:: ABOUT GEORGE SELLIOS ::
As a youngster George loved baseball and trains.  His ambition was to be a major league ballplayer, and he got a brief tryout with the Minnesota Twins farm club when he was 19.  The baseball career didn't last long, but the love of trains led him into his ultimate career.  George started Fine Scale Miniatures in 1965.  

George says he can remember walking the tracks when he was only seven years old.  (He continues this practice today and gets many ideas for his kits from the buildings he sees.)  As a child growing up in Peabody Mass., he became interested in trains after seeing Christmas ads on TV for American Flyer and Lionel trains.  After giving his parents all kinds of hints, his parents bought his first Lionel set from Jordan Marsh in Boston.  He was 9.  Shortly thereafter, George moved to American Flyer because of its more realistic two rail track.  

His first American Flyer layout was built in his bedroom on a 4X8 sheet of plywood with a leg nailed at each corner.  There was no framework under the plywood, so the layout sagged in the middle.  George started with buildings made from painted shoe boxes (seems funny now huh?)
George's first encounter with scale model railroading came when he was about 12 and ran across a book by Frank Ellison.  He still has that book in his desk, although the pages are worn out from so much reading.  George still feels that "Frank Ellison was the greatest model railroad writer this hobby ever had."  About the same time, photos of John Allen's work began appearing in the magazines and George became really hooked.  

He became a tireless builder of Ho scale models but never dreamt he would make his living as a kit manufacturer.  Fine Scale Miniatures began at the suggestion of a friend and was originally called Gay Nineties Models.  In the summer of 1966 the name was changed to FSM.  The company's first ad appeared in the May 1967 issue of Model Railroader.  

In 1991 George published an 84 page book of color photographs of the F&SM.  Titled "The Fabulous Franklin and South Manchester Railroad", copies are available for $19.95, plus $3 postage, from Fine Scale Miniatures, 49 Main St., Peabody, MA 01960.
(For more on Fine Scale Miniatures click here.) 

Besides model railroading, George is an active member of the East Baptist Church in Lynn, Mass.

:: LAYOUT INFO AND FACTS ::
::  The layout is 23 X 42 feet.
::  Manchester has over 150 structures.
::  The JM Humbrey building has over 500 window castings.  
::  George modeled many items after the work of John Allen.  The Manchester bus station is an Allen tribute and many of the viaducts are styled after those on Allen's G&D.
::  George originally had a 4x8 display layout that is incorporated into the new layout. 
::  Benchwork went up in 1984.
::  The track on the layout is modified Flextrack.
::  George works on the layout at least 8 hours a day for three months at a time, usually January, Feburary, and March. The rest of the year is spent on a new FSM kit.
::  George built the 2000+ window I.M. Boren Corp. in a week.  
::  The biggest project was the bridge over the Northfiled river- which took one month.
:: The F&SM has been featured in two Allan Keller videos- Volumes 2 and 24.
::  More to come...

::  VISITING THE F&SM  ::
Yes, you too can visit the F&SM!  George has had thousands of visitors from all over the world.  The layout is open one Saturday a month during the summer months.  That is the ONLY time visitors are allowed to see the F&SM.  Children are not allowed.  To tour the F&SM you MUST call and reserve a spot at an open house.  You can contact George at 978-531-9418.  

NOTE: Apparently George has had trouble in the past with people showing up without reservations.  The layout is always covered when not being shown and seeing it at any time other than a tour date is not possible because of the large amount of work required to prepare the layout.  PLEASE respect these guidelines, as George should never have to turn people away because they have showed up unannounced.