The Beginning-Part 2

I'm not sure exactly when it was my parents bought our first HO guage train set but it was probably for Christmas when I was 7 or 8 years old. The first set was a Tyco with a o-4-o Dockside loco lettered for the Pennsylvania RR. Soon we aquired this W&ARR 4-4-0, a replica of the "General", a famous Civil War train. It was my favorite because it reminded me of Tweetsie, although in reality it wasn't very close to the engines used at Tweetsie.
We moved to Garner just after Christmas when I was 8 years old. My Dad put up a 4'x8' layout in a corner of the basement. It was a simple layout with a big loop, a passing track and three spurs.He built a tunnel with plaster and screen wire placed in the back corner. There was also a small bridge and a road was painted on the plywood which was painted green. It had a small depot, I think by Atlas and a farmhouse. That was the extent of the scenery and structures but this layout gave me hours and years of enjoyment. At some point we had added one other loco, a diesel F7 in New Haven livery.
About 4 years later my Dad bought us a pool table and the layout which was beginning to be neglected was taken down to make room for our new toy.