Thom had the classic Lionel experience at 18 months old. His grandfather told stories about civil war veterans he met at 6 years old. A trip to Gettysburg at 12 sealed the deal. Fast forwarding, in 1999 he purchased a home with the space to build a medium size model railroad. Although this is the first attempt, Thom has assisted a couple of friends during his high school years on their layouts and in the late 1990’s became a member of the Garden State Central Club in Wall, NJ. His passion (or obsession) is railroading during the American Civil War.
Construction on his HO scale layout started in 2003 and is 95% completed. It depicts the Western and Atlantic RR, 1863, the route of the Great Locomotive Chase. Operating sessions occur periodically and using prototype link and pin couplers. NCE is the DCC system. Thom is also a co-founder of the American Civil War RR Historical Society and [email protected]. He currently hosts a monthly virtual meet with the civil war railroading group, runs operating sessions on his home layout, and continues to be obsessed with researching and modeling this era.
