In the Beginning...

When I was little I went to visit my Grandpa at his home in Richmond, Virginia.  I remember walking into the house and it would smell like pipe smoke because Grandpa or Pops as we called him smoked a pipe back then.  You would go into the house and there was a door to a room to the right.  Going through that door was like entering into another world.  He had a wonderful HO train layout that took up a majority of the room.  I was very young then and I don't remember much about the layout except for the locomotive that was zooming around the track.  It was a yellow Union Pacific locomotive.  I don't remember why Pops liked Union Pacific but it has been a part of me ever since. 


Pops later moved to Florida and even then I can remember his layout on the back porch.  I can see him leaned over the layout working on a building or straightening out some of the scenery. 


I was hooked and Dad and I built two large tables that we painted green in the basement of our house in Delaware that we later moved to our home in Clemmons.  I spent a lot of time down in the basement working on the layouts.  Whenever I hear the song "Crazy about her" by Rod Stewart I am taken back to the basement in Clemmons. 


When I was a senior in High School my Grandfather died.  I didn't know then just how much of an impact the time I had had with him would make on the rest of my life.


I didn't do much with my trains through out my college years.  Once I bought a house in Winston Salem, I was able to put up a couple tables again. 


When I moved to Fuquay I again built and set up a massive train setup.  It took up our entire bonus room.  It was massive!  I loved running the trains in that room.


After that I had to live in an apartment for quite awhile and I probably could of set up another table but it just wasn't a priority and honestly I didn't have the money to invest in the hobby.  I actually ended up selling quite a bit of my train stuff just to stay afloat. 


This past September for my birthday, my beautiful loving wife give me train tables for our hobby room at the house.  They are probably bigger than she thought and messier than she thought but I hope she realizes just how much joy and happiness she has brought me by giving me those tables.  


I am just an amateur and my scenes will not look professional but I love every minute of it.  I look forward to sharing some of the experience with you!