My name is Richard Cacciato and I live in New York City. I grew up in Italy and Germany and I've been a model train fan since I was 7 years old when I lived for 6 months in my mother's hometown of Landshut in Bavaria. That Christmas, my father gave me a set of Fleischmann trains and I remember sitting with him while he patiently built countless Faller building kits, most of which I still have and many of which are on the Poggenbahn layout.

I continued my passion in Rome and built a model railroad based on the "Manesta Lines" trackplan from an issue of Model Railroader magazine. When I came to the US for university my parents moved, my mother dismantled my layout, and my passion for model trains went dormant. In the 1990s my nephews became interested in the layout my father-in-law had started but never finished, and I got the bug again.

I model in H0 scale (1:87) and almost all of my trains are Fleischmann models, though I'll confess that lately I've been adding a number of beautiful Roco, ESU, and Piko models, as you'll see if you look at my Locomotives. In addition to the Poggenbahn, I'm also building a segmented model railroad in Manhattan based on a modular system I designed myself to be flexible, quick to assemble, and occupy minimal space given Manhattan apartment living. The Phase 1 trackplan is at right, and the current version (I decided we need a loop) is below it.

I'm a regular on the Railways of Germany discussion list, which I highly recommend. I'm also a member of ETE, European Train Enthusiasts, which I also recommend and is inexpensive to join (only $10 per year).

If you'd like to get in touch with me, send me an email. I'll be happy to hear from you!