Since I have yet to find a subject or forum that has an "introduce yourself", I guess this is me making one up.
My name is John. I go by Yardmaster96 because my layout is a simple rail yard set up, minimal makeup and jewelry, no mountains or bridges or lakes or ponds or even shirtless figures flashing the engineer as the train goes by or the guy mowing his yard never to finish.
I got into model railroading because of my grandson. I was introduced to it as an eight year old kid one Christmas. It was a toy. It went round and round. It was cool. It was a 1973 Yardmaster DT&I. Transformer driven. Telephone wire hooked to a CTC clip. Eight circles and two straights all given to a kid with minimal patience, imagination, and attention span.
It survived two moves, a flooded basement, and an impatient, easily frustrated, 8 year old. I was surprised when I hooked it up last year and discovered it still worked. I wanted to give it to my grandson when he is old enough to enjoy and appreciate it. Based on what I am seeing at 3, that will be after I die. He is a carbon copy of me at 8. He's 3 and is as impatient, easily frustrated, destructive, and has the same feeling about trains I did at 8, it's a toy. But, when they are 6 months, adorable, and you are completely hooked, your imagination runs wild and you want to do something great and grandfatherish so you decide to give your grandson your old model train.
You need track. Flooded basement ate the old set. You look on line, you find out model railroading is big, you discover that K-Line made a mountain dew box car, and then you discover that Lionel made all sorts of cool billboard box cars in the 70's and 80's and you become addicted to buying rolling stock. You also discover that Locomotives have graduated from rinky-dink transformer driven toys to these massive, awesome, oh my god I have to have one icons of greatness. Then you discover that even at 51 you can be seduced by the dark side and spend most of your saved allowance on trains.
So that's where we are today. I am 52, infatuated by all things railroad, have watched all kinds of documentaries on the subject, am building a train room in my abandoned cistern, and have spent even more money on the subject. But, I know very little about how things work these days, but I've learned a lot by asking the experts. So when you see a post by Yardmaster 96, be gentle, I'm young.
Thanks
John
and welcome to the very best source of O gauge education and assistance.(but by folks younger and more competent than me). Sounds like you are cranked and ready to go!
Glad you are here! 
The OGR Forum is the place to learn, enjoy, and absorb all things railroad. If don't find it here just ask and someone will be happy to point you in the right direction to whatever it is you want. 
