autocoach

I left England too young to be called an expat. My widowed father and I emigrated to the US about the time I was 6. I have lived since then only on the far western shores of North America mostly in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. I have memories of visiting the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch along with its O scale layout. Also trips to Bekonscot model village and a memory of being taken by my older cousin who was babysitting me at the time down the road to the local station, Penge East, to watch trains and seeing an air streamed green pacific emerge from Penge tunnel and storm off towards the coast. I received a first miniature railway train on my 5th birthday. A streamlined tinplate 3 unit. I remember my father having to remove the 12 volt car battery to hook up the circle of track to run it.  I have been hooked on model trains ever since. Although I trained as a historian, I fell into the electronic abyss of software in the 1970's in the SF Bay Area where I remained agitating electrons for the rest of my working days. Now I do it just for fun.