Just want to say hello from northern New Jersey and thanks for making this lionel group. It all started when I was 5 years old and my grandfather took a 4x8 piece of plywood into the back room and we went to town on making the most compact and intense layout within the given space. He has been collecting Lionels from when he was a kid and had a huge double deck layout before he met my grandmother. They got a house with no basement so everything went into boxes. He has a collection of around 155 sets, every plasticville building and other odds and ends. I remember going to garage sales and buying boxes and boxes of trains for next to nothing with him 15-20 years back. Large Italian style Christmases, we always had a circle around the tree until I got the idea of running the circle around the whole living room on the floor. I'm 30 years old now and finally got a house to myself with a basement to set up a nice layout. I've been collecting over the years and have a nice little collection going myself. I'm in the process of building a 16x8 layout in my basement now. I've been going to all the local train shows and got the nickname postwar kid because that's all I mainly buy and the dealers are shocked to learn I want postwar stuff. I have around 100 Alco engines and need a few more to complete my Alco collection. I am currently searching for the hard to find Alcos. I need the 221 olive drab engines and the new havens. Attached are some pictures of the 4x8 double deck with up and down ramps that I designed when I was 5-8 years old back in 1990. I wanted maximum action and trains. I'll post pictures of my grandpas original layout. My first layout which is still up. And my 16x8 which is going up now
Jared
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