Curtis E. Anderson, Jr.  -  Trains and Biography

I was born in 1948 along the Atlantic Coast Line railroad station
in Petersburg, Virginia,  son to a truck driver with a talent to sing.
My father's truck terminal was nearby a TV and radio repair shop appliance store.
In the early 1950's, I grew up around music on the radio, TV, and record players in my home.
My Father's job required him to also have a telephone, so we had
that at home at well.  I grew up enjoying and taking great interest
in electronics, later making my career in that field.
At age 6, I won a Kodak black and white camera at a local
county fair, and my life's destination was coming  together.

By 7th grade, my teacher was so impressed with a working
crystal radio that I had built inside a wooden match box, that 
she let all my classmates come over by the radiator to listen
using an earphone and a ground connection from the radiator.
Later that year, my teacher also let me bring in my Lionel train transformer
that I used to power a two-way telegraph set I had built using
wood, tin, nails and doorbell wire and to demonstrate it before the class.
She was the teacher who suggested I take typing in high school
which proved to be so beneficial later in life with computers.

I recall while in elementary school going around the neighborhood on trash day and
bringing home old radios and TV's, and building  a work bench in my bedroom.

I entered college on the heals of the vacuum tube era and as the transistor
was gaining popularity.   I learned both technologies before
entering my career field at a local telephone company.

My interest in electronics was not fully satisfied at the telephone
company, so I became a ham radio operator, taught classes on Morse code 
and electronics until the computer age emerged.   I recall connecting an old teletype
machine to my ham station and later to my home computer before
most ever knew the meaning of the term "email" or "text messaging".

I expanded my knowledge in photography with the
advent of digital cameras and digital camcorders,
not to mention getting on the internet and
designing several personal websites.

Smart phones and tables soon followed, bringing
together the internet, photography, video
and website design to one common point of interest.

While much has changed in the electronic field over the years,
I hold on to my knowledge and skills in
all the technologies as I keep up my  telegraph speed
and build and restore vacuum tube devices while
updating my websites using the latest tablets.

While electronics was my life's ambition, trains were my first love.
Today I give tours at the Virginia Telephone Museum in Richmond
and at The Petersburg Museum of Technology, a train station and
telegraph office setting.

The Virginia Telephone Museum Historian (Docent):  Curtis Anderson

The Petersburg Museum of Technology

N4ON -  Active Ham Radio Operator "Curt"

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