Hornby enthusiasts

[VEGAS]

Hi all,

any model railway enthusiasts on here? I'm certainly not one, but growing up, you were either a scalextric or train set kid and I recieved some Hornby bits and pieces for christmas one year and so my interest in model railways was born.

The detail and accuracy of some of the loco's, carriages and buildings is very pleasing to look at.

Out with the missus earlier today in Hobbycraft, I saw lots of boxed Hornby sets and add-ons on display and it set me back a few years to some very happy memories. However, I saw the price of some of the products now and could'nt believe how expensive it has become. :o

I guess the Xbox and Playstation culture has killed off the modern day child's interest in model making.

Just wondering if anyone else has an interest in Hornby/Lima model railways or am I not well!? :doho:

[Garry Russell]

Not at all Eddie

I think it's quite normal to appreciate models and the detail. I spemt many a happy hour watching the layout in action in a local store.

I was never into it in my own right but I really enjoyed the sight

It's when you start dressing up,....putting the hat on, blowing the whistle and waving the flag to a set timetable you have to start worrying

Garry

[Harry Basset]

You have to be so very careful. I started out on Hornby, I thought I was smarter than the average and could control it but gradually, almost unnoticed I needed more and at the age of 45 I got involved with the hard stuff. I joined a loco preservation group rebuilding and maintaining working steam engines.Still that wasn't enough so I worked my way through the footplate grades from cleaner to fireman to driver of both steam and diesel locos. I have driven among others both Blue Peter and Sir Nigel Gresley. Now at 63 I am a ruined, broken man finishing work on 22nd August and it all started with Hornby trains.

[Garry Russell]

Oh dear..someone who has gone over the line....left the rails and ended up loco :o

Never mind Harry.....perhaps you can be re-trained

Garry

[Globitz]

Good Evening

Personally I think that what Garry said is true, there is nothing wrong with appreciating a good, well detailed model when you see one. I also am a firm believer that there are much worse things that kids get up to than when we were just playing trains at that age.

However the time to worry is in your adult life when you spend most of your spare time building O gauge model trains for yourself and other people ,and spend every weekend playing engine drivers on a real, (albeit miniature) steam locomotive. :roll: I have also just acquired one of Hornby's, live steam Flying Scotsman sets, and I cannot see how any one could not be impressed in the engineering that has gone into it.


There again, there are worse things to do with your time off IMHO.

Andy

Having spent a wonderful afternoon giving train rides for a Kids Birthday party.

[Michael davies]

Yeah I'm a train fan, model railways too, I'm more a collector, trying to buy a model from each country I've ever been too, picked up some bargins at swap meets and boot sales, all stored safe and insured LOL, got bored with ready made so went into self build brass kits, now thats when it becomes expensive, I think the OO LMS Princess was the most expensive single loco kit I bought, was then about to get into O gauge brass when I discovered flight sims. Initially the wife loved it, no smells of hot flux and solder, but then loathed it as all she heres is tap tap tap from the key board now .

Love trains, more than planes I'm afraid to say, but hey each to there own, its always good to ahve a heathy collection of diverse anoraks in the cupboard, though I do draw the line at bus spotting !.

Best

Michael

[Seaking]

Yea I was a big train fan in my youth, always used the dining room to set it all up, that was all many moons ago now but would still
like to build another layout if I ever had the room and the moola of course.

I was also a big Scalestrix fan, my layout would cover my entire living room used to love it. I even brought all the stuff with me
when I emigrated to Canada, I had track from the '60's that's very hard to get hold of nowdays.
Some years ago I passed it all onto my son for when he has kids, I still had a four lane set in the box from 1977.

To this day I still get hold of the odd Dinky toy as well.......if I could go back to the house I grew up in and dig up the back yard
I shudder to think how many Dinky's I would find.
Where did the years go.

[Hot_Charlie]

Used to love them when I was a kid. Now just need an appropriately gendered sprog* to have an excuse to start the hobby again! having said that, it's gauranteed to be a girl!

*a good excuse to build a proper boys toys room. Train, Scalectrix etc etc!

[Globitz]

Charlie,

Don't worry about the gender of the child bother you. We have a chap turn up at the club on our running days with a Girl and Boy both about 6-7 years of age.
The boy does not seem to care for trains at all and just likes running around, the girl on the other hand likes to ride around all afternoon and could probably tell us all a thing or two about how steam loco's work.

You really should see the desparation on the fathers face when pestered for one more ride on the steam train before going home, apparently she is also the instigator of the visits in the first place.

Cheers

Andy

[Nigel H-J]

Had a Hornby set when I was young, used to buy Airfix models of signal boxes and stations to add to it and spent my week-ends with paint and glue putting them together.

When I eventually left home to work in the Cotswolds I sometimes used to visit the model railway in Bourton-on-the-Water.

That was forty-One years ago and today, it is still going, even though the prices appear steep!! :o

http://www.bourtonmodelrailway.co.uk/

Regards
Nigel.