By Andy Chester

Author  Bio I have always had a fascination with trains.  Like so many others, I was introduced to model trains as a youngster with a small Lionel set.

I have always had a fascination with trains. Like so many others, I was introduced to model trains as a youngster with a small Lionel set. But, for a kid in Chicago, the massive display at the Museum of Science and Industry was truly awesome. That layout showed me how well a model railroad could be done. As I grew up and moved about the country, my interests shifted away from trains, although the sound of a real train's horn or the low pitch vibrations of a nearby locomotive caused a real itch that I knew I would have to scratch sooner or later.

When I returned to the Midwest, as an adult, fortune would have it that I lived a short distance from a well-known train shop in Zionsville, Indiana. With young children, it was my responsibility to introduce them to trains. The size and robustness of the G gauge models was perfect for them (and me). Well, the indoor layout grew and grew in size and complexity until one day the kids had grown and had other things to do. The stuff got packed away in a closet and stayed there until, as my article mentions, my wife re-invigorated my interest once again with out of doors railroading.

Our layout is still under construction and will debut as a folded dog-bone with bridges, a tunnel, trestle, water feature and canyon (or big road cut) with about 5-600 feet of dual mainline track. The road remains to be named, but with walnuts, hickory nuts and buckeyes falling in mass quantities from the forest canopy overhead, I've got to have some kind of nutty railroad. I could not have ventured into this without the support of my family or the members of the Indiana Big Train Engineers who taught me how to and how not to build a railroad. Hopefully, trains will be running this fall (2006).

Andy Chester lives with his wife, Pattie, in Carmel, Indiana. By day he is a practicing surgical pathologist. His other hobby interests are modular railroading, woodworking, vintage stereo gear and cooking. Cooking up large batches of concrete is another newly found skill. Pattie is a master gardener and keeper of the pond. Together we are building our backyard railroad.

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