When I was a kid many years ago my brothers both had American Flyer S gauge trains that were set up under the Christmas tree each year, and in the summer when it was too hot to play outside, we set up the track in the basement. I got my first train in 1967 when I was about 12 years old, a Tyco HO train set. I had a 3X4 foot circular layout., nothing special . My family moved to the suburbs when I was 13 ( early 1969) and I had a 4X8 layout in a corner of the basement, unfortunately my mom used the same space to hang out the wet laundry over my layout. She didn't appreciate me "infringing " on her space so after a couple of years it came down. I moved on to N scale for a year or two but model railroading interfered with high school, college and work so I sold off all my "toys" .
My interest in model railroading didn't reappear until Christmas eve 1985 when my son got a Lionel train set. He had not yet turned 2 years old as his birthday is on New year's eve. We still have it, a CNW Northern Freight Flyer. I built a 8X8 "L" shaped layout in our first home the following Christmas.
In the middle 1990's I went to an open house at the Chicagoland Lionel Railroaders Club and was instantly hooked. I joined the club the same week and have been a member since. In my second house I built 2 layouts but never finished either one. We moved to a new home in 2013 and I started my current layout in 2016 and have been working on it since.
What I'm trying to say is that I have had a love of model railroading for over 53 years and it won't end soon. I enjoy all aspects of the hobby. whether it's the building a layout or weathering a car or locomotive, designing a track plan, adding scenery or watching real trains rolling down the main line.
My current interest is in steel mill modeling and that's the scheme of my latest layout. In O scale everything has to be scratch built, a challenge for me but I'm not building a museum piece, just something that can pass for acceptable. My wife barely tolerates my hobby, always asking when it will be finished. I'm 3 years into this build and it won't be done for at least another 5. Reminds me of the movie "The Agony and the Ecstasy " with Charleton Heston as Michelangelo painting the Sistene Chapel when Pope Pius (Rex Harrison) asked him "When will you be done?'"---When I make an end to it!"
Trains are in my blood and building a model railroad gives me some dominion over something I can control, even if it is just an imaginary world.
