By Gerald (Jerry) Madsen

Author  Bio Ever since I was a kid I could not get enough of model trains. I'm surprised I never worked in the railroad industry. As a child I would spend what little money I could get on Tyco and Life Like HO trains.

I grew up in South Milwaukee, WI and moved to the Seattle area when I was a teenager. I spent 4 years in the US Navy as an aircraft mechanic on EA-6's with squadron VAQ-140. We shipped out on the USS John F. Kennedy and the USS Dwight D Eisenhower. In 4 years I spent a year and a half "at sea". That was enough for me. I got a job with Boeing right away and have been there off and on over the last 20 years. During a five-year layoff my brother and I started our own business as General Contractors and remodeled houses for a living. I was glad to get recalled to Boeing as my back and knees could not handle much more of that work. My hat is off the men and women who do that line of work because that is some very hard work. I am currently the lead functional test inspector on the 737 assembly lines in Renton, WA in the last position on the line just before the planes leave the factory for the flightline.

Ever since I was a kid I could not get enough of model trains. I'm surprised I never worked in the railroad industry. As a child I would spend what little money I could get on Tyco and Life Like HO trains. Then one day my dad brought me to his friend's house to show me his 4' X 8' HO layout. I was very impressed and with the simple track and buildings. To my amazement my dad asked if I wanted it, DUH! Well as it turned out this great friend of my dad's gave me the whole thing including several trains, heaven. I spent many hours on that layout and many years. Soon I was grown up with kids of my own and a house. The 4'X8' turned into 6' X 16' with a double mainline and a mountain route which never really had much scenery but kept me out of the armchair.

As the years go by I became interested in N scale due to limited space and I wanted my layout in the house not in the garage. I am still working on an N scale diorama of an engine servicing facility with a 16-stall roundhouse. That keeps me busy during months of constant rain when I can't work in the garden because I'm a fair weather gardener. Which brings me to my current interest in large scale garden railroading. I got started in the summer of 2008 because garden trains bring together my three favorite hobbies trains, woodworking, and gardening. I model in 1:29 scale only because that was the scale of the first engine I bought, which was an Aristocraft GP-40. Now I have GP-38-2's and a 1:32 scale Big Boy and a Challenger. I also have 1:20.3 rolling stock that I got at a garage sale. Since working at Boeing the Plane Train has become my favorite train so I am building one for my railway. I enjoy writing also and hope that I can inspire fellow large scale railroaders with informative articles like the other authors at LSOL.

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