I was born in 1951. Started receiving Lionel trains, 027 track and switches, and accessories as gifts from the time I was an infant until age 12 or 13. Still have those childhood trains, but never saved the boxes! What a mistake!

In the mid to late 1980s my wife and I had 2 children (boy and a girl), and that really got me excited about trains. Built several 027 layouts in our basement until the late 1990s, when my daughter, son and I built a large O Gauge layout (around 3 sides of 2 rooms in basement connected by a tunnel through a wall).  This is my last and final layout. It is 36 feet long and 4 feet wide in most places, but in some areas its as much as 8 feet wide.  I always regarded Classic O Gauge with independently powered O22 switches as the ultimate because that is what my rich cousins had. This final layout is a conventional one with many switches and sidings, and with block wiring. Trains can run independently on the main lines while other trains are parked in the sidings.

I will never forget the moment when I tunneled through that wall so trains could leave the room and then return.  My little girl told my wife, "Daddy finally did it, he is tunneling through the wall and devaluing the house."  Fortunately, I have a very understanding wife.

I love my O Gauge trains and layout.  It has been very good therapy for me because, at times,  I have a very challenging profession with people's lives in my hands.  The trains bring me joy, happiness, and provide me with peace and sanctuary where: "In my little world, I leave this troubled world behind."