Who would write about being a model railway enthusiast? Well as a brief introduction, I'm quasi-normal, married, in my 40's. An IT consultant that just likes to build things with his hands after spending 50 - 60 hours a week creating virtual things. I've always had an interest in the mechanics and operation of trains. Not to the compulsive extremes of some, but enough to make it my hobby of choice. I've lived and worked in Canada, the US, and the UK. One of the things that has persuaded me to write is the big difference in the way the hobby is seen on both sides of the Atlantic.
What am I writing about? The idea is to chronicle the building of a model railway with the intent on exhibiting it one day. I'm hoping to capture a diary of all the trials and tribulations. Warts and all. Maybe I can convince some that we aren't all lunatics. Maybe it will help someone else from making the same mistakes that I have made, and will continue to make. Maybe, just maybe it will give a few people a good laugh as well.
Where? My garage in SE London.
When? Over the next couple of years as I go from a pile of wood to a 3 dimensional working sculpture. (sounds bloody pretentious)
Why a blog about a trainset? Hell, why a trainset? What is it about grown men 'playing' with trains that brings derision and labels of anorak or geek?
Why on the west side of the Atlantic ocean does 'Model Railroader' on one's CV represent a positive aspect to your personality. Why, in the UK doing the same would get you branded as a sad freak? Why the big difference?
Is it just playing trains, or is it something a bit more? Can a reasonably normal person survive in a hobby that in the UK seems to be infested with Roy Cropper clones?
Before anyone asks, no I don't own a knit cardigan, no I don't have an anorak, no I don't stand on railway platforms with a soggy pork pie and a bottle of Tizer, and no I don't drive an old Ford Anglia.
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