About Leaping Cat Model Works – Table of Contents
More Than a Hobby—Bringing Model Railroading to Life with Passion, Presence, and Heart.
Meet Jamie
Hi, I’m Jamie, the person behind Leaping Cat Model Works. I live in Beaufort, North Carolina, a charming town that fuels my creativity and passion for model railroading. My journey into this world began with a childhood fascination for trains and a deep love for building and creating. Over the years, that passion has evolved into blending electronics, design, and storytelling to bring model railroads to life.
Leaping Cat Model Works is more than just a business; it’s a reflection of my journey back to the art of creation. Whether you’re a fellow enthusiast, a collector, or a professional, I’m excited to share this adventure with you.
Thanks for stopping by—let’s build something incredible together.
Model railroad products, by a model railroad lover.
My Story : Finding My Way Back to The Art of Creation
Model railroading has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I had a Lionel O-scale train set, but my fascination went beyond just playing with trains—I was drawn to them. My uncle worked at the train yard in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and every time we visited, I had one request: Can we go see the trains? There was something about them—the movement, the mechanics, the sheer presence—held me captive.
As I grew, trains weren’t just something to watch; they became something to build. My childhood layout grew into a full-fledged passion, blending electronics, design, and storytelling into something uniquely my own.
But in 2007, everything changed.
A lightning strike set our house on fire, destroying what I called my lab—the space where I worked on electronics, experimented with microcontrollers, and built my model train setup. The fire took everything. All my O-scale Lionel trains, collected since I was a kid, were gone. My HO Layout, gone. And with them, so was my passion.
I turned to photography instead, which led me on incredible adventures. I stayed in the technical field, kept experimenting, and worked on embedded microcontroller projects. But nothing quite filled the same space.
I thought that part of my life was over.
Then, years later, an old co-worker emailed me out of the blue, asking for help with his model train. He was setting it up around the Christmas tree for his grandkids and wanted some advice.
“Are you still into trains?” he asked.
I told him no, that the fire had knocked the wind out of me. That part of my life was gone.
He just laughed. “LOL, I don’t think that’s something you totally lose.”
I brushed it off. But something about what he said stuck with me.
An Unexpected Nudge
A year ago, I met someone with an uncanny ability to notice things I hadn’t considered. During a casual conversation, she said, “I see you working with models—tiny tracks, lights, yes, trains.”
I dismissed it immediately. Too many painful memories were tied to that part of my life. I even lied and said, “Not really.”
She just smiled. “Maybe not right now.”
And that should have been the end of it. But as time passed, the thought kept creeping back in.
Rediscovering the Joy of Making
Over the past year, things started shifting. I dove into embedded projects, developing an MCU framework. While experimenting, I kept thinking, If I had this back when I had my layout, I could have automated this, improved that…
And then it hit me: I missed this. Not just the trains, but the act of creating. The process of bringing something to life, piece by piece.
So I started small. I brushed up on my drafting and CAD skills, committed to learning Fusion 360, and began 3D printing parts. In December, I went to a small model train show in Beaufort, NC. Watching people admire the layouts—even just for a moment—reminded me how powerful this hobby can be.
Then, at a QiGong workshop, I started reflecting on how I had approached photography—not just as a creative process, but as something meditative. A way to slow down and be in the moment.
And that’s when it clicked:
Zen Model Building.
What if model trains weren’t just a hobby? What if they were a form of meditation—a practice in focus, patience, and flow?
That’s how Leaping Cat Model Works was born.
Why “Leaping Cat”?
We have three cats, and I love watching them play. One of them, Milo—well, let’s just say grace isn’t his strong suit. He’s more like a bull in a china shop. But when he locks onto something—when he’s fully present—he moves with effortless, fluid precision.
In that moment, everything aligns. His focus, his energy, his movement—it all comes together in one perfect leap.
That’s what I want Leaping Cat Model Works to represent. Creativity. Focus. The joy of making.
The Vision for Leaping Cat Model Works
This journey is just beginning, but my vision is clear:
- Innovation – I want to develop automation tools for hobbyists that are intuitive, accessible, and don’t require an engineering degree to use. Tools that meet you where you are and grow with you.
- Storytelling – I live in Beaufort, North Carolina, a town with no streetcars—but what if there were? I’m designing a modular layout imagining a version of Beaufort built around a streetcar system, blending history with creative fiction.
- Creation as a Meditative Practice – What if model railroading wasn’t just about building but about finding peace in the process? What if the act of making could be as rewarding as the final result?
This is more than just a hobby. It’s about bringing ideas to life, one piece at a time.
What Does Success Feel Like?
In some ways, I’d love to build a community—but that’s not the goal. The goal is to create and to share that joy with others.
I think about what happens when someone stops to admire a model train layout. They pause. They lean in. For just a moment, they forget whatever was on their mind. That’s the power of art—it pulls us into the present, into something beyond ourselves.
To me, success isn’t measured in scale, but in resonance.
- It’s in the quiet joy of building something with my own hands.
- It’s in seeing someone lose themselves in the tiny world I’ve created.
- It’s proving that something as simple as a model train can be art, meditation, and a moment of peace—all at once.
That’s what Leaping Cat Model Works is about. And I’m excited to see where it goes and the lives it will touch.
Video Introduction
Contact Jamie
You can email me directly at – Email : jamie@leapingcatmodelworks.com
Or use the contact form below