So, what got you interested in railways?

[8shopderby]

Gooday all
My introductory message and why I am interested in loco's. It is because of what I did.
I served my time as a fitter/turner/erector. Six years apprentiship at the Derby Loco from 1948 to 1954 in 8 shop (erecting shop) 9 shop (machine shop) and diesel shop.
But my story begins around 1942 when as a kid I went train watching as it was called in those days. It generated an interest in loco's that chose for me my future career and trade. I have lived for thirty six years in New Zealand and have only just recently learnt of the great interest in the restoration of the steamers. This interest has been stimulated with some D.V.D's that I have seen of the loco's and railways In the U.K
Regards 8shopderby

[mailamaynard]

i suck at creating projects and for me this will be something big. i always have this habit on starting something and eventually not able to finish it. i know how train projects are hard to do but this will be like a big call for me to do something different. now i am halfway with my layout and feels excited doing it.

[D.O.G.F.A.N.]

Originally Posted by mailamaynard

i suck at creating projects and for me this will be something big. i always have this habit on starting something and eventually not able to finish it. i know how train projects are hard to do but this will be like a big call for me to do something different. now i am halfway with my layout and feels excited doing it.

Go to the bbottom right of the page and see: Forum Jump. Click on then you can put this post in the Railway Modelling section.Hope this helps.

[The Falcon]

At first, I never really liked the railway. As a younger child, I was scared of HSTs (yes I was, no lie) and I did not enjoy taking the train either. Even when I grew up and had to start using the railway myself, I found the journey process to be long and rather tedious.

It was purely by chance that one day, whilst searching through the limited stack of PC Games in Blockbuster, I came across Trainz 2004. Despite feeling a little sceptical, I decided to give it go. It was from then on that my interest in the railway grew. No sooner had I started making layouts on the Trainz surveyor, I was down at my local station, writing down running numbers.

It was just two months ago that I started taking my first railway photographs. Now, I aim to take shots at least once every fortnight.

Whilst my railway enthusiasm did not get off to the best of starts, it is now one of my many interests and key passions.

[Silver Fox Phil]

Originally Posted by The Falcon

At first, I never really liked the railway. As a younger child, I was scared of HSTs (yes I was, no lie) and I did not enjoy taking the train either. Even when I grew up and had to start using the railway myself, I found the journey process to be long and rather tedious.

It was purely by chance that one day, whilst searching through the limited stack of PC Games in Blockbuster, I came across Trainz 2004. Despite feeling a little sceptical, I decided to give it go. It was from then on that my interest in the railway grew. No sooner had I started making layouts on the Trainz surveyor, I was down at my local station, writing down running numbers.

It was just two months ago that I started taking my first railway photographs. Now, I aim to take shots at least once every fortnight.

Whilst my railway enthusiasm did not get off to the best of starts, it is now one of my many interests and key passions.

Once the bug grabs you its there in your blood no matter when you started. I love the photography and have been known to take in excess of 500 in a day!
Glad you enjoy the hobby and good hunting for the future
Regards
Phil

[davidg]

Hard to say why I like railways, maybe the above is the reason or that as a child trains took us to the seaside or maybe even as a child I realized trains (some) were the fastest and most comfortable way to travel. Davidg

[John H-T]

Welcome to the Forum 8shopderby. Good to see that the influence of the Midland Railway/LMS extends half way round the World. Look forward to your posts.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

[Ken WSRfan]

Not really sure where my interest came from, Dad was an aircraft enthusiast and he passed on his love of aeroplanes to me. We spent many hours together on airfields and at home we used to make models together. I can remember as a child going with my Gran on holiday to Wales every year and running along behind her friend's house was a railway serving the coal mine. I spent many happy hours watching the steam engines there.

I got an interest in model railways just after I started work but never quite got round to building one (getting close to starting it now, some 40+ years later.)

When I started working at a builders merchant beside Guildford station was when my interest in railways started to really grow and then a holiday in Somerset brought me into contact with the West Somerset Railway and from there on it has just kept growing.

Luckily my wife and daughter don't seem to mind whether they go out to look at aeroplanes or trains so I seem to be in a state of total win. Both of them are keen on the idea of having a model railway in the spare room, the only thing slowing me up at the moment is their regular offers of 'help'.

Now I'm working closer to home and I have Farnborough North station right behind me, sadly though I have no window facing that way so all I can do is listen to the trains going through behind me all day, but that's better than nothing.

[Yorkie Webbo]

My fascination with both steam and railways could be an inbred/inblood thing (great granfather was an engineer who specialised in static steam engines) all my cousins are of the same mind, even though we have lived in different parts of the country all our lives.

We lived in a mining village and had the railway in close proximity where a few of us used to go to watch the shunting etc, and to make matters even better, one of my spotting mates who lived in the same street, his father was the loco driver at the local colliery. We often used to go to the colliery and either help fire the loco or drive it, under supervision of course, there wasn't much room in the cab of an NCB austerity saddle tank for 2 adults and 2 kids, but at least we had the rides and enjoyed every minute of it.

The village we lived in was between the LMS and LNER routes (Sheffield Rotherham and Doncaster) and we spent probably an equal amount of time spotting at all 3 locations. As we got older we moved further afield for the spotting, York, Carlisle, Crewe and Derby to name a few.

As we got even older we found out about beer and women and something had to give, unfortunately it was the railway, but it has never been far from my mind and in these last 20 years or so has been resurrected. I still go out with the camera and take shots of mainly infrastructure and wagons and the occasional loco, but modelling has become the "in thing" for me now, I can re-live my youth but in model form.
Alan

[Maggie]

Hi I am new to the forum and would like to share my passion for steam engines and the railway. I have had the privelidge of meeting a talented watercolour artist Richard Vessey. His works capture the age of steam and the railway world. Here are his paintings. My love for steam was as a little girl in Skipton where I could stand near the line and look over the wall and watch the train fill with water. I can remeber travelling there on the steam trains and all the yellow prcelain in the loos.
There are more of Richards works on the website http://www.wix.com/TheMacGallery/the-mac-gallery
Thanks Maggie