Model Railroading

Back to history!

After that first purchase, I fell in a sort of collector rush, and during the next couple of years I purchased all the Atlas/Rivarossi models I could find in Italy, and I quickly reached a point when my collection couldn’t be further enlarged. At that point, I had discovered that a previous series of N model trains had existed and was now mostly sold-out, and the models I was purchasing were just a second endeavour by Atlas/Rivarossi.

However, I’d already gathered all the second series models which were available in Italy (some of them even double or triple copies), and I’d also picked the few first series models which could still be found in some back-shops. And since in my knowledge no more new N models were available - at that time, I had no access to US shops from Italy -, I had to slow down with the hobby.

I’d also started moving to different locations and different houses (ten since 1972, in six different cities), I was more and more involved in a demanding career, I was developing new interests (among them, cars and computers), and model railroading changed into a sort of backgroud interest, at a lower priority.

I was still planning layouts on paper from time to time, I was picking small accessories when I happened to find shops selling any model houses or cars which might look American, I was even experimenting with small modular layouts... but the fire wasn’t burning any longer.