My experience with model railroading started as a child with the layout my parents built. Revell and Gilbert HO were the norm of the day, and finding an MRC ControlMaster V transistor throttle at a flea market was top notch! I got started with prototype modeling during high school and was attracted to the Great Northern. Great style combined with awesome scenery had me hooked. I still have my first Athearn U33C in the Big Sky Blue paint scheme on display, although it's too "new" for the era that I model and hasn't run in decades.

I still model the Great Northern and have designed a layout to fit my available space by "layout-bashing" some of my favorite designs that were published over the years. As I find time to complete sections, photos will appear here, along with some of the projects that others might find interesting. My technology background definitely comes into play as I was an early adopter of DCC, run JMRI to catalog my equipment and program decoders, and have built C/MRI modules using Arduinos to control turnouts, signals, and even simulate sending train-orders to LCD displays at various stations and interlocking plants.

Be sure to check out my Heralds library - I have hand-drawn all of these in high-resolution and they cover several dozen road names, with others being added regularly. 

A Model Railroading hobby requires storage, and lots of it. cars offline, unbuilt kits, and more. Don't even get me started on magazine archiving! Having a complete wood shop helps, so take a look at this Woodworking Blog article on building a model storage cabinet. Now finished, it holds my entire collection of some 250 freight cars, 27 passenger cars, and 36 engines*, along with several unbuilt structure kits.
*Actually - most of the engines are now either on the layout or on display shelves in the crew lounge!