Hello, everybody.

McFortner

Member
I just wanted to drop a quick line here to say "hello" and introduce myself.

My name is Michael C. Fortner and I live in Stockbridge, GA where I am a 911 dispatcher for Henry County. I have been married for almost 7 years and have a 4 1/2 year old son and my wife is 2 months pregnant with our next child.

My son and I are starting up our own little railroad at home, the New Southern Railway. It is an HO setup currently on a 4x6 layout until we can find a house with room to set up more trains. My wife wants to have a Standard gauge setup when we have the room! :D

The New Southern Railway is a small line currently serving the Macon/Atlanta corridor with freight and passenger service. It is currently headquartered in Stockbridge, but plans are underway to move to McDonough in order to place it closer to the warehouses and distribution centers near that city. Plans are being discussed to slowly expand to the Atlanta/Chattanooga and Atlanta/Athens corridors.

Current road stock is a mix of equipment obtained used from other sources. New stock will be constructed when the shop in McDonough is completed in 2003. All stock is labled as "Southern" since much of the stock was purchased obsolete from NS.

Well, that is about it.

Michael

ps: in dispatching, NSR is used when a vehicle is pulled over and there are no wants it (no stolen reported) :rolleyes:
 
Welcome to the Gauge, Michael.

And if you see a bunch of empty jugs lying around here, just ignore them. Debbie empties them faster than Tyson can refill 'em. :p :D :D :D
 

N Gauger

1:20.3 Train Addict
Michael, Welcome to The Gauge!! :)

I was a Photographer for a local Fire Co. in PA about 20 Ys ago. It's stressful work that you guys do!! Good luck on the family & one thing we all like here, is sharing information (sometimes too much), :D and good stories.

Wander around & catch up with some great info!!! Have Fun!!

~~ Mikey (N Gauger - Moderator) :) :D :)
 

NYCentral

Member
Originally posted by Casey Feedwater
Welcome to the Gauge, Michael.

And if you see a bunch of empty jugs lying around here, just ignore them. Debbie empties them faster than Tyson can refill 'em. :p :D :D :D

And I thought you were the one emptying them!!:confused:

Welcome to The Gauge Michael!!

Boy there are alot of Michaels around here:confused:!!
 

McFortner

Member
Originally posted by NYCentral

Boy there are alot of Michaels around here:confused:!!

In high school my teacher would say "Michael" and 1/4 of the class would look up. :eek:

That is why my son's name is Daniel.... :rolleyes:

Michael

ps: On the NSR, ALL trains run cabooses (or is that cabeese?)
 
C

Catt

Once more,"Welcome to the Gauge Michael."Glad you joined us.Do you have pictures of your little rail empire??
 

Hummingbird

New Member
Originally posted by Casey Feedwater
Welcome to the Gauge, Michael.

And if you see a bunch of empty jugs lying around here, just ignore them. Debbie empties them faster than Tyson can refill 'em. :p :D :D :D


:p :D :p :D :p :D :p ;)
HEY, YOU WETSUIT WEARING GREEKISH SEADOOING THANG YOU....I RESEMBLE THAT REMARK!!! UH, you've got something green in your teeth...seaweed maybe? ;) BTW, that pic is gonna HAUNT us ALL!!!

WELCOME TO THE GAUGE, MICHAEL!!

Happy Railroading...pass it on!
Debbie :p
 

Vic

Active Member
Hi Micheal, Welcome Aboard!:) I'm in Columbus, GA and T. Alexander is in Chickamauga. We needed us another "GA BOY" in here:D :D :D :D :D :D :D
 

rockislandmike

Active Member
Originally posted by McFortner

In high school my teacher would say "Michael" and 1/4 of the class would look up. :eek:
Michael

Grumble grumble tell me about it. I remember a couple of times a teacher would ask me and another Michael to decide who should be named "Mike" instead so he/she wouldn't be confused. And I'd volunteer and then my mom would be all upset because she named me "Michael" not "Mike".

Now I go by both about 50/50.:D

PS - Welcome !!!
 

N Gauger

1:20.3 Train Addict
Another Mike

Like I said - It's like a Monty Python sketch in here..

G'day Bruce... Proceeds to introduce abot 6 "Bruces"

"this is Michael - he's going to teach History....."

Michael, Eh... That could be confusing. Mind if we call you Bruce????"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

This stuff I remember - Important stuff -- I forget :) :) :)
 

cidchase

Active Member
Hi Michael,
and Welcome from Olive Branch.:)
Like you, I'm workin' on a small HO layout. But I sure am tempted by some of the stuff that I see in the other scales!!!:D
 

Harley

New Member
Hi Michael

Welcome to The-Gauge!! Good name ( also my middle name).
Make yourself at home and please post some pictures of your lay-out when you can.
Bye now
David
 

Jim de Bree

New Member
Michael-

Welcome to The Gauge. Don't be shy about posting pictures, asking questions or sharing ideas. I'm impressed that your wife wants you to build a standard gauge layout.

Jim
 

Ralph

Remember...it's for fun!
Dang, I had this all typed up and then hit Exit instead of Submit Reply! Let's try again. Hello Michael! Glad you could join us. I like the way NSR has a personal meaning for your RR. As for names, my mom claimed that she named me Ralph to avoid half the neighborhood coming home when she called. Come to think of it there WERE a lot of Mikes on my block. :)
Ralph
 

McFortner

Member
I am hoping to have some pictures soon, but there is not much to look at. Just a 4 x 6 sheet of particle board painted green with the power supply and tracks attached. I have a few pieces of lichen put down, but I am reluctant to attach much more since I have to pick up the board when finished at night and put it up on its side.

One thing I have on my layout is a short streach of track with bumpers on both ends near the main line with some lichen planted between the ties. On these rails I put the Santa Fe engine that I have that doesn't work anymore and a few other cars. My son and I call this his Railway Museum! ;) A little more track and a few more cars will eventually make this look pretty good while finding a use for cars I'm not running or that are broken.

At least I have a 35mm SLR to take pictures with. Perhaps I can get some pictures of the cabooses (or is it cabeese? :confused: ) that I had taken off the Santa Fe markings and remarked to be part of the New Southern Railway. I marked them similar to the way Southern used to, but with black lettering (all I could find). One is numbered X1998 (my son's birth year) and X2003 (the birth year for the one we are expecting).

Well, as soon as I get some pictures taken I'll scan them and put them up for everybody to critique.

ttfn

Michael
 

cidchase

Active Member
Hey Michael,
I didn't even know there was a Standard Gauge 'cept for the 12" per foot. After some looking I see its 1/24th (or 1/26.5), 3 rail (depends on who you ask- they just do that to confuse me.)
You ain't gonna be leanin' that layout up against the wall every night!! :rolleyes: Sounds like a cool project- :D
 

pcentral

Member
Hi Michael,
Welcome to The Gauge, I think you'll like it here. Nice folks here mostly, some just plain ornery. Its nice to hear about your wife wanting the trains. My wife is just as involved in trains as I am (she is past pres. of our train club and we currently co-chair our train show). Too often I hear about the spouses not being involved in the hobby. Its also great to hear about someone into standard gauge. I have a little bit but not much. Let us know what you have, on the S/O/G gauge forum.
Steve (not Michael)
 
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