My Model Railroading

The Begining

The HO Days 1977-1989:
For my real world job, I am in the United States Army Infantry serving in the Minnesota Army National Guard - AGR (Active Guard Reserve).  I am active duty but have the luxury of serving full time in my home state without having to move all over the place which is good for the family.  I have a loving wife and five awesome daughters. My first model train experience came from a HO scale Tyco train set from the Sears Christmas catalog.  I remember I begged my parents for one of those cool train sets in the catalog.  My dad told me they were garbage and don't last.....I didn't care, I wanted one sooooo bad.  Christmas 1977 I was six years old and I got the Tyco Royal Blue train set.  Little did I know that my dad was right and Tyco was crap!!!  But man was it COOL even if it only last a year or so.

Tyco Roal Blue 2-8-0 After my loco died, it served as a park display on my layout from 1978-1989

Details of my first and only train set:

This 1977 TYCO train set included a blue and silver 2-8-0 Consolidation with Smoke lettered "The Royal Blue" and carrying number 638 (#245-02); a chrome Shell Tank Car (#367C); a Southern Pulpwood Car (#334A); a yellow Union Pacific 40' Gondola with Culvert Pipes (#341B); a green Burlington Northern Box Car (#339E); and a streamline blue and silver Royal Blue Caboose (#327-02).  The Royal Blue set also included 14-sections of track that built a 36" x 45" oval layout ran by a standard 1-amp TYCO Power Pak (#899).

I grew up in Anoka Minnesota, a small suburb (former small town) about 15 miles northwest of Minneapolis Minnesota.  Not far from my house ran the double tracked mainline of the Burlington Northern (former Northern Pacific mainline).  This is what fueled my passion for railroading.  After the Tyco Royal Blue loco died, my father and I set out to the hobby shop.  World of Toys and Hobbies in the Northtown Mall in Blaine Minnesota.  Without knowing much about model trains, we opted for another Tyco engine.  I fell in love with a Burlington Northern E7.  This thing was fast.....damn fast.  It lasted longer than the Tyco steamer but lived less than a year.  Back then I knew nothing of being prototypical....it was a train and I liked them :)  This would be the last Tyco locomotive I would purchase (some others were given to me by friends in later years....but even as a young boy....I quickly learned they were crap).

Tyco E7A - Operated from 1979-1980 

Here are some photos of rail cars I operated in the early days (1977-1980 and beyond) of my model railroad all TYCO.

Other Rolling Stock - The Invasion of the BN:

Atlas FP7 - Burlington Northern (1980-1985) Sold 1999
After the death of my TYCO E7A, my father and I returned to the World of Toys and Hobbies to purchase another replacement locomotive.  The salesperson there enlightened us that TYCO is indeed crap but there were some brands that had very good quality.  He introduced us to Atlas.  I spoted an Burlington Northern F7A loco.  We test ran it in the the store and it soon became the prime mover on my layout.  Around 1985 I decided to break away from "modern" railroading because I enjoyed steam as well as diesel. (my father had a special place for the steam monsters....I liked them too).  This decision led me to the BN heritage of GN and NP (these were Minnesota based railroads and therefore in my mind the only ones that mattered :))  I attempted to repaint this locomotive as well as an Atheran SD9.....I found out it was harder than it looked.  Needless to say, this locomotive did see service on my layout again after 1985 except for once in a great while I would break it out and run it for the heck of it.  I eventually sold this locomotive on E-Bay in 1999 as part of my HO Scale sell off as I reentered Model Railroading in N Scale....but that is a different story. :) 

This is a photo of an Atlas FP7

Two Atheran SD9 - Burlington Northern (1981 - 1986) Sold 1999
In 1981 I purchased my first Atheran locomotive, an SD9 - Burlington Northern.  This locomotive was not as smooth as the Atlas but was way cheaper and ran pretty good.  I like this model so much I purchased another one in 1982.  In 1981 I redesigned my layout to have a doubled tracked loop with a few industrial spurs and a shortcut in the middle of the layout.  One of my Atheran SD9's suffered the same bad paint plauge that defaced my Atlas.  Needless to say that model joined the Atlas locomotive in storage.  The second BN SD9 was taken out of action in 1986 with the full scale change over to the Great Northern and Northern Pacific.  Both locomotives were sold in 1999 on E-Bay. Below are other locomotives purchased and operated during the GN & NP phase

Atheran F7 - Northern Pacific (1985 - 1989) Sold 1999
Atheran FP45 - Great Northern (1986 - 1989) Attempted sale in 1999, item returned by buyer.  I still have this one....an no, it is no loger for sale :)
AHM FM C-Liner - Great Northern (1985 - 1989) Sold 1999 This loco always ran poorly....never liked it.
Mantua Mikado - Great Northern (1986 - 1989) Gave away 2000 This locomotive ran very well, super detailed and weighed a ton on it's own.  A terrible accident happend to this loco in 1988 when it fell crashing onto a concrete floor.  It was never the same.  In 2000, I gave this locomotive to a friend who was active in HO to nurse it back to health.  It is now operational on his layout (last report from 2001)
Rivarossi 2-8-8-2 Mallet - Norfolk Western (planned on changing to GN) (1987-1989) Sold 1999
Three AHM Trolleys - Downtown (1986 - 1989) Sold 1999

Other rolling stock from 1977 to the end in 1989 included several Atheran railroad cars.  The following are hightlights:
BN Coal Hoppers (about 12 Atheran cars purchased)
Atheran Caboose - BN
Atheran Caboose - GN
Atheran Caboose - NP
Atheran Streamline Pass Car Set - NP
Atheran Ore Cars - GN and NP, two Duluth Misabe
Atheran Frig BoxCar - NP
12 Atheran box cars - BN

Even from my early days there is evidence for my liking of coal trains and the BN :)  Below are some of the structures and other items that began operations on my model railroad in the early days to the end of my HO days.

 
I thought This was pretty cool back in the day.  I think I did not add this until 1982 or so.

I added this to the layout around 1981 I was not that crazy about it.....plus I was drifting towards diesels.

I had two of these from tyco, one from Bachman and one from LifeLike (the life like had one on both sides)  This model always bugged me.  For starters there was only one crossing gate and crossbuck.  This source of irritation was the beginning of path towards being prototypical....you know what....this model still bugs me today :)  Oh and one more thing.....that stupid arm would bounce like it was having a seizure when a train would pass...stay down until the last car clears.....Yeah.....OK.....NOT!!!!!

Don't remember how I got this.....I did not care for it much, I sold it off in the early 80's

This crossing kit I LOVED!!! yeah it only covered one side but it was so cool.  when my first one quit working, I bought another one to replace it and then added another one, not long after I had about four of these on my layout.  I added the first one in 1982 and the last one sometime in late 1983.

The old power pack....wow have times changed now there is DCC :)

I thought this pre-built lighted factory was so cool and so modern.....I was a kid, what did I know :) (I dont care how cheesy it looks, all of this old stuff will always have a warm spot in my heart!)

Joe's Fruits and Vegetables
A decent little building I had in my downtown area of the town of Bedford.

Coaling Station
This model was one of the first ones I had and was built by my father.  Looking back now, I wish I had kept some of the original models that he built for me.  This was used on my layout all the way to the bitter end....even though I had no idea what it was really for until the later '80s.

Freight Station
This was the very first model structure for the layout built by my father in 1977.  This lasted on my layout until the late '80s.

Grusom Casket Factory
This was the first model I ever put together in 1980.  I goofed on the roof as it was put in too low but still looked ok.

Machine Shop
I made this model in either 1980 or 1981.  looks a little familiar to the model above don't it?

Crown Pickle Works
I built this around 1980-1981 as well.  No screw ups on this one.

Rico Station
I built this one a little later....around 1983 or 1984 when I got interested passenger service.  Also this is around the time frame I started drifting away from the Burlington Northern and became interested in the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads.

Cattle Ranch
This model was built by my father in 1977 and stayed on my layout until the end in 1989.  The windmill was broke by the end but I cant remember when it happened.  I always thought this model was neat.

Built this station to replace the "Rico Station" this was added towards the end of my early model railroad days in 1988.  (I remembered buying this kit at a garage sell somewhere :))