Northern New England-- Maine Central, Bangor & Aroostook, Boston & Maine, Central Vermont,-- where I have lived since 1980. Mostly transition era. I have a Lionel Polar Express set up for my 6 year old grandson. Model railroading is my winter hobby. Summer is for baseball (I play in a 45 and up league and umpire high school and rec league), golf, fishing and hiking/camping in the Maine Woods.
I have enjoyed reading all these responses, thanks to all those that contributed. I hope we get a few more before this thread drifts onto the back pages.
Crandell, My diet is high fat low carb and I eat my first meal of the day at about 1400hrs and dinner at 1800hrs so I also follow the intermittent fasting routine and I have never felt better. I suffered horrible Arthritis pain taking Oxycocet and 6 Tylenol every day. Sugar (carbs) is the great giver of inflammation. I lowered my carb intake and within a week I was pain-free after years of a miserable existence. I don’t need any help with pain relief at all.
Staying fit keeps cholesterol, blood pressure and all other chemistry at perfect levels.
1 Like
I am very pleased to learn this about you and your success, Brent. [tup]
When I went to a family gathering at my younger brother’s in Nanaimo about six weeks in, I explained my situation ahead of time so nobody would look askance at my refusal to eat everything offered. Two weeks after that event, I saw my brother again and he thanked me for explaining what I was doing, and why, adding he had lost six pounds in those two weeks. So, IF and low carb works, as we have both happily learned. Whew!!! It’s not even a diet! It’s more of a change of eating behaviour and a new lifestyle. Anyway, that and apnea are my two new companions in life, and both are under control. May you continue to get relief for many more years to come. After all, you’d like to cash as many pension cheques as you can as well! [(-D]