a ModelersLife

It’s part two of our annual “State of the Hobby” and this time we hear from Model Railroad News editor Tony Cook, Rapido president Jason Shron and our very own Gordy “Action Man”  Robinson president of the National Model Railroad Association. The future of the hobby is so bright you’ll need double strength sunscreen and the coolest sunglasses you own just to renumber your favorite locomotive.

We even got our very own “Uncle” Dave to spot by to help with introductions, so grab yourself a big bowl of shredded superhero utility belts, a tall cool glass of reusable printing ink and enjoy!!!

And so, this is Christmas and what have you done in the hobby of model railroading this past year. Perhaps you got benchwork started, finally completed the plan for your dream layout, tackled your first craftsman kit or just simply made new friends. With another year over and a new one just about to begin it’s time for our annual state of the hobby, interviewing folks who spend most of their days trying to make the hobby more exciting for all of us.

These are difficult times for everyone, but the community of model railroading gets stronger with folks like Joe Fugate and Shane Wilson leading the way. So sit back with a big bowl of shredded wrapping paper, a steaming hot mug of egg nog and enjoy!!!

Road trips are always fun unless Aunt Mable insists on coming along with her soggy egg salad sandwiches and collection of 8-track tapes to play the entire audio soundtrack from War & Peace. Fortunately, this podcast takes us on a trip to Chama, New Mexico with our good friend Rich Wisneski, proving once and for all that anybody can be interesting.

Rich has been part of a group called “Friends of Cumbres and Toltec” for quite some time and he along with hundreds of others have volunteered their time and services to keep the railroad well maintained and running so that future generations can enjoy this slice of history for decades to come.

So, grab yourself a big bowl of dusty coal ash, pour yourself a two-finger old-fashioned and enjoy!!

What can we say, what is there to say but simply thanks? Along with the hundreds of articles, dozens of books and countless hours editing magazines, Tony Koester has been kind enough to spend more than twelve hours across six podcasts patiently answering our questions and telling us all sorts of interesting stories about his journey through the decades as one of the hobby’s leaders.

It’s time to wrap up this series of great interviews and we here at the AML Network feel extremely fortunate to have this opportunity to share with our listeners and give them an opportunity to look behind the curtain. So, sit back and enjoy another interesting podcast with one of the hobby’s most interesting personalities.

It’s an exciting time in the hobby and nothing is more exciting for us down at AML Nation headquarters than Gordy Robinson becoming president of the NMRA. It’s so great to see someone with so much enthusiasm and energy lead this great hobby of ours into the future. As we like to say up here on the forty-eighth floor of the Stewart Sterling building… Model railroading, it’s younger than you think and Gordy’s here to prove it.

With some new directors in place, new department heads, a full-scale effort to produce a digital copy of the magazine and a hopper car full of other great ideas, the sky’s the limit for the new NMRA. So, grab yourself a big bowl of old shredded paper membership forms, a steaming hot mug of envelope glue and enjoy !!

Our long national model railroad nightmare is over, well actually, it’s more like just calmed down enough that things can finally start going back to normal. More importantly our friend John Sacerdote can get back to doing what John does best… Running the Annual Amherst-Springfield-Big E, fourteen building on 200 acres annual train show.

Once again, the annual pilgrimage to West Springfield, Mass. can take place. Friendships can be renewed, new products can be announced, hot dogs can be consumed, and all will be right with the world. Even our very own “Mr. Fitness” (Chris Adams) will be there to make sure you eat right and lead us in a series purchasing exercises.

So grab yourself a big bowl of shredded blue boxes, a tall cool glass of warm two-year-old soda and enjoy!!

Social media and model railroading is a match made in heaven and our next guest is a classic example. Since his mid-teens he’s been providing a source of free learning, community, and entertainment for the hobby through his YouTube channel “NSmodeler24.”

Along with his father Tom together they’ve been building a Norfolk Southern HO scale layout for nearly eight years loosely based on the "S-Line," which runs between Charlotte, NC and Knoxville, TN. This is another great example of how the hobby is growing and modelers from all over the world are finding each other. Get comfortable in grandpa’s rocker and enjoy listening to a fantastic modeler describe his journey.

Yes, we were wondering the same thing… What’s “Snookums” up to now??  This podcast spans the globe as we teach an Aussie how to end each segment, Don and Mark stop by to tell us about HO scale derails and we find out about all the progress that’s been taking place on the Greenville and Northern. We even get a guided tour of the workshop with our very own Seth Gartner. 

We also learn about the South-East Narrow Gauge Museum and everything you’d ever want to know about Hickory, South Carolina. So, grab yourself of a big bowl of shredded paperwork, a steaming hot mug of scenery goop and enjoy.

How many episodes will it take to interview what many say is one of the most influential model railroaders of all time. Here at the ‘ole AML headquarters we fired up our IBM 5150 trying to come up with a reasonable number and decided this could be part three of a forty-seven-part Tony Koester Trilogy.

Tony had lots of stories to share about his travels with Jim Boyd whom he worked alongside during his days at Railroad Model Craftsman. We’re also joined by our very own magazine editor extraordinaire, Tony Cook who plans to someday release a book of Jim Boyd’s night photography. It’s a great episode filled with lots of interesting, fun and adventurous anecdotes from years past. So, get comfortable in your favorite pjs and enjoy!!  

The world is starting to wake up again, just like Bert the Bear after a long winter’s hibernation and one sure sign is that model railroad shows are beginning to open up. We here at the ole’ AML Network pride ourselves on bringing you the latest news from around the hobby several weeks late. Our old friend Ron from Mine Mount Models is so excited about finally getting a chance to display his fine products in person again, he’s dancing around the workshop listening to his favorite Pointer Sisters album.

So grab yourself a big bowl of shredded shingles, a steaming hot mug of Titebond 2 glue and enjoy !!