Interurban Era

It's always nice to have more 50' boxcars to haul goods and finished lumber.

This week, I'll respond to each of the cohost questions you asked as individual posts. Let's begin!

@nicky asks: "as a niche hobby I'm not super familiar with, what is it about the pursuit that is so appealing for the right kind of person? what pushes people down the rabbit hole, so to speak?"

Modelbuilding and Model Railroading in general is a wonderful art and hobby all in one. Commonly, a mix of the factors below contribute to it becoming a lifelong hobby for probably over a million people worldwide, if not more:

-Grew up next to the railroad or had family members/ friends work in the industry
-Rode an exciting train as a kid or traveled often/ commuted on them growing up
-An interest in 19th/20th century history usually ends up intersecting with trains
-Was given a train set as a kid
-Loves modelmaking, unusual electronic projects, painting, or sculpting and wanted to add motion to their models.

• Visited a museum (like the California State Railroad Museum Above) and became enthralled with the thought of having their own miniature world.
  -Loves collecting cute, small things, and few things are as close to jewelry/ watchmaking grade fine detail as model railroad items.

These factors serve as a catalyst for deepening their interest in the hobby beyond a seasonal train set around the proverbial Christmas tree, and down the rabbit hole they go!

Once you learn that the world history after 1830 is inexorably linked with railroads, it provides such a rich way to learn about almost any corner of the globe. Entire nations rose and/or crumbled thanks to railroads, many glorious and terrible things were made vastly easier with this technology, and it remains a larger than life part of everyday life often done with style and finesse worthy of admiration. So, the deeper down the rabbit hole, the more you learn about our modern world, and how it works. It allows us to peer into the literal mechanisms of how our everyday lives are possible, or how the lives of those before us were shaped.

In my own personal journey it's allowed me to learn so deeply about unexpected things, from how Pancake mix was invented, learning about color theory, the founding of Eritrea, and why medical companies seek out pre-1945 railroad rail iron for use in medical implements. It also led me to do a multi-year machining apprenticeship learning how to work with steel. It sent me to Italy as an industrial designer, where I designed a real locomotive paint scheme! I now build entire room sized model railroads for clients full time, in addition to building custom train models. A passion like this is so wonderfully unique, there's so much more to it than just running a train on a floor.

When it comes to modeling, my deep interest is in creating believable miniature worlds that use environmental storytelling (like you'd find in good quality computer games) to have you discover what's going on in the little worlds I build for myself and clients. The stronger the story, the more enjoyment I get out of it. While most modelers don't go this deep, they usually choose a vague "eras" of time and a general region of the world to model, you can have fun with it at any level of fidelity. Even completely fictional places and alternate timelines provide deeply provocative opportunities for narrative art.

Even the simple joy of turning on a model train and zoning out as it circles around a piece of plywood with determination is one of those classically wonderful hobby moments.

Let's see what Cohost wants to know about model trains!

Ask away! There are no stupid questions, but do google basic questions first! Aim for provocative/ evocative questions.

As many of you know, I build model railroads for a living, and here's some updates from those various projects!