By Ken Johnson

Author  Bio I have always been into hobbies on some sort or another. Trains have been in there in one form or another. It all started with N scale. Did not take long before I realized that, although the massive layout took up so little space, I could barely model in this scale.

I am formally trained in Nuclear Electronics as a Naval Nuclear Submarine Reactor Operator. Although I have done little of that type of work after leaving the Navy, It is still part of almost every hobby that I play with. My working life has been in increasing responsibility in the Information Technology fields better known as a computer geek. Currently I work at Intel in one of the new FABS where we are making the newest chips that the market will see in the next 5 to 12 years. We figure out how to take a one off chip and move it through a ramp production area to get it manufacturability.

I was born in Los Alamos New Mexico and both parents were Scientists. You can imagine what life was as a kid. I learned to be creative and utilize my knowledge to augment my hobbies. Later in life, I moved out here to Portland Oregon as I was mighty tired of that burning ball of fire in the sky. Came out here for the rain. That brings new challenges to G scale training. My projects all stem from scratch or bash as I am fairly good and making something that ends up FAR more expensive that what I could have purchased it for. But it is fun.

I have always been into hobbies on some sort or another. Trains have been in there in one form or another. It all started with N scale. Did not take long before I realized that, although the massive layout took up so little space, I could barely model in this scale. HO was better but already took up too much room. Then, about two years ago, I won an auction for something that I thought would turn a good profit. It was a Bachman Big Hauler. The rest is history. I am hooked. Building in this scale is exciting, challenging, and there is no such thing as too much detail. I have also seen blocks of wood with paint that look awesome. So there is absolutely no excuse to not make something for your little people.

There is a good reason that my Railroad is called UN&UF Railroad. It stands for UnNamed and UnFinished. I know, it is the same for everyone. But, in my case, there are always 52 projects running concurrently. One of those current projects started out as a simple pond. Now it has expanded so dramatically that I have had to suspend operations while I pull up the entire layout and have now begun to rebuild the empire. The track is now again in a simple loop and it is time to start urban renewal to get everything back to some form of normal. Gotta get the little guys wanting to move back in. I am challenged by excessive trees, rain, and tree rats. Those are daily items in my small person's world.

Top of Page