Re: (erielack) pecking order/members ages

["HO Junction Custom Models" <hojct_@_stny.rr.com>]

>>what is the attraction that brought you to one or both of the E-L 
>>societies and this website?


Well for me a combination of different experiences brought me to be a 
Lackawanna fan. As I said before, I am only 24, so I never knew the 
Lackawanna, Erie or EL personally. My first exposure came from my 
grandfather and his recollections of growing up in Elmira during the 30's 
and 40's. Growing up on Elmira's Eastside he was surrounded by families that 
worked on the Lackawanna, he lived only 3 blocks from the Lackawanna "Y" and 
therefore was preferential to the Lackawanna. My grandmother grew up in 
Elmira Heights and lived opposite of the Lackawanna mainline, so her 
memories of the railroad were also a big influence. Then came my modeling 
interest when I was about 9 or 10. I built my first 4x8 with Grandpa and I 
started out as a NYC fan (and still am) and I joined the Cornell Railroad 
Historical Society, which exposed me to the LV and Lackawanna. I met some 
other guys from Elmira that were big Lackawanna buffs, Greg Dickinson and 
Bob Sowers and that pretty much  inspired my interest in, first modeling the 
late 60's and 70's  EL, with those nice big standard cab units SD45's, 
U36C's and the more "modern" looking motive power and rolling stock.

    As I aged, I became more interested in the history of the EL and really 
became captivated by the Lackawanna. I was so very impressed with the color 
of the Lackawanna, the motive power, and the operations of the "most highly 
developed railroad in the US." With that my modeling efforts changed to the 
late 1950's and 1960's and started to seriously focus on the Lackawanna.  I 
suppose it also helped that I maintained a great interest in the NYC which 
of course has similar motive power as the Lackawanna and both of which were 
major players in Elmira/ Corning area.  It was only by coincidence that I 
chose to go to the University of Dayton where again the EL and NYC visited, 
so even during my college years I was able to learn about Ohio operations of 
two of my favorite roads.  It has only been in the last few years that I 
have come to enjoy Erie Steam, which I attribute to the fact that Erie steam 
seems to be more commercially available. Lackawanna steam usually only 
available in Brass and as a recent college graduate is sometimes out of 
range for my wallet. All of this combined fostered my interest in the 
Lackawanna, Erie and EL and so joining ELHS and this list seemed like an 
obvious choice and to date with few exceptions, I have not been 
disappointed. So that's pretty much how I got here.



- -Shawn Karney

ELHS 3377



HO Junction Custom Models

www.hojunction.com



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