Hugo was a really nice guy and a fellow PRR (and about every other railroad) fan. I never went to York with him but he was with a group of us from Cincinnati on a trip to Chicago for the March Meet. Our routine was to drive up on Friday morning, hit the major hobby shops (Chicagoland, Berwyn's, Hill's, America's Best and Des Plaines) on Friday afternoon, have a nice dinner and then do the March Meet on Saturday.
Well, you needed dynamite to get Hugo out of those hobby shops. There weren't any shops that carried U.S. 3-rail trains anywhere near him in France, so he made sure to look at EVERYTHING in the Chicago shops. He'd crawl around the floor, go behind the counters and look anywhere that trains might be hiding. The shop staff were by and large good natured about it once we explained what was going on. We thought he was going to need to charter his own plane for the return home since cargo hold space was limited on his booked flight!
He did mess around with stud rail for several years, then finally sold all of his 3-rail stuff and converted to 2-rail. He lived in a small flat in Reims that didn't have much room for a layout. When the flat next to his went up for sale, he bought it, tore down some walls (including one between his living room and the flat next door and bingo, space for a layout!
Clear signals to you, Hugo!
