I have a long association with trains as my father was a conductor on the Illinois Central out of Freeport,Illinois.  The first HO train set was from Revell and came at age 8.  I was a junior member of the model RR club there in Freeport and learned from some very competent folks.

After Virginia Tech, I ended up in Roanoke, Virginia where I served 30 years with the Roanoke City Police Department, retiring with the rank of Captain.  Carrying a badge and knowing the Norfolk Southern Ry Police officers was helpful for train photography when the "J" and "A" were operational.

Now retired and living in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I usually walk on the beach every day.  My wife Donna (whom I've known since third grade) and I regularly go out to dance the Carolina Shag, a form of swing dance that developed here at the beach.  We have two grown sons and four grandchildren.

My HO Winneshiek & Western RR is a could-have-been standard-gauge short line hauling lumber and coal out of the mountains of Southwest Virginia immediately prior to America's entry into World War I.    This is a shelf layout in a second bedroom as there aren't basements here at the beach. I mostly work with quality kits, code 70 rail, and plenty of extra detail.   I also have a 1:20.3 garden railroad in the back yard, but I must admit that getting down on the ground to work on it isn't as much fun as it used to be.