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My Story....
 
Here's my tale, for everyone.

I'm  going to turn 40 in 13 days from now. I have a BA in
Sociology/Pre-Law, and a JD (Juris Doctor)degree earned after that.
Took the bar once, failed same, but am in no big hurry to take it
again since I have a well-paying non-legal job and the bar and review
course is a big expense. Still, hope to get admitted to the legal
profession before I hit 50. Also did some work towards an MA in
History.

I have an interesting Train History. I got my first train set (a
Flyer set) from an uncle at two. I barely remember it, but know it
was a common five-digit discount set with a 21160 Atlantic, Pennsy
gondola, Gulf tanker & red caboose. I have a duplicate of it now.

I got my second and third sets together the next Christmas; the more
expensive one being a Flyer Champion 800 All-Aboard set that I'm
still looking to pick up at some point. (Nearly had one last summer,
but a car accident and car rental wiped out the money I had set aside
to buy a mint, unopened set on eBay. AARRGHHH!) Well, I have a
Pioneer 600 now. :-) The third set I was given was a Lionel
uncatalogued set, five cars with a 1062 steam engine, and trestle
set.

I also remember seeing quite a few trains when I was young.
Allentown, PA, where I grew up, was Lehigh Valley, Reading Company,
and Central of New Jersey territory in the 60's and 70's. We also had
relatives in Philadelphia, (where I got to ride Reading Blueliners
and Silverliners a lot on the commuter rail system), and up in
Hazelton in the anthracite coal regions, which means I saw a lot of
Reading coal drags with green and yellow c630's and SD's on the
front, and a lot of local Lehigh Valley runs in Hazleton with 2 to
three of the dirtiest SW-8's imaginable on the point. My uncle's
house was right near the LV tracks in Hazleton, so of course a ritual
was to run out on the portch, wave at the engineer, and watch the
train go by whenever I heard the crossing signal going off. I also
got exposed to steam by visits to the WK & S tourist line in western
Lehigh County and a few trips to the East Broad Top. Of course, I was
exposed to electrics on the Philly commuter lines and also was
exposed to GG-1's on Amtrak when going up to see my half-brother in
Boston in the early 70's leaving from 30th Street Station where the
high point was seeing the big black GG-1 come blasting in and being
terrified by it. So, I learned to like steam, diesel, and electric
all at an early age.

During the 70's both the Lionel and Flyer collections were added to
bit by bit by Christmas gifts (for the new MPC Lionel in vogue then)
and by me spending my allowance and work earnings on Flyer and
postwar Lionel. Had a combined Flyer and Lionel layout for a while.
Sold the trains in the early 80's around the time my mother passed
on. Got into one marriage where the wife never encouraged collecting.
After a divorce, I met an old friend and remarried. My current wife
is more tolerant of trains than my former spouse, and a nice Sunday
excusrion for us is looking at both trains at a hobby shop in
Feasterville (and getting something, either L or Flyer, as the budget
permits) and then going around the corner to a comic shop to look at
and buy comic books or anime-related books or toys as the budget
permits. We both appreciate and like each other's hobbies...trains,
comics, history, science fiction, and the Beatles.

All in all, Gail and I have fun together, and she likes my Flyer and
L action cars. What more can one ask?

Regards,

F.P. Kopetz

PS-we're also cat people. I mean, we have one playful cat, an orange
tabby cat named Felix. He likes to play with my trains, too.