Guess I should introduce myself
Jan 10, 2019 11:57:29 GMT -5
JNXT 7707, redneckjustin, and 2 more like this
Post by artfulldodger on Jan 10, 2019 11:57:29 GMT -5
I never really introduced myself since moving over here from the old place. I have been obsessed with trains since I was a young boy, both real and model. My very first train on tracks was a Marx 3 rail O gauge set that had a 6vt lantern battery in the 'transformer". Then for Christmas 1978 I got not one but 3 Tyco sets. Back then our family celebrated at our home on Christmas day, then traveled to Ohio to my grandparents the day after for round 2 of celebrations. The first set I got on Christmas day was the Silver Streak, which got promptly set up under the tree once presents were opened. My first sister had just been born in November, so mom and dad had their hands full, so I spent the day playing with my train. This became the norm for much of my life going foward, getting "lost" in my little world of trains. The day after we made the long drive to my grandparents for 2 rounds of presents. First as at my dad's parents, and from them I got the Sears/Tyco Deluxe Royal Blue. My grandparents lived in a very small town in Ohio, the nearest stores for toys/trains was in Dayton or Richmond, both about an hour drive away. So they cataloged shopped/mail ordered most of our presents from the Sears catalog.(the amazon of the pre internet era). That evening, we all went to see my my mom's mother and from her I got the Midnight Special set. I was in train heaven that year. We all know the constant upkeep the PT motors require, I didnt know how to and my father was busy with his job and had no interest in playing trains with me. So by my birthday I had burned up the motors in all the engines. So for my birthday that year, I got my first Lionel set and I spent the next several years enjoying those trains.
As an adult, still obsessed with trains, I model in 2 scales, HO and G. I have 2 G scale engines that are live steamers, actually running on thier own steam. I have an overhead loop in our living room where I run the electric powered trains and a small loop in our back yard to run live steam. In HO scale, I have a weird mix. My primary layout that is under construction is Marklin AC Digital set on the northern coast of Germany and the ore train (Langer Heinrich/Long Henry) trains. My portable layout for shows is where I run my 3 brass engines and my Tycos. I have set about buying examples of my childhood Tycos, and of coarse, now I know how to maintain them.
Through all of this, but not diagnosed till I was well into adult hood is that I am autistic. On the high functioning side, but with plenty of challenges every day. I was just past the threshold as a child and just passed off as a very shy, introverted kid. Relentlessy bullied thru my school years. I was the ability to escape into my little world of trains that kept me from going off the deep end thru high school when I was suicidal many times due to the abuse that school staffed seemed to care little about. I only came to understand this after many hours of thearpy to learn to cope better after my diagnosis. So if I seem a bit off or odd in my comment posts, keep in mind that I view the world differently. Much like Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang Theory, who's charricter is based to some extent on someone with my form of autism call Asperger's Syndrome. So I can come off as a bit of an *** even though that is not the intent. Mike the Aspie.
As an adult, still obsessed with trains, I model in 2 scales, HO and G. I have 2 G scale engines that are live steamers, actually running on thier own steam. I have an overhead loop in our living room where I run the electric powered trains and a small loop in our back yard to run live steam. In HO scale, I have a weird mix. My primary layout that is under construction is Marklin AC Digital set on the northern coast of Germany and the ore train (Langer Heinrich/Long Henry) trains. My portable layout for shows is where I run my 3 brass engines and my Tycos. I have set about buying examples of my childhood Tycos, and of coarse, now I know how to maintain them.
Through all of this, but not diagnosed till I was well into adult hood is that I am autistic. On the high functioning side, but with plenty of challenges every day. I was just past the threshold as a child and just passed off as a very shy, introverted kid. Relentlessy bullied thru my school years. I was the ability to escape into my little world of trains that kept me from going off the deep end thru high school when I was suicidal many times due to the abuse that school staffed seemed to care little about. I only came to understand this after many hours of thearpy to learn to cope better after my diagnosis. So if I seem a bit off or odd in my comment posts, keep in mind that I view the world differently. Much like Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang Theory, who's charricter is based to some extent on someone with my form of autism call Asperger's Syndrome. So I can come off as a bit of an *** even though that is not the intent. Mike the Aspie.
