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.
BGT Episode 10: Terminology, Tools, and Trainiacs
In this episode, I wrap up a few loose ends before we finally get to layout construction. First, I finish off explaining a wide variety of railroad-related terminology, going into all the depth you would need to know about what most major railroad components are and how they work. Then, I list off and describe all the tools you would need to build a model railroad. Importantly, I then follow this up with modeling safety, and close out the episode with a little bonus, proving that model railroading is not just for nerds.
BGT Episode 5: The Beginner's Bible
Or Quran, or Torah, or God Delusion, or Tripitaka, whichever floats your boat.
Whenever a new modeler enters the hobby, there is a strong incentive to cut a few corners for the purpose of speeding completion of the railroad, or there might simply be a lack of knowledge on what is generally accepted to be a higher fidelity way to approach any given problem. The Beginner's Bible is an amalgamation of advice comprised of lessons that I have learned the hard way. Take heed of this advice, as it may prove quite useful.
As always, if you have comments or suggestions from your own modeling experiences, feel free to drop me a line on the contact page, and your additions will be compiled into an updated Beginner's Bible.
Special thanks to the Scathing Atheist Podcast, found here.
BGT Episode 3: Scale and Gauge
Okay, confession, for as long as I've been in the hobby, it has always driven me nuts when someone says "I model in O Gauge". No. Ultra no. Infinity no. Gauge is the distance between the rails, scale is how small the trains are with respect to the prototype.
Scale, of course, is the basis of the hobby. We model things smaller than in reality, but all components of a model railroad are to the same scale to prevent them from looking over- or undersized. The common modeling scales, from largest to smallest are G, O, S, HO, N, and Z.
Several scales use the same gauge track to represent alternate gauges of that scale. For example, F scale uses G gauge track to represent 3ft narrow gauge, and On30 uses HO gauge track to model 30 inch narrow gauge, whereas both G and HO use their respective gauges to represent standard gauge. This is usually done by scaling up the locomotive sizes until the track gauge represents the desired narrow gauge. This is done because it allows modelers of more obscure scales and gauges to more readily use commercially available components. It's one thing to construct a locomotive from scratch, but it's far easier to take, for example, a G scale locomotive chassis and motor, and build a new locomotive on top of that. It increases reliability and accessibility for that hobby niche. Thus, saying which gauge you model in can be very uninformative as to what you do with it, because there could be multiple scales associated with it.
There are many different scales that hobbyists model in, from garden-traversing G scale to city-in-a-coffee-table Z scale. Due partly to the sizes and partly to the histories of each scale, the different modeling scales all have particular advantages. While most people settle into HO or N scale, it is worth understanding all of the other scales and their finesses before you make a choice.
Hopefully, this episode will serve to edify the next generation of modelers on the subject of scales and gauges. As always, please feel free to drop us a line at our contact page if you have any questions, liked above.
BGT Episode 2: Introduction to Model Railroading
In this episode, I will give you a history of model railroading as a hobby, explain a few key features about the hobby, and explain the general steps required to build a model railroad.
BGT Episode 1: I'm Baaaaaaaaack!
In this episode, I'm restarting the podcast, bigger and better than ever before!
For new listeners, I'll explain what the podcast is all about and introduce myself. I hope you'll hear more from me soon!