First post

Congrats on your first post and welcome to the forum!

Your life story sounds very familiar.  Many of us returned to the world of O gauge after a lifetime of other obligations.

If you've been reading here you already know it's a great place and an endless source of information on all aspects of the O gauge hobby. 

Welcome aboard!

welcome to  OGR and all it has to offer

Thanks for the welcome.  I have picked up countless tips already like tossing the factory rechargeable batteries in the MTH PS2 units.   Found a set of Mike's early PS2 Greybacks (new old stock) at Nassau and first thing i did was toss that white 9v.    Another thing I learned here is that there are different types of 9 volt batteries.  Good stuff to know when dealing with expensive toys like these.

When I finally came back to O gauge 6 or 7 years ago a whole new world opened up to me.  The Scale look of the offerings today are what I wished for in 1960.  Better late than never.   This was an experience maybe some of you can understand.   I admit that if I ever win the lottery and make a trip to York I fully expect that on my return, all the locks will be changed on the house.  

Some of my earliest memories of trains are of a Burlington commuter train pulled by steam engine.  The thick black smoke is something I will never forget.  Another vivid recollection is of Soo line F3s hauling rusty old steam engines to scrap.  It was a horrible sight as the poor dilapidated steamers had been my friends.  They seemed to  me like they had been beasts of burden rather than simply machines.

Ok, here are my F3s.  The Soo Lines are Mike's PS3.  They sound better than any other engine I have.   The NP ones are Legacy.  I have a dummy B for them and they are really nice engines.  No tethers, either.   The Greybacks are just awesome engines.  I wish there was a powered B for this set.  someday I might figure out a way to make one.  I know one thing, those guys aren't going anywhere when I'm gone cause I'm taking them with me.

Adios,  Phil

Welcome Phil, enjoy the ride...  

Very nice. I can recall my older brother (who is not at all into trains) saying once that he thought those kind of diesels (F units) "are what trains are supposed to look like". 

 I notice you've opted for MTH track, as opposed to Fastrack; any particular reason why? Just curious...

Enjoy this site!

Mark in Oregon

I like the look of the T-rail of Real Trax and the ease of setting up & taking down since I don't have room in the townhouse for a permanent layout.

I forgot to mention how much I appreciate K-line since I had never even heard of it before a few years ago!  It sort of adds a little spice to the mix when shopping for something   that's been out of production for so long. I feel like a gumshoe poking around at every online store, picking up the "finds" once I locate what I'm looking for.  Try finding a K-line CB&Q standard cupola caboose.  Took me years but that's half the fun.

Thanks for the warm reception.  I have come to feel like I know some of you folks already.  After all, it's the world's greatest hobby.

Nice "first splash", jumping in like an old pro with a spectacle of your past; leaving me wanting more 

Thanks, Adriatic.   

We lived in Mundelein, Illinois when I was small and the houses across the street had the Soo Line running literally through their back yards and we  had a good view of those trains from 1950-58.  I walked a block down and then under the Soo Line's rickety wooden trestle to get to school.  It collapsed causing a freight derailment a few years after we moved and took down more than one garage.  The pictures of that were in the Chicago papers.  I used to play beneath that very trestle while trains were going over it!

Those days made me enjoy the sounds and sights of trains working and it's still in my blood.

Phil

Welcome! Nice stories.

Did you say Berwyn?! Svengoolie would be proud! 

Phil, great story,...……...you'll fall right in place here! I was in the same boat you were! now its time to start slowing down and enjoy your trains!...I couldn't help but relate! …..bills, bills, and more bills!...awwww...phooey!

  That must have been something; to know you used to stand right there. I spent hours watching the Soo load the Chief Wawatam rail ferry at the dock in St Ignance Mi. as a kid ... alas; no steam left ...today, no dock left either

I can still feel the banging of cars in the huge hollows rumbling up the hill at me. Good times!

Yes, the car ferries!  That was before Mighty Mac was built.  We waited in the hot August sun in our 1950 Buick in the staging yard the size of a medium sized freight yard until our turn to  get onto the car ferry so we could cross the straits of Mackinac.  I got sea sick after all that waiting!  

Yep, train service existed all across the UP back then.  You could go just about anywhere by train in those days.  What's happened?

The Svengoolie thing is great.  It's a real Chicago thing and he's still on Sat. nites telling the worst jokes & making the most awful puns.  Gotta love it.  Used to be on a UHF station.  Anyone recall UHF?

Phil McCaig posted:

Yes, the car ferries!  That was before Mighty Mac was built.  We waited in the hot August sun in our 1950 Buick in the staging yard the size of a medium sized freight yard until our turn to  get onto the car ferry so we could cross the straits of Mackinac.  I got sea sick after all that waiting!  

Yep, train service existed all across the UP back then.  You could go just about anywhere by train in those days.  What's happened?

The Svengoolie thing is great.  It's a real Chicago thing and he's still on Sat. nites telling the worst jokes & making the most awful puns.  Gotta love it.  Used to be on a UHF station.  Anyone recall UHF?

I repaired many a TV as a lad, TVs that didn't even have a UHF tuner! Talk about dinosaurs!!! And I think many stations around the country had a "Svengoolie" of their own. 

Welcome Phil, you're in good company! Like you, I set up and tear down due to lack of space - my current mess is right here, a small portion of the stuff I bought and repaired in the last coupla months

Phil,    thanks for introducing yourself and providing some background information. 

Welcome, I have thoroughly enjoyed my 13 year ride along here, it's a great place to be.   

Your post brought back some memories from childhood I hadn't revisited in a long time.   

Thanks, everyone.  We all seem to have a lot in common and wow! that has to be the best "carpet central" I have ever seen, Geopeg.       There ought to be a contest.  I predict a new thread heading toward the holiday season.

Anyone agree?

Welcome aboard, Phil!

We've got a great group of people here!

Thanks, Rich.   The wife & I bought tickets for the Galesburg excursion that was supposed run on the BNSF 3 years ago and were to ride in the ex-Northern Pac. lounge dome Stampede Pass and 765 was to haul us to Railroad Days.  That was going to be an awesome trip but was cancelled due to weak sales, darn it.   You were still running then, weren't you?

Anyway, we were looking forward to the trip and also meeting the boss.  Maybe one of these days we will cross paths. 

Phil

This is the wife and the neighbors' son shortly after we bought our first home.  They're playing with my basement carpet central. That ZW has been with me since 1959.