Greetings to all. I registered with The Gauge last night and have really enjoyed reading some of the posts and looking at the pictures of peoples efforts. I have always been interested in model railroading and started an N gauge layout several years ago. Unfortunately it has been covered with an old bed sheet and hanging from my garage ceiling for the last 12 years. I recently had the opportunity to get it down and set it up in a more user friendly location and am looking forward to getting back into it again. I enjoy trains, miniatures, landscaping and photography, so this is going to be right up my alley. Thanks to the Internet I have been able to do a lot of research lately and am pleased to learn that model railroading is on the rise and that there is a lot more out there to work with now than there was even 12 years ago. I was also very pleased to find The Gauge forums, which will enable me to learn more quickly from other peoples experiences. My railroad will be modeled after my own twisted design. I plan to have a freight line and an old steam driven passenger train circa late 1800's. I want to focus on realism and detail, so weathering and DCC sound very promising and enjoyable. At any rate that's enough for now. I look forward to discussing things with all of you.