Notes on Designing, Building, and Operating Model Railroads
A hobby adventure
Wow, what a weekend! The 2026 RPM Valley Forge event in Malvern, Pennsylvania was great fun. It had been about six months since the last railroad prototype modeler (RPM) meet I attended. I needed to recharge my hobby inspiration.
Continue reading “RPM Valley Forge summary”
It was a special day recently on Perry Squier’s HO scale Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern layout. He had been holding regular op sessions using the 1923 calendar. The most recent session coincided with the October 8, 1923, operating date. A one hundred year celebration was held to commemorate the moment. The first train ran with bunting and banners!
Continue reading “Celebrating a moment”
I traveled across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the 2023 RPM-East prototype modeler event in Youngwood, PA, for the March 24 & 25th weekend. It was my first RPM of the year. I’ve been involved with publicizing and assisting with RPM-East since 2005.
Continue reading “2023 RPM-East summary”
I enjoyed another RPM Chicagoland meet recently. A number of Pre-Depression Era modelers (the Pirates) attended, as seen in the lead image. That’s me, down in front. Two Pirates were missing at the time of the photo shoot. It was great to catch up with this group in face-to-face conversations and enjoy meals and drinks together. It’s been nine years since a couple of us began corresponding about railroads and industries of the 1900-1930 decades. We’ve learned a great deal from our collective and advanced our individual modeling skills.
I journeyed to metro-Philadelphia last week for the RPM Valley Forge railroad prototype modeler meet. A winter Nor’easter was threatening but passed through a couple days before the event. I arrived on Thursday afternoon to participate in an operating session that evening.