My love of trains started in a barber shop. When I was probably five or six, trips to the barber shop in town meant watching steam locomotives arrive at the depot as the barber shop was track side.
First model train was at 10, a Marx steam train on a 4 by 4 table top. My first Railfan trip after I got my driver’s license was to follow the Washington Idaho and Montana railroad from end to end with a fellow modeler.
Modeling stopped when collage started and I didn’t restart until one day when I was shopping for a sail boat I noticed HO models for sale in the corner of the boat sales room. A Round Robin group and a modular group followed. The modular group morphed into a club layout.
As retirement neared we built our home with a train room over the garage. It is still under construction depicting western Montana around Butte and Helena in the mid-40’s. That allows me to model the railroads I grew up with: Northern Pacific, Milwaukee Road, Great Northern, and Union Pacific. Plus representing the local roads: Butte, Anaconda & Pacific along with the last narrow gauge built in the US, the Montana Southern.
Railroad history is of great interest to me. As is hand laying track and collecting brass models of my favorite roads.
I’ve been a member of R.E.D. since 1987 when I first moved to California. R.E.D. has been a significant part of my model railroading, as I live in Lake County where there are not too many modelers.