[PRCo] New Member Introduction

[hwandrews1 at cs.com]

As a new member of the list though I'd take a few minutes to introduce myself.  

This past winter I dug out the 'cho-cho' trains for my grandkids.  Included in the boxes was all my traction equipment, which the kids found fascinating – and yes, I did too…  I have been re-bitten by the modeling bug.

I am a native of Pittsburgh, having been born in Mt. Oliver and then moving out to Baldwin early in my childhood.  The Trolleys were a way of life for me – my first job was with R. T. Patterson on Smithfield Street, and I took trolley from the Grove into town every morning to get to work.  (Yep, I'm still learning all the route #'s…  give me time, I simple knew the schedule to get me to work on time – not the routes I was using).

After college I moved to Steubenville to work in Plant Engineering for Wheeling/Pittsburgh Steel. The Steel Industry didn't seem to hold a bright future, so when Ford offered me an engineering position in 1973 my wife and I migrated to Detroit, where we have been ever since.

In the interim my time has been filled with career, family and community service projects through Rotary.  I'm still busy with Ford and Rotary, but the kid are out of the house, and I'm using that time – and one of their rooms – for my renewed interest in traction modeling.  My current project is to build a HO layout loosely based upon the routes in the South Hills, including the interurban run out to Washington.  With being 'isolated' in the wilds of Michigan the information provide by this mailing list has been invaluable!

My wife and I still have family in Pittsburgh, and we visit there on a regular basis.  My goal for this summer is to get out to PTM.  In the mean time I'll be soaking up information from the list, and hope I can add some value…  Right now my challenge is to find and scan the few trolley photos I did while I lived in Pittsburgh.

Thanks to all for your free sharing of information,
Howard Andrews