Optimism and Industry

On Thursday, my friend, Mark Dance of Columbia and Western fame invited a few of us over for an evening of pizza and beer and talking about model trains. The question he wanted to discuss was whether model railroads can be art, and what are the implications if they are. It was a fun evening, […]

Last train on the Columbia and Western

I had the great privilege to be invited to Mark Dance’s Columbia and Western for one last run before he tears it out and crates it up for its new life in Edmonton. We ran some trains (including, at 47 cars, the longest ever on the railroad), had some snacks and Mark gave each of […]

Seattle Roadtrip!

It seems like ages since I went for an operating weekend anywhere. However, there are some trips that you simply can’t pass up, and the last opportunity to operate on Al Frasch’s Pilchuck Division was one of those. So this Saturday, seven of us stole across the border at 7:30 AM, counting our blessings that […]

Summons

Thanks to my friend, Mark Dance, we remembered to drag the kids to the Monet exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery this weekend. I hold Monet in the same regard as Mozart: he made some good stuff, but it gets repetitive after a while. Having said that, I’ve always liked his paintings of trains. After […]

Model railroading will save the world!

In Mark’s response to my post earlier this week about the Importance of Model Railroading, he pointed out that the hobby is also beneficial in developing the skills that we need to tackle the world’s hard problems. Several local tech innovators got their starts in model railroading, and Mark is fond of pointing out that […]

The Importance of Model Railroading

You might be surprised to learn how much energy I put into model railroading. Between my own models, friends’ layouts, ops sessions and the Railway Modellers’ Meet, I estimate that I expend over 10 hours a week on the hobby. Sometimes it troubles me that I spend so much of my energy on something so […]

More on driving doors

A couple of weeks ago, when introducing my clinic on the Cricut, my friend Mark Dance claimed that if there is a more complicated way to do something, I will surely attempt to do it. Apparently he knows me pretty well. I don’t know if that is altogether my choice, but the philosophy behind Pembroke […]

Turnout controls started

Well, I really thought tonight was the end of Daylight Savings Time, and per tradition, I made use of the extra hour to work on the layout. It is an especially welcome hour this year as we are only 7 days away from the layout tour. Mark Dance suggested I attempt to get the roundhouse a little […]

Mark Dance’s figure painting

My friend Mark Dance is enjoying the sunshine at their cottage in Ontario this month (summer here in BC has been cool and wet). Before he left, he asked if he could take some of my A.C.Stadden figures to have a go at painting them. Knowing that before Mark got serious about model railroading, he […]

Best to wear black or navy

Before he was a model railroader, my friend, Mark Dance was an award-winning figure painter. So, when he asked if he might try painting a couple of the lovely pewter figures from A C Stadden, I leaped at the chance. Mark sent through some in-progress photos today, along with the question “I couldn’t find any […]