Question for the weekend of 12-15, 16, and 17, what are you so proud about?

[ezdays]

We here on the Gauge staff have been racking our brains to come up with new questions. So far welve come up with close to 100 questions since we started this. We'd be glad to hear from all you folks that might have a question for us to ask. Just PM Mikey or me, or any one of the mods and submit your question.

Now for this weekend's question:

What was your proudest moment or the one thing that gave you the greatest amount of pleasure, that you were involved with either in model railroading or some other phase of railroading. The one thing that brings a smile to your face every time you think about it.

This should be an easy one to answer...

 

[N Gauger]

The day I tricked Ezdays into becoming Admin... Oh Wait!! Did I say that out loud?!?!?!? stooges8 DOH!!!!!! sign1 sign1 sign1 sign1

Both hold equal value in my mind, Both mean the same to me............

~~~ The day I first took over the Admin duties here at The Gauge
~~~ The day I Got the first copy.... of the first time I was published in the local Railroad Museum Newsletter... A 3 page spread of pictures of the demolition of The Baldwin Locomotive Works in Eddystone, PA.

 

[shaygetz]

When someone at the club looked at one of my kitbashed bulldozer flatcar loads and asked, "Who makes that kit?" :thumb:

 

[oldtanker]

Nuff Said!!!

Rick

 

[railohio]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to plead the fifth on this one, sirs. Just know it's a damn juicy story.

 

[ezdays]

It's a toss-up.

The day Mikey tricked me into accepting the job as an administrator here ranks high, even though I still get headaches from the club he hit me with when I got hijacked. sign1 sign1 sign1 sign1

Of equal pride is when I showed pictures of my recent scratchbuilt scale of the Chapel of the Holy Cross, and the real chapel in Sedona and the people had a hard time deciding which one was the model.

Those are two things I'll not forget.:thumb:

 

[jcoop1]

As for Model Railroading, The day I hosted the Pacific Coast Conspiracy meeting at my home. Had about 40 people and I think a great time was had by all. Hope to do it again in 2007

 

[Thoroughbreed]

I'm with Old Tanker on this one. My son has been hooked on trains since he was in diapers. I used to take him down to the local yard and sit and watch them switch the incoming trains. Now hes a teen, not got much time for the old man, but wait and see what he gets from Santa this year!
Recently, I subscribe to a local newsgroup called freecycle and a young lady asked for trains for her young son whom has Autism, I was happy to oblige with an engine and a few cars for the lad.

 

[oldtanker]

Eric, thats one of my grandkids, last year, with the train that got me back into model RR, getting to run it for the first time, he was almost 3 at the time.

Rick

 

[stump7]

At the recent OKC train show when a fellow looked at my tunnel and asked how I got the hole through that rock
Stump7

 

[Play-Doh]

My greatest moment was watching my loco run across the tracks for the first time. Having never been exposed to MRR in my childhood, and with the help of only the guage, and after countless hours of trial and error, and tedious work, just watching the train doing laps was the coolest moment.

 

[MadModeler]

When I saw my friend's 'N' scale Christmas layout in action for the first time at the base of his tree. I helped with the scenery wiring (buildings etc) and then wired the Christmas trees in front of the post office. Seeing the look on his face when we finally got the correct scale brightness and seeing the buildings and street lights lit up really made me feel great although I was almost breathing fire during the process!

I really wish he had some pictures of this layout. It was amazing!:thumb:

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

The proudest moment was when I realized I would be sharing this great hobby with my son.
And it keeps getting better as I see him become more involved and talented.

 

[nkp174]

Hmm...I think it was the year FWRHS (765's group) leased the MLW 261 for the New River Gorge excursions...765 was parked in need of an overhaul...and when we got off for the photo run by, Tom Stevens invited me up to the cab for the photo run by...there I was with the crew, two people that had paid a bunch of money in a raffle, and the railroad officials riding at 50mph with a 34 car passenger train. I've been up in the cab of many engines...run desiels...and plenty of cab rides in steam...but that was just so special because of Tom Stevens.

I think that was the last time Tom ran a steam locomotive...when they changed the licensing, he didn't get a new license. Tom's a wonderful person and he's probably logged more miles in the engineer's seat that any other person in the post-tranisitional period (except maybe Ross R. and Doyle McCormick). He'll visit the FWRHS a couple times a year or so now. He actually had overseen a couple overhauls as he was the chief mechanical officer for a while as well...him and his wonderful wife, Liz, have sold off their passenger cars and spend much of their free time chasing civil war battlefields now. My dad and Scott Trostel rode all the way to Colorado in the back of Tom & Liz's pickup truck around 1970 for a railfanning expedition. Both Tom and I survived cancer, and that special bond made that cab ride all the more memorable.

 

[Ralph]

I'm proud of my model of an old EMD drum styled control stand that houses one of my power packs. Visiting kids love it especially since I added an MRC sound system that makes a diesel "burble" synchronized to the throttle speed. there is also a continuous loop taped diesel horn that blows when you pull the chord and a bell that rings at the flip of a switch. I'm thinking about getting a mini video cam that will be monitored from a TV set up near the control stand. Now THAT would be fun!

http://www.the-gauge.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3580&stc=1&d=1039221917

Here's a pic of the real thing for reference:
http://www.the-gauge.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3581&stc=1&d=1039222010

Ralph