• Job: Model railroad builder, Woodstock

Photos by KARL W. RITZLER/Special (ENLARGE)

Dave Bennett set up this garden railroad at a home in Sandy Springs. The set includes tunnels, bridges, a waterfall and a castle. Bennett builds the bridges and other accessories in his barn-size workshop, which also — of course — has a train running through it.

(ENLARGE)

• What I do: Anyone who ever had an electric train set knows Dave Bennett has the perfect job.

As owner of Train Installations of Woodstock, he builds model railroads on tables, in basements and bedrooms, and through gardens.

"Grandfathers and fathers use their kids as an excuse to get a railroad built," Bennett, 39, confided.

He builds the whole thing or helps a model railroader construct a layout in any gauge — from the tiny N to garden-size G — just about anywhere. Recently, he was laying out a three-track G-gauge in a Sandy Springs garden, complete with rockwork, tunnels, bridges and a waterfall. It also will have a safari barn, a working "gold" mine and a castle.

He also does simple tabletop setups and installs tracks that circle overhead in restaurants, businesses and doctor's offices. He'll do the same in a recreation room or bedroom.

Some jobs can be completed in a day; others take three to four months, on and off.

"In some ways, I'm a train general contractor," he said.

Bennett and his two employees hand-build most tunnels, bridges and trestles. They also build, buy or assemble the buildings in a layout.

Most of the bridge work is done in Bennett's barn-size workshop — which has a working garden train running through it and outdoors — then assembled on site.

Bennett said he's always looking for human and animal figures, buildings, vehicles or toys that might work in a layout.

He is involved in a railroad project from the earliest planning stages, he said, finding out what clients want, guiding their choices and making suggestions.

"Sometimes a customer has an idea what they want," he said. "Sometimes, they just want a train."

Prospective rail tycoons may have trains ready for the setup, or Bennett will help them buy what they need. He can custom-paint the cars and locomotives.

For commercial customers, he makes service calls to keep the cars and engines oiled, the tracks clean and everything in good repair.

"Every job I do is different," he said. "I am a construction problem-solver and get to use my imagination."

Most of the time, he said, the customer participates in the process, including hands-on construction, track-laying and selection of the plants for a garden railroad.

"A lot of time, people just need to get the track down. I work alongside them," he said.

• What got me interested in this: Bennett said his father restored full-size railroad cars for a living. "I think it was his fault," he said.

He said he had HO-gauge trains as a child. Later, when Bennett was an adult, his father pointed out an area that would make a good garden railroad.

It started as a hobby, but Bennett, who was working in route sales for a vending machine company, said to himself, " 'Maybe I could do this [as a business] part time.' Within two years, I quit the full-time [sales] job and did this. . . . I always wanted to be self-employed. I'm glad it's working out."

• Best part of my job: "Imagining things and building them," he said. "I don't have to grow up, and I get paid to do it."

• Most challenging part: The hours. "When you're self-employed, you never have time off, really," he said. "But I work a lot of hours because I enjoy it."

He said building a large number of track hangers for an overhead railroad and sanding wood can get tedious, but he has a flexible schedule.

"I can work any 80 hours a week I want," he said. "I feel I'm slacking off if a day is only eight hours."

• What people don't know about my job: "It is real work," he said. "I spend a large part of my time on the phone, coordinating things."

• What keeps me going: "The variety. It's exciting to do something different every day," he said.

• Preparation needed for this job: "I've always enjoyed architecture and engineering — buildings and bridges," Bennett said. "I get to do those things without any licenses."

Other than a business license, there are no licenses, certifications or educational requirements for installing model railroads.

Bennett said a person must be detail-oriented, have good time-management skills and be organized.

"A lot goes into this; you have to do it in the right order," he said.

Bennett does his planning on a sketch pad, but one of his employees can transfer it to a computer when needed.

Bennett has a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Connecticut.

"If I'd known I was going to do this, I would have taken art and business courses," he said.

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.