ABOUT ME

I know most of my friends would be learning about railmodelling through this site. Its not exactly a rage in India. Never has been. And I doubt if in the coming years too it can stand up to the competition offered by playstations, wii or golf! Its not like you can look up the yellow pages for railroad clubs and find one in your neighbourhood.
I have been in love with train modelling for as long as I can remember. Probably it’s the diversity between my academic qualification (mechanical engineering) and my present business of advertising that I enjoy the technical as well as the aesthetical aspects of railmodelling with equal fervour. I first saw tracks mounted in an oval on a 6x3 board in a neighbour’s garage. It took several years before I could eventually realise the dream that was ignited by that sight. Cost of equipment, and space, both were major impediments. Ofcourse near non-availability of rail stuff in India further enhanced the pain. However, around the year 2000 things changed when Hornby appointed a distributor in India; along the same time ordering on the internet became easy; and my holidays started taking me to distant shores. My collection was growing and so was my understanding of the nuances of the hobby. I decided I had had enough of not being able to use the dining table for what it was meant. The 3x6 board layout had to go and space had to be created for the rail road empire. Work started on a room on the terrace. The train room, as it has come to be known, has been home to the Escape Route which incidentally is my third layout, and has none of the complications the earlier two had. “Keep it simple” is the mantra and a rewarding one too! Whether it is assembling kits, making scenery, scratch-building or collecting, operating and maintaining the motive power, this hobby with its unmatched variety, has kept me thoroughly engrossed.
Recently I decided to put the open space in my weekend home to some “train use”. I remember having found the LGB Stainz quite like a toy when I first saw it years ago. Today, I have to admit that I have grown to love this toy - and G scale in general for the variety it offers! I started building the Garden layout (Never Enuf) in March 2011. In about seven months time I have laid tracks to cover about 2000 sqft.,  with more tracks arriving even as I write this. Running trains outdoors is a different experience altogether and I hope to post more on the progress as time goes by.
Though I may occasionally flirt with other interests like aeromodelling, railmodelling for me is where the heart is. Over the years, thankfully, I have met with a handful of enthusiasts who maintain layouts. Talking to them and seeing them progress in the hobby reassures me. Otherwise, railmodelling is quite a reclusive kind of a hobby and one ends up spending hours alone with just music and thoughts for company.