It's been a fairly quiet time at work this month, which has given me extra time to hit the Internet. Not while I'm at work, I hasten to add! I have lived more of my life without internet than with it, and this makes me appreciate what an amazing resource it is. I have mentioned previously that I use ebay a lot, and that without ebay I probably wouldn't have been able to build the collection of trains that I have. The thing about ebay though, and perhaps other sites to a lesser degree, is that even if you don't want to actually buy something it is an amazing resource regarding what is around. Like many other collectors I'm fairly familiar with British toy trains, such as Hornby (Meccano) and Tri-ang, and American toy trains, such as Lionel, and perhaps the main reason for that familiarity is that they're made in English-speaking countries, and unfortunately I only speak English. There are other trains, such as Märklin, made in Germany, which were marketed widely in the UK, USA and Australia, and so there is a degree of familiarity with them, but there is a whole other realm of toy trains made particularly in Germany and France that, in the main, we English speakers just do not know very much about. I must add that I am a member of a UK-based society- the Train Collector's Society- whose motto is "Any Make, Any Gauge, Any Age" whose members have very wide and diverse interests which I really appreciate, and I have found membership in the TCS to be extremely beneficial and encouraging. There have been many articles in their excellent magazine, Train Collector, that have shown what an interesting and diverse hobby this can be. Anyway, to cut a long story short, with the time that I've had available I've been searching out toy trains on the Internet with which I'm not familiar, and have found it absolutely fascinating!! As I was reviewing my Scale and Gauge display (see the previous post) I was thinking about one of the lesser-known scales- S gauge. S Gauge is well known in the US because it was the scale chosen by AC Gilbert's American Flyer trains after WWII, and was very popular indeed. It is still being made by Lionel and others. But outside the US S gauge is almost unknown. There were a couple of attempts in the 50's to develop S gauge in Europe, most notably in Eastern Germany, but it didn't really last too long. The most successful European S gauge system was by a company called VEB Stadtilm, appropriately in Stadtilm, Germany. VEB means that it was an East German nationalised company. They developed a delightful and fairly comprehensive system, and being German it was excellent quality. Unfortunately it ultimately fell by the wayside after about ten years, but is eagerly collected now, along with Stadtilm's O gauge trains. S Gauge trains are about mid way in size between HO and O gauge. This is a nice little video of a small Stadtilm S gauge layout.
Another small S gauge system was briefly made by the French company Jep (Jouet de Paris/ toys of Paris) which was a huge toymaker in France, about which most of us in the English-speaking world know very little. They made a very limited array of S gauge trains, mostly train-sets, but with a few add-on items as well. From what I've seen though, it wasn't a fully developed system, with points and accessories, just a circle or oval of track and a few trains. I could be wrong though, and I would love to know more!! Anyway, I managed to buy a very nice Jep S gauge coach, mint in box, from a seller in France, and for the moment it is about the only representative in my collection of European S gauge. It certainly is very nice though! Interestingly the 'normal' gauge used for S gauge is 7/8 ths of an inch, which is about 22.25 mm, however Jep state the gauge on the box as 25mm. As it is a toy, running on tinplate rails, the difference may be academic, but interesting nonetheless.
There have been many other interesting discoveries on the internet in the last few weeks, and I hope to share these in subsequent posts. In the meantime, there are new 'discoveries' every day!!
My daughters always advise anybody who will listen not to get me started talking about 'Scale and Gauge' as they relate to model trains, knowing that once I get going on the subject it's hard to stop me! Probably true. But with commencement of construction of the Trainbarn imminent, I thought I had better get serious about the details of some of the displays that I plan to build for it. Probably the first display to be built will be- you guessed it- my Scale and Gauge display!! Most, if not all, of the trains displayed in the Trainbarn will be what I call Toy Trains, that is they are representative of real trains, rather than being accurate models of them. So the Scale and Gauge display, relating as it does to Model Railway sizes, will be a little bit out of place amongst the Toys, but hopefully will fit in reasonably well. It'll certainly be an attractive and hopefully informative display. As a reminder I'll show a picture of all the actual models that will be in the display, which are all based on the same type of locomotive- a Santa Fe GM-EMD F-7A in Warbonnet colours.
The display cabinet will be slightly smaller than this table. What I've been working on today is all the labels that I need to make in order for the display to be meaningful. Since I am useless with computers, or perhaps I don't have the right program, (my excuse) I have drawn the labels out on paper the 'old' way, hoping that I can entice someone capable to put them onto a computer and then print them out neatly!
Here's an example of a label for the TT scale locomotive. I'll place them just in front of the relevant loco so comparisons can be made.
There will also be small labels defining 'Scale' and 'Gauge', which hopefully will clear up any confusion visitors may have about these terms. If in fact anyone apart from me really cares!! Defining the track gauge of each different size is very easy, they're almost literally set in concrete!! The scale however is another matter indeed! There are many variations from country to country, or dependant on exactly what sort of railway someone is representing. I have chosen the scale that is perhaps the most widely used for each size, or that best applies to the locomotive that I've chosen, which obviously is American. So, if you visit the Trainbarn in a few years time and wish to come to grips with the different model railway scales and gauges, you can spend as much time as you like studying the display. If I start heading your way perhaps a quick exit somewhere- anywhere- might be advised!!
The main reason that I started writing this blog is to have a record of progress (or otherwise) of my various train-related projects, and the development of our property, Whistlestop, in general. It is a good way of letting friends and relatives know what I've been up to, and sometimes it is easy to forget that the blog is open to anyone on the internet to read. The catalyst for today's ramblings is that the page-view count for the blog has now passed 10,000, which I guess is a milestone of sorts. I'm the first to realise that probably a significant number of those page-views are from me, as I regularly check the blog page to see if any of the blogs that I follow have any updates. I know that it registers my own viewings, despite the fact that I have selected it not to on numerous occasions. I have also enjoyed writing about some of my favourite trains and train-related subjects, such as Scale and Gauge. Some of these pages have received a significant number of views, which is very encouraging! As work progresses and excitement builds as the construction of my train museum building- The Trainbarn- grows ever closer, I've found it very enjoyable looking back at all the fantastic experiences that I've had so far developing my collection. As I've said previously, it is those memories of fantastic times that are the most valuable part of my collection. Life has indeed been very good. Long may it continue!!
The very exciting news of today is that the plans for the Trainbarn have arrived back from our regional Council, fully approved and with no unexpected conditions! With the contract for the slab foundations already signed with the builder it's full steam ahead! Our subcontracted concreter is scheduled to do the slab in early March. Roll on March!! I've wanted to have a proper place to run my trains ever since I was a kid, when my small Hornby Dublo layout took up a sizeable chunk of my bedroom. I loved running my trains (wore them out!) and improving my layout, but even then I was a 'collector', with various other sizes and makes of trains in every nook and cranny of my room. In my late teens we moved north to Queensland as a family, and combined with this, being very much occupied with training for my career, my trains were packed up and many given away (sorry Robilt!!) not to see the light of day for a very long time. I have had small spaces to set up a few trains since- the best was a rented house and we got asked to leave (!!)- but of course, as a collector, there was never enough space. Will the Trainbarn be big enough? Probably not, but it's a very, very, good start!! Is a bloke's shed ever big enough!! Even though building the Trainbarn is one of the things that I've most wanted to do in life, it is a very big step and certainly not taken lightly. I admit that I tend to be one of those fairly anxious, worrying, sorts of people, so going through the various processes such as Council approval is a good thing for me, as there are lots of opportunities for the 'door' to close, if in fact this isn't the way forward. Perhaps convincing my wife about it was the first part of the process, although I don't recall any opposition! As I said, Roll on March!!
