Like most people, I began an interest in trains at an early age. I received an AHM train set in Junior High, and played with it through high school, but I put it away when I went to college. Shortly after I got married, I picked a copy of the June 1981 MR, and read the article on 4 x 8 Track Planning. The Arkansas Southern was something I could build, so I did. Then I expanded it, then I converted my cars to KD couplers. Through graduate school and jobs I always had at least a 4x8 layout, with an emphasis on operating.