Where to begin…
A little about myself…
I’ve been around model railroading all my life. I grew up
in Southwest Missouri and while growing up the garage was converted into a train
room. The first train set in the house was ‘my’ first Christmas present…of
course, Dad ran the trains while I sat in a high chair. I was only 6 months old.
Later Dad had to set up a small N-Scale layout for me under the benchwork of his
to keep me out from underfoot during operating sessions.
I started building model airplanes at age 6 or 7 and
continued for many years. Eventually Dad got burned out on the trains and took
the layout down. In 1979 we had bought a bigger house with a large basement and
Dad started planning a new layout. Unfortunately, the Burlington Northern had
different ideas. About a year after merging with the Frisco we were out of work.
This led us to move to Texas in 1984. By then both Dad and I were chomping at
the bit to get a layout up and running. We did manage to hand lay a time-saver
on a shelf there (the benchwork from this has been incorporated into the
Purgatory and Devil River’s El Lobo division). This was a nice start but for
the next 10 years we moved around a lot and really couldn’t afford to build
anything.
In the mid 90’s we joined a local club and started building
a town for the club layout. While spending 4 years with the club we built 2
different versions of the town of Blanchard Springs. This is where I cut my
teeth on building structures, rolling stock, scenery and such. As a member of
the NMRA I began working on qualifying for my Master Model Railroader
Certificate. It’s a journey that has been long but satisfying. I’ve met some
really wonderful people who have become some of my best friends. As of the time
of this writing I have 5 of the 7 certificates required to become an MMR.
I started with Volunteer, then Author, Chief Dispatcher, Scenery and most
recently Cars. While I have Structures underway, I’m working on finishing the
first part of my layout and I’m hoping to have Civil and Electrical judged
soon. Once that has passed and my MMR approved I’m going to finish Structures.
A few of the structures are to be used in a scene in hopes of achieving
Prototype Modeler. I already have Motive Power started and I just became the
Division Director here so I’m on my way with Official. I have started a 2 year
term and will have to be reelected to serve enough time to get it but, with any
luck, by June of 2008 I will have finished all of the categories of the AP.
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