Addicted in Iowa

[Openbeer247]

I've lived nearly my whole life next to a BN coal line. As a kid, my brother and I would watch those green SD40 and 45's pass by and count how many cars they would carry.

After being away for a few years with army I moved back to the area and have found a soon-to-be wife who encourages me with this new hobby, in fact, as a birthday gift (which is coming up soon) she has bought me a HO scale kato replica of a green BN SD40-2.

With a lot of patience and a little vision I will someday recreate the line as it passed through town, just like when I was a boy!

 

[RW&C]

Sounds like fun. Do you have a space/plan in mind?

BN doesn't seem to get much love but imo the green/black/white looks pretty sharp.

 

[Openbeer247]

I think that most of the fun (at least initially) is going to come from acquiring each piece. At the moment she and I live in a 2BR apartment, so my build space is limited to our spare bedroom/study.

Probably what I am going to have to do is start off with a simple 4x8 layout that I can squeeze in that room, and then just work my way into a bigger and better layout that's more in line with my vision. I've seen some neat layouts that look like they might present some/but not too much challenge for a beginner like me, and hopefully building one or two will give me the experience I need to tackle the more intricate details of the hobby.

The most important thing to me at the moment is doing everything right the first time. I don't want to end up spending more time and money doing things twice in order to be completely satisfied with something.

 

[Photogdad]

Hello and welcome. Looking forward to hearing about your progress even when it comes to your collection. And pics are always welcome.