a ModelersLife

It’s another great edition of the always popular All-Star Variety Hour, and there’s plenty of good discussion with two people who are involved in the manufacturing and retail side of the hobby. First up, we talk with Jordan Smith of Rapido while attending Dealer Daze at their world headquarters just north of Toronto, Canada. It was a very busy event and Jeremy the video guy even gets involved.

We also chat with Chris Palmieri of Home Shops who has stopped by the ‘ole AML studios many times, this is a model railroad company that specializing in custom painted quality freelance equipment. It’s an interesting story and we catch Chris as he travels from show to show trying to sell all sorts of distinctive freight cars from various manufacturers painted and lettered for many different freelanced railroads. It's a great podcast and one we're sure you'll enjoy!!

It’s part two of our thirty-seven, four-part trilogy featuring the life and times of Ken McCorry. In this episode we try to find out just exactly how Ken ever managed to develop such a superb track plan with an HO-scale mainline that’s one-quarter mile long for his magnificent Buffalo Line model railroad.

There’s also great discussion about the care and feeding of the operators for this fine railroad. You can’t just walk into the Buffalo Line, pick-up a throttle and choose whichever job you’d like on any day, many of the jobs on this model railroad are highly skilled and can take quite some time to learn. It’s a great podcast with all sorts of interesting information about operating a thirty-two hundred square-foot layout. Enjoy!!

There’s no way a guy living in the North Atlantic off the coast of Scotland on a tiny rock could have any sort of significant impact on an organization such as the NMRA with the majority of its membership located in the lower forty-eight. Turns out nothing could be farther from the truth, not only has our next guest’s hard work resulted in major changes, but in reality, his leadership has helped to improve the hobby of model railroading for everyone involved.

As the NMRA continues to struggle with declining membership lack of renewals and a younger generation that sees no immediate benefit from belonging, one man stands alone against almost insurmountable odds, with a single-minded goal of making the NMRA and all its members get as much from the hobby of model railroading as possible. So grab yourself a big bowl of haggis, a tall cool glass of lukewarm sea water and enjoy!!!

What would happen if you grew up in the 1960s alongside the four track Pennsylvania Railroad main line in Berwyn, Pennsylvania?? There’d be a good chance you’d end up becoming a lifelong model railroader and that’s exactly what happened to our next guest Ken McCorry. But that’s not where the story ends, an American Flyer train set, a short stent in the Navy, a couple of N-scale layouts followed by an introduction to model railroad operations, and the rest is history.

 After the switch to HO scale Ken decided to model the Buffalo Line based on an article, he’d read in the Penn Central Railroader magazine. Early retirement at the age of forty-six, allowed for the opportunity to build a specially designed building behind his home that would eventually house a thirty-two-hundred square foot multi-deck layout. This great podcast is the first part of a fascinating story and one we’re sure you’ll enjoy.

Let’s head back down to the Station Inn on the Norfolk Southern mainline at Cresson, Pennsylvania for some words of wisdom from “Uncle” Dave and “the Wiz.” In part two of the “Chronicles” Rich Wisneski gives us some detailed background about the grades heading east and west as the tracks cross the summit near Gallitzin, Pennsylvania. We find out more about a seventeen-year-old Dave that’s made the same trek every year for the last three decades and how he managed to keep going.

Much has changed at the Station Inn over the last couple of years as Alex Lang along with his lovely wife have purchased this historic property, Alex describes some of the challenges they’ve faced running the Inn while making some major improvements. Several trains pass while conducting interviews on the porch which just adds to the excitement of sitting just a few feet away from a busy mainline. It’s a great podcast and one we’re sure you’ll enjoy!!

So you’re asking yourself, who’s that guy sitting beside the “Dude” each time you watch “What’s Neat This Week” featuring Ken “the Dude” Patterson?? Why it’s none other than Joshua Barton, a man of many skills including to help keep the “Dude” on track so to speak, with product announcements, guest line-ups and looking after the always popular Mike Budde.

Joshua has had a very interesting life as a chef, musician, video tech to name just a few of his talents. He’s also currently building a layout featuring the area around Desoto, Missouri in a friend’s basement, with benchwork that could support an M1 Abrams tank from the U.S. Military. Most of us know him as Joshua “SugarFire” Barton but he’s moved on from that career and for now is concentrating on the hobby of model railroading. It’s an interesting episode and one we’re sure you’ll leave with more questions than answers. Enjoy!!  

Have you ever stood on the shores of Lake Erie looking wistfully across towards Canada only to wish you had more foreigners use your bathroom. Have you ever stared at the photos from the Collinsville Railroad Prototype Modelers wondering what it would be like if Buzz and Lorne went?? Well, then this is the podcast for you.

On this addition of “a ModelersLife,” we learn about such things as using a hovercraft to get across Lake Erie, burying assorted model railroad train supplies on a farm, heat stroke at the St. Louis Cardinals game, and what to do if you’re Canadian and you like trains. So grab yourself a big bowl of shredded marine maps and a tall cool glass of Cleveland Harbor sludge and enjoy.

What do you say to somebody that tells you they’re building a four-deck model railroad, we weren’t sure either, but were determined to find out. John’s love of railroads in the Chesapeake Bay area during the 1970s has led him to create a model railroad with multiple helixes several decks creating what believe will be in layout for the ages. Our next guest is a lifelong modeler, who recently joined the Rapido Trains team as project manager number 347.

 But wait, there’s more, after a short stent at Custom Model Railroads in Baltimore and creating laser cut acrylic structure kits. John moved on to producing accurate decals for all major scales of the hobby, as well as stenciling for the restoration of some full-size railroad equipment with his Mount Vernon Shops becoming a growing concern since the early 2000’s. It’s a great interview with tons of interesting info, enjoy!!

Time has passed, a year has gone by, and another visit to the Station Inn in Cresson, Pennsylvania has produced more great interviews with some very interesting characters. Situated beside the Norfolk Southern’s main line from Altoona to Johnstown, Pennsylvania fighting over some of the steepest mainline grades east of the Mississippi. It’s a busy helper district with high-volume traffic.

In part, one of the Cresson Chronicles, we interviewed a delightful fellow known as John Zelehoski with a plethora of unfinished stories. We talked to Doug Watts, a former Conrail employee, lifelong railroader and finally someone that’s becoming a fan favorite with his cheerful personality, Ralph Heiss, or we like to refer to him as Ralphie Boy. This is a great podcast and one we’re sure you’ll enjoy.

The hobby is dying, there’s nothing but old guys in it, and soon there won’t be anything left of model railroading. We here at the old AML Nation don’t believe that for a second and this podcast is solid proof that the hobby is alive and well. John McGuire is a 22 year old enthusiastic modeler with a talent for installing LED lights and DCC decoders. 

Installing LED lights in model railroad locomotives can add a realistic touch to your layout, making the trains more visually appealing and immersive. John decided to start Garden State Modelworks and is quickly becoming known as a master craftsman with installations. When “Uncle” Dave found out that all he had to do was meet John with a box of locomotives at a gas station on the interstate he was sold on the idea and seeds of this of this podcast were planted. Enjoy!!