Building your first resin house - 15
Rob McLear is a retired
police officer and Vietnam
veteran living in Kingaroy,
Queensland, Australia.
He has been in model rail-
roading since 1976 start-
ing with a small Hornby
train set given to him by
his wife. She also gave him
a copy of HO Primer, that
encouraged him to model
the North American scene. The Warbonnets, Catswhiskers
FT’s and the heavy steam engines by Baldwin attracted him
to the Santa Fe.
Rob has built two previous layouts in HO and started one in
N before moving to his current address and switching back
to HO for the current project.
Rob models the Santa Fe’s First District of the Los Angeles
Division, the line from San Bernardino over Cajon Pass
in 1947 which was suggested to him by a friend, John
Armstrong in the Union Pacific Model Railroad Club in
Queensland. This allows him to model both the Santa Fe
and the Union Pacific. Currently he is finishing a 40 by 25
foot outbuilding to house the next layout.
Rob credits Otto Kroutil, Andy Sperandeo, Ted York for
his inspiration in the Santa Fe, and particularly Richard
Hendrickson for his interest in freight cars and resin kits. He
also runs a small custom painting business and enjoys camp-
ing and heading into the bush in a 4WD with his family.
Rob has been married to his wife Jan for 42 years and has
two daughters and three grandchildren.
