Any one live next to a fellow train guy?

No, but I wish I did.

Yes; the guy in back of me.

Lou N

I wish!

Lou N posted:

Yes; the guy in back of me.

Lou N

Cool.

Yes, 1/2 block over

Yes..... and I did not know it until he got very ill. Steve Bales was my neighbor and he was a former Lionel employee who worked for Lionel in the early 50s. Steve was a lifetime railroad man working for the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads. In my opinion he was with out a doubt one of the best model railroad hobbyist ever. The talent of this man was mind blowing. If you want to hear more go to Notch 6 and listen to the podcast titled the "The Lionel Employee in the Neighborhood"

No but I also wish I did.  There are few that are into HO though.  The only o gauge around me are those who put up a Christmas garden every year.

I live near somebody that owns a 7 1/2 gauge railroad. Nobody near me has o gauge. 

The house I lived in from 1964 to 1975 was next door to a HO brass Train and track importer's house and home-based business.

He had a large HO & HOn3 layout in his lowest floor.

I worked part time for them in the 1960's & 70's.

His wife got the business, he keep the house and layout when they split.

His house is still there, but the layout was removed for new owner.

But I still own my house - next door without a layout (or me).

No. But i have a friend about 7 miles away he just collects trains .And I have another friend about 20 miles away and has really nice layout and he invites me and my wife over to run trains on his layout.  My wife and her dad had a collection no layout either just on shelves, The both of them is what got me into O from HO.

My train doctor and friend lives 30 miles away. He has beautiful Postwar trains but no layout because he has 5 kids and no space for a layout now. He comes to my house to run his trains, and like a doctor making a house  call, fixes one of my trains or solves a problem on my layout.

Having a train buddy nearby greatly enhances the hobby, but don't despair if you don't have one. We are different from most people (I think that's a good thing). You might say we march to a different drummer.

You are not a lone wolf anymore because of this Forum.

There are also opportunities for getting together in person at various places.  For instance, there is a Forum luncheon taking place at 12:30 PM on December 9th at City Limits Diner in White Plains, NY, there are now regular Forum get togethers in Northeast, Ohio, and you always have the O Gauge Mecca at York Pennsylvania twice per year.

Whenever there is a train show nearby, you can initiate a post on this Forum to schedule a Forum get-together. 

Arnold

my buddy is an hr and a half a way. but any trip to a friends house is never long.

He has a 30 inch gauge train running around the property (old amusment park train)

AND is in the process of laying track for a 7 and 1/2" gauge train. We take the 7 1/2" gauge train across

the border into Canada in July and run in parking lot of the Long Sault Arena train show.

I take the track sections in the back of my truck and Kenny takes the train in his truck and trailer.

last July we gave over 2000 kids rides over the weekend.

My BRO a 1/2 mile away and friends 8 miles away.  We get together after train/gun shows drink beers run trains.  Win Win!!!!

seaboardm2 posted:

I have been thinking if there are any one.Who lives next door to a fellow o gauge train guy?Any one lets hear from you.

Not next door, but I had one a few houses away, an older gentleman. Because of health issues, they had to move away and buy a single-floor condo. Many fun evenings my small sons and I spent there.

On this forum, I met a guy that lives in the next town over …. a couple of miles away. He's 31, has two very young sons, and we get together sometimes for some family fun train time. He's no longer here at OGR.

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

There are also opportunities for getting together in person at various places.  For instance, there is a Forum luncheon taking place at 12:30 PM on December 9th at City Limits Diner in White Plains, NY, there are now regular Forum get togethers in Northeast, Ohio, and you always have the O Gauge Mecca at York Pennsylvania twice per year.

Arnold, have you considered coming down to Paterson NJ, for the NJ HiRailers'  "Trainstock"  OGR get-together in January?

Jim

Our club, the Smoky Mountain Model Railroaders is 12 miles away and due to the roads (many quick curves) about a 25 minute drive. That's the only 3 rail layout anywhere near here. One member lives down in Greenville SC but has a cabin a few miles from me here in Maggie Valley. His wife has had a lot of health problems this past year so I've hardly seen him recently.

Otherwise, there are scant few 3 rail guys locally...

EBT Jim posted:

seaboardm2 posted:

I have been thinking if there are any one.Who lives next door to a fellow o gauge train guy?Any one lets hear from you.

Not next door, but I had one a few houses away, an older gentleman. Because of health issues, they had to move away and buy a single-floor condo. Many fun evenings my small sons and I spent there.

On this forum, I met a guy that lives in the next town over …. a couple of miles away. He's 31, has two very young sons, and we get together sometimes for some family fun train time. He's no longer here at OGR.

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

There are also opportunities for getting together in person at various places.  For instance, there is a Forum luncheon taking place at 12:30 PM on December 9th at City Limits Diner in White Plains, NY, there are now regular Forum get togethers in Northeast, Ohio, and you always have the O Gauge Mecca at York Pennsylvania twice per year.

Arnold, have you considered coming down to Paterson NJ, for the NJ HiRailers'  "Trainstock"  OGR get-together in January?

Jim

 

Thanks Jim! I'm in. I just did a search, and  found the post for Trainstock 11. Love the idea of being able to run trains on different layouts, and it looks like there will be great commraderie.  Arnold

c.sam posted:

Our club, the Smoky Mountain Model Railroaders is 12 miles away and due to the roads (many quick curves) about a 25 minute drive.

Those "quick curves" are the sort of thing that can make getting there half the fun. I may be 70, but I still enjoy putting a car through its paces. One day the police are going to catch me seeing how fast I can get around the local traffic circles.

(Admittedly, I don't put a car through paces nearly as demanding as I used to.) 

Next door or even in the same neighborhood would be great. I do know a guy about 1 mile from me. There is another guy about 10 miles from me. However, the group of people that come over here are all within about a 30-minute drive on average. Not too terribly bad. There are about 15 of us in the group. And on every other Sunday night probably at least half that many people are here. That's pretty good. I feel very fortunate because having other people operate the layout with you makes things a lot more fun.

D500 posted:

c.sam posted:

Our club, the Smoky Mountain Model Railroaders is 12 miles away and due to the roads (many quick curves) about a 25 minute drive.

Those "quick curves" are the sort of thing that can make getting there half the fun. I may be 70, but I still enjoy putting a car through its paces. One day the police are going to catch me seeing how fast I can get around the local traffic circles.

(Admittedly, I don't put a car through paces nearly as demanding as I used to.) 

You said it D500! 

I enjoy driving hard around here (am 74) and can rarely get over 50 mph on these back roads. The curves combined with rapid changes in elevation provide for some 'exhilarating' feelings in your stomach at times!  I have a Benz GLK 4-Matic (their small SUV) that is 7 years old with low mileage so she drives like a new car relatively - still nice and tight and firm having the 'handling package' with 20" Michelins. I tell my friends that it "Drives like a BMW" and is probably the most fun I've had with a car since I owned a 1999 BMW 318i convertible some 10 years ago.  It handled great on these mountain roads as well.

My back yard neighbor Vince, is a HO modeler and an overall nice guy. He is an Army vet and served in the transportation division. He used to lash down Patton tanks during the Vietnam war. He gets a real kick out of my military train which I plan on running at my clubs (BDSME Bethlehem Pa) open houses this year.

JohnB

I moved to the State College PA area 18 months ago and have found about a half dozen that live with in a 15 minute drive of me on only about 3 miles away. But sadly no next door neighbor.

I'm all by my lonesome.  I live in the Spokane WA area and know of 2 large HO semi-public layouts in the area where you have to be members and pay dues.  I just can't afford the dues at this time, 20 a month.  I'm also new at o-scale and am enjoying it.   Big difference from the other 2 scales, ho/n.    No pun intended.

I do wish I had local friends who were into trains like me.   I'm more of a collector who wants to build a simple layout eventually.   Most people think I"m odd having the hobby.  LOL

Welcome Bobotech to this wonderful group as you will find.It

no politics! I love it!

The "big difference" as you have brought out is why I'm an O gauge fan. I find its all much easier to handle🙌!

All my local model train friends are HO guys. 

I've made several friends via OGR!

John d.

eastern Ky

bobotech posted:

I'm all by my lonesome.  I live in the Spokane WA area and know of 2 large HO semi-public layouts in the area where you have to be members and pay dues.  I just can't afford the dues at this time, 20 a month.  I'm also new at o-scale and am enjoying it.   Big difference from the other 2 scales, ho/n.    No pun intended.

I do wish I had local friends who were into trains like me.   I'm more of a collector who wants to build a simple layout eventually.   Most people think I"m odd having the hobby.  LOL

 

 

There have got to be people in your area! I know several members of the Great Northern Railway historical society live in Spokane. Also, you might want to check into joining the nmra. I just joined. I'm embarrassed to say I've been in this hobby 47 years and just join the nmra. I was absolutely stunned and flabbergasted to find out how many guys live within 4 miles of my house. If I would not have joined the nmra I would have never known. Wow.

John d Sewell posted:

Welcome Bobotech to this wonderful group as you will find.It

no politics! I love it!

The "big difference" as you have brought out is why I'm an O gauge fan. I find its all much easier to handle🙌!

All my local model train friends are HO guys. 

I've made several friends via OGR!

John d.

eastern Ky

Hey John,   Eastern KY, eh?    How far are you from Asheville?  We're 25 miles east of Asheville just north of I-40.  Come visit sometime!

Smoky Mountain Model Railroaders.  We have a 30 x 50 layout above a 'train station' with a herd of American Bison outside and 3 real cabooses plus a WW2 Troop car for lodging.  

Google 'Buffalo Creek Vacations' in Clyde NC

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones...my neighbor, and best friend, lives right next door and he too is an O Gauger!  We do shows all the time together.  He has a much better eye for the modeling end and I help with the labor and material input (I like to run trains more than model).  It's actually pretty cool because both of our wives like to join us when we travel looking for new stuff for the layout in flea markets and other venues.  My wife will catch a good load piece in a heart beat...so it's like having 4 eyes on the hunt  As will his!

My wife's uncle; who lives down the road from me,  has been running o gauge trains for over 35 years.  For years now he has an open house around Christmas for his garage layout.(I guess you could technically call it a garage --- I 'm not sure if he has ever parked a car in there... no room due to the layout!!!)  Since I am a relative newbie to the hobby its nice to be able to bounce questions off of him and learn little tricks of the train...I mean trade... that he has gathered through years of experience. 

Like uncle Mentor.

i could say I've had an uncle Mentor in my past. One past on, the second one is ill now.

now that I have a layout, my O gauge friend is my source for information.  Would never had made it this far without him. Never!

only close because of technology.

two hours away though... John d.

I don't know, but I live about 5 miles west of Boston.

I have three guys that live within 5 minutes of me, another 2 with in 10 minutes, and another 6 within 15 minutes.  The closest one is a block and a half.  I just had 39 people at my last get-together with the farthest away from Montana and the rest within an hour or two much of that due to traffic.

Art

I do!!!! My neighbor, Oh wait, he plays with the real thing! LOL!!! Conductor for the BNSF, the thing is he is fascinated by aircraft, which is the industry I am in and I am fascinated by trains which, well, now you know LOL!!

Yes our next door neighbor models Ho and S scale  and has a layout as well. 

Dwayne B posted:

Yes..... and I did not know it until he got very ill. Steve Bales was my neighbor and he was a former Lionel employee who worked for Lionel in the early 50s. Steve was a lifetime railroad man working for the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads. In my opinion he was with out a doubt one of the best model railroad hobbyist ever. The talent of this man was mind blowing. If you want to hear more go to Notch 6 and listen to the podcast titled the "The Lionel Employee in the Neighborhood"

Steve Bales had an impressive layout featured in CTT back in 1989/1990. I was just revisiting it in a Toy Train Layout Tour compilation book. Glad he’s not forgotten. 

Our dear friend, Paul, with whom my wife and I became acquainted when he, as a ten year old, walked across the street to us, as we sat on our deck of our new house, as newly-weds, and he said, "Hi, I'm Paul. Welcome to the neighborhood." Since then (he's in his mid-30's nowadays) he has been a treasure working with me on my layout, installing itsTMCC system for me,

and he and I used to attend the TCA Meet @York, PA, twice a year, with him accompanying me for the journey and every day at the booth. Also, he traveled with me to assist me as part of my Layout Refinements when I worked on Lionel's' corporate office layout in NYC, as well as at the complete reinterpretation and refurbishment of the layout @FAO Schwarz.several times. He also accompanied me to custom-serve a new client in Kansas, as well as clients in neighboring states.. Does it get any hobby-luckier than that!

He loves trains, as I do, and he is in the process of re-building his own layout in his basement, once his numerous renewal projects are completed in his house - directly across the street from us!!!

I realize my reply has turned into a personal celebration of that friendship, so I trust it satisfies your initial inquiry about any of us having neighbors who are also model train hobbyists. I sure do!

FrankM

Anyone near Savannah, GA?

Heck, I don’t even KNOW another train guy, let alone live next to one.

No but Trainland is on the same block as me, just 1/2 mile away!

Hi, is any one near Lakeland, Fl.