Putnam Division posted:I grew up in the northeast Bronx in the 50s & 60s. We lived in an apartment building.
My 1st memory is being on my maternal grandfather's shoulder watching the EL trains of the Pelham Bay line.
My father's family lived along the 4 track New Haven main line in Larchmont, now separated from their house by 95....I remember trains whizzing by in McGinnis colors....and those silver and shiny washboard commuter trains......
The 1st thing the trains mean to me is sacrifice.....my parents had to sacrifice to get me a New Haven diesel freight set when I was 5 at Christmas 58. Still have, and it still runs as well as the day I got it!
I took out the train every year around the holidays until about 72-73, then the demands of school overtook them. By 1980, living in Baltimore doing an Internal Medicine residency at University of MD, I saw an add for a Greenberg show at Towson State...I went, and every childhood memory was rekindled. I have been doing this continuously since then. With a young family and a job with 90-100 hour weeks, the trains gave me something to relax with at unplanned off hours( I take care of very sick people.....it was/is good to do something where the worst that can happen is a train derails)....but it was a solo hobby....
Circa 2000 and Myron's vision to start the OGR Forum and have the good fortune to have Rich Melvin moderate it.....it became a social hobby....all of a sudden, all of us who were speaking online realized we knew each other by sight, because we all would make the semi-annual pilgrimage to York....then the hobby really became a blast........my kids were growing and moving on, and I had more time for myself.
In 2009-10, I had the good fortune to become a charter member of a modular group which has grown and prospered, adding to the fun.
As I look at retirement in the the next few years (I turn 65 next year), I cannot see the trains leaving the mix....
Peter
Peter, your experience with trains is very inspiring and beautifully explains the inherent goodness in our hobby that is so much more than a hobby. No one does work that is more important than you have done: caring for very sick people as a physician. Thank God for model railroading so people like you can get a break, have some fun, keep your sanity so you can continue healing the very sick, and have a richly deserved and enjoyable retirement.
