Attitude and Approach


Ben Sullivan stands in front of his masterful rendition of the Georgetown Branch’s Rock Creek Viaduct. Results like this come from being in the game long term, making mistakes, learning from them, and moving forward. Attitude and approach to the hobby goes a long way. The last two weekends were particularly enjoyable for me, both […]

If you can’t stand the heat….


One of my earliest efforts, “8 Track Plans For a Spare Room” got panned by reviewers. With the detachment that comes with time, I consider the plans within it some of my better lifetime designs. Go figure. “If you can’t stand the heat…..then get out of the oven”.  It’s a good adage to keep in […]

Composition Talk – East Rail 2


The Big Hole Lead in Miami’s East Rail industrial park serves as the inspiration for the left leg of the layout. While only two blocks long, it’s still way too large to fit on a ten foot long layout shelf. Decisions need to be made to compose a scene that A) fits B) is recognizable […]

Recreation Vs. Entertainment


Our chances of attaining an end result are higher if we can, at least in rough terms, define what it is we’re actually after. Before that can happen, we need to develop an awareness that it’s an issue in the first place. This brings me to today’s topic, defining hobby success.  The actual definition doesn’t matter […]

Indian Matchmaking & Layout Design


One evening, a few weeks ago, I was melting into my couch and surfing Netflix. Scroll, scroll, scroll, nothing.  Essentially what I was looking for was something short, borderline entertaining, and took minimal neurons to process. In other words, trashy but not too trashy.  Up comes the series “Indian Matchmaking”.  Okay, nobody will know, I’ll […]