It's time to Introduce myself...

Hi, My name is Peter and I have a train addiction.

HO trains. I think my story is very similar to others. Had them as a kid. They were all boxed up in my teens and stayed there until my kids were old enough to play with them. Except my kids had no interest. Nintendo and Xbox's and Play station's were in vogue in their childhood and trains didn't have the appeal. Then sports took over and then I was paying college bills and car bills and... lot's of bills.

This past year, something changed. My niece lives in town (Columbus, OH, BTW) and we had the opportunity to watch her kid for a day. Ray is 2 years old and LOVES trains. My kind of guy. So they were unboxed and then the set up started. 45 year old trains had some issues, believe it or not. I was determined to get this set up and worked diligently to get this all working before his next visit.

A trip to the train store left me with heart palpitations. What the $## is DCC? What do you mean I have to change all my couplers? A switch is now a turnout and costs how much? Atlas was my standby and I find out it is at the bottom of the food chain? A new engine costs what? snap track is bad? Brass track is old technology and it moved to silver nickel. Flextrack?

Actually, the guys were very helpful. It's just that my brain wasn't prepared for the new information. So I did what everyone does these days and turned to the internet. That's how I found this place. I have spent a few months reading and learning. Very interesting. Jaw dropping, but interesting. Some of the layouts I have seen are unbelievable! (see summit-customcuts.com/modernholayout.html ). I never knew things like this were possible. They aren't possible for me.

Well, today I have the standard 4x8 layout, loop within a loop with sidings that the kid thinks is great. Not me. I have seen the dark side and I want in. I have spent the last two months slowly building up what I think I will need for the next great layout. I have spent too much time on ebay looking for those gems. I have spent too much money on ebay because "I'm not losing this bid to this guy no matter what!" kicks in and I over pay.

I have decided that the new layout will be based on the plastics business of which I have been a part of my whole life. I have the refinery. I have acquired a lot of centerflow rail cars that look awesome to carry the pellets from the refinery to the extrusion business that will exist at some point. I have bought a bunch of turnouts, but I'm sure I don't have enough. I have told my wife that I am taking over a portion of the basement. Well, no, I haven't actually done that yet, it's just that I have played it out in my head so many times that I think I have told her. Surprise!

I'm currently working on the layout to maximize the space I have allocated to the trains. My conclusion is that I need more space. Never enough space. The furnace and the hot water heater are in my way. Heat is a must this time of year, but hot water? It may be a luxury we can do with out. It is hard to fit in a yard and all that i want to do. It was easy in my head but I picked up accurail and it concluded that I was a foolish little boy with no actual knowledge of how trains work. I hate computers. I'll let you all know when the track gets figured out.

Nice meeting you all!