a ModelersLife

It's another exciting episode of "a ModelersLife" and this time we travel to the great state of Michigan to visit with Andrew ("Andy") Keeney, a highly respected HO scale model railroader best known for his large, operations-oriented Nashville Road layout. This home is an impressive three-deck HO scale layout measuring roughly 48 x 56 feet, with over 1,100 feet of mainline, more than 40 staging tr...

The thirty-seven epic road trip continues… Starting from his home in Texas, he traveled through the Midwest, Appalachians, and Northeastern United States, photographing railroads, visiting friends, and touring model railroads along the way. Most people come home from a 37-day road trip with a cooler full of souvenirs. Blair came home with enough railroad photos to keep modelers studying scenery, w...

Ken Patterson is one of the best-known personalities in model railroading today. He is a professional photographer, modeler, and media producer who has been published extensively in hobby magazines and has photographed dozens of model railroad magazine covers. He's best known for his "What's Neat This Week" a popular weekly video show featuring model railroading projects, starring the often enthus...

  It's time for another exciting edition of ViewerMail where every episode starts with hope and ends with somebody discovering there's a much more complicated way to accomplish what you're doing. It's your opportunity to listen as the AML Gang turns a simple two sentence email into a 14-page discussion. Let's face it ViewerMail is cheaper than therapy while bringing together model railroaders from...

George Taylor has been hanging around the AML Nation almost as long as the modeler simply known as "Kelly." We've travelled a lot of miles with George through the years and it seemed like as good a time as any to catch up on what he's been doing.   It's a great podcast and one we're sure you'll enjoy!!

Bob Ginger is a well respected model railroader known for his detailed N-scale layout work and realistic operations-oriented design. He earned the prestigious Master Model Railroader (MMR #695) designation from the National Model Railroad Association. The Pepper Valley Division is an N scale freelanced railroad inspired by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe and Great Northern railroads set in Octob...

Dustin Whitten is a full time 1:1 railroader that's also an HO scale model railroader known for his coal-hauling Appalachian-themed layouts. His current layout was featured in the "Built by Others" series on Trains.com inspired by the Virginian project layout that   first appeared in  the pages of  Model Railroader  in January of 2012 . Dustin's Norfolk & Western South Branch layout took inspirati...

Andy Zimmerman is well known in the model railroading community through his work with the National Model Railroad Association, as the Standards & Conformance Director. Andy's just one of those guys that makes the hobby go, being heavily involved with modular groups such as N-TRAK and T-TRAK. Recently he took on the role of "N-Rail" president because he has so much spare time. Before his railroad h...

Long time friend of the AML Nation, Dave Owens stops by to bring us up to date about this year's Northeast Railroad Prototype Modelers Meet or NERPM (excuse me) as the regulars call it.  For the past three years NERPM has run in partnership with The Amherst Railway Society and provides an opportunity for modelers to participate in a show where modelers of all skill levels are able to exhibit their...

This week, we hear from G4, aka Doctor G4, Notch 11, aka John Gardiner IV. G4 is a long-time friend of the podcast and a valued member of the AML Nation. In this sprawling conversation, we hear about G4's travel across nearly the entire Amtrak system from coast to coast to explore and photograph Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs). We discuss G4 biking across commuter rail systems, capturing thousands of...

When speaking with a third-generation railroader, that usually means he or she comes from a family where railroading has been passed down through the generations, and in the case of our next guest, his grandfather started as a track worker in the very early years of the 1900s and took such pride in his job that his son followed in his footsteps. So it's no wonder that when Tom Holly came along wit...

Gordy Robinson is a well-known figure in the hobby of model railroading, particularly through his involvement with the National Model Railroad Association. He has served in leadership roles for the organization for several years and as president has led the NMRA out of the dark ages. As a strong advocate for growing membership, encouraging younger hobbyists, and promoting innovation in the hobby a...

When you've got a whole bunch of stuff and you need someplace to put it, where else would be more suitable than a Monday morning podcast. We get the gang together to introduce two segments that have not yet been heard on the free channel. First, it's an interview about the "Flying Yankee" being produced in HO scale by Bethlehem Car Works also known as White Rose Hobbies and secondly, we have a seg...

It's part three of the Blair Koostra epic 37 day journey across the northeast with camera and hand. One can only hope to achieve the mastery with a camera that Blair has done for decades and decades. What makes railroad photography so important is that you're freezing that moment of a freight train grinding upgrade a sleep passenger train flying by creating a sense of drama you don't get with many...

The name Stephen Attwell probably doesn't really resonate very much with most model railroader, but it's a name in the hobby that folks should take note of because Stephen is the owner of Midwest Model Railroad one of the finest model railroad stores in the lower forty-eight. Located in Independence, Missouri it's a 15,000 square-foot store that's similar to walking into the Home Depot of model ra...

Jon Stackpole is everywhere these days promoting designing, overseeing construction of multiple products for Athearn while appearing in webcasts, manning show booths discussing upcoming projects with customers like the HO-Scale locomotive newest versions of the GE AC4400CW , EMD SW1500 , and other Genesis-series models. He's very excited about the   Athearn Genesis Series a high-end model train li...

You'd think when the gang at "a ModelersLife" got the chance to talk with the lead product manager with Athearn we'd have all sorts of questions to ask. Well, you'd be wrong, Jon has travelled such an interesting road to where he is today, Athearn barely came up. Once we discovered his Dad owned " The Hobby Depot ," a small, well-known model train shop in Monroe, Wisconsin , we wanted to know more...

Now that was the show, another year has come and gone at the Springfield train show and this one will be remembered as the great snowstorm of 2026. It was so anxiously anticipated that several vendors never even bothered to show up but those of us who did, had a great time in spite of all the problems created by the weather. It was truly historic, bringing widespread snow across the northern Plain...

Well, the show is over, the vendors are gone, there's no more tickets to be sold and the planning for next year's Springfield show is already underway!! As always there was lots to see and do, from checking out different manufacturer's new releases, fabulous layouts, renewing friendships and looking for deals on that one particular piece of rolling stock you need!! Our favorite magazine editor Ott...

It's one of those great opportunities where we have the p rivilege of meeting a valued friend of a podcast regular. Believe it or not, our very own Chris Wehman, (videographer extraordinaire) does indeed have many friends and in this case, we get to meet one of his valuable operators and someone that's become a big help operating the Norfolk Southern Heartland Division in N-Scale.   Nick Kolankiew...

Blair Kooistra is a well-known railfan and railroad photographer whose work and life revolve around trains and railroading — not just as a hobby but also professionally and creatively and documenting rail operations through images. He's shared thousands of train photos online, especially on Flickr where his photostream includes rail action from classic lines like the Fort Worth & Western. Recently...

Central Georgia RPM is an annual gathering where model railroad enthusiasts of all ability levels (from beginners to seasoned builders) come together to display their scale models, share skills, and learn from one another. For those who don't know. RPM stands for Railroad Prototype Modelers and is organized as a friendly, community-focused event where modelers exhibit their work, talk techniques,...

Another year has come and gone since we last talked to hero Smokin' Joe D'Amato. For those of you who don't know Joe's been a true friend of the podcast since before dinosaurs were born, along with his trusty sidekick, the modeller simply known as "Kelly," he's regaled with all sorts of interesting stories and never been afraid to share his knowledge of the hobby. But's there's been some pretty bi...

Once again, it's time to chat with John Sacerdote the long time show director of the Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show featuring many of today's most popular manufacturers, fabulous layouts, railroad history, photography, art, books, videos, vendors and a whole bunch more stuff for everyone to see and enjoy!! John has been overseeing the show for almost twenty-five years and still enjoys...

Springfield is just days away which means it's time for our favorite hobby shop owners, Ryan and Tom to load up the trailer, gas up the truck and head north from York, Pennsylvania to the biggest model railroad show of the year!! This year they've got six tables some really cool estate stuff, a whole lot of paint to sell and very little help. It's gonna be a challenging year for the boys because t...