Sending out a hearty hello, and an introduction to myself.

I am a recent transplant to Knoxville from Nashville by way of Mississippi. To explain that statement, about 7 years ago, I decided to head back to school to obtain a degree in architecture, and the school that had the best fit for me was MS State. I graduated last year, and the best job offer ended up beign from here in Knoxville, so here I am.

I am only an armchair modeler, but I have a significant advantage over most of my ilk, in that I DO have a model railroad collection. About 10 years ago, my grandfather passed away, and I purchased his collection from my grandmother to help her out with bills. The collection was in storage when I bought it, and stayed that way all through my schooling.

However, I have recently unpacked it all from the musty, dirty old cardboard boxes it was stored in, documented it, and repacked it all into the plastic storage bins you can get at wal-mart. I am still in the process of documenting the replacement value for insurance purposes, so I couldn't tell you what it is worth. I only know that the HO scale collection takes up (4) 24 qt. 6" tall bins plus (9) 42 qt. 12" tall bins, while the N scale collection fits into (1) 42 qt. bin.

Alas, my collection is staying in storage for now, as the wife and I are in a small apartment. However, we are in the process of house hunting, and are keeping an eye out to ensure that any house we end up with has adequate space for a layout.

I have experience with model kit building as a kid back in the 70's & 80's, and scratch building from architecture school, not to mention knowing a thing or two about how real buildings are put together, thanks to my profession.

Anyways, I hope to get to know the other denizens of this board, and hope to join up with the local group here as well.

Well met!