Personal History

 

My name is Eric (aka etoytrains on the OGR Forum).

 

My late grandfather first introduced me into model railroading in 1970.  Like many at that time, the Lionel trains would always run at Christmas and then be put away until the next season.  That changed as I constantly asked for the trains to be set up and run.  A spare room was set up as The Train Room with a permanent 10'x8' setup.  Over a period of time the O-gauge layout changed to HO gauge, due to a lack of space to make the layout look realistic.  Eventually I tired of the trains and my grandfather packed them away.

 

Fast forward to 1996...I received a call from my mom who was cleaning out my Grandfather's home after he had passed away about a year earlier, asking if I wanted my trains.  If not she was going to give them away to my uncle.  Needless to say I was over there within the hour.  I could not believe my eyes, all the trains, both Lionel and the HO gauge, were still there, packed neatly away in boxes.  The track was extremely rusty and I was certain the trains would not run as well after 20 years of storage.  Eager to find out I went to the one and only hobby shop in town that carried O-Gauge trains and bought some 027 gauge tinplate track.  To my surprise almost every engine ran, some only requiring a little cleaning and lubrication.  I have been hooked ever since.  O yeah, I could not bring myself to sell the HO gauge trains, so I donated them to a co-worker and his son, introducing them to model railroading.

 

My motive power and rolling stock is 95% ATSF/Santa Fe with other of various other roads including Chessie System, PRR, and NYC.  At present I don’t have room for a permanent layout, only a temporary floor layout using MTH Realtrax, of which I would like to get off of the floor.   The modular layouts of various Hi-Rail clubs have impressed me to the point that I am seriously considering the modular layout approach for my home layout.  I am amazed how much detail can go into a temporary modular layout.