Livery

My interest in model trains developed gradually over the past year. It started innocently with a visit to a local model railway exhibition last spring. I remember seeing an ICE1 train set for sale at the show. I couldn’t justify the price at the time, but it was the catalyst that started my obsession. As other modelers may attest, this obsession has turned into a disease that has more or less consumed my brain, as well as my pocket book. A colleague in our Munich office offered to pick up an ICE3 starter set for me. I now have two of them along with an older version of an ICE1 six car set. I’m now considering expanding my rolling stock to include an additional ICE1 and a couple of Deutsche Bahn Regio bi-level commuter trains. I also have my sights set on a Thalys TGV. Suffice to say, “Drugs are cheaper than model trains”.

The trains in my collection are ones I have actually traveled on. However, I am finding myself drawn to other N-scale passenger trains such as the Gottardo TEE of the Swiss Railways and the Deutsche Bundesbahn's legendary Rheingold line. Both these trains belong to an earlier epoch and are no longer in service, replaced by more modern versions. I suspect I am attracted to these steel behemoths as they epitomize the golden age of railway travel long gone.