Origins -- or -- What Came Before The STRR

The Springfield Terminal RR is my third model railroad.

The first was the Pacific Interlink, formerly the Aglett & Bickering RR, a 14x17 foot HO pike. As the name might imply, the PI/A&B suffered from a shoestring budget and too many compromises about conflicting "druthers." But the PI was a great learning tool: I handlaid all the trackwork, right down to the curved crossovers on the Aglett Loop; I learned that I enjoyed operations more than watching trains go round and round; and I learned that HO just needed more space than I could give it.

After I moved into a small apartment in Beverly Hills, I built my second railroad: the Goodhaven Terminal Railway. The GT was a 14 foot long, one foot deep shelf layout in N scale. It was thick with industrial switching and trackage. The GT served me well for several years and two apartments, and taught me that, as I suspected from my experience with the PI, N Scale was really the correct scale for me, and also that I could be quite happy with a roomful of switching puzzles. The GT was dismantled in 2001, when my wife and I bought our first house.

In mid-2007, we moved into a new home, with enough room for us, our two-year old daughter, and -- yes -- a new railroad. I've been granted a roughly 10x10 foot bedroom for the new layout, and this will become the Springfield Terminal RR.