Good evening
Like your thread Mark
Since returning to Model Railroading about 5-6 years ago, the memories have been held all those years in-between and rekindled from starting over again.
It wasn't long after, a fond memory came back of a young Kid riding his bike to Gaugers Hobbies, finally having enough money to buy that first Green Machine he had his eye on.
Those things ran up and down the lines about a half mile from our house where us Kids always hung out at the nature reserve watching those magnificent Trains. Timmy always yelled Green Machine, Green Machine when he heard the rumble of one in the distance. We all ran out from behind the Trestle grade incline to get a better view of that beast coming down the tracks.
I remember when I pulled that new Burlington Northern out of the case, it was like an energy that filled up the room. It's these memories that makes this hobby even more fun this time around. The magic isn't as intense as it once was acquiring one of those new Green Machines but I can almost smell those old memories.
What was always loved about my career through the years in-between the hobby was an enjoyment of craftsmanship the same as Model Railroading provides. It now fills a void that would otherwise be a big empty hole.
The same imagination of a vision put down on paper and making it three-dimensionally come to life could now be done differently. That was always the passion and continues as a relaxing pastime.
TF