Browse: Home / About

About

This website serves two purposes: a journal of the construction of my model railroad and a means to share my extensive collection of GN, NP and other “fallen flag” photos.

About Me

I have been a model railroader since my parents bought me a train set for Christmas around my 6th birthday. My Grandfather and dad helped build my first layout in the basement shortly thereafter. I built three more layouts before I left home and then drifted away from the hobby but kept on dreaming building that next layout. Eventually we moved to San Diego where we have no basements. I let that thwart my desire to build a layout for a number of years until I got the bug again in 2002 as I ran across an old article in a Lynn Wescott book from many years ago that described building a layout in a garage on a hoist.

I am an IT Manager at a San Diego high tech manufacturer. In business today we tend to only write what fits with five other sentences on a Powerpoint slide. This website let’s me practice actual writing which you will probably agree needs some work. My wife and I have two grown boys who never caught the train bug but have their own passions. Perhaps grandkids will someday enjoy “playing with trains.” Hint, hint…

You can make contact with me through this page.

Ah... those were the days. Hanging around passenger car graveyards with my girfriend. Who could as for more?
I think this was layout number two. It did not go too far but I built is all by myself. This is probably around 1975 in our basement in Fridley, MN.
Here is my fourth layout. My one and only attempt at N gauge. I liked how much scenery you could fit in a small space but the cars and structures were too small to scratch build or paint. I gave it away to a co-worker.
The Great Northern and Northern Pacific lines ran within eyeshot of my backyard.
Look closely in the middle. There is my 5\' 1/2 wife (the same one who hung out in passenger cars) holding a 2\' size board.
Even one of my boys got called into service to hold the marker board on a diversion through Montana. The expression resemble his mother from 20 years earlier.

[Show as slideshow]

Website Technical Details

GreatNorthernFan.com content is managed using WordPress so technically it is a blog. The template is based upon Justin Tadlock’s Hybrid Structure theme stylized to my theme. Hybrid is a great resource for nice designs that are easy to extend without becoming a coder and support is available for a small annual fee. I am using BlueHost for my provider and have been very pleased with their support and tools.
The images are managed using Alex Boelinger’s NextGenWordpress gallery system. The tool integrates another great add-in, Highslide, which produces the slick image effects when you click on thumbnails.