| Like many other railroaders, I received
my first train set from Santa Claus when I was three
years old in 1948. Every year after that, Santa always
left something for my trains. In 1950 my parents moved
from Youngstown, Ohio, to a farm in Rock Creek, Ohio.
The farmhouse had two bedrooms on the main level and
three empty rooms upstairs. My dad built a 4x8-foot table
for my trains and got me started with my first layout.
In the early summer of that year, my mother had gone
shopping in Ashtabula, Ohio, and that afternoon when
I came home from school, she told me that she had seen
the smallest and nicest little train set at the Five &
Dime store, and that she would take me there that weekend.
That Saturday morning we went to town and there in the
toy department was a Varney Little Joe train set (Wow!)
for only $29.95. But I only had $5 in my pocket; I was
$25 short. The nice lady behind the counter said that
I could lay it away and make weekly payments on it. Boy,
she was nice! It seemed like a lifetime for me to pay
it off, but I did. I still have the complete set in the
box today!
I graduated from high school in 1964 and went on to
Ashtabula Tech that year for Machinist. In 1965, I met
my wife, Connie, and we were married in 1966. Three months
later I enlisted in the Air Force for four years. We
have three sons, who are all interested in model railroading.
In 1970, I went to work for Ashtabula s wastewater treatment
plant. I retired from there in 1997 as Industrial Pretreatment
Director.
In 1999, my wife passed away from cancer. Her aunt
had previously introduced me to the lady who became my
present wife, Rosemary. Rosemary s husband had also died
of cancer, and he was also a model railroader, which
I didn t know at the time. We all lived near each other,
too. Today, Rosemary and I enjoy model railroading, antiquing,
traveling, and gardening together. We set our yearly
vacations around the NMRA s national conventions and
the PRR conventions. I belong to a loose-knit Round
Robin group of 12 members that meet every Tuesday evening
to run trains and eat the baked goods our wives provide.
We also attend many model railroad shows, and go out
to dinner together throughout the year.
I model the PY&A Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad,
which runs from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Youngstown
and Ashtabula, Ohio. It s mainly a coal and ore hauling
line. The layout takes up a space of 22x50 feet in my
basement. It has all hand-laid track and scratch-built
switches. I enjoy scratch-building and kit-bashing structures
as well as assembling resin kits. I have given many clinics
on many different railroad subjects at Division meetings
and Regional conventions throughout the years and plan
to continue in the future.
Gary has earned AP Certificates for
| Master Builder Motive Power |
| Master Builder Cars |
| Master Builder Structures |
| Model Railroad Engineer Civil |
| Model Railroad Engineer Electrical, |
| Chief Dispatcher |
| Association Volunteer |
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