Another successful NMRA National convention has come and gone with one of the major highlights being a chance to operate on Chris Wehman's fabulous N Scale Norfolk Southern Heartland Division. Registration was handled through OperatingSessions.com, and attendance was limited because of the number of available crew positions. Plus layout tours were available for those who just wanted to stop for a look see, with all parking was supervised by Marcus Neubacher, the Foundation director for the North Carolina Transportation Museum.

Chris also hosted an operating session for members of the AML Nation. As the podcast's "videographer extraordinaire," he was in his element explaining the railroad, assigning jobs, and helping operators settle into their roles. Between trains there was plenty of the good-natured banter, with experienced operators helping first-timers and everyone enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. With the AML Nation in attendance somehow trains arrived on time, nobody drove a locomotive onto the floor, and the dispatcher only threatened to retire twice. By the end of the evening everyone agreed that operating sessions are a lot like ModelersLife podcasts—organized chaos, plenty of laughs, and somehow it all works out in the end... usually.

Wallace Locomotive Works is a small manufacturer specializing in 3D-printed detail parts and accessories for model railroaders. Rather than producing complete locomotives or rolling stock, the company focuses on the small prototype details that help make modern locomotives and railroad scenes look more realistic. Chris Wallace is having way too much fun creating parts that represent modern railroad equipment that larger manufacturers often overlook.

He also produces replacement and upgrade parts for commercially available locomotives, with many of the parts designed for straightforward installation with a hobby knife and CA glue. Recently Chris has added paints, tools and other needs for the modeler making his online store a one-stop shop. Wallace Locomotive Works sells directly through its online store and also through several hobby dealers, including businesses such as White Rose Hobbies.

Once again, it's time to answer our voluminous ViewerMail we gathered together some of the greatest minds in the AML Nation to carefully evaluate each piece of mail with the utmost care. Each one was carefully steamed open so that it could later be re-sealed and placed in the Busted Knuckle library to be enjoyed by future generations. The good news is we might answer your mail; the bad news is your DCC system might be obsolete by then.

If patience is a virtue, our ViewerMail contributors are saints. It's not that we ignore ViewerMail, we're just letting it gain value, like a brass locomotive. By the time we answer your email, your grandkids will have inherited your locomotive collection.So, gather round folks… You too kids, as we share stories of intrigue, bravery, daring and downright pluckiness on another episode of ViewerMail. Grab yourself a big bowl of shredded one cent stamps, a tall cool glass of melted glue sticks and enjoy !!

It's another exciting episode of "a ModelersLife" and this time we travel to the great state of Michigan to visit with Andrew ("Andy") Keeney, a highly respected HO scale model railroader best known for his large, operations-oriented Nashville Road layout.

This home is an impressive three-deck HO scale layout measuring roughly 48 x 56 feet, with over 1,100 feet of mainline, more than 40 staging tracks, and around 70 scheduled trains operating on a 24-hour timetable. It recreates the railroads around Nashville, Tennessee, in 1956, using a mix of prototype practice and selective freelancing. Andy is an awesome gentleman with a rich history covering several decades. If you don't do anything else today, listen to this great podcast!!

The thirty-seven epic road trip continues… Starting from his home in Texas, he traveled through the Midwest, Appalachians, and Northeastern United States, photographing railroads, visiting friends, and touring model railroads along the way.

Most people come home from a 37-day road trip with a cooler full of souvenirs. Blair came home with enough railroad photos to keep modelers studying scenery, weathering, and railroad operations for years.

Ken Patterson is one of the best-known personalities in model railroading today. He is a professional photographer, modeler, and media producer who has been published extensively in hobby magazines and has photographed dozens of model railroad magazine covers. He's best known for his "What's Neat This Week" a popular weekly video show featuring model railroading projects, starring the often enthusiastic Joshua Barton and the always peppy Mike Budde.

Ken's show features new products, techniques, industry news, and guest appearances from hobbyists and manufacturers around the hobby. Recently there was a major fire on the layout and thankfully the "Dude" is still here to tell us all about it. So grab yourself a big bowl of shredded melted freight cars, a tall cool glass of extinguisher fluid and enjoy!!

It's time for another exciting edition of ViewerMail where every episode starts with hope and ends with somebody discovering there's a much more complicated way to accomplish what you're doing. It's your opportunity to listen as the AML Gang turns a simple two sentence email into a 14-page discussion.

Let's face it ViewerMail is cheaper than therapy while bringing together model railroaders from around the world to disagree about the same thing. ViewerMail is like switching cars in the yard—you never know what's coming next. If model railroading were easy, these podcasts would be a lot shorter, as we try to determine why cleaning the train room somehow ends with buying three locomotives. So please join us where weathering powder, benchwork, and life advice appear in the same sentence.

George Taylor has been hanging around the AML Nation almost as long as the modeler simply known as "Kelly." We've travelled a lot of miles with George through the years and it seemed like as good a time as any to catch up on what he's been doing. It's a great podcast and one we're sure you'll enjoy!!

Bob Ginger is a well respected model railroader known for his detailed N-scale layout work and realistic operations-oriented design. He earned the prestigious Master Model Railroader (MMR #695) designation from the National Model Railroad Association.

The Pepper Valley Division is an N scale freelanced railroad inspired by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe and Great Northern railroads set in October 1954.

Op-sessions on the Pepper Valley are either one or two-man crews with operators working near each other, making it easy to coordinate train movements. Each train moves in an east or west direction for the duration of the job. The layout features a walk-in design, long mainline run for the size of the layout, realistic scenery and good traffic flow all wrapped up in a mid-century western railroad atmosphere. It's a great podcast and one we're sure you'll enjoy!!

Dustin Whitten is a full time 1:1 railroader that's also an HO scale model railroader known for his coal-hauling Appalachian-themed layouts. His current layout was featured in the "Built by Others" series on Trains.com inspired by the Virginian project layout that first appeared in the pages of Model Railroader in January of 2012. Dustin's Norfolk & Western South Branch layout took inspiration from this project and adjusted it to fit his space. His freelance layout, the Norfolk & Western South Branch, models Southwestern Virginia in 1987 during the early Norfolk Southern era.

On this podcast he explains how he expanded and customized the original Virginian project plan with broader curves, a redesigned coal marshaling yard, realistic operations based on prototype railroad practices using a mix of Norfolk and Western, Southern Railway, and early Norfolk Southern power. It's a great podcast and one we're sure you'll enjoy!!