Hi! I’m a life-long train buff, been a NRHS member for a long time now, got my 25 year pin in 2011 (probably one of the youngest people ever to earn one, got mine before I turned 40). I have varies railroad interests, such as the Milwaukee Road through the Pacific NW as a branch of it ran less than 1/8 a mile from my back door. I’m also interested in narrow gauge, having personally visited almost every NG railroad in the US (yes, including Alaska and Hawaii). I’m most interested in the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina railroad, as my parents grew up where it ran. My folks were teens when the 3-footer was abandoned but don’t recall ever seeing it run. They do, however, remember 207 and 208 (now known as SRR 630 and 722) running around the area. My first train ride ever was behind ET&WNC # 12 at Tweetsie RR as a kid and my first cab ride ever was on 630 at Chattanooga. I’m really interested in all kinds of things, my primary interest is military and railroad history. I’ve been a historical re-enactor since I was a little kid. Done various historical themed shows over the years, been on camera on CNN, PBS and the History Channel over the years. When I’m not chasing trains (or building models of them), I can sometimes be spotted tinkering with my 1944 Willys woo woo woo Jeep in the garage or at an airshow or re-enactment driving it. I'm currently getting ready to start construction on a On30 scale model RR layout in a back bedroom, depicting a fictional branch line of the ET&WNC taking place in 1943: [URL="http://www.freewebs.com/willy...m/willysmb44/modeltrains.htm[/url[/U][/COLOR]]
Welcome to TrainBoard! Hi from a PS native, now some miles away. Items in my collection, ET&WNC: http://www.train-orders.com/TOUR/ETWN/ETWN.html
Welcome aboard! I'm guessing your historical interest centers around or near WW-II? I recall as a high schooler going to a reenactment put on by a group outside St Louis, it was fantastic! Got a ride in a Weasel and an M16 halftrack out of it. Good luck on the build and you'll find lots of folks here sharing interests.
Welcome aboard, p51. Interesting background there. I was wondering if the p51 had anything to do with Mustang type P-51s? I am a big fan of WWII era aircraft as well as steam locomotives.
Yes, P51 is for the Mustang. Got to fly one in formation with a B-17 and a B-24 over the water once, in Florida... WOW, I saved those, need to recreate that form for the layout ops once it's built!
Whereabouts in the Puget Sound are you located? I spent almost 49 of my first 50 years in and close by the Snoqualmie Valley.
I'm at the other end, near Centralia... Ironically, I spent my first 28 years in North Florida. When I pinned on my Army LT bars, I decided I wanted to be as far from that heat and humidity of the deep south as I could get. And when resigned after a few years, I had married a local gal and stayed in the area. For a train fan, there are fewer places that are better!
It was quite something a few decades ago. Milwaukee Road, Chehalis Western/CM&E, NP, GN. You would have even seen some huge UP diesel power. When my mom's forebears left eastern Nebraska, (during the Civil War), they came to Montana, then some went on to eastern Oregon, and finally ended up in the 1870's, Centralia/Chehalis area. Somewhere, I have a bunch of distant cousins, scattered around Lewis, Mason, Grays Harbor and other area counties.
