I like the history the most. The layout is a place for hours of research to precipitate into something tangible. Plus my layout is based on an alternate history. There was a real village here called Newport but it was bought and razed to make way for what would become the P&LE gateway yard. In this history, that didn't happen and the Mahoning Valley didn't run out of block coal that could be loaded into a blast furnace without being processed into coke. I've shared this with one or two friends and it spiraled into a LENGTHY conversation about the history of iron making here. Pretty cool!
I like the tinkering. I was notorious for stealing appliances from the trash as a kid to take them apart. Now I tinker with trains, Arduinos, and 3D printers.
I like the trains!