a ModelersLife

What can you say about someone that’s brought so much joy to folks young and old by simply standing trackside with a camera in the great state of Florida. These are the videos of someone with the expertise of a professional broadcaster and the excitement of a teenager railfanning for the first time.

Railfan Danny Harmon was born and raised in Florida, trying to catch all the rail action in Sunshine State while still taking the time to explore railroading as far away as Ohio. Shooting with a Sony AX-700 camcorder, GoPro Hero 7 Black, DJI Air 2 drone, and editing all the footage he’s captured on his iMac with Final Cut Pro X software the final product is well worth watching. This is a great podcast, and you can find the Distant Signal YouTube channel right here:

https://www.youtube.com/@distantsignal/featured

Hey kids, it’s almost time for the annual Springfield Train show time, the Big “E”, the Amherst Show, the “Great” Train Show, the “Big” Railroad Hobby Show, the show that John Sacerdote runs every year with help from a cast of thousands and its official name is “the Amherst Railway Society  Railroad Hobby Show.” Dating back as far as the 1960’s, the show covers hundreds of thousands of square feet in four buildings on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition.

Since 1991, the Amherst Railway Society started an annual grants program that began to support the efforts of other railroad-focused organizations. In the years since, the Society has donated $814,373 to railroad preservation. This is a great podcast with lots of great information that we’re sure you’ll enjoy!!

If model railroad operations is your thing or you’ve never had the opportunity to operate a model railroad of any kind and you’ve got no idea where to start, then you’ve come to the right place. Eric Smith has created one of the most useful tools we’ve ever seen connecting model railroaders and operations-oriented layouts.

OperatingSessions.com is a free service that’s been purpose-built to help support model railroaders host operating sessions. Whether it’s individual sessions on a single layout, or multi-day events with dozens of sessions.

Scheduling operating sessions or finding operators can sometimes be quite a pain but with OpertingSessions.com even the most complex operating weekend can be simplified with ease. This is a great podcast with tons of information that we’re sure you’ll enjoy!!

It’s the day after Christmas and for many of us around the globe it’s known as Boxing Day, while for many others, it’s simply known as Monday and while recovering from heaping mounds of turkey, bread stuffing and Aunt Emily’s Christmas pudding at the AML Nation’s world headquarters, we decided there was no need for a podcast on such a magical day.

But wait, while some of the AML gang were cleaning up the studio after what can only be described as an epic Christmas party, someone hit the switch and microphones went live and we loaded up the recording on our trusty cassette player so everyone could hear what could only be described as our “Boxing Day a.k.a. Monday” podcast. Grab yourself a big bowl of shredded plastic bows, a tall cool glass of week-old tree water and enjoy!!

As another year draws to a close it’s time once again for our annual state of the hobby and with so much happening in the hobby, we here at the ole’ AML world headquarters decided this would be the ideal time for the newest editor of Model Railroader magazine to share his thoughts about where this great hobby of ours is headed. Of course, such an interview wouldn’t be complete without help from everybody’s favorite “Uncle” Dave, who’s always excited to talk all things railroading.

Eric White is a veteran journalist with a wealth of model railroading knowledge behind him, he joined Model Railroader as an associate editor and looks forward to leading it into the future. Leading the hobby’s flagship publication is an important role which Eric plans to take very seriously. He enjoys the operations side of the hobby and meeting readers of the magazine. This is great podcast and one we’re sure you’ll enjoy!!

It’s time once again to don the tin foil helmet and have our latest contestant attempt to answer a series of hard-hitting questions about model railroading and the choices they make on the journey of life. While cleaning the office and looking for spare change behind the filing cabinet we found this old cassette tape labeled “O Scale” in Quebec. Imagine our surprise when we discovered it was actually talented modeler Serge Lebel on the hot seat.

Turns out his superhero alter-ego would be “Stop Time Man” and all over the world people are sitting on the edge of their seats waiting patiently to hear what type of uniform he’d wear, perhaps a spandex one-piece uniform with his underwear on the outside and a gold cape. This is a great podcast with our old friends the “Spoon” and “the Mayor of Horne Payne.” So, grab yourself  a big bowl of shredded poutine, a tall glass of melted yellow snow and enjoy!!

Model railroad manufacturing in all forms continues to grow across the hobby and one of the most exciting companies we’ve found is “ITLA Scale Models,” producing some of the finest laser cut craftsman style kits available today. Renee and Nick Masney have been in business over ten years producing laser etched wood materials representing masonry, steel, and concrete when painted using basic techniques. 

One of the unique features of these kits is the ability to build in a variety of footprints and varying wall combinations including “flats” and “shallow relief” suitable for the growing shelf layout segment of the hobby. The gritty rail-side architectural look that’s still easily found across North America today is easily reproduced with ITLA’s fine line of kits and wall modules. It’s a great episode with some great insight into what makes the company tick. Enjoy!!

It’s part two of “What’s the Deal with Dave” more interviews, more questions and more insightful commentary into what makes this young man tick and why his mission in life seems to be spreading happiness and joy throughout the human race. In other words, “Uncle” Dave would like to buy the world a Coke and furnish it with love, grow apple trees and honeybees and snow-white turtle doves.

In this episode we hear from even more of Dave’s guests at the Station Inn as dozens of Norfolk Southern trains continue to roll by just a few feet away as he tries to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. So imagine yourself relaxing on the porch on a warm summer’s evening with a cool refreshing Coca-Cola and enjoy!!

We found him… We found the guy that actually wrote the book. After years of searching, asking questions, tracking down leads and interviewing thousands of possible witnesses, there he was… Hiding behind a big box of “ArrowHead Models.”

We first met Bob Zink eight years ago through our mutual friend Keith Thompson. Later on, we discovered he’d written the book about the Krause-Maffei locomotives, a diesel-hydraulic road switcher built in Germany during the sixties. Bob is a fountain of knowledge on this subject, but the interview suddenly took a different turn when we discovered he’d visited John Allen as a teenager. Tighten your chin straps, you’re in for a wild ride!!!

There’s nothing like having the opportunity to meet new people and spend quality railfanning time with friends. The Station Inn - https://stationinnpa.com/ - located along the Norfolk Southern mainline just west of Altoona is probably one of the best railfanning spots in all of North America. First opened in 1993, as the brainchild of Tom Davis a retired school administrator from New Jersey.

Not long after it opened, an advertisement was placed in one of the more popular rail magazines of the day and a young “Uncle” Dave along with his brother and a couple of friends spent a weekend at “the Inn.” Dave’s been coming back every year since with an ever-growing band of characters, this was the twenty-nineth straight year for Dave and the first for the AML crew. With microphone in hand the “Evel Overlord” decided to find out what’s the deal with Dave through the eyes of his friends and brother Ben. It’s a great interview that we know you’ll enjoy!!!