Your avatar signature/forum name and layout name

Back in my 30's I played a lot of baseball/softball and was always at a sporting goods store owned by a friend of mine. She asked if I was interested in working there on Saturdays. Figuring it was a good way to get my supplies (bats, gloves...) at cost and make a few bucks I accepted. The guys that worked there full time admired my laid back demeanor in dealing with the customers (it was work for them but for me it was something other than my normal 9 to 5) so they pinned the name ezmike on me.

 

The name of my RR comes from the first initials of my wife, daughter and son; PN&R. Not very creative.

 

Mike

My username is my first name and the intials for a shortline in San Diego that runs on the San Diego Trolley lines in the early mornings, San Diego Imperial Valley. My layout might be named Chula Vista Railway system when I get around to building a layout. Chula Vista means clear view. So I clear view Railway system would only have 1 to 2 trains operating at a time.

I was a naturalist at a nature center north of Atlanta, the Chattahoochee Nature Center. Way back when, I would go on a small Atlanta TV station on a program called Officer Don (Don owned the station) and I would take animals that we had at the center to show and tell. I was of course, Ranger Rick. I am currently an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist and I have a light colored golden retriever named...what else, Ranger! I also bought an older Ford Ranger last year to haul baseball equipment in. Ranger loves the Ranger! 

 

As part of the nature center, we had a wildlife rehabilitation center taking in orphaned and injured animals. I had the opportunity to raise 7 baby raccoons in several years. Unlike many, I like raccoons. My Atlanta layout is named Raccoon Creek Scenic Railroad. 

 

Unfortunately, I had to leave that layout and am now in Ohio with the makings of a new layout in progress. This layout's name will be Shady Hollow just because I like the sound of the name.

 

Rick

 

Some nice folks at a show in Connecticut came up to me and asked, "Hey, are you the Train Guy?" I replied: "Yeah, I'm Trainguy Ken." The name has stuck ever since.

My layout doesn't have an official name. I usually just call it the Traveling Railroad since it's portable and I often take it with me to train club events.

As a kid we had a summer home in East Tawas, Michigan. Used for hunting and fishing. I use to ride my bicycle to the D&M Round House in East Tawas, just off US-23 and watch the trains. At night we could hear the trains coming.

     This Railway is what I use for my You Tube Channel Avatar & Train Room Logo.

This is my story. Pass it on.

University of Pittsburgh......Class of 1997.   Thus, the Panther97.    I haven't come up with a good name for my railroad to date.  

My avatar name is is an anagram for my real name.

 

Rev. Sean Jess Kent

 

(kidding)

For me, there is no connection between my screen name and my railroad's name. The Big Boy part is a little double entendre referring to my physical size and the Union Pacific locomotive. The 4005 part is an homage to my time spent living in the Denver area. I was in an HO club that was in the basement of the old Forney Museum, and the 4005 was just outside the entrance to the club.

 

My layout's name has nothing to do with any of that. The Twin Cities Central is simply descriptive of the area represented. I'm modelling the BNSF, CP and UP as they pass through Minneapolis and St Paul.

 

I use the same login on most forums I'm on.

I got into the email I use very early and needed to pick a email, so I chose P51 as it was available then (people don't believe me when I tell what my email is, now). I have gotten many rides on various WW2 airplanes back in the 90s. The best 90 minutes of my life was spent riding the back seat of a Mustang in formation with a B-17 and a B-24 over water!

I was 26 when this shot was taken, so of course I'm not quite that thin anymore, darn it...

 

My current avatar is me sitting on a P-51 cockpit in my original complete set of WW2 flight gear.

 

 

My layout name is based on the place it takes place in. Stoney Creek is a real place, outside of Elizabethton, Tennessee. My parents (both of whom turn 80 next year) were born and raised there (they currently own the house Dad was raised in). There was a logging RR that went belly up in the early 30s which ran up through there. I always wanted to model the 3-foot ET&WNC RR but knew I'd never be able to do justice to the real locations...

So, I made a fictional branch line to the valley where my parents grew up.

My website link below explains that in more detail...

 

My screen name is my first name and the first two letters of my last name. I like to be called Pat and didn't want any other handle. 

 

My Avitar is a cropped picture of me walking my daughter down the aisle last September. I like the picture and the memory.

 

I don't have a railroad. I operate at my train club. That railroad doesn't have a name.

My mom and dad picked my avatar name.  I've yet to find a suitable pic to use.  Maybe I'll rectify that at York.

 

My RR doesn't have a name as I haven't come up with one I like.  Perhaps one day I will, especially since I'm almost done tearing it down to do a complete rebuild.

 

--Greg

My avatar name is fairly prosaic. There was already a use by the name of 'Len' when I joined the forum. So I became 'Len2' (Len too).

The Odious Orange Octopus. Goes back to my Vietnam days.

Initials, with one common initial borrowed from deceased brother and father and grandfather.

 

My model railroad names (multiple layouts here) are somewhat generic and subject to change.

Gilly is a common nickname amongst men in my family. I have been using it regularly since my father's death in 2006.

 

"N&W" my Grandfather, Father, Brother, and several great and great-great Uncles were N&W employees. Were it not for a blown L2 at age 19 and I would have been at the N&W as well.

 

Layout name: Turbine Town. Dad worked on the N&W 2300 from 1954 - 57. I have an affinity for turbines.

I'm afraid my screen name has nothing to do with trains. I use the same name on every site I visit.

It is a Scrambler, it is an '81, and I've been driving it for 30 years. We're kind of a couple.

 As for the layout: I change it too often to bother naming it. Maybe someday I'll get it right, then I'll think of something.

- I'm a car guy, as many of us here, and specifically a Mopar guy. I grew up in the 50's - 60's (as most of us did), and the hot package on a Dodge from 1955 through 1961 was the "D500". It sometimes had a badge of some kind. Bigger or hotter Hemi -or- long rams intake manifold on a wedge-head, HD brakes and springs, punchier rear-end, maybe Sure-Grip(?).

Enough. That's the origin of "D500". The photo was taken at Railfest in Meridian, Mississippi (100+ miles north of Mobile) by a friend a few years ago.

 

- Railroad name: I don't think of it that way. It's just a slice of things, or a parking lot for projects (as it is now).

I do call it "The Layout", which gives me an idea for some custom decals. Hm-m-m-m. RR Roman or Block Gothic? Slogan: "Take The Layout To Where You Need To Go!" 

When I had to come up with a name while signing up, I went ahead and used the number of the Amfleet Coach Car that I rode on one of the Amtrak Silvers in 2010 or 2011.

 

Full Avatar picture is of me holding an Amfleet Coach and was later cropped to its current size.

Not to stray off topic, but as a Jeep Wrangler/Scrambler/CJ fan, I like your mud photo and you're choice of vehicle.

 

One of these days, I will actually buy one (and not just have a diecast display)

 

Photo below of me at a 2010 Boy Scout event in a WWII Willys Jeep

 

 

I wish I had something interesting to say about my forum name, but the computer at ogauge rr forum picked my forum name.  First name is Steve and I live in Austin Texas.  The computer suggested aussteve.  Knowing that the computer is always right, I agreed.

 

My layout does not have a name, but it could never be named Chula Vista (clear view).  The running trains travel from room to room and pop out occasionally from underneath a second deck that was never finished.  So, there is rarely a clear view.  At present I am moving trains and computer parts off the second deck to either eliminate it or lay down some tracks on the astroturf surface.

My forum name because i like Chessie and the 1971 is the year i was born. My layout is J&A Junction first letter of my first name Jeff  and first letter of my girlfriend name Amy.

Not to split hairs, but that's not a WW2 (or even a military) Jeep. It's a postwar CJ-3. They started making them in 1948.

 

This is a WW2 Jeep. I'm sitting in my 1944 Willys MB:

I also have a 2005 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon - the 2 door, long wheelbase Unlimited. That one will be going to my son next year.

 I was supposed to drive a Willys much like that in a parade once. Moved it about 20' when I smelled fuel. Danged fuel line split, and it was pouring out. Another 20' and it would have become a roman candle. Never did get another chance to drive one.

The Putnam Division is the nostalgic and quaint piece of the New York Central abandoned over the years, 1st with the elimination of passenger service in 1958. Very little is left now, except for some artifacts and the old ROW is a rail trial through Westchester and Putnam Counties.

 

My layout is called the PeboCentral.....My 1st name is Peter and I am known as Uncle Pebo by the young children of one of my partners.....it was also easy to alter a PennCentral logo!

 

 

 

 

 

The picture is from a retirement party of the fellow that started our group.....the group picture is in my profile.....Now, I'm the "old man"!

 

Peter

 

 

Laidoffsick -- Well I'm not laid off, and I'm not sick. Its a term we use at BNSF to call in sick. When you work the road jobs (pool turns or extra boards) you don't have assigned days off, so the only way we get a day off is to "lay off". During busy times the RR will deny you laying off due to man power shortages, but legally they can't deny you calling in sick. If you're sick, you're sick... or not really. They force us to lie to get a day off, not so much any more, but in the past. So ever since I hired out in 1997, I just use Laidoffsick for my screen name everywhere, because if I was not at work, chance are, I was LAIDOFFSICK

 

We named the layout The Ohio and Southwestern because of our roots. My parents were born and raised in Ohio, I was born in Ohio, and then we moved to AZ. Years later moving again to New Mexico and finally CA. So our layout covers the RR's we were exposed to over the years, making it possible to find just about anything running on our layout.  

There was no premeditation for coming up with 'Traindiesel'.  Back in the early '90's I was trying to come up with a handle to use when I signed up on AOL.  Since I love trains I wanted to make the name to reflect that.  About six different attempts were all taken, so I just put two train words together.  I do like diesels as much as steam and electrics but the name was accepted so I went with it and have used it for any and all forum activities.

 

The short story of The Penn American Railroad is that on the way home from a York Meet several years ago, my wife and I were discussing all the different locomotives and rolling stock we bought representing so many different railroads.  Since the PRR is my favorite railroad, and I had trains from so many different liveries, I officially changed my railroad's name to The Penn American Railroad (working on version 4.0 currently).  Previously it was named "Oxford Central" after our location, but was changed to reflect the many different roads as opposed to being localized.

 

Sometimes it's scary how my mind works.

 

Believe That!

Believe in The Penn American Railroad.

My name of Chugman is not what many of you may think.  Some think it is a reference to a bad drinking habit (I don't drink) and some think it refers to steam engines. (I only have one)  It really started because at the time I was working for Dean Foods and was on the team that introduced Milk Chugs, individual plastic bottles of milk.

 

My railroad is presently called the UP & BNSF Railroad.  In my imagination these two RR's merged, but haven't come up with a new name yet.  That allows me to have both everywhere.  I also run a Milwaukee Road branch line on my upper level that interchanges with the UP & BNSF.

 

Art

Doesn't shock me. There are several places in the fuel lines that could happen. Had a carb float develop a pinhole leak and gas was soon gushing over the top of the carb. Thank goodness it was just sitting in my garage warming up for an oil change at the time!

WW2 Jeeps weren't that tough, really. They had fragile parts and broke easily. They're crazy maintenance-intensive, too. Like owning an airplane, you gotta do a walk around every time you fire the thing up.

People today don't realize that a Jeep in WW2 was only supposed to last for no more than a month or two in combat before a new one would be expected to replace it. yet, I have one in the garage that has never been restored, only repainted a few times and had preventative or routine maintenance done to it ever since it was sold in auction by the Navy in 1947...

Growing up in the hamlet of Oyster Bay, N.Y. the train station was about two blocks from home. As children, we would wait for a train arriving to the station. When we seen the train entering the bend down the line, we would run up to the rails a place pennies and nickels on the rails.

 

Once the train passed, we would look for our coins. Most coins were ejected once the locomotive made contact with them. Every once and a while, you would get lucky and you coin would still be lying on the rail as flat as can be, thus FlatNickel.

 

The layout is Possum Junction (I have stolen the "O" From Opossum for the gauge).

Mine is what I was known as on the railroad. Of the several

Jim's that I worked with, I was the tallest of them all.

Graduated from The Pennsylvania State University after 4 years in Happy Valley - State College in 1980. 

I joined this Forum almost 15 years ago. It was the first such Forum I had ever joined. I had no idea what to use as a handle so I chose my favorite locomotive at the time which is the MTH 20-3020-1 NYC Hudson. I still have it and it is still one of my favorites. It has pretty good detail and runs well. Recently I had it converted to PS3. It's not going anywhere anytime soon.

 

I don't have a layout at the present time so no name for the layout. When I get to building it I want it to be a slice of the NYC so I am looking to pick something prototypical that the NYC used.

 

 

The handle is my name, Samuel P. Wills.

 

     In 1980, my dad, then an Amtrak signalman, purchased a 19-acre plot of land on the West Branch of the Brandywine Creek a few miles north of Coatesville, PA. The plot was bisected by the Wilmington & Northern branch of Conrail. My dad saw this as not only a way to watch trains, but he also thought he would see passenger service return to the line. That dream was not to be, the line was abandoned a few years later. Pursuant to Conrail policy the track was completely dismantled and removed.

     Cedar Knoll was the flag-stop at the Cedar Knoll Road crossing on the edge of the aforementioned property. (See attached image from a Reading ramble video) By 1980, all that was left was the foundation of the flag-stop pole. That was covered up by a road realignment about 13 years ago (I was 4-5 at the time.

 

     So we have a station called Cedar Knoll near the West Brandywine hence the Cedar Knoll and West Brandywine Railroad.

 

An additional influence may be my dad's Cedar Knoll Telephone & Telegraph Company.

http://www.cedarknolltelephone.com/

 

 

 

 

I'm not really sure how I came up with the forum name of G3750.  

 

3750 is the number of one of the two surviving PRR K4s Pacific locomotives.  K4s #3750 lives at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.  "G" is the first initial of my first name.  When I was signing up for the forum many years back, that's what I came up with.  I don't know how long ago that really was, but I do remember at the first forum meeting at York, we all had time to stand up and introduce ourselves.  The group's just a little bigger than that right now.

 

I don't have an avatar, as Rich doesn't believe this (below) is what I really look like:

 

 

Anyway, my layout is the PRR Panhandle (thread is in the Photo Forum).  It is named for West Virginia's northern panhandle and was the Pennsy's secondary mainline to St. Louis.

 

 

George

 

When I found out about the forum and joined, it seemed most folks were using something other than their given name. My oldest grandson inherited the train gene, so I chose Lionel Grandpa.

 

As far as a railroad name, the first TMCC locomotive my grandson and I bought was a New York Central Mikado from the Hot Box Reefer set. Then we added a NYC Atlas GP and a NYC Lionel S2 switcher, so we call the layout the New York Central H&G Division (stands for Harry and Grandpa). We recently decided to limit the roster to NYC, PRR, Lehigh Valley and Reading locos. 

Frank, as you have probably been told before, there is a real Moon Township, PA.  It's near the Pittsburgh airport.

 

George

Great topic, Frank!!

 

Well I have used signature/forum name in the past, wmshays, for Western Maryland RR Shays including Big Number 6.  However, I have always disliked getting form messages addressed 'Dear wmshays', like that was my name.  So, when I joined here over 3 years ago, I made it the name my parents game me.  I also put a photo of my mug up there, which has come in quite handy for folks recognizing me at events and hobby shops!  If they hadn't put their photo up there, we could have passed like ships in the night and never met.  I recommend it!!

 

I have had various names for my layouts of the past, but need to come up with a really good name for the new layout I plan to build.  Right now, I post photos take on the Patio Pacific RR, the Picnic Table Pacific RR, the Ceiling Central RR, the Carpet Central RR, and the Temporary Railroad.  All of which are rather self explanatory.