This thread, so many bells for me......Lorton Va. home of the DC prison, MAX ward, I was inside with the inmates in the early 80's doing security work, screening in mates for knives/worse....walk through metal detectors like at the airports, only high sense capability......ring them down to the fillings in their teeth if wanted.....Jim Black, he was, was the head guard man, he was a very large solid built older fellow nearing retirement.....he used to brag on the kids that come in thinking they run the joint, he go one on one lockdown in their cells for a few hours......he was the only one to walk out....nuff said.....
now bacn to RR's I used to have a Lionel O ga train hobby, met up with a bunch of guys in '80 and we formed a train collectors club of almost a dozen of us, get together once every 3 months at alternate houses.....and of course go to York Pa. for the Train Collectors' Assn. meet, typically near end of year/holiday time, guys from all over the nation, mainly Lionel, but many others too, American Flyer being distant second in attendance......H O size was not that well represented......
When my kids were new, after the divorce, I had a 3 car garage in my 1/4 acre lot, back yard....concrete back yard.....one of the bays was filled in and heated for a train layout....~24' long, 11' wide at back end, 8' wide at control/doorway to the room.....5 trains at once, 3 large control transformers, ZW's......ran lots of Gargraves track, which comprised the large high speed loop of many layers where I ran a SCALE GG1 and passenger cars, when the rig was up and running, the noise was so loud had to shout to be heard......I managed to sell the entire setup for what I had in it, just a years before the market collapsed.....got lucky, but the kids were getting into teen years and not all that interested any more.....
Funny thing is, when their mom and I met, I had two 4x8 sheets of plywood in my 11th floor apartment operating Lionel trains, and a loop on the living area floor......
Ya, just gotta know summfin matter with her when interested in a clown who is mid 30's age, playing with Lionel trains in his high rise apt.......Same guy who stunk out the entire building when rebuilding a fiberglass boat hull in the parking garage.....
