By Larry Cooper

Author  Bio Starting in HO guage in Sumter, South Carolina while in the U.S. Air Force in 1970, Larry quickly discovered that he wanted to modify or "kitbash" some of the standard plastic offerings then available in HO.

Larry Cooper has been involved with Model Railroading for over 30 years.

Starting in HO guage in Sumter, South Carolina while in the U.S. Air Force in 1970, Larry quickly discovered that he wanted to modify or "kitbash" some of the standard plastic offerings then available in HO. When the desired results seemed elusive he found a new love in American Flyer "S" guage and practiced his kitbashing skills with that materieal for 4 or 5 years until the advent of Atlas "O" scale. In the mean time, Larry had been discharged from the service in 1972 and returned, with his new wife, to his old college stomping grounds near St. Louis, Mo.

It was in the St. Louis area that Larry was introduced to Atlas 2 rail "O" Scale in 1975. One look at the quality of Atlas's orginal 2 rail "O" Scale offerings convinced him and Larry quickly found a willing buyer for his collection of American Flyer "S" guage and converted it into "O" Scale.

For the next 13 years or so, Larry was an "O" Scale practitioner and eventually moved to Carmel, Indiana where he fostered "O" Scale Model Railroading interests with the formation of a local club and the coordination of the yearly Greater Indianapolis Model Train Mart swap meet in the Indianapolis area.

While coordinating and running that show, Larry decided to build a large modular display layout to create an attraction for show attendees. Right about that time Lionel had introduced their line of Large Scale locomotives and equipment and the Large Scale bug bit Larry pretty hard. Eventually, Larry's enthusiasm for Large Scale and this modular layout would transform his particiaption in the hobby of Model Railroading.

The layout consisted of 16 modular tables that, when assembled, measured 55 feet long by 25 feet wide. The trackwork was laid out with 10 foot radius curves, on hand laid track, with a two track main line all the way around. Lionel Large Scale Geep locos, with their pioneeringly realistic and loud sound system and excellent 1/32 scale proportions, were used to pull long trains of nearly 1/32 MDC freight cars to impress the crowds. Larry was, at this point, a 1/32 promoter.

The layout was a huge success for the GIMTM and that inspired Larry to take the layout on the road. For the next several years Larry and his family traveled to over 30 Great American Train Shows and set the layout up out of a cargo trailer to pormote 1/32 Scale. Each show made for an adventuresome weekend for the family and everyone had a well rehearsed roll in the 4 hour process of setting the layout up and getting trains running and then taking the layout back down and packing it up in the trailer for the trip home. All this time, the "O" scale sat in Larry's basement gathering dust.

Then fate intervened. In 1994 his employer relocated Larry to central Ohio and Larry had the chance to build a house with a basement large enough to house the Large Scale modular Layout. Well, 4 days after moving into the new house in 1995, the well rehearsed set-up routine was executed one last time and the layout was never taken down again! Along the way, all the "O" Scale was sold off to provide cash for the burgeoning needs of the 1/32 layout.

In 2000 Larry realized that his 1/32 promotion effort was having little effect in the midwest and he made the monumental decision to go to the "G" Scale Convention in Chicago that year to sell it all off and buy 1/29. Larry went to Chicago with a packed van, a wife and a son and when he returned he had a van, a wife, a son AND a packed U-Haul trailer full of 1/29 locos and rolling stock. Larry has been having so much fun with his 1/29 projects and the comparatively vast selection of models available in 1/29 that he has never looked back.

In recent years Larry has spent his spare time kitbashing 1/29 rolling stock and locomotives, giving clinics and writing articles to help the rest of us have the same kind of fun with our hobby that Larry enjoys.

Larry graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1981 and lives with his wife and son in Delaware, Ohio. Y

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