About me
Hi. My name is Dave Pavey.
I've been building models all my life, but I've only been into model railways since 2016
when my lovely wife Jo gave me an N gauge starter set as a birthday present.
What I enjoy about this hobby is the challenge of learning new
skills, doing the research, overcoming problems, the design and the build. I don’t actually know that much about my trains or rolling stock, just enough to know it is possible they ran through
Steyning at some time.
I can’t deny it’s all a bit nerdy. But isn’t that true of anyone passionate about a hobby?
This is my second layout, and Steyning in Sussex was an obvious choice of subject for me. My family moved into a house near Steyning station when I was four. That's my bedroom window at the top of the white house, and I can vaguely remember seeing steam and the tops of trains from there.
In the mid 1960s, the railway line was closed, the tracks were removed and the station was partially demolished. The whole station site, line and
embarkments became a huge, wild wasteland for me and my mates to explore. As kids, as soon we were big enough to ride bikes, we were encouraged to go off and play as long as we were home by meal
times. We'd climb the fence, scramble down under the bridge, and be off. Different times!
Steyning also has some family connections. I was christened as a baby in the nearby St Andrews Church, and my father is buried there in a family grave.
I’m now retired, and all of my career was in IT, so I’m pretty computer literate. I started my career as a computer programmer. But moved into IT management quite quickly, so I haven’t needed to use any serious technical skills for a long time. Working out how to convert my layout to computer control brought back to me why I entered into IT and was great fun.
I’ve managed people designing and building web sites for me in the past, but this is the first one I’ve designed and built by myself. Hope you enjoy it.
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