Introducing myself

Hello everyone!
Greetings from Sydney, Australia! Yet another colonial I hear you mutter and you'd be right.

My name is Jon, I'm in my mid fifties, married with a young daughter and live in Kellyville, in the north-west part of Sydney. I've left the hobby in my teens but fell in love with it again during a one year stint in the UK with my then employer about 12 years ago. Work commitments have prevented me from building a layout of my own, but at the  start of this year I changed jobs. I work in IT - specifically in supply chain. My previous role was with a software vendor but in January I joined my former employer's largest client in Australia. This has eliminated work-related travel from my life and has given me a little bit more free time.

Modelling-wise, my interests lie in two areas. I love the British steam to diesel transition period and have a soft spot for the pre-nationalisation GWR. I'm interested in both N and OO. Most of my stock is N gauge, but earlier this year I helped out on an exhibition with my local club and this got me hooked on  shunting. Without realising what was going on, suddenly I have four GWR OO locomotives, an autocoach and a wide variety of pre-nationalisation wagons! My long-suffering wife Maria made the comment that I have too many trains, so I just looked at the wardrobe full of shoes and bags and shrugged my shoulders!

Colin W put me on to this site after he answered a query about autocoaches, so here I am! I confess I am definitely what you would call a beginner when it comes to building and modelling, but I aim to be active and contribute. Thanks in advance for the encouragement!

Hello Jon. :Welcome

We were all beginners in the hobby once.  Any questions, just ask.

Best wishes,

Terry

Welcome to the club Jon.Glad you made it at last.

Welcome to the madhouse Jon.
I like your choice of era - the steam to diesel era offers so much scope in terms of stock and liveries.  I suppose nobody is perfect so I'll forgive your liking for the GWR !

As Terry said, we were all beginners once and in fact, I've hardly moved on. 

We have a bye - line here : There's no such thing as a stupid question, so don't ever be afraid to ask about anything.  If you don't ask,  you'll never know the answer.

YMR is full of highly skilled and very experienced modellers who are more than willing to pass on their knowledge.

Have a look around, settle in and ask away - we're all itching to see what you have in mind.

Hi Joh
Welcome to the club from Canada

I hope you have as much fun on here as I have had over the past decade.

GWR pre-nationalisation……..excellent choice!

Cheers

John

:Welcome aboard Jon, glad you made it in  :thumbs
Feel free to ask me anything you want . . And while I'm scratching me head someone else will give you a proper answer !  :)

Cheers

Matt

Hi Jon,

Welcome to the club. You cannot have too many GWR locomotives and stock. Like you I think the transition period offers a great choice in stock and liveries.

Nigel

Welcome to YMRC Jon, and I look forward to seeing your railway develop. Your story is very similar to my own, but the help and encouragement here will soon have you up and running.
All the best

Michael

Welcome Jon

We all look forward to seeing what you are up to - even if it is GWR!!!

Barry

:hi Jon

Welcome to he club.




Ed

Hello Jon and welcome aboard from one GWR enthusiast to another.

Have a good look around and ask as many questions as you need, since YMRC is a most friendly and helpful bunch of people as you could wish to meet and always happy to help.

Speak soon,

Bill

Welcome, Jon,
Do you eat Cornflakes?
(All will become clear…)
Douglas

Hi Jon,

welcome aboard, :cool:

Colin

Welcome Jon

Like you I was out of modelling for many years. YMR has been a great help getting me back again.

Being a Dane in Melbourne I of course model - trams!  :)

Still I get a lot of help and tips from fellow members.

Thanks for the warm welcome everybody. Will of course keep you all posted on progress (or lack thereof!).

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

…


YMR is full of highly skilled and very experienced modellers who are more than willing to pass on their knowledge.

…

… and then there's the rest of us!! 

Welcome Jon. What Peter and the others have said here is true. We are all on learning curves, at different stages, and all very happy to give out advice, suggestions and friendly opinions to assist you (not forgetting the odd friendly insult followed by a quick nip in the back of the neck!).

:Welcome :Welcome :Welcome

p.s. You are safe at present as I am in locked down Melbourne. Plenty of Aussies on here so you may be lucky and find someone local to you to actually physically help you if needed.

Welcome aboard Jon.  Former resident of outer Melbourne here but nowadays safely returned to Blighty.

Welcome Jon, Good to see another GWR enthusiast who is also an Aussie. I hope you find YMR helpful.

Connor

:hiJon :Welcometo the forum, everyone is lovely on this forum.

heya Jon welcome to the fold from another Sydneysider in the CBD. I'm modelling the 1960's era as well, in OO. I'm more inclined to the SR loco's but have an eclectic range of steam and diesel locos.