Audio Props: TrainCrew


After my last post on audio props, Ed Kapuscinski dropped me a note announcing that he’s developed an app. that already does many of things on my wish list.  Wow Ed, that was fast!  Thanks! The app is called TrainCrew   URL: http://traincrew.conrail1285.com/ I’ve been playing around with it and it’s a simple matter to carry your smartphone […]

Op. Session Design


  I feel like I should track down all of the attendees of my early op. sessions and issue a formal apology for what I put them through.   It’s a common mistake layout owners make when they get into the operations game and have their first several years of sessions.  We feel obligated to […]

Audio “Props”


When it comes to simulating the multitude of tasks an actual switch crew performs, each modeler has to decide for themselves which methods add to the experience, which are simply mind numbingly boring, and which just feel moronic.  These tasks, which include things like setting brake wheels, throwing out fusee’s, three step procedures, opening industry gates, […]

A Little Time Study


In the past few years, when planning a layout for myself, I’ve taken a more time oriented approach.  How long do I want it to take me to reach the fifty or sixty per cent completion point?  How long do I want an op. session to last?  Will I be operating primarily solo? What work […]

Design Blog


I added a blog entry on my business design blog comparing on peninsula designs vs. multiple peninsula designs. Here’s the link: http://shelflayouts.com/2016/09/the-case-for-only-one-peninsula/