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I'm sitting here sipping on a good whiskey, and am getting a little melancholy. I joined this forum in August 2007. My Dad had passed away December 2006; I was still healing. He was retired from the N&W and I got the notion that I would like to collect examples of each of the N&W Steam Locomotives. 

This forum provided me the opportunity to meet numerous Internet friends. Without this forum, we most likely would never know of each other's existence.  And, we are all getting older. Since 2007 there have been a lot of good, and decent people that are no longer with us. With increasing frequency, we see threads titled "Anyone heard from….", or "Tragic Loss!!..........", or "Is …… ok?" Or, we open a thread and see "I haven't seen ….on the forum for quite some time".

Germaine to the topic of toy trains or not, it is part of our humanity. We care for one another. Even if we have never met face-to-face, friendships develop. We pray, and shed tears at the loss of a friend's spouse, or upon learning of a serious illness. In the meantime, we sit behind our keyboards and share our experiences with toy trains and our lives.

When the day comes that weeks or months have passed, I would like to think that someone would ask, "Has anyone heard from Gilly lately"? In the meanwhile, we will continue to check in on the OGR Forum every day, or so.

Thank you to OGR Magazine for providing us with this Forum to interact, and become internet friends. This forum is about much more than a magazine, or toy trains. It's about people too.

I'll shut up now and turn back to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. 

God bless you all.

Last edited by Gilly@N&W
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Human interaction over the Internet, like many other things about us, is remarkable. We have acquaintances whom, in some ways, we know quite well, but only by their nom-de-trains or a small photo. As for me, that is not sufficient. I would someday like to meet those with whom I converse here - and in some cases, I have. Can't help it. Just human...

MELGAR

For someone like me, who has spent the majority of the last 40 years working 70-80+ hour weeks, the transition from a "lone wolf" hobbiest (1980-2000) to a social hobby (2000 and beyond), has been remarkable. Wow! Think of it? Friends from all over the country, that you talk to all the time, and see, on average,  twice a year! Who would have thought that in the 80s?

For me, turning this hobby into a social experience, has likely kept me from experiencing the "burnout" that is pervasive in my profession. It's nice just to be myself, and not my "professional  self".

Lastly, as many of you know, Tom (Gilly) and I are charter members of the River City 3 Railers.....this has opened us up to many local "new friends" that we formerly did not even know existed.

Peter

You're spot on Tom. I've only been on the Forum for a few years but have gotten to know many great guys and gals through our love of model (toy) trains. We do form friendships even over long distances, and even if we've never met the person or even heard their voices. I agree with Mel that when the opportunities arise where we can meet face to face it's a good thing. I guess in the old days they would call us pen pals.
Seems that there has been a fair bit of sad news lately for some of the more prominent names that pop up in the Topics window but it is an unfortunate part of life that we all deal with in our own ways.

Enjoy your whiskey.....

Bob

I friend sent me these videos the other day. If you think you're having a bad day just watch these and have a laugh.

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Last edited by RSJB18

I'm also on a gun forum. A few weeks ago a member went in for complex heart surgery. After not hearing anything for 4 days after the operation, a bunch of us were "pacing the waiting room floor". Finally on day 6 we found that everything was OK.

I don't care if anyone notices my "passing", but it was known, I'd hope the response was not "good!". 

Last edited by Joe Hohmann

Since my joining here I have met a few and have started following a bunch. It started for me on Facebook, that is internet friendships. I've made some good friends there but haven't met mostly because of long distances. I would say that if it wasn't for Facebook, I'd never have made my way over here.

This place is far different than Facebook in that here its all about trains. Facebook has so many different things going on that it is very blurry to see what's going on unless you try and focus on very few things(unless you have tons of interests that tie you down).

It is distressing to know so few and see when some great forum members have passed away. It becomes difficult to try and imagine who the person was until others post their condolences and you begin to get an idea.

I can't wait to meet more folks when I am able to attend the next York(October hopefully in the fall as not able this April again) and get into a rhythm of attending regularly like so many others have been able to do.

I'd say if it wasn't for Peter(Putnam Division), I'd not know anyone at all. Gonna have to meet all of you then with Peter giving introductions like he did last October.

I am not a fan of Facebook, but am a long-time OGR Forum participant, since 2001. This forum has always been a great convening place to share ideas and information about our great hobby. Like many here, I have dabbled in multiple gauges over the decades, and at one point, my forum handle was Multi Gauge Art, then having run standard, G, including live steam, and O simultaneously. Currently, I only run standard and LGB, having sold all my O gauge. My first venture onto the forum occurred shortly after I purchased my Lionel JLC gray Challenger. Little did I know what that purchase would lead to! HA! But it has been a wild ride and great fun, with a lot of comraderie along the way, thanks to this forum.  ☺

Last edited by Tinplate Art

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