In this "About" Section I would like it to read as a "Forward" in a book. Information that, yes, if you have to you can skip, but background that if you take a few seconds to browse may give you a few *click* moments when reading the blogs later on.
Background
I started modelling from a very young age, encouraged by my grandfather. I will be blaming him for a lot of things through out this blog, becoming a Railway Engineer, my interest in the railways and my interest in the hobby of model railways would be in no particular order the top 3. My first kit was an SRC (just like my grandfather) at the age of 12, a Lloyds White Metal SRC kit. Growing up in the 90's and 2000's all I wanted were Lloyds Kits, as the Ready To Run (RTR) revolution hadn't taken off as yet other than for locomotives and some niche wagons that always sell well (the original Austrains 'S' wagon for example).
Over the years I increased my rollingstock, getting a Train-O-Rama MRC, a Lima FS, and many S wagons. All the while buying more Lloyds kits. Every year a the Sydney Model Railway Show the first stop was always Lloyds. Initially I lacked in Passenger stock though, always getting the Lloyds goods wagons. As I got older I started getting Camco FOs. I got one, and it was so much fun to put together that I got another one, and another. I recently bought an Austrains FO and CCA bringing my fleet of FOs up to 4 and that has now put a stop to my FOs, apart from the 2 my grandfather kindly donated so I could run a 2, 4 or 6 car set by combining them.
Growing up on my grandfather's layouts, there were in general 2 things he rarely ran. 1. Steam. Growing up in the steam era I feel he looked at the modern era of diesels the same way young people look at the computer. They both do the job, this one does the job so much better, therefore I like that. And 2. Electrics. Overheads where always a challenge, especially with 2 grandsons, mad-keen about trains and didn't always mind their fingers in the early years.
The last thing I have inherited from my grandfather, was the code 100 track. Many older modelers will recall that should you choose to run a Lima wagon, you should require at least code 100 track, lest you change the wheels. This was due to the flanges on the wheels. As most Lima passenger wagons (the MBE and MFE for example) had 6 axles the thought of replacing 6 axles per wagon didn't warrant the change. Code 100 allows for the freedom of, "I can run whatever is brought out, as long as my curves are large enough".
Now in my working years, the knowledge I gained from 'playing' with the scaled down models, translate to my job, making it easier for me to see the big picture than other people my age. I had a great head start. Working in Sydney initially as an Undergraduate Engineer, I got to see it all. The different disciplines of the rail industry; Track, Overheads, Signalling. I found them all fascinating and very quickly picked up the basics and was working on intermediate and advanced projects. Working with the overheads was very interesting indeed, as this was one section I had lacked more than any other in my interaction with rail. Now I no longer work with Overheads, however the knowledge (and some documents) remain and I can very quickly and easily recall a lot of information on this. That is part of the reason why I have decided to put overhead wiring on this layout.
My last bit of advice to you, or myself re-reading this in a few months time, Overheads always work in Tension. The Staunchons are always pulling the overhead wire on to where it should be.
Regards,
AG.
Over the years I increased my rollingstock, getting a Train-O-Rama MRC, a Lima FS, and many S wagons. All the while buying more Lloyds kits. Every year a the Sydney Model Railway Show the first stop was always Lloyds. Initially I lacked in Passenger stock though, always getting the Lloyds goods wagons. As I got older I started getting Camco FOs. I got one, and it was so much fun to put together that I got another one, and another. I recently bought an Austrains FO and CCA bringing my fleet of FOs up to 4 and that has now put a stop to my FOs, apart from the 2 my grandfather kindly donated so I could run a 2, 4 or 6 car set by combining them.
Growing up on my grandfather's layouts, there were in general 2 things he rarely ran. 1. Steam. Growing up in the steam era I feel he looked at the modern era of diesels the same way young people look at the computer. They both do the job, this one does the job so much better, therefore I like that. And 2. Electrics. Overheads where always a challenge, especially with 2 grandsons, mad-keen about trains and didn't always mind their fingers in the early years.
The last thing I have inherited from my grandfather, was the code 100 track. Many older modelers will recall that should you choose to run a Lima wagon, you should require at least code 100 track, lest you change the wheels. This was due to the flanges on the wheels. As most Lima passenger wagons (the MBE and MFE for example) had 6 axles the thought of replacing 6 axles per wagon didn't warrant the change. Code 100 allows for the freedom of, "I can run whatever is brought out, as long as my curves are large enough".
Now in my working years, the knowledge I gained from 'playing' with the scaled down models, translate to my job, making it easier for me to see the big picture than other people my age. I had a great head start. Working in Sydney initially as an Undergraduate Engineer, I got to see it all. The different disciplines of the rail industry; Track, Overheads, Signalling. I found them all fascinating and very quickly picked up the basics and was working on intermediate and advanced projects. Working with the overheads was very interesting indeed, as this was one section I had lacked more than any other in my interaction with rail. Now I no longer work with Overheads, however the knowledge (and some documents) remain and I can very quickly and easily recall a lot of information on this. That is part of the reason why I have decided to put overhead wiring on this layout.
My last bit of advice to you, or myself re-reading this in a few months time, Overheads always work in Tension. The Staunchons are always pulling the overhead wire on to where it should be.
Regards,
AG.