I'm
told by my
parents and
relatives that I always had a fascination with trains. My
grandparents on my mother's side lived in a small wooden house in
Ponchatoula, Louisiana within eyesight of the Illinois
Central's mainline
running between Chicago and New Orleans. As a small kid, I
remember the shiny orange
and
brown streamliners racing by, and the rumbling freight trains...some
pulled by
black, utilitarian looking machines (Geeps), and others by
fire-breathing, smoke-belching monsters. I was witnessing the
last of mainline steam, but (at that time) was more interested in those
shiny streamliners! Frankly, those black, smoky monsters just
scared the tar out of me, at least when up close.
For models, it all began for me in the early 50s. I received
an O
scale toy train set for Christmas...don't recollect the make, but that
wasn't important back then. All I knew is that it ran fast,
and
had action accessories, and was amazing. Eventually the set
was
packed away, and I happily went along my way, being distracted by other
wonderful things: Remco command stations and ray guns, flying
rocket models (propelled by baking soda and water), and of course,
Hula-Hoops.
In 1960 at age 12, I had my next encounter with model railroads.
Set up beneath the Christmas tree was a Revell HO scale train
set, powered by an 0-6-0 saddle tank steam locomotive. This
engine was ahead of its time in HO, as it had (in addition to a working
headlight) a smoke generator, and SOUND! The chuffs were
provided
by tiny beebees in a spring buffered plastic box that was activated by
a cam on one of the drivers, shaking the box back and forth.
Truly unique at the time.
I was hooked! And I've been an HO scale modeler ever since.
I've built several layouts over the years, usually in spare
bedrooms. Most were never
completely finished
(usually due to
moves). Though there have been extended periods over the
years
when I wasn't actually modeling, I've always tried to keep up with the
hobby with my reading, experimenting, and by operating with friends at
their layouts. Oh, and did I mention
G scale?
On the prototype side of things, I have spent a significant amount of
time track side over the years. I've railfanned lines over a
fairly sizable portion of the country, and even spent a
short while employed as a brakeman on the Texas and Pacific back in the
early 70s. My love has always been with the shortlines I've
ferreted out over the years, and the Louisiana Central was (and is)
just one such of those lines.
The Louisiana Central for today and the future, will incorporate both
old and new ideas and technologies. I don't forsake the old
stuff
just because something is newer. But I do intend to update
some
of my materials and methods on this layout.
My intent is to chronicle the construction, and later, the operation of
the line through these web pages.
Happy railroading!
