Railway modelling in Malaysia and Singapore isn't cheap. If anything, it's always known to be the hobby for the rich, usually between VIPs and some of the Malaysian royal family members. I visited one of the local hobby shops to check out their products. I was shocked, nothing was below RM100. Prices of locos usually starts from RM500 and wagons RM200. Another problem is Marklin conquered the Malaysian railway modelling market. It's a super tiny market but Marklin has a stronghold and as we all know, Marklin isn't cheap. Even their cheapest train set cost between RM800 to RM2000. This is one of the reason i avoid AC, and not to mention the ugly pickup under the locos. Anyway to cut long story short, i came across Ebay and online model stores thanks to the internet.

The funny thing is i got my first HO scale(1/87 scale) trainset off Lelong. It was second hand Lima TGV set for only RM200. Came with a TGV trainset, tracks and power supply. It was a great way to start in this hobby! I love the set, the trains were reliable and smooth, my only complain was the tracks were not enough. Then again, it's a starter set. From here i had my first taste of running trains. Also found out HO scale is too big for me. I dont have the space and the stuffs are abit more pricey compared to N scale.

I got my taste of N scale(1/160 scale) when i saw another train set for sale at Lelong. This time it was N scale Life-Like Little Joe trainset. It came with Little Joe(0-4-0 Saddle Tank engine), 1 box car, 1 stock car, a caboose, 3 trees, 12 telephone poles, "Stop" and "No Entry" signboards, a booklet(beginner's guide to this hobby!), tracks and power pack! And it only cost me RM88. I was fascinated by N scale. It looks so detailed and runs smoothly/quietly yet it uses way less space. If that was not enough, my fellow modeler, Jimmy Low, brought his N scale collection to my house for testing on my tracks. His true mission must have been to convert me from HO to N scale, and he was successful. Today, I am a devout N scaler and i play everyday.