Like alot of people in this hobby, I was given a Lionel train set in the mid-fifties as a Christmas present. After a few years of running them around the tree at Christmas, they ended up in the family attic, until I rediscovered them sometime in my mid-twenties. What a find! After constructing a few small layouts, I soon realized that HO was the way I wanted to go (for all the obvious reasons). While not having the time I wanted to devote to the hobby, I was still able to put a few layouts together in between location changes. Now that I will soon be settling into retirement, THAT'S ALL ABOUT TO CHANGE! And it should keep me out of my wife's hair most of the time.