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Hi folks,

About a year ago, I started a blog called Behind the Throttle. This blog was meant to be a platform where I could give some distinguished railroaders a platform to speak about their lives and the mark they left on the preservation and railroad community. Anyways, I recently wrote an autobiographical piece, detailing my life with trains, and I wanted to share.

https://behindthethrottle.com/...-boy-and-his-trains/

It would mean a lot to me if you would give it a read. Also feel free to subscribe for more content down the line! Thanks all and have a nice day.

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I enjoyed the article! It's great you stuck to your principles to be yourself and not worry about what others thought of your interests. It's good to learn how you enjoy making the next generation smile! It's tough to put yourself out there by writing an autobiographical piece but I think you nailed it and should feel proud in doing so.

-Greg

Max, not only did I love your beautifully written memoir, I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw it on this Forum.

You see, a few days ago, I wrote a memoir, and last night I submitted it for publication to a major newspaper. The chances of them publishing it are one in a million, but - you never know.

What is so stunning is the coincidence of seeing your memoir on this Forum after I wrote mine, that you talk a lot about "passion" in your memoir, and the title of my memoir is "Passion: A Memoir," and I am much older than you, and never wrote a memoir until I wrote mine this past Friday!

As much as I love trains like you do, my memoir has nothing to do with trains (mine focuses on baseball), so I would never share it on the Forum. However, if you would like to read it, send me an email (my email address is on my Forum profile), and I would be delighted to send it to you.

Now, you said some things in your memoir that I believe are very insightful.

You are so right about trains attracting some of the most interesting, fun loving people. The expression I like to use to describe them is that they have "joie de vive."

And, when you say that it's the people that are the best thing about the hobby, again, IMO, you are right. It was so heart warming for me to read about, and see in your photos,  your wonderful interactions with people at the Strasburg Railroad. I was there 25 years ago with my wife and then young children and took the unforgettable steam engine train ride. What I remember most is the beautiful, young Amish girls walking along the right of way, smiling at me.

Another thing I related to in your memoir is your comment that others thought of you as a weirdo. That is true for me too, particularly when I was a boy when I was totally obsessed with baseball. This being thought of by others as a weirdo is mentioned in my memoir too.

I think you and I are a lot alike, but the biggest difference between us is you are a young man, and I am an old one (now almost 69 years old). But, I never felt better in my life, and feel like a teenager, so even our ages are not that much of a difference. I believe one reason for this is my love for O Gauge trains and my 36 foot by 3 to 4 foot layout in my basement.

I have expressed my passion for model railroading in a song I wrote and performed. The title of the song is "Who Am I (Rollin' By)." You can access it by going on YouTube, putting my name in the search box, and clicking on the video song with that title.

Again, Max, thanks so much for sharing your memoir, I absolutely loved it!

Arnold D. Cribari

I'm strange guy I already know this, but I enjoy printing things out in hardcopy and read in leisure in my lazy-boy for my back and legs do not allow me to set for long periods at a time.  Only saying this because the dark background and light print did not print out on my printer.  I recommend to remove the dark background and reverse your image.

I know that I will enjoy your learning to love the trains. . .

@Seth Thomas posted:

I'm strange guy I already know this, but I enjoy printing things out in hardcopy and read in leisure in my lazy-boy for my back and legs do not allow me to set for long periods at a time.  Only saying this because the dark background and light print did not print out on my printer.  I recommend to remove the dark background and reverse your image.

I know that I will enjoy your learning to love the trains. . .

You could save the webpage as a text only file, open it in notepad or MS Word, then print it. It will be black text on a white background.

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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