My Years of Modelrailroading

The Avrum Lumber & Western Railroad The Fantasy of Model Railroading

Always Remember That Model Railroading is as good as your imagination

I 've been a model railroader in HO scale for over 40 years....and STILL AT IT.
Although I can't remember all the details, of the past, I will try to give you as much as possible.
The pic on the left, is me about 30 years ago, at the controls of one of my larger layouts. I was as bald then, as I am now.

IT - all started, when I bought a Triang set, (UK) for my son,who was about 2 or 3 years old. He is now 46. Like most kids at that age was facinated at the start, but quickly lost interest. He liked playing with cars. NEEDLESS to say, I didn't....

A friend of mine, who owned a hobby shop, told me that Triang was not to scale and that HO was perfect for my needs. That is when it all started.

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The "GENOA"
THE - first layout was on a 3 X 5 piece of Plywood, which we put on the floor & watched the little engine,3 cars and a caboose, go around & around. We were all (my son & my daughter) lying on the floor. (We had carpets) Boredom set in very quickly, but I was into scale & NEVER Looked Back. I have never worked from a plan, & I still don't.
I liked laying the tracks & taking it apart & doing it over again. I still do the same today, even though, it is 1/4 the size. (You will see what I mean when you get to my new layout.)
I have accumulated 40 Locos. Six are deisels.
My Favorite Steam,an 0-4-0 Camel Back that I bought from a collector, it was one of my first..I have not seen another one, since. I have 1, 4-6-2,& 1, 2-8-2. The others, are wood burners,("General","JWBoker","Genoa" etc.)and early steam. Most of them are still running. The 4-6-2 & 2-8-2, are too big to run on my present layout. (curved track,tracks, mostly 15", a few 18".

Theme- Old Western & Lumber, circa 1800s to mid 1900s. Same Theme today. The reason for this, is that as a youngster, I was became a Western movie freak, & fell in love with the old west. (I have John Wayne movies dating back to 1935) I also went for the little wood powered & early steam locos, for their beauty & character..

The scenery, because, my layouts were were not permanent, had to be made of very light, and of easy to dismantle products. I used a lot of styrofoam, that I carved & painted to look like gravel, rocks etc., balsa wood, tericloth (green for grass, & brown for dirt roads. I also used coarse sandpaper, painted gray for gravel areas, which was easy to glue.
I can remember my wife, saying to me, "You just completed the section & now you are taking it apart." On the larger layouts, I did use some plaster. Of coarse, when the plaster dried, I had to use a chisel & hammer, to take it apart. I enjoyed building rather than running and still do.

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My Alwrr General

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Hyman Novak.

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This Home Page was created by Hyman Novak June 19th 1997
Many Thanks To My Kids, For Their Help in Getting Started. There have been many changes made to this page since then.

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