Model Rail Radio

Martin Coombs kicks off the show with Tom talking about his new garden layout of five phases currently. Simon Hill is responsible for the track plan. Martin is also the proud new owner of an as-yet-unused 3d printer. Simon Hill goes through some of the basic tweaks that were needed on make Martin's new garden layout come to life. John Szymanski has been tuning his layout for frequent operating ses...

Mike Slater discovered a Lionel tunnel at an estate sale - questions ensue. Jim Gifford has still been mopping up from his disastrous 2020. Roscoe's layout has released some gremlins which seems to require pulling wire out. Jim as been doing modeling to bring his crew together. Tom welcomes on Lawrence Eggering to talk about how things have changed in the hobby for him. Tom calls out Lawrence RPO...

Martin Coombs has been exploring a new garden rail building material, PVC FoameX. Tom and Martin discuss the structures and the form of the garden layout. Simon Hill gives a brief hobby update then Tom and Simon talk about how folks at Bredgar are planning for the longer-term new normal. Gordy Robinson has been modeling snow in N scale. The snow provides information about the layout based on the s...

Uncensored and semi-unedited!

Uncensored and semi-unedited!

Uncensored and semi-unedited!

Uncensored and semi-unedited!

Tom starts chatting with Neil Erickson about whether the end of year holds anything special for Neil about model railroading. When that topic fails, they explore American Flyer in contrast to that other big(her) manufacturer. Mike O'Dorney provides some advice about the hobby and as a parent in the hobby. Mike Slater has some serious opinions about Lionel and American Flyer. Ralph Renzetti has bee...

Tom and Simon Hill share a very particular locomotive. What's Simon doing for the new normal? Martin Coombs has a historical question which is important with Tom's news. Clark Kooning could create a podcasting empire with his address book. They explore two building spaces for the one layout. This podcast is here in the feed thanks to Robert J. Thomas who has been taking shows and editing them down...

Mike O'Dorney has been observing modules from the UK. Clark Kooning has returned to the basement as the weather is moving towards freezing. Clark and Tom talk about a number of the topics raised by Mike. http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#193

Mike O'Dorney wants to talk about a favorite magazine (not included in a recent parcel from Tom) and something about an abbey. Gordy Robinson is on the ballot for NMRA President. Simon Hill and Martin Coombs have some ideas about moving what they do onto YouTube and maybe an NMRAx in the future too. Gordy describes his layout space. Tom wraps up with Mike O'Dorney covering a number of additional t...

Mike O'Dorney is the perfect guest as Tom has a lot of points to discuss with Mike. David Karkoski has been taking the lockdown seriously and has been using JMRI to create operation sessions (which he details through the recording). Lawrence Eggering occasionally sees European trains in his area but he has a bunch of work ahead thanks to some friendly clients. John Abatecola is recording remotely...

Gordy Robinson calls in following the somewhat controversial NRMA Leadership Forum. Tom welcomes back on David Rees. David provides a series of updates about Blue Rail Trains. Lionel Strang returns to Model Rail Radio to talk about AML and the future of the hobby. Ted Roy has been building water-related structures for a harbor with some strong selective compression. Lawrence Eggering has been teac...

Mike Kenefeck has raised his layout nearly to the ceiling. Simon Hill has been to Bredgar (and Wormshill Light Railway) and he has plans for the next few months. They discuss Show 200 and what it means to have longterm peer pressure to help you improve. Mike O'Dorney received some stuff from Tom and wants to use some of it for his NMRA Golden Spike. Mike talks about what he's working on during the...

Mike Deverell talks about scale of size and why arduinos are no the device of choice for his layout. Jamie Fenton is researching garden railroading while assembling a garden railroad and also will be returning to HO. Ron Klaiss and Tom discuss the upcoming Model Rail Radio/Mine Mount Models Layout Design Contest. John Garaty continues being a solitary modeler and has a designed cave-in on his layo...

Joe Collins introduces his model railroading interests in south New Jersey. Dave Falkenburg is working on a new kind of camera car for remote layout operations. Jeff Shockley provides a Delmarva update - thankfully the club has good savings for the new normal. Roger Chrysler has been introducing the hobby to his grandson and has discovered specialist YouTube content relating to JMRI and signaling....

Martin Coombs provides the new normal in England. Tom asks about the scale of a structure that Martin is building and Tom knows. Gordy Robinson talks very candidly about some of the problems he's encountered with NMRAx and sadly this is mainly non-technical in nature. What's in the future for Gordy? Lawrence Eggering has picked up a couple of new clients and has been working on weathering projects...

Ralph DeBlasi's new normal is distinctly different due to an extension of tax season. Ralph's Horizon Modules have fixed his workspace. Lawrence Eggering is still very much alive and he's been working on some new installations. Tom enjoyed seeing Neil Erickson's hobby space through NMRAx. Philip Taylor is essential so his new normal hasn't changed however he's now exploring what can be done for hi...

Mike Slater has been working on old projects that he's been finally fixing for friends. Mike talks brass in his collection. Tom wants to know more about virtual Trainfest. What will change in Clark Kooning's presentation through the new normal video clinics. Tom asks about how to provide more joy in the virtual experience in the hobby. Chris Adams was part of the 24-hour NRMAx. What would a layout...

Hunter Hughson introduces his interests in the Penn Central and his paper manufacturing modeling. He talks about the movement into a high quality home layout. Simon Hill has been working on a gantry crane and talks about exploring painting and weathering with the assistance of Martin Coombs. Simon and Tom explore soldering as a must-have skill. Martin seconds the discussion on soldering. What's be...

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 virtua...

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...

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. I...

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 o...