A friend is building an HO scale layout based on the USMRR facilities at City Point, Virginia. Recently he discovered a colorized photographic portrait of his "ancestor*" from that time period that was found rolled up in an old sock :). The freshly flattened, newly framed relative now proudly hangs on the entry wall to the layout.
* a b&w Library of Congrees photo of a Union brigadier general with my friend's head. The transplant,1860s spectacles replacing his glasses and the colorizing all via GIMP software.
Maybe other early modelers could "discover" old relatives connected to their model railroads tucked away :)