a ModelersLife

It’s part two of the “Koester Chronicles,” covering lots of interesting topics such as the origins of “Trains of Thought” and all those unpublished versions. We even found out where the puff ball  tree got its start and discover how a youthful “Uncle” Dave decided that cutting up one of his mom’s pillows to create an HO scale forest, probably wasn’t the best idea he’d ever had.

Pull up your favorite easy chair, grab a big bowl of dried foliage clusters, a steaming hot mug of scenic cement and enjoy !!

We here at the ole’ AML Network constantly strive to bring you all of the latest up to the minute news in the world of model railroading. Unfortunately, we don't think that's actually ever happened except for once, when “Kelly” drove off his driveway and give us an on-the-spot report, but all he said over and over is that he's the safety officer for the Medford Railroad Park.

This podcast is over a year old, but fortunately we keep all our podcasts in the fridge, so they have that just recorded freshness. It's another exciting round of the Kelly Questions so you the listener can learn as much about our next victim errr… I mean guest.

So, grab yourself a big bowl of shredded newspapers, a tall cool glass of printing ink and enjoy!!

When it comes to the world of model railroading our next guest literally needs no introduction after decades in the hobby, literally hundreds of articles, different magazines edited under his watchful eye, a monthly column read by tens of thousands, Tony Koester is simply an icon in the hobby. An alumnus of Purdue University, co-founder of the Nickel Plate Historical Society and some would say along with his good friend Allen McClelland, he popularized the idea of proto-freelancing.

This is part one of a five-part series in which Tony graciously takes the time to answer our questions, tell great stories and give us his “Trains of Thought.” Enjoy !!

We need a guy that’s spent quality time with the Secretary of Transportation, befriended a full-sized one-to-one railroad, worked with the governor of New Jersey to bring rail service in the Tri-State area to an exceptional level and stood knee deep in flood waters from Hurricane Ida.

In all of AML land there can only be one guy to fill this void and of course we speak of our very own “Uncle” Dave. When troubles a brewin’ there’s a job to be done, a cat to be rescued … Wait look, what’s that up in the sky, is a bird, is it a plane?? No… it’s “Super” Dave here to save the day and make your railroad big or small, operate the way it should.

So sit back with a big bag of movie theater popcorn, a large paper cup full of nearly flat soda and enjoy !!

This episode features a well-respected modeler from the northeast that runs his own detail parts company, spent time as an associate editor at Railroad Model Craftsman magazine, wrote numerous articles for the model railroad press and authored one of the premier books for anyone wanting to learn how to detail model railroad locomotives. Scott shares experiences from over thirty years of building exquisite models.

When he’s not building models or selling detail parts, he’s a full-time locomotive engineer with New Jersey Transit running on some of the same lines other family members worked in the past. You can find his company KV Models here: http://kvmodels.com/

We here at the ole’ AML World Headquarters have been concerned for quite some time that the Kelly Questions weren’t very popular anymore… Kinda boring and uninteresting, so we decided it was time to test the waters again. We held a series of meetings to determine who might be the most boring person in all of AML land and let him or her take a stab at these this hard hitting, investigative questions for a chance to find out what makes an AMLer’ tick.

So, grab yourself a big bowl of shredded score sheets, a tall cool glass of tattoo ink and enjoy !!

It’s always fun to visit with old friends and catch-up with folks who’ve been on the podcast before so on this episode we visit with Tom and Bill who discovered each other through their YouTube channels. It’s a great example of the friendships that are being created through social media. They’ve become great friends and learn a lot from each other, so we thought we’d share it with the rest of the AML Nation.

Grab yourself a big bowl of shredded note pads, a tall glass of refreshing freshly squeezed electrons and enjoy!!

So, you're asking yourself, “what should I do with those unbuilt kits sitting on the shelf above the cheeseballs for the last thirteen years??” Well friends, we here at the ‘ole AML Network have discovered the perfect solution, Railroad Model Craftsman’s Dremel Kitbashing Award. Each month Otto Vondrak scours the globe for suitable submissions for the award and he’s joined us in studio to tell us all about it.

So, get yourself a new number eleven blade, a fresh tube of glue, some paint and before you know it, you too could be a SuperFan!! Enjoy!!

There’s nothing like catching up with old friends and this edition of the “Variety Hour” gives us the opportunity to do just that!! It’s always fun to find out what weathering guy extraordinaire Rob Arsenault has been getting dirty and our favorite emergency room doctor (retired) is always got something going on and this time was no different. Whether you’re interested in painting an Argus aircraft or visiting the Queso Cowboy’s layout, this podcast has it all.

So, grab yourself a big bowl of shredded paint brushes, a steaming hot cup of paint thinner and enjoy !!

Just a quick thank you for all those folks that unselfishly help with Lionel’s “One More Year” campaign to help those dealing with the mental stress of cancer. It’s the eve of another 100km/60mile walk so who better to share it with than the Moderately Agitated Mailboy and the modeler simply known as “Kelly.” Every dollar donated goes directly to the Psychosocial Oncology Clinic at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

Here’s a link to the webpage:  supportthepmcf.ca/ui/OneMoreYear/participant/6990129