Served USAF during the cold war.  Retired Opr. Engineer.  Built my first 4X8 layout in HO when I was fourteen using paper route money living on Long Island, N.Y..  Have been in N scale since 1982.  The engines then sounded like lawn mowers but soon to come after that was an Atlas RS3 that I think along with Kato changed the whole game.  Things have really changed since then.  I have switched to Digitrax DCC on my new layout build.   Model Railroading never leaves you.