Introduction...


pa3de8

GO PENNSY!!!
Good evening everyone.
I'm new to the forum and I'm a returning model railroader after about 20 years away from the lifestyle. I call it a lifestyle because I spent lots of my younger years living to be around the railroads down in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. To me it much more than just a hobby.

My name is Scott and I'm happily married to my wife Michelle for the past 15 years and I'm thankful I am because she puts up with me and my hectic work schedule and my passion for enjoying various outside interests. I have two wonderful kids, a 12 year old son, who can't wait til he can help work on our "Project: Railroad", and 16 year old daughter, who, well is a typical 16 year old daughter.

I am am employed in the law enforcement field as a corrections officer in a NE PA Correctional Facility.

I just recently purchased my dream home that has a huge two car garage with a gi-normous loft above the parking area. That's where "Project: RailRoad" will be planned out and carefully constructed. I have so much room I don't know what to do with it all!!!:D

Well, I thank you for taking the time to read my introduction to the great fellow model railroaders here on the forum. I hope I can get to know some of you on a more personal level as well and if there's anyone in the NE PA area who is interested in talking, please feel free to contact me.

Scott
 
Scott, welcome to the forum. Sounds like you are about to start a great adventure with "The World's Greatest Hobby". Keep us posted with your progress and if you have any questions, you will find some very good folks here that will be glad to help you out and give you lots of advise (hopefully the good kind!).

Have fun!
 
Thanks Ray...

I appreciate the warm welcome Ray. Trust me after 20 years away from the "lifestyle & hobby", it is going to be quite interesting starting over! but now I have the room to build something I really want.

I'm sure I'm going to have lots of questions and be in need of help!

Thank you again...

Scott
 
Well I wish I had "so much room I don't know what to do with it"! Sounds good, and I can't wait to see what you & your son come up with.
 
What we're planning on modeling...

Well I've always wanted to do the Weehaken/Hoboken waterfront area. My son wants to do something up closer to home. He likes the NE PA scenery and think sit would look great on a layout. I'm originally from the Weehawken/Hoboken area and have fond memories of the area. My only regret was not capturing as much as possible on film of it while it was there before it became "The Water Front" and all that was gone.

Ever sunday my dad would take me down to the rail yards down there when I was younger so I could watch the trains. I didn't even think of taking pictures back then.

I'm thinking I can incorporate both in a layout to satisfy us both.

Scott
 
Scott, you might suggest to your daughter that an interest in trains is a great excuse to hang out with guys who are not only nice, but handsome, too. :D
 
Lol...

Thanks for the helpful advice Claudia but my daughter is going through a "goth" stage at the moment and the last thing she wants is to hang out with guys who like trains. I took the family on a train ride and she complained the whole way!!!

Scott
 
Thanks for the helpful advice Claudia but my daughter is going through a "goth" stage at the moment and the last thing she wants is to hang out with guys who like trains. I took the family on a train ride and she complained the whole way!!!

Scott

My just-turned-14-years-old sister is going through the same type of thing...ugh.

In any case, welcome to the forums! I think we have a pretty good group from PA now. I think you'll find this to be one of the most useful resources on the net too :)
 
Thanks Nate...

We give my daughter the freedom to express herself as she is a A student on the honor role every year as well. Her goal is to become a criminal psychologist so I'm not complaining...

As for me, I'm hoping I can learn more from the guys on the forum, especially the guys from PA!!!

Scott
 
Thanks David!

I look forward to "getting to know" everyone on the forum and sharing in the excitement of the hobby with them.

Scott
 
Scott,
Welcome back to the hobby. I returned last year after a 30 year hiatus. Christmas time is coming and that is always a good excuse to bring out the trains. I have a 15 year old grand daughter lost in the goth world that I pray daily for. She is in New Jersey and we hope she'll be here for Christmas where she will get a huge dose of train mania!


Fortunately, Scott, God is in control of her life too. I just introduced my 40 year old daughter to Model Railroading men after a difficult divorce. Fortunately for you and me, girls still find men attractive. I'd rather have them interested in the men that operate grimy black locomotives than bat men. :)

Now back to the topic. Give us a pic or two of your excessively large space so we can feel really envious. And you owe us a track plan. Pencil is fine. Get your son into 3rdPlanIt and he'll give you a set of trackplans in a week or two, if he is like the rest of the kids with computers.

You have so much to do, which DCC system, sound, sectional track or flex, Plywood or Foam or both, modular, around the room, walk around or, or, or. Lets get cracking, you have your action items. Move IT! :)

And you need to get your son to MB Klein's too.



Joe Daddy
 
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Wow.. I guess I'm getting old. When I was in high school the goth world was seriously uncool. Then again, I wasn't particularily cool either, so maybe I just didn't know what was going on...

Scott, it sounds like you have more model railroading space than I have living space! I can't wait to see what you do with it. I don't know too much about the Weehaken/Hoboken area, but N.E. PA has some great modelling prospects, and it sounds to me like you have the room to accomodate aspects of what you and your son are interested in. Just make a nice long list of givens and druthers, then post it here, and we'll give you far mroe feedback than is probably necessary :).
 
Welcome aboard Scott.

Good luck on your dream layout. let us know how it progress
 
Hello Scott, good to have you back in the hot seat again, hope you enjoy your return to MRRing as much as i did five years or so ago
 
And you need to get your son to MB Klein's too.
English's Model Railroad Supply is quite a bit closer ;)

http://bowser-trains.com/hoemrrs/store/store.htm

Here's a couple of the 30+ pics from their site...

photo18.jpg

photo19.jpg

photo24.jpg

photo29.jpg
 
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Nice shop!

Nate,
Thanks for the tip on English's Hobby Shop. As a computer consultant, I travel around the country and one of the best parts of my job is visiting the LHS to see what I can find. I have developed a hobby shop rating system which can be found on my website.

We will find a way to get to this one someday soon!

What bums me out is that I was only 108 miles from English's last month!

hobby_shop_rankings.htm
 
Wow lots of things to do I can see already!!!

Joe,

That's quite some list you've laid out for me!!! LOL...
Geeze, I'm going to have to quit my job, oh wait, no job....no money..no railroad. Okay well maybe not quit my job, maybe a hiatus!

I've always enjoyed having a train running around the tree at Christmas time and so do the kids. My daughter is a good kid, just likes dressing and wearing dark, depressing looking colored clothes. Just like all her other fazes, she'll quickly find something else.

I plan on taking some pics of the area tomorrow and hopefully I can get them up on the board before I leave for work. If I don't get them on before I go, I'll get them on saturday morning. I do thing I am going togo with a little of both plywood and foam. Basic L-girder construction for the bench. I do plan it to run along three of the walls and a 1/4 of the way on the other. I need to leave room for a place to work, a TV and a small refrigerator.

MB Klein's??? I know of English's but not of MB Klein's.

Hawkeye, I've learned that everything that's old is new again. There were goth kids in school when I was there too. They say the 80's are a coming back too!! Oh Joy!!
I agree there are lots of area's up here that can and should be modeled. Just picking which to do is hard. Also any advice whether it be too much or too little is always appreciated since I've gone for sometime.

MLW,
I certainly will keep all my new found friends updated on my progress.

Steve,
I'm glad to be back I tell ya!

Sushob,
I love English's! Reminds me of a smaller store in Totowa NJ called the Totowa Hobby shop which was a small hole in the wall but had anything you were looking for.
 



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