Trains

I was recently reminded that my website hasn’t been updated in forever so here is a quick update with more to follow, hopefully. I have been so so so so busy! The saying goes “Time flies when you are having fun” so I say I must being having so much […]

Custom Turnout Orders Update

December 18, 2019 in Layout Construction / Trains / Turnouts by admin

Newsletter Column Index September 2017 37th National Narrow Gauge Convention in Denver 2017 – Recap Let me first explain I have been to one NMRA National Convention and two National Narrow Gauge Conventions in the past – over 11 years ago since the last one. I am still amazed that […]

Newsletter 9/17

September 15, 2017 in Promontory Post / Trains by admin

Below is a “guest post” by my son. His last step to earn his Eagle Scout rank is doing his Eagle Scout Service Project. For my eagle project I am making track for a park in Saratoga Springs called Shay Park. Utah Live Steamers, a train group in Utah, currently […]

Eagle Service Project

September 9, 2017 in Layout Construction / Trains tagged boy scouts / Eagle Project / Train Layout / trains by admin

Newsletter Column Index August 2017 What draws you to model railroading? What makes you want to be a part of the NMRA? I have always liked building things. I remember as a kid building things with cardboard from cereal boxes while watching Saturday morning cartoons. As I have gotten older […]

Newsletter 8/17

August 8, 2017 in Deep Thoughts / Promontory Post / Trains by admin

Even though I was told it was official, received the number #585, saw my bio about it in the NMRA Magazine, saw my name listed in the NMRA emailed newsletter I was still uncertain about actually having it completed. Well, I finally received my Master Model Railroader Certificate! Here is […]

I Have My MMR Certificate!

July 12, 2017 in Deep Thoughts / Trains tagged AP / Master Model Railroader / MMR / NMRA by admin

Newsletter Column Index July 2017 When you go on vacation do you seek out opportunities to find trains? I don’t usually “seek them out” but when an opportunity presents itself I am happy! Recently I was at Disneyland with my family. On one day, most had gone back to the […]

Newsletter 7/17

July 7, 2017 in Deep Thoughts / Promontory Post / Trains by admin

Newsletter Column Index April 2017 What is on your workbench? If you are like me, you might have more projects started than you care to admit. Working on AP requirements helped me to focus and with setting some goals and personal deadlines I have now completed more projects than ever! Not […]

Newsletter 4/17

April 5, 2017 in Layout Construction / Promontory Post / Tips / Trains by admin

Here’s a copy of my bio that ran in the April 2017 NMRA Magazine.

Bio MMR #585

April 4, 2017 in Deep Thoughts / Trains tagged AP / Master Model Railroader / MMR / model railroad / trains by admin

Master Model Railroader

February 8, 2017 in Deep Thoughts / Trains tagged AP / Master Model Railroader / MMR / model railroad / trains by admin

Newsletter 2/17

February 4, 2017 in Trains tagged AP / Master Model Railroader / MMR / NMRA by admin

Newsletter Column Index January 2017 It’s that time of year again where people make New Years Resolutions. How about looking at it with a different spin? Is there a particular model you have been putting off getting done? I know I have a few that have been “nearly done for […]

Newsletter 1/17

January 15, 2017 in Promontory Post / Trains tagged AP / Master Model Railroader / Motive Power / NMRA by admin

Newsletter Column Index December 2016 Many people are reflective this time of the year. We just had Thanksgiving where sharing what you are thankful for is a big part of the holiday. Christmas is coming up fast and that’s also a time for sharing. One thing I have found with […]

Newsletter 12/16

December 5, 2016 in Promontory Post / Trains tagged AP / model railroad / Newsletter by admin

Newsletter Column Index November 2015 We all enjoy this hobby called Model Railroading. Some of us have been blessed with time and space to have a large layout and others not so much but we still have fun when we can. I’ve talked about how to share the hobby with our […]

Newsletter 11/15

November 11, 2015 in Promontory Post / Trains tagged AP / boy scouts / merit badge / Newsletter / train show by admin

Newsletter Column Index June 2015 Most of us have a preferred scale and gauge we like working in but how many of us actually have multiple scales and/or gauges that we like? Most know I have 1.5” ride-on in the backyard but my main scale is HO with HOn3 mixed […]

Newsletter 6/15

June 13, 2015 in Promontory Post / Trains tagged AP / model trains / narrow gauge / Newsletter by admin

This is my second layout video using the iCar. Gary Petersen’s Salt Lake Southern layout is awesome! This time I ran the iCar at the end of the train looking backwards as though standing on the back platform of the caboose. You can watch it in FULL HD but takes […]

iCar Caboose Ride

May 6, 2014 in Deep Thoughts / Layout Tour / Trains by admin

I’ve always loved photography and it is a great way to be able to combine two hobbies: model railroading and photography! My daughter is taking a photography class in jr. high and when she said, “Can I take a picture of your trains?” I jumped off the couch ready to […]

Photography and Trains

October 13, 2013 in Deep Thoughts / Trains by admin

Take a ride on the rails as though you were in the driver’s seat. Follow along on the inaugural run of my new iCar as we go along the route of Rob Spangler’s Western Pacific 8th Subdivision. It was run as an extra following right behind another train. This was […]

iCar Cab Ride

October 4, 2013 in Deep Thoughts / Layout Tour / Trains by admin

I’ve added a new, long overdue, Tips and Techniques section to the website. The first sub-page within the section is Adding Styrene Spacers which explains how I add styrene to the gaps I cut in the rails. Look for more sub-pages in the near future. I look forward to comments too.

New Tips and Techniques Section

June 28, 2013 in Deep Thoughts / Trains by admin

I uploaded photos and a video from Operations Bootcamp #3 at Lee’s UCW. It was lots of fun. Lee introduced something new he implemented but since most of us don’t know that much about operations it wasn’t a key factor to how we did. Among other things in the morning, […]

Ops Bootcamp #3 and Video

March 26, 2013 in Deep Thoughts / Layout Tour / Trains by admin

My Timesaver: I’ve uploaded a new page showing my efforts so far at constructing my own Timesaver based on the original by John Allen. After 12 and a half years I’m finally building my own. A few more weeks and I should have it done. Everything from constructing the base […]

Sneak Peak of My Timesaver

March 8, 2013 in Deep Thoughts / Layout Construction / Tips / Trains / Turnouts by admin

While I still have to update my blog about the 4×8 layout (it’s seen some updates but not much), I have updated the Layout Tours section. Including two Operations Boot Camps I attended. Rob Spangler and Lee Nicholas both hosted the Ops Boot Camps and after Rob’s I went to Ted York’s […]

Layout Tours updated & Operations Boot Camps

January 30, 2013 in Deep Thoughts / Layout Tour / Trains by admin

We had a fun time last night with the kids coming to trick-or-treat. As is the tradition for the last nine years except one (because of foul weather) we have opened up our backyard to the neighborhood kids to ride our train in the backyard. It is a fun […]

Daily Herald Write-Up and new Video

November 1, 2012 in Deep Thoughts / Layout Construction / Layout Tour / Trains by admin

Almost every year we open up our backyard ride-on railroad to the neighborhood kids who come trick-or-treating on Halloween. Because of the weather there has been a few times we haven’t, but almost every year for the last 8 we have. I made a small video when it was first […]

Haunted Halloween Train Ride

October 28, 2012 in Deep Thoughts / Layout Tour / Trains by admin

Model Railroading and Trains – Helping you with turnouts/switches and tips for a better layout