In the beginning...

There was O gauge.

Even though my first proper model railway experience was with a OO scale Hornby Freightmaster train set I was given for Christmas in 1976. The first model railway item that I remember, was an O scale coach that a dentist in town had. 

As a child, I had a dental condition called Hypomineralisation, where my baby teeth were chalk like and broke easily (or so I am told). I made many visits to dentists over the years to deal with this condition and the aftermath. 

This gentleman had some O gauge carriages on display in his waiting room and I latched on to them. I can clearly remember holding onto a coach for dear life as I underwent some tooth removals. I think he even let me take it home for a while as I recouperated.

The first model railway item I remember may have been something like this

There’s no doubt about it. O gauge does feel different. Sure, OO scale is nice and it’s relatively small, so you can get plenty in a small space. It’s a grand starting point for the model railway enthusuiast.

But O is different. Items have a heft and feel that OO items don’t have. An item of rolling stock really does click as it goes over a track joint. Sprung buffers really do give way as stock bumps up against each other. 

I have wanted to model in O for many years. From when I was growing up in England through to living in Minnesota now. I even have a couple of US outline items of rolling stock hidden away in a drawer somewhere that were waiting for a project. 

But over the years, I’ve come to realize that even though I live in the USA, American trains mean little to me, and I’m better off modelling what I’m familiar with. 

Those who know me, are aware of my many model railway blogs, made for charting the progress of layouts. The good and the bad. This one will be much the same. 

I do have another project on the go right now with an exhibition deadline to meet. So, for a while this blog will be a place of musings and cogitation about what I’ll do. 

Nothing is set in stone yet. I have some ideas. Some quite interesting ones. So we’ll see where it all goes.