A Christmas Blessed

This past year has been one of the most enjoyable periods in model railroading that I have ever had in my life. I had the good fortune to meet a number of wonderful people in the hobby and to operate on a number of different layouts. In all, I participated in over 20 operating sessions, including 4 on my own layout. I had the priviledge of joining the Golden Lamb Affiliation, which is a round-robin group that includes Jim Rollwage and his Denver Pacific Branch of the UP, John Miller and his proto-freelanced Kanawha and Lake Erie and Bill Doll and his proto-freelanced Forest Park Southern. I accomplished more on the layout this past year than in any other year prior, and that's largely due to the great people I've met.

In addition to the Golden Lamb Affiliation, I've had the pleasure of operating with and trading great coal hauling railroad information with Stuart Thayer, Anthony Hardy and Robby Vaughn. Stuart and Anthony have become regular members of the crew on the layout and we're trying to recruit Robby. These three have provided invaluable information regarding coal hoppers, tipples, and just about anything related to coal mining and railroads. And it's been a blast.

All of this wouldn't have happened if Stuart Thayer hadn't made the effort to get in touch with me this past February. He was in the process of relocating to Lexington and sent me an e-mail while he was working out of Northern Kentucky. He came over to see the layout, and the rest, as they say, is history. So thank you, Stuart.

It truly is a Christmas blessed, and I am very grateful for all fellowship I have enjoyed this past year. And I'm grateful for those who have taken the time to view this blog. I hope that you have found some helpful information or a little inspiration here.

Merry Christmas, and best wishes for 2013!