Fluesheet may have a valid point about Europeans interest in the "Old West" and therefore model RR's with a western theme. ie: Marlkin and Trix models. I first encountered this as a soldier in Germany in the 40's and early 50's. Often in a bar, when German men found I came from the West coast ( Oregon, Northern CA) we spent hours talking about the people, geography and of course Indians. Some even knew the names of the local volcanoes. Hood, Shasta, Lassen, St. Helens, etc. Another time when crossing the U.S., going west, on a bus in the 50's there were a lot of Brits and Germans riding along. They kept asking me when we would see Indians. And then it happened, somewhere in Wyoming we saw a guy in full costume with feathers and all. I don't know how it came about but that handsome dude made my day. Also, my Swedish brother-in-law is a huge western fan even though he lives 10,000 miles away. It comes, of course, from the old western books and also Hollywood. It's the romance of freedom and the relative anarchy that prevailed in that early day out here. My grandfather was a successful gold miner and my father travelled the west on horseback in the early 1900's as a teacher. Really, it's still a little like that now as it's horse and cow country and gold mining is big again. The Old West hasn't completely disappeared except that the local Indians are now lawyers and business men and the bad guys are chased down using choppers.