Welcome to the podcast! Here, you’ll be able to find the episodes from both the Beginner’s Guide to Model Railroading and the Proto-Future Podcast. Happy listening!
A one(-ish) year checkup with Tom Barbalet, talking about his incredibly enduring perspective of model railroading, how the hobby has changed over the years, the direction of modeling, transit, urbanism, geopolitics, artificial life simulations, and exobiology.
Listen to the original interview, from last year: Model Rail Radio November 13th, 2023: Tom Barbalet Talks with John Gardiner IV
This episode addresses the elephant in the room: that America is a now a fascist, dying country. What do we do now, and how do we fight back against the racist conservative idiots that are stealing our freedoms?
Please, please donate to:
The Freedom from Religion Foundation
This episode caps off the Borealis series with a tour of Loyola, Northwestern, Ogilvie Transport Center, and O'Hare Terminal 5 via the CTA El, Metra, O’Hare People Mover, and United Airlines.
David Sotokarlin's Chicago 2040 Plan: https://www.davidsotokarlin.com/chicago2040
Lucid Stew's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LucidStew/videos
And the episode in which I got a shout-out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffdJAM5RZro
Part of why I’m so hard on Madison is because it’s so tantalizingly close to being a place deserving of its reputation... If I’d be open to moving 700 miles away to Madison, I’d also be open to moving 900 miles away to Minneapolis, and I think, at this moment, I’d get a much better experience for it.
This episode, the purpose of the whole series, sees me as part of the Press Pool for the Inaugural Amtrak Borealis between St. Paul and Chicago. Speeches, interviews, and applause are heard from St. Paul Union Depot, and many enjoyable conversations are had onboard the train itself en route to Chicago.
The League of American Bicyclists Zoom given by Derrick James and Moriah Morales is here: https://youtu.be/YE6oJ7quCnM?si=CQetZzVpGOMgCHFE
Jim Matthews, CEO of the Rail Passengers Association
Marc Magliari, Amtrak Senior Public Relations Manager
Joseph Aiello, Rail Passengers Association Director of Community Engagement
Derrick and Andrew James (middle and right), Amtrak Director of Government Affairs (and long-distance bicyclist)
Stephen Gardner, CEO of Amtrak
This episode follows as I walk through the Minneapolis Skyway, discuss the NorthStar Commuter Rail, ride all the Minneapolis Metro Light Rail, visit the Twin Cities Model Railroad Museum and interview Ken Zieska and Matt Malwitz, have a disappointingly short visit to St. Paul, walk the entire Mall of America, visit St. Anthony Falls, and leave flowers at George Floyd Memorial Square.
This trailer succinctly describes the purpose and scope of Proto-Future, and the long-term plan for how it fits in with the Beginner’s Guide to Model Railroading.
This episode is the first in a four-part series detailing my trip to ride the inaugural Borealis between the Twin Cities and Chicago. In it, I motorcycle to Harrisburg, ride the Keystone to Philadelphia, struggle with SEPTA to the Airport, speedrun both the PHL and MSP airports, and give a preliminary exploration of Minneapolis, philosophizing extensively along the way.
This nontraditional episode gives you three vignettes on Amtrak and the podcast, my layout and its construction, and bicycling infrastructure and car-dependency, as well as helping me catch up on scripts and test out field recording.
Proto-Future is attempting to do something which has never been done in model railroading before. I am here to ruffle feathers, seed ideas, get rusty gears turning, and help the hobby escape the transition-era worshiping rut we’ve been in for 30+ years, thereby better appealing to younger generations and improving the world around us along the way. If you have any thoughts at all – good or bad – pause for a second, think them through, make sure they’re logical, then email me, and we’ll see where it goes.
While the podcast is transitioning to Proto-Future, I still happily accept beginner questions and will address them on-air every now and then. Feel free to email me via the contact form, and I’ll do my best to help you in your quest.
