I have been a model railroader since childhood, beginning with a Marx O-27 layout, followed by an American Flyer S scale layout.  I have been in HO since 1960 (except for a brief foray into N Scale in the '80's). My wife and I moved to South  Carolina in 2014 and I now have an 18' by 2' switching layout in our garage.  My layout is fully scenicked and operational (D.C.C.). I model a fictional terminal and switching line, the Terminal Railroad of New Jersey (Jersey Terminal), a subsidiary of the CNJ and the B&O. A typical session takes 2 hours and involves an average of 30-32 cars. Since I have over 200 freight cars, this necessitates the removal and replacement of 15-16 cars between sessions. My freight cars are a mix of old and newer, from Athearn "Blue Box" of the 60's-90's to Red Caboose cars, Accurail, etc. The majority are 40' box cars, of course, followed by many reefers, several covered hoppers, and a mix of flats, gondolas, and tank cars. I presently have seven operational engines--a Stewart VO-1000, a Bowser (Stewart) DS 4-4-100, a Bowser (Stewart) S-8, a Spectrum H-10-44, an Atlas HH600, and an Atlas S-2 each with ESU sound.. I replaced the H10-44's QSI decoder with a LokSound decoder to improve slow speed operation as well as the HH600 with a Loksound 5.0 micro.   I attempt to operate as realistically as possible. I am a retired Baptist minister and my wife and I have five sons and many grandchildren!  I've been reading MR since 1959, when it was 50 cents a copy!