Hi from a British US modeller in France

[tebee]

Well I'm Tom, these days I model mostly US prototype in HO, though I also have some 7mm NG. Over the years I've dabbled in just about every gauge / scale combination imaginable up to 15 in ! In the past I've had vast 009 layout - it was started as an antidote to rabbit layouts, I used an 8X2 ft board to make one station and ran 10 coach trains. This was on the exhibition circuit in the north-west for a time in the 70's. Later this expanded to run round three sides of a large bedroom but never really got completed.

 

I've had several OO scale layouts over the years but got disillusioned with how badly much of the British outline stuff ran at the time and how much work was needed to make kit built locos work well. I love making things from scratch though I don't rate

myself as a especially good modeller - these days my eyesight is getting so bad I find it hard to cut straight ! I'm not a fine-scale modeller either, but I do like things nicely weathered, I'm happy of it looks OK from three feet away.

 

I've always liked layouts that run from A to B, ideally via C to G and am quite into operations in the American meaning. These days I'm a convert to DCC though I only use it for the locos

 

Later in my life I started working freelance in the computer industry and spent a lot of time working in different parts of the country and did not have a permanent layout for many years, though I was in several clubs and modular groups. In the late 90's I decided to settle down and eventually bought a large Victorian house with an equally large basement under it and started to build my once-in a life-time layout. Sadly this was not to be as six years later Illness and a relationship split forced me to see the house.

 

After a few false starts I'm now running a small bar in rural France and I have a layout in a 18 X 10 fr room at the back of my garage/workshop outside. At the moment progress on this has stalled partly because it's too cold to work outside, but I'm thinking of building a micro-layout.

[Allegheny1600]

Hello Tom,

Sounds like an interesting life story so far! I wish you well with your French venture. You must speak pretty good French, i guess?

I too lived in France at one point in my life - with my parents! Sadly i was never a fluent French speaker though i did manage to fool a few people - they thought i just came from another region!!!!!!!!

I remember that you could get US stuff in France but it was very expensive however that was way before the internet! I did make a couple of friends with local modellers (& am still in touch with one!) but in S-W France, the main hobby was shooting little animals/birds! And drinking wine, of course!!!!!

Do you get many modellers in your local area?

Enjoy the RMWeb!

Cheers,

John E.

[tebee]

Well my French is just about good enough to hold a conversation with my customers, sadly I've got to the age were there I words I knew yesterday that I've totally forgotten today !

 

I know and lived in the South-west of France for a few years and well remember the passion down there for hunting and killing small defenceless creatures, I had great difficulty understanding some of the locals down there is I found the accent somewhat impenetrable.

 

Us stuff is very expensive here but then I used to buy most of mine direct from the US even when I was the UK. More of a problem to me is the fact that the nearest model shop with any decent selection of scratch building supplies is 120 miles away! When I came over I bought several years supply of stuff with me but I keep finding things I forgot or seem to have got lost in the trip over.

 

I did have a partner who was interested in modelling and was trying my best to get her two young daughters interested, but sadly we have recently split up. I had two other friends who where modellers but one got divorced last and had to sell the house and moved back to the UK, the other is also thinking of moving as he can't cope with the large garden he has now as he gets older.

 

I've not one much modelling myself for the last few years as we had major problems with the building we were renting for our former business and had to close down and I've spent most of last year getting the new one off the ground.

 

Tom