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!
Hello Poptarts!
In this episode, I’ve decided to start a new miniseries, wherein I will cover all the major railroads throughout history. In this first episode, however, I will give you a brief overview of the entire history of North American railroads, from the 1820s to the present! Hopefully, as this series goes on, you will be inspired by a railroad or two to research more and maybe even start building a model railroad thereof!
Hello Poptarts!
In this episode, after who knows how long, we will finally get ready to lay track! This episode covers all the background information you will need to actually put track to table.
Also, don’t forget to vote correctly!
Well, it seems the world has changed a tad since I last released an episode. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy out there. I, myself, am definitely putting a lot of time into building a model railroad, and I hope you all are too!
In this episode, I answer another round of listener questions, covering topics from layout design to turnouts and wiring. I also issue a correction from a previous episode and introduce you to a new scale, OO.
If you have any questions of your own, feel free to drop me a line. Good luck with coronapocalypsemageddonocaust!
Hello everybody! Dear gods, it’s been a while!
Anyways, in this episode, we finally get to start construction on our model railroads by discussing how to build benchwork. I break down all the parts of benchwork, including the support system, frame, surface, and subroadbed. I also discuss all the techniques, tools, and safe practices required to build good benchwork.
If you just found the podcast as a result of the Winterval holidays, then I issue you a hearty welcome to the world’s greatest hobby! If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a line and ask any questions you may have!
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.
In this episode, I wrap up the unintentional trilogy of Track Planning information episodes by giving you the strategies you can use to research a prototype railroad for the purpose of realistically modeling it.
To compliment this episode, I have created a new section of the Links page called Prototype Resources, inspired by listener Skyler, which has links to and details about all the resources I use when researching a prototype railroad. I highly recommend checking it out.
The website that I reference in the episode is here: https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=262:1:19084355468963::::: and contains downloadable archives of every USGS map ever made. It has been an invaluable resource to me for over 1/3 of my lifespan, and I hope it brings you as many hours of fascination as it has myself.
This episode is the first episode of listener questions! Wahoo! In this episode, I answer questions about track laying, scales, manufacturers, clubs, and small layouts.
Don’t forget, if you have a question of your own, you can ask it through the contact page.
In another mammoth episode, I am covering track planning once again, but this time from the perspective of the model railroader designing the railroad. Subjects covered include your modeler personality and preferences, fitting your layout into a room, the merits of a 4X8 layout, space use tips, layout orientation, human accessibility, operational concerns from a preference perspective, artistic presentation, and track plan design software.
Just a note, sorry for the delay in episodes; I have been Amtraking across the country, moving from Wrong Island to Pennsylvania, and spending the summer with my family in Seattle. Next, I will be Amtraking back across the country and starting Graduate School, so, yeah... my life is, and will continue to be exceptionally busy.
My most dense episode yet, this was originally a one parter. However, at nearly an hour this time around, it is evident that this subject needed to be bifurcated. Whereas Part 2 will focus on space usage and human-centric design, this episode will focus on operations, train movements, and all other components integral to the movement of trains on real railroads. Even if you don't plan on operating your model railroad, it pays to build it to accommodate such, for so doing will make your railroad both more realistic and more versatile.
Since this is a particularly long episode, here's a cheat sheet of sections covered for you to refer back to if you're feeling lost:
Runaround
Industry Spur
Mainline
Interchanges
Staging
Storage Tracks
Yards
And here's a link to Craig's 10 Commandments of Yard Design.
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.
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.
