In this episode Chris relays his experiences at the Layout Design and Operations weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Operation weekends are becoming more and more popular all across North America such Minn Rail, Prairie Rail and the always secretive Pro Rail.

Chris also shares his views on an array of subjects such as Social Media, places to eat and friends nicknames with an in-depth discussion on nicknames and how they come to be. The Layout Design Sig had a presence in Tulsa and Chris was happy to get plenty of solid input on his layout design. 

Enjoy!!

What does an avid New Haven Railroad fan, bicycle racing, Connecticut State Legislature, pineapple pizza and brownies have in common?? Well if you haven’t guessed already we’re talking about Chris Adams and his Connecticut Valley Branch Railroad.

Chris is a fabulously interesting guy as you’ll find out, he maintains a website, a blog, has operating sessions, rides around Old Saybrook on his bike, is actively creating a photo library for New Haven Railroad Historical & Technical Association, (NHRHTA) Chris and the gang have catalog at least 11,000 images so far all the while eating brownies prepared with care by his wife Debby.

There’s lots more to tell but it would be just easier to just pull up a chair and listen. Enjoy.

We don’t actually start referring to the show as the Virtual Hobby Shop (VHS) for a few episodes but that’s what we’re calling it.

Enjoy !! 

Ever wonder what the DC-Car System is??... Me neither but when Uncle Larry started talking about it, we here at the ole’ AML Network got interested so we figured it would be worth listening to.

If who’ve ever wondered what model railroading with cars and trucks might be like, the DC-Car System is an interesting addition to the hobby. Find out about Faller’s depth cutting tool, special paint and motorized cars and trucks. Independently control lights, infra-red transmitters and receivers plus all sorts of other interesting stuff.

We also discuss how cool the possibility of exploding trains would be… The Addams family would be proud !!... I’m telling you this hobby is way bigger than any of us can imagine.

This is our second visit with Tim Warris the owner of Fast Tracks and it seemed like an ideal time to talk with him again as he begins a new adventure as the owner of Mt. Albert Scale Lumber.

Additional space at the home office in Port Dover, Ontario was acquired to accommodate the unique requirements needed. Tim has also retained the services how Gerry Cornwall, (the previous owner of Mt. Albert) who will be helping to ensure a smooth transition and help develop a unique line of structure kits.

This is a really interesting story with lots of twists and turns, enjoy

It's a preview of our first ever AML get together at Rochelle, Illinois.

The “WhizKid” and “Straightball” are going Free-mo. The Ashland and Oshkosh has been born, give these guys some lumber a few wood screws, a Kreg Jig, some track and you never know what they're going to come up with. 

There's already a track plan that's been posted on our Facebook page and they're inviting each and everyone of you to join in and create your own modules to be part of the layout. Operations is definitely part of the future plans with a Tac-O-Nite mine and an ore dock being at the center of the action. They describe in detail their plans in this podcast so enjoy.

Born in Woodstock, Ontario Bob enjoyed nothing more as a young boy then heading down to the CP rail yards near his home to watch trains. Now as an adult he models CP's Galt Sub in what can only be described as spectacular fashion.

It's October 1980 on Bob's layout rekindling childhood memories and reproduce the high volume of traffic during that time.

This is a great interview as Bob tells us all about his 12 x 30' basement layout which includes branch lines to St. Thomas, St. Mary's and Tillsonburg.

Bob is an excellent modeler willing to share as much information as possible in the true spirit of the hobby, so please enjoy!!

This podcast was originally aired on our Patreon site on April 6th, and we're making available free to all those interested in the podcast.

It's not impossible to build a model railroad layout without a trackplan but it's considerably more difficult. Creating a trackplan can be one of the more enjoyable aspects of building your own model railroad but unfortunately it's not something you need to do on a regular basis.

So we decided to have a roundtable discussion exploring the pros and cons of layout design. We explored just a few of the many aspects that can be during the design process and had fun doing it.

Enjoy!!

It’s the second installment of ScaleTrains.com month. In this episode we speak with Todd Arnett who is the Norfolk Southern expert for this very ambitious model building company. Todd is an enthusiastic modeler form the Charlotte, North Carolina area with an interesting story and gives us more insight into ScaleTrains.com

Enjoy.