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[espeegary]

I've been a life long railfan. For the last 42 years I've lived near the Southern Pacific/Union Pacific coastline. Are there any other members here who enjoy the trains?

[seabourndt]

yes i have always love trains, i working in england for british rail for 25 years before thety went private. still go on railtours here with desils and steaM HAULAGE. now got into doing cruises and ships but trains are still my 1st love
dave

[oldymen]

Yes, I worked on the German Railroad many years. Today, I am retired and enjoy my life. I worked on different functions, from the small worker until in the computer Center.

[paris02]

I was lucky enough once to travel overnight on a train and had one of the best sleeps of my life. With the rocking motion and the noises associated with the train I slept like a baby. I have also traveled on the Euro train while vacationing in Europe, loved every minute of it.

[vacman]

Hey everyone. I have been a model railroad fan since I was 9 years old, when my dad bought me a lionel 027 guage set. At 19, I started in HO guage, built 5 layouts in that scale. At age 35, I started N scale modeling, and built 6 layouts over 15 years. At age 59, i started Z scale, the smallest of the scales. Although i need a magnifying glass to work on the scale, I love it. You can see how small that scale is in "My Gallery" on this site. Thanks for reading this.

[Graham1]

I loved the old steam trains; the noise the smell and the old engines! Sadly its a thing of the past

[Goldfynche]

I have always been a rail fan/photographer, in the UK. My favourite locomotives were the Bullied Pacifics.
My son is a driver (train operator) on the London Underground

[Chooman]

I'm not really a fan as much as an x employee now retired. I was a locomotive enginneer for 31 years in Canada. I drove frieght trains and Passanger traims and my favourite were passanger trains because of the speed and meeting people, Bob

[RosesLady]

I live in St Thomas which 100 years ago and more was the rail capital for Canada. All trains coming into Canada from the US, and viseversa came through St Thomas. We had a round house to repossion the steam engines. We still have some of the original shops and our train station is approx 133 yrs old. We have a Railway Museum, and in our shops (also over 100 yrs old) a group are restoring several steam locamotive engines from the 1890's. We have coaches too from the 1920's. For special occassions the steam locomotives and coaches are put into operation for short special runs. I have been on them for a run to Port Stanley and also to Sheddan. So neat to do that. We have "Thomas The Train" come to St Thomas every summer too.

[BikerD]

Been a steam fan for many years. Driven Traction Engines and Rollers all over the UK. Overhauled full sized engines as a hobby. Made coal fired miniatures as well. Volunteered as an engineer at a local railway preservation society

[Bloodnock]

I grew up in a house perched on the side of a mountain in south Wales, in one of the mining valleys. I saw many steam trains hauling iron ore, coal, oil, and the like up and down the valley's for years. We had the massive 2-10-0 tanks, and the even bigger 2-10-0 BR 9F's hauling massive goods train slowly up the winding valley's. The saddest day was watching the first diesel coming up the valley, From my vantage point, you could normally steam engines coming up the valley by the huge plumes of smoke and steam forced out the chimney stacks as the laboured their way up the gradient long before they rounded the bend and into sight. The diesel was different, hardly any smoke a different sound and a horn not a whistle, it just didn't seem right to someone like me being so young.

At the age of about 7, I was on a visit to Barry Island and the Butlins holiday camp. My father had parked up, in an outside car park, which over looked Woodhams Scrap yard. What a sad sorrowful sight. Hundred upon hundred of steam engines lined up waiting to be scrapped. Slowly rusting and weeds growing up and around the wheels, out of empty coal bunkers. I was always in awe of the size of the driving wheels, as one day my dad found a hole in the fence and we went in and wandered up and down the lines of rusting hulks. The wheels of the really big express locos, was just mind bogglingly large. After all the passing years though, the has been a vast number of those engines saved from the gas axe and restored and in daily use once more around private preserved lines all over the country. A very memorable trip.


These days I would love to be able to get my boxed up model trains out and have a garden layout, but time sadly is still not on my side, to much to do, and not enough hours in the day.

I would recommend anyone to go and visit the Pendon Museum in Oxford, a great day out, and for railway buffs in particular, the site you will see is just breath taking. Here is their link: [url] http://www.pendonmuseum.com/[/url]