Model Rail Radio

Lawrence Eggering has been working on a grade crossing with Arduino sensors. Tom asks Lawrence about working on the same layout for twenty four years. Lawrence provides some new information about the origin of his layout. Tom talks about his experience observing a quilting event of his wife's in contrast to the model rail remote events. Mike Slater announces the reposition of Trainfest to a virtual event for this year at least. Clark Kooning has some thoughts on the future of clinics. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#182

Mike Slater has been building super trees for his module. Tom has watched the show Hoarders recently and wonders how Mike Slater and Mike O'Dorney avoid the hoarding aspect of the hobby. Clark Kooning and Tom talks about direction at the end of life. Clark and Tom also explore the hoarding issues in the hobby. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#181

Simon Hill has some thoughts about how the hobby will learn from the new normal. Tom raises Hornby as a model railroading company close to Simon. Simon has been adding a sound chip to a critter. Martin Coombs continues the discussion about Kent Garden Railways. Martin has been trying to fit the hobby into his lockdown. Martin and Simon talk about the speculative future of the Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway (this is also revisited in a future recording with a full update). Paul Best also has a light railway that he's actively involve with and has some insights to the experiences there. What has Paul Best been up to? Martin is planning a lifting/swinging bridge. Roger Chrysler is going to be presenting a clinic at a virtual RPM meet. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#180

Tom asks Mike Slater about how he thinks the hobby will change through this period. Tom asks Mike about the bridge he is building in module form. Tom asks after James Rindt. (Please note we will be discussing the change with Trainfest 2020 in an upcoming recording with Mike Slater. The old audio is left in for coherency.) Clark Kooning offers a problem with deceased estates and the current time. In terms of modeling, Clark has finished his mountains and some grass but has been exploring micro-lighting on his layout. Will Merrell has been building modules for operations. Will would like to learn from the folks in the UK. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#179

Roger Chrysler has put down some benchwork amongst putting up drywall. Richard Kowalski is getting back into his 1900s shelf layout and going through a Sears catalog to provide inspiration. Mike O'Dorney talks about how his modular layout is very similar to Richard's layout and continues the discussion on the Sears catalog. The discussion of the hobby and technology demographics gets so esoteric only Clark Kooning can be called upon to give analysis. Tom talks with Mike Slater about his hopes for the future of the hobby and continues to provide an update on the bridge module he's building. Nigel Gartshore is nearly done with his shed sealing and has been planning his layout space with a no-lix. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#178

Mike O'Dorney has been thinking about social capital through the current times and what can be done for the future with these ideas. Martin Coombs has been thinking about model rail shows with the current crisis and they talk about Neale's 3D printing. Simon Hill has used Zoom quite successfully to keep in contact with his crew. Mike Slater has been thinking about Trainfest with the new normal and more practically he's been working on a prototype bridge. What does Clark Kooning think will happen to train shows? Lawrence Eggering has some thoughts about what he'd like to see continuing train shows. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#177

Mike O'Dorney talks about his favorite show. Mark Clemmens provides a much needed update and talks about the locomotive restoration in Astoria, Oregon. John Garaty knows the Prof is still out there. Gordy Robinson introduces his model railroading interests and discusses the vision for NMRA-X. Martyn Jenkins talks about some of the technology behind NMRA-X and then Gordy jumps back in to discuss ideas for the near future. Tom asks about Martyn's Melbourne layout which turns into a conversation about micro radio controlled vehicles and the insanity of wiring such things. Clark Kooning and John Garaty also have some ideas on the topic of model radio controlled vehicles. Bryan Schilling has a number of updates since he last called in. Luke Lemmens introduces his layout and what it was like to be featured in the Twin Cities Facebook group live layout tours. Darren Johns (aka Dazzy Jay) talks about the changes he's making in his YouTube channel and the changes the hobby is experiencing through the lockdown. Just as Tom is wrapping things up, Ron Klaiss calls in and they have a chance to formally announce the winners of the Layout Design Contest 2020 and they talk about the follies of kit manufacture. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#176

Tom kicks off the show with Clark Kooning asking about favorite train show memories. Mike Slater has many train show experiences. Tom asks about Mike's experiences with his father attending train shows. Andrew Chisholm provides an update and talks about his favorite train shows. Richard Murphy's favorite memory of a train show incidentally also involves Tom but only tangentially. Dave Barraza has some feedback for Richard Murphy's ideas on remote operations. John Abatecola is still working through the new normal for YouTube video conversations. Dave Barraza knew what to do when his prizes arrived. Lawrence Eggering explains how he makes his kits do what people want. Seth Gartner has been on the frontlines of the virtual operating sessions and he has some experiences to talk about. Roger Chrysler has been working on a new layout in his new home with a familiar theme. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#175

Tom is recording from a sacred space. Andy Dixon is back in the hobby and is fully engaged. Simon Hill has been working on a gantry crane but also creating video conferences with his crew. Simon and Tom reflect on the passing of Bill Best Snr the owner of Bredgar. Martin Coombs has been laying track in his garden line and making building mock-ups. Tom Gasior has been leading the charge for live video layout tours. David Karkoski has been hunkered down, building models. Alex Gregg calls into the show for the first time but he's already a well known participant in the Facebook group. Marty McGuirk is nearly done on the track-work of his new layout. Tom asks about Bernie Kempinski's new layout direction. Paul Best has been doing some modeling and using Decoder Pro. Ralph Renzetti has been weathering N-scale locomotives and cooking meat. Randall Hammill introduces his railroading interests in the New Haven 1946-54 and his company. Randall and Tom discuss the future for Kickstarter in the hobby. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#174

Ted Roy presented at Amherst before the lockdown, since then he's been working on a bridge and has some painting techniques he's found very useful. Brian Dougherty has been using paints at the other end of the extreme and has an infinite resource for making trees. Ed McNamara has found the ultimate elevator for the hobby - could this mean the end of helixes? Ed also provides some much needed updates from other Oregonians. Terry Terrance has found a new state to call home and has been making some progress even with lockdown. Jim Berg is still looking for a new home for his club. Andy Estep introduces his UK two rail O scale shelf layout. Lawrence Eggering is traveling to maintain sanity and working on his own layout. Brenton Spackman offers what the situation is like in rural South Australia. Dave Falkenburg and Tom talk about their shared experiences in the San Francisco Bay Area. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#173

Dave Barraza has been on lockdown and Tom remains hopeful Dave will be streaming video at some stage through this craziness. Nigel Gartshore escaped back to Australia with a number of items from Trainfest and may actually get his model railroading space ready for some serious layout development. Not fires, nor floods, nor plagues will stop Jim Gifford from calling in. Mike Slater, Clark Kooning and Tom have a round-table discussion on what the Twin Cities Facebook group is doing for the hobby in providing live (and archived) videos from people's layouts during the lockdown (Thomas Gasior is on an upcoming recording to talk more about this). http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#172

Mike Slater is on lockdown, working through NMRA regulations and hopes Trainfest will be the first train show after the lockdown. Mike and Tom talk about the Twin Cities live Facebook videos they have been publishing. Mike O'Dorney is maximizing his productivity, saving money in not traveling and building lighter modules. Will Lawrence introduces his Nova Scotia model railroading interests. Tom talks with Clark Kooning about the difficulty of judging models. Seth Gartner may no longer be on the front lines but he could be doing a video operating session if his friends have anything to do with it. Ron Klaiss is working through the day and designing kits at night. Ben Rechel has a couple of updates for the show. Neil Erickson is about to golden spike his layout. He and Tom talk about travel and meeting people. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#171

Joel Middleton kicks off the first lockdown show talking about the shelf layout he's working on somewhat inspired by the Professor. Simon Hill has been on lockdown and working on car cards and waybills. Martin Coombs has been finding procedural task to take his mind off things and provides his usual range of updates. Mike Deverell has been producing model railroading YouTube content and talks about the benefits of mock ups. Neale Brodie has been working on a computerization project. Matt Goodman has been working from home and exploring some updates to his layout. Dave Ramos is embracing the new normal and maybe video operating sessions in the future. Dave and Tom talk about willed cars and the importance of legacy in the hobby. Richard Murphy has been working on his new layout design. Richard's friend, John Abatecola, calls in to talk videos for the hobby and video conversations specifically. Mike Kenefeck has just moved house and although his layout room is packed with other stuff, he remains hopeful for his layout to be setup. Todd Hermann has been building some terrace houses that look like company homes. Chris Adams had a great operating session and has been working though his stockpile. John Garaty provides an Australian update of cancelled shows. Tom asks about what more John can add in the next twelve months. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#170

Kaylee Zheng has been to Springfield this year, has some phenomena to describe and is also looking into layout lighting. Martin Coombs provides his list of updates - including a layout on full-time public display, un-retiring an old layout, the dynamics of hurtling passenger trains and a foxing fox update. Simon Hill has a year to update, he's taken a break following building his layout but his 16mm fine detail work has called him back to the hobby. Joe D'Amato provides updates on Bruce Kelly who is infinitely more famous than Joe. Joe and Tom talk scratch building briefly and then onto Joe's incredibly lucky career. Tom concludes with the rules for the layout design contest. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#169

Tom introduces the show talking about catching up with some Australian participants. Mike O'Dorney is exploring modular industries. John Garaty provides some discussion to the fires in Australia and Tom tries some on call crowd sourcing for John's current water problem. Lawrence Eggering has strong feelings about the largest publication in the hobby. Mike Slater has been very productive building things and exploring his new 3d printer. Neil Erickson has been showing his trains to people around him and is excited about Blue Rails new offerings. Brenton Spackman have been continuing his lighting development and Jock is considering redoing his layout. Jamie Fenton has some new year's resolutions and they talk about layout design. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#168