It's easy to get lost in train world. I started by putting a railroad around the Christmas tree in 1993, and it just kept growing. Somehow the building of the railroad empire is so absorbing it keeps you up all night sometimes, not even realizing what time it is, just trying to get one more turnout working, or building an overpass, or just running the trains and getting hypnotized by them.

It's an amazing hobby, if a little expensive, and really brings out the creativeness in a person. It let's you create your own minature world that hypnotizes you into a fantasy. It's fun to get so absorbed in your own world and by seeing your efforts on display. You're not only building your own world, you're programing it, controlling it, and using it to put on a show.

But enough of the philosophical and psychological aspects of model railroading, there's even more reasons to love this hobby. The trains themselves are amazing. If you think people love their cars, multiply that by 10 to see how much people love trains. There's something about them that represents power, beauty, and rhythm.

Contact Ruben Mac Blue, chief engineer of the Rock City Railroad Co. at 213-461-6600.

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Here's some links to Railroad sites:

• Los Angeles Live Steamers - Ride the rails on live steam engines every sunday at Griffith Park