Hi Trainboard! While I have been lurking and reading a lot on this and other model railroad sites, I haven't gotten around to introducing myself here yet. So here goes... I'm a 41 year old fine art photographer from Mumbai, India. Male, married, no kids. My model railroad connection: * Introduced to model RRs when I was 8, when some kind soul passed away and bequeathed several hundred model railroading magazines to the school library - this was in 1979, and I think the magazines dated back 20 years or so (history lessons and hobby reading rolled in one). * The subject fascinated me from then, in a way real-world railroads never did. * Never got around to building any model railroad, nor even becoming a "collector", despite the desire - In India, other than some plastic roundy-round wind-up or battery-run toy trains, nothing approaching model railroads were in stores until perhaps 5-7 years ago. * I did get to see ONE 3-rail (Lionel, I'm guessing) oval back when I was around 12, at the house of one of the "rich kids" whose parents "shopped overseas". We weren't allowed to actually see the train in operation because it was "imported"! * What with the (until recently) ridiculously high import duties in India for "premium luxury goods", as model trains were categorized, and the exchange rate disadvantage, this hobby remained a dream. A family can live reasonably well for a month on the cost of a single Kato starter set today, and a couple of decades ago, the same family could have eaten for a year on model RR costs including customs duty back then! * Over the last couple of years, I've been looking for a midlife-crisis outlet, and since I couldn't afford the red two-seater sports car, I figured it is time I finally got down to model railroading! * While I intend to some day build a full layout when we can afford to move to a place of our own with a spare room, in the interim I plan to build a few small, portable dioramas. * More importantly, I intend to design and scratch-build animated/motorized/microcontroller-controlled accessories like a turntable, working railway crossing gates, and microcontroller control circuits for special lighting effects... Has anyone made the lights in their buildings flicker while turning on, like an aging fluorescent lamp? I want to make that happen for my stuff. * Operating accessories fascinate me more than just trains and operations do. So that's going to be my focus. * My preferred scale is N. Why N-scale? Well, paucity of space drives me to as small a scale as possible, while the lack of good accessory options limits me from going Z-scale or T-scale. If there were a Faller car system or a Tomix bus system equivalent for Z that I could aspire to, I might have opted for Z, I guess. * Where am I going to get my trains and stuff? Not in India, that's for sure. In the last few months, I've been able to buy several types of rail cars, a couple of locos, and a sampling of track/turn-outs off Ebay, both new and used, for less than ONE THIRD of the price offered by the couple of model RR retailers operating (or looting the customer) in India! This is despite often having to pay more for shipping and customs, than the price of the item. Whew, that was long! Now, a bit about me: * Photography was learnt from my father and our extensive home library, no formal training. * I shoot both digital and film - I get asked that a lot. * I teach photography, and also sell my fine art images as limited edition art prints. Not online, though, so far. * I have had several well-received art gallery exhibitions of my work over the last 5 years, including most recently at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai, which is India's equivalent to the MOMA in New York. * Formal education is in Electronics, and post-graduation in Computer Applications. * Until 2007, I was a corporate IT cog, last employed as Chief Technology Officer of a British multinational. That's when I moved on to starting on my own with my photography business. * I still consult occasionally in the IT Strategy / Management space, and I've even been pulled into some electronic design consulting work, specifically in Ultrasonics applications, using microcontrollers. * I work from home and define my own hours, so I have the luxury of working on (or towards) my new / old hobby, at my own pace. * I am also an avid online gamer, specifically MMORPGs. And yeah, Railroad Tycoon and Roller Coaster Tycoon are pre-existing addictions. While I am unlikely to be of any value in the various hardcore model railroad related quests and queries on these forums, I might be able to help in matters of electronics, at least. Not sure which other of my areas of knowledge is of any interest to this forum, but I'm willing to try! Thank you all for making this awesome forum what it is! Apologies for the extra-long post. Warm Regards -- Anindo Ghosh
Anindo, Welcome to the TrainBoard. We're happy that you have emerged as a member from merely lurking. With your interest and expertise in electronics and control systems, I'm sure you will be a great asset to helping with that aspect of our hobby. We look forward to seeing photos and videos of your automation efforts, especially as works-in-progress. Would Indian customs duties apply to items received from international individuals that did not involve formal purchases as from a commercial supplier or company?
Welcome to Trainboard, Anindo. We do not have many members from India ... but we do get a whole lot of spammers! When you are ready to purchase equipment, please remember Trainboard's Advertisers; and if you make your buys through ebay, go to them through Trainboard's link (front page location). Again, welcome!
Welcome aboard, Anindo. Please join in on the discussions here. There are many knowledgeable folks here and the N scale forum is very active. :happy:
Howdy from Texas. My railroad is named Santa Vaca and Santa Fe. The name Santa Vaca means Sacred Cow, or Saint Cow, or Holy Cow! Not to be confused with the sacred cows I sometimes hear about from India. My railroading got started with a train around the Christmas tree, and after a while, I thought of a way the name Santa Vaca relates to Christmas. I will tell you in advance it is entirely made up. The Legend of Santa Vaca In one of the early Spanish missions established in Texas to convert the (American) Indians, a priest was telling his congregation they should give to the church even though they didn't have much to give. He said that God can use our gifts more than we know, and he told the story of the cow who gave up her feeding stall to make a place for the Baby Jesus to lay. He said the cow's gift-- the manger-- became more a part of the Christmas scene than even the expensive gifts of the Wise Men. But the (American) Indians confused the cow in the priest's Christmas story with a buffalo cow who was worshipped in their pre-Christian native religion and they began to bring back the cult of the Holy Cow. The Church tried to discourage the practice but could not stop it entirely. The village near the mission took on the name Santa Vaca, and it grew into a major city served by a subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railway. At the cathedral in Santa Vaca near where the mission once stood is a stained glass window with the manger scene featuring the Baby Jesus, the Virgin Mary and the Holy Cow, each with a halo. Anyway, welcome to Trainboard from the management and public relations staff of the Santa Vaca and Santa Fe Rwy.
Welcome aboard! That was certainly a good introduction...I would also suggest you look to some of the online retailers who advertise here, although I'm not sure how the import duties would play in that venue. Good luck!
One of my fondest memories is of a trip in 2nd class in 1997 from Jaipur to Lucknow - 3 high sleeper. IRFCA is a group that you should look at. In 2010 we went to a friends daughters wedding, traveling from Maduri to chennai and of course the rack rail to Ooty .
Welcome aboard. One of the best ways to contribute is to post photos. Write about what you're working on. Greg Amer The Industrial Lead gregamer.com
Welcome aboard, Anindo! I don't mind the length of the introduction; it's about like what I tend to do now. I like knowing fellow hobbyists' situations and perspectives. May I ask what countries your equipment originates from, and where you're planning to model?
Great to read from someone in India! Welcome here Anindo.:happy: But N scale is too big for me.... Dom
Yes, Customs is calculated on the basis of "standard commercial value", often also with an element of whim. Recently I had a Walthers Mi-Jack n-scale kit sent over, these sell for around US$20, and customs decided to charge at an MRP of US$80.
I'll be traveling from Mumbai to Amritsar by train next month, and I hope to bring this board lots of prototype photos! I am sure it will be quite an experience.
I currently have a mongrel collection of previously used switchers (DC) and coaches of various descriptions, no specific country. I'll post photos once I set up a bit of track. I plan to model Mumbai local trains (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai_Suburban_Railway, photos at bottom), and also a sleepy rattletrap cargo terminal - 60's steam still operates in some such terminals in India! These are a long way off. In the near future, though, will be just a tiny 2'x2' module for me to try out various automated accessories I design.
