About Us

I grew up within three blocks of the South Wilkes-Barre mine which was serviced by the Central railroad and many of our neighbors worked there. You could tell if they were going or coming from work by the color of their hands and face. The four tracks of the Valley and CNJ main lines passed within two blocks of my home and there was nearly a constant procession of trains to hear and watch. My grandfather Davis was a car inspector for the Valley at their yard in Wilkes Barre. I got to ride one of the yard engines which I never forgot and to ride on the Black Diamond passenger train with him. That started my love for the Valley.

An accident flooded most of the mines in the Valley in 1959 devastating the anthracite industry. This was just as the country was switching to natural gas and oil for home heating. The several railroads serving area were eventually consolidated into Conrail in 1976 and few traces of the railroads or mines can be found in the area today.

I always enjoyed making models and working with my hands which I learned from my dad. My room was filled with models of planes, ships and cars. By the time I reached high school I had expanded my 4’ x 8’ Lionel layout into a L shaped movable layout with a 26 foot branch line that covered most of our attic. Toy Train magazine articles had opened up a different train modeling perspective for me.

After graduating from King's College I was commissioned in the Navy. We moved to Norfolk, VA in 1970 and have spent most of my military in high school math teaching careers here. Shortly after our daughter and son were born we bought them an HO Tyco train set. That got me hooked on HO and back into modeling. Fortunately there was a large HO club in Norfolk at the time which I joined. Learning from them kept me an HO at a time when engines were notoriously poor runners.

I have been a member of the Tidewater Division of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) since returning to Norfolk in 1993. My first real exposure to the NMRA was at a regional convention in Richmond and then at a National Convention in Washington in 1983 when I was stationed there. The tours and clinics really impressed me. Encouraged by several members of our division to participate in the Achievement Program, in 2008 I became the NMRA's 425th Master Model Railroader.