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Where is everyone from?

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  • Member since
    February 2001
  • From: Canada
  • 21 posts
Posted by milkman on Saturday, May 12, 2007 12:00 PM
I am from  mid-western Ontario Canada,   Harriston... To be exact,, N scale layout in the basement,, TH&B, CP,    Pictures to follow soon   Steve
  • Member since
    April 2006
  • From: THE FAR, FAR REACHES OF THE WILD, WILD WEST!
  • 3,672 posts
Posted by R. T. POTEET on Saturday, May 12, 2007 12:53 PM
 jasperofzeal wrote:

 R. T. POTEET wrote:

I reside in the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west.

I suppose THESIS is a valid word assocated with your question although I would probably have used "premise."

I'm not sure about the validity of your THESIS; there is a flaw in your topic narrative and that is your use of the word "majority'.  "Majority" is a pretty big word.  The majority of the population of the United States probably does reside between the Ohio River and the Pacific Coast but that doesn't necessarily prove that that region has the majority of modelers.  California has many; to the best of my knowledge Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming have relatively few - boy am I going to get raked over that statement.  Define Texas!!! Western or Southern State.  I ask because Texas has very strong roots in both regions.  It also has Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio all major metropolitan areas.  Incidently, demographers advance that by the turn of the twenty-second century Texas will be the nations most populous state; Wyoming will probably continue in last place which doesn't bother those who reside there at all; after all, they have one representative and two senators up on Capitol Hill which gives them the most substantial representation in the country.

Model railroading is PREDOMINANTLY an urban hobby and where you find a large urban population you are going to find a large model railroading population.  The midwest is richly urban but then so is the northeast; the south, as well as most of the west - even including Texas - is still predominantly rural.  California, with the nations largest population, is one gigantic traffic jam.  Model Railroader magazine used to publish data on "Where the Modelers are' based upon their subscription records - I haven't seen one of these in many years.

I would SPECULATE that the majority of modelers in the good ole' US of A reside north of the Potomac River, north of the Ohio River, and east of the Mississippi River.  Throw California and Texas into that mix and I'll bet that you account for two out of every three (active) modelers in the country.

  

I'm beginning to like you.  Not in a funny way, I just like how you speak.



Judging by some of the more profound (personal) e-mails which I have received you are in a very exclusive minority; most people think I am long-winded and pompous.  Few really get the acclaim they deserve in their lifetime. 

From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet

  • Member since
    April 2006
  • From: THE FAR, FAR REACHES OF THE WILD, WILD WEST!
  • 3,672 posts
Posted by R. T. POTEET on Saturday, May 12, 2007 1:33 PM
 yougottawanta wrote:
I am in the middle of no where (and like it like that) in a place west of Warrenton Va. Which is approximately 2 hours west of washington depending on traffic Banged Head [banghead] 1 1/2 hours in light traffic. I am very lucky in that there is a great LHS in warrenton. The owner (Tony) has actually hired some model railroaders who know the hobby. He also automatically discounts everything 10% plus you can sign up for a hobby card which gives another 5% off. And it is only about ten minutes from my house. And its nice they know most of their customers by name.     


You are not in the middle of nowhere; you are west of the middle of nowhere.  Actually, you live in an area that is rich in both Frontier America history as well as American Civil War history.  If I had grown up or now lived there I would probably long ago have abandoned any interest in model railroading and turned myself over to historical exploration.

I live in a MAJOR metropolitan area but we do not really have a plethora of hobby shops in this area.  Several, however, are outstanding and two of these are exclusively trains which makes it very nice.  We have bad summers - it is headed for 105º today - when everyone hibernates indoors - we are, incidently, the swimming pool capital of the nation - but we wear short-sleeved shirts in February and that makes this an area given over to outdoor activities in the late-fall, winter, and early-spring.  One would expect that, considering the population,  we would have more model railroading in this area.  I have seen the volume pick up since the Air Force transfered me here almost thirty four years ago; the population has tripled in that time and, perhaps, the number of modelers may have quadrupled but we are still far from being a virtual hotbed of model railroading activity. 

From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet

  • Member since
    April 2005
  • 2,314 posts
Posted by don7 on Saturday, May 12, 2007 2:41 PM

Hi, live in NW British Columbia near the tracks of the Grand Trunk Pacific - Now the CN. Layout is HO.

I am near Prince Rupert. So much early history here, what with the founder of the Railroad being one of the ill fated passengers on the Titanic.

  • Member since
    June 2005
  • From: Licking County, Ohio
  • 268 posts
Posted by outdoorsfellar on Saturday, May 12, 2007 4:24 PM
Central Ohio here.... Newark area.
  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Weymouth, Ma.
  • 5,199 posts
Posted by bogp40 on Saturday, May 12, 2007 5:28 PM
Weymouth, Ma and is just south of Boston.

Modeling B&O- Chessie  Bob K.  www.ssmrc.org

  • Member since
    February 2006
  • From: Germany
  • 524 posts
Posted by faraway on Saturday, May 12, 2007 6:50 PM

I'm in Sindelfingen/Germany.

The layout shares(actually dominates) a room with my home office. It's great to do some switching during boring telephone conferences;-)

Reinhard

  • Member since
    November 2004
  • 10 posts
Posted by grumpy61 on Saturday, May 12, 2007 9:13 PM
Evansville, Indiana.  HO scale of L&N and C&EI in basement.
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 12, 2007 9:31 PM
Born in Hutchinson Ks Living in Houston Tx for the 2nd time.
  • Member since
    January 2007
  • From: Shelby, NC
  • 2,545 posts
Posted by Robby P. on Saturday, May 12, 2007 9:40 PM
From good ole NC, but moved to PA almost a year ago.  About 30 miles south of Pittsburgh.  Also I am about 5 minutes from the Monongalia river which it's one of the few rivers that flow north.  One side of the river, the tracks carry CSX and the other is Norfolk Southern.   So I have a good pick of what I want to view......

 "Rust, whats not to love?"      

  • Member since
    April 2007
  • From: Northern Va
  • 1,924 posts
Posted by yougottawanta on Monday, May 14, 2007 11:51 AM
Poteet,I have always been interested in history, you almost have to living where I have grown up. The county where I was raised George Washington owned property, Mosbys Rangers gave the Union Railroad and the Union Calvary fits (Mosbys Confederacy), I drove through a gap in the mountains that was discovered by Daniel Boone,have found mini balls from the civil war era and near a creek I found many arrow heads of varouis sizes and shapes. Not to mention being near five major battle fields of the civil war era,homes to the first Presidents of the US of A...I could go on and on about the history. But I still Love trains.
  • Member since
    January 2007
  • 92 posts
Posted by woodlandtoots on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 8:52 PM

I live in Collinsville, Illinois, just across the line from St. Louis, Missouri and most of time considered to be part of the Greater St. Louis Metro Area called "Metro East St. Louis" although I don't understand why those here in Illinois want to be considered part of "St. Louis". I work in St. Louis, but I live in Illinois and I'm proud to be from Illinois. (But I don't hold a grudge against St. Louis, I just want to be recognized for being from Illinois.)

Woodlandtoots 

 

  • Member since
    April 2007
  • From: Over There
  • 454 posts
Posted by CPRail modeler on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 9:14 AM

here is a clue...the site of the 2010 Olympics.

i think...

anyways, my rails currently carry CP Rail equipment, yet seeing the same logo going around gets quite boring so i'm looking for other stuff. there are (as far as i know) three hobby shops within one hours drive and another one in Surrey that i want to check out.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: indianapolis
  • 63 posts
Posted by frisco kid on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 10:19 AM
Springfield, Missouri. Deep in the heart of Frisco country!!! BNSF who???????????????
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Clinton, MO, US
  • 4,261 posts
Posted by Medina1128 on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 10:28 AM

Clinton, MO - Home of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR... a fictitious short line pike for MoPac, with service from the Missouri/Northern Arkansas and the Frisco lines.. MOPAC Rules!!!!!!!!

  • Member since
    May 2005
  • From: Huntington WEST Virginia
  • 384 posts
Posted by ChessieFan13 on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 10:46 AM
West Virginia  
  • Member since
    November 2002
  • From: Texas, USA
  • 120 posts
Posted by ssgauge on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 10:54 AM
Idaho.
  • Member since
    February 2001
  • From: North Vancouver, BC
  • 155 posts
Posted by DavidH on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 12:56 PM

Also the site of the 2010 Olympics, but beautiful North Vancouver.  Eat your heart out Burnaby . . .  Modeling SRY (former BD Hydro Rail) in N.

 

David

  • Member since
    July 2002
  • From: California
  • 3,722 posts
Posted by AggroJones on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 1:10 PM

  I'm from the western region of Antartica. Laugh [(-D]

Al you're only the second person I've ever seen with a negative post count.

"Being misunderstood is the fate of all true geniuses"

EXPERIMENTATION TO BRING INNOVATION

http://community.webshots.com/album/288541251nntnEK?start=588

  • Member since
    December 2005
  • From: County Schuylkill
  • 484 posts
Posted by jblackwelljr on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 1:29 PM
Pottsville, PA...not the most exciting place on the map, but we do have Yuengling.
Jim "He'll regret it to his dyin day, if ever he lives that long." - Squire Danaher, The Quiet Man
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 1:44 PM
Olathe, KS.  Suburb of Kansas City.   BNSF, UP and KCS all cross here.  Great for watching TRAINS!!!  Get to see all types of locos and rolling stock! 
  • Member since
    July 2006
  • 329 posts
Posted by Annonymous on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 1:59 PM

Another Norwegian here, Bjørkelangen is about 55km / 34 miles east from Oslo. I met another train friend (steinjr) on this forum, and he lives only 28km / 18 miles away. That's rather weird, two Norwegian "neighbours" getting together on a US forum..!

Anyway, this forum is a great inspiration, even though we're modelling two totally different prototypes (US diesel era vs Norwegian steam era).

 

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: Omaha, NE
  • 10,621 posts
Posted by dehusman on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 6:33 PM
a test

Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com

  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Kentucky
  • 356 posts
Posted by myred02 on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 8:00 PM

I live in Hopkinsville, KY on the CSX Henderson Subdivision. There are lots of places to watch trains, including two passing sidings (one to the north of town and another to the south) and an old L&N station in the middle of downtown that is now the home of the local Arts Council. In fact, my avatar pic was taken at the passing siding north of town, known as the Latham Siding.

-Brandon

Modeling (and railfanning) the CSX mainlines since... ah fudge I forgot! http://myred02.rrpicturearchives.net/ http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=myred02
  • Member since
    January 2001
  • From: AUSTRALIA
  • 308 posts
Posted by Teditor on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 8:16 PM
 AggroJones wrote:

 shutthehellup wrote:
Corny gay topic!  Where you from? Blah blah blah  Wanna date them or something!

How can you be so hard on yourself dude...Question [?]

Love the names, says it all, I should change from Teditor to Terdinator

"I come from the land down under!" Hey! that would make a good song title!

 

Teditor

  • Member since
    January 2002
  • From: ERIE PA.
  • 1,661 posts
Posted by GAPPLEG on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 9:42 PM
Love to respond to some people, lived all over at times. Stationed at Vint Hill Farms in Warreton VA. back in the 60's.  Anyway, Born in Ill. Lived most of my life in El Paso Texas. Have lived in Erie PA. for 38 years. I work at the GE locomotive plant. I model the SP because of my life in West Texas.
  • Member since
    July 2005
  • From: North Little Rock, AR
  • 112 posts
Posted by UnionPacific3985 on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 9:42 PM
North Little Rock, AR but I go to school in Fayetteville which is about 200 miles from NLR. It's great to be home for the summer so I can work on my layout.
Union Pacific Challenger #3985 North Little Rock, AR June 20, 2004
  • Member since
    May 2006
  • 98 posts
Posted by IRONHORSE77 on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 9:47 PM

Fort Worth, Tx. via Atchison, Ks. Topeka, Ks. and Houston, Tx.

Chuck

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • 195 posts
Posted by NS SD70M-2 on Saturday, May 19, 2007 4:58 PM

 NS2591 wrote:
I'm from Eastern Michigan. There is a few of us from Michigan on here. 4884Bigboy is from Western Mi. and Engineer Joey is belive is from Southern Michigan

                 I'm from michigan too!

                          Dearborn ,Mi

  • Member since
    October 2004
  • From: Colorful Colorado
  • 8,639 posts
Posted by Texas Zepher on Saturday, May 19, 2007 5:29 PM

I am FROM:

1. born & early childhood in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
    Grandparents & Uncle had farms on the Santa Fe mainline in Lamar & Granada respectivley
2. childhood in Wichita Kansas (RI, MP, AT&SF, Frisco)
3. 1 year of college  in Greenville South Carolina (no time to look at trains)
4. College rowing crew for short times I was from Austin Texas & Philadelphia PA
5. First job St. Louis Missouri - 4 years. (wow, it seemed like every railroad imaginable except Santa Fe)
6. Then my big break I got to move back to Colorado and that is where I AM not FROM.

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