about

About Me and this Site!

This site started out little project of mine to showcase some of the H.O. scale model railroad locomotives I have built for myself and others and has now grown much larger than I thought it ever would

I honestly have no idea where my interest in model railroading came from. Guess it was that Tyco train set and the Lionel trains I had as a kid. For some reason the bug never really left me, and I've been building models of all types ever since. My main model railroading interest has always been building motive power. Out of that, I would have to say that Espee probably interests me the most, however, I've become quite proficient at painting Chicago and North Western motive power although Rock Island has really grown on me in the last few years also.

After I finished my active duty stint in the Marine Corps, I was the repair manager and custom painter for Palatine Hobby, Ltd. in Palatine, Illinois for a couple of years before it went out of business. For a while I was doing custom work for a couple of hobby stores, but realized that I could do better off on my own, and started taking requests for builds from friends on the side.

Besides "playing with trains," I spent six and a half years in the U.S. Marine Corps as a machinegunner. I spent four years on the active duty side, where I was deployed all over the world. For two and a half more years, I was in the Marine Corps Reserves with a Infantry Weapons Company out of Waukeegan, Illinois.

I attended Harper Community College in Palatine, Illinois, graduated with my AAS in Electronics Technology. Incidentally, this website started as a project for a web-design class I took, and has significantly grown from there.
Currently, I am a full time student at Northern Illinois University and just finished a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering Technology and contemplating pursuing a Master of Science in Industrial Project Management.

If you have any questions, feel free to E-mail me for information. I should note at this time, unless if something really interests me, I am not accepting new work.