Trackage Video: Model Railroad Video

Ohio Railfanning Locations

2013-07-31T21:43:00.000-04:00

Hello again Readers,

This post will be dedicated to railfanning in the State of Ohio. I am going to give you some links to locations to see locomotives on display, and places to take pictures of the modern equipment running today. These are in no particular order, and are just a few popular locations that you can check out if travelling through Ohio.

In Lima, Ohio there is a museum that has a Lima Locomotive Works Shay Locomotive. It is at the Allen County Museum & Historical Society. For those of you that are modeling a layout using Shay Locomotives, or any Lima Locomotives the John H. Keller Railroad Archives could be a big help to you.

According to the website the collection contains, “Shay and Rod builder’s negatives and prints, as well as specification sheets from the Lima Locomotive Works. In addition, the collection contains extensive amounts of material from the New York Central, ICC records, thousands of books, periodicals, timetables and assorted reference data covering numerous railroads.”

http://www.shaylocomotives.com/surviving/3288surv.jpg

Also in Lima, Ohio at Corner of Shawnee and Elm St. at Lincoln Park there is a Train Exhibit that sits right in the park to see. The exhibit is of a Lima Locomotive Works 2-8-4 Berkshire Steam Locomotive. There is a passenger car, and wood Nickel Plate Road Caboose there also. If you come to Ohio at the right time you may get to see 765 operating Lima Locomotive Works 2-8-4 Berkshire this static displays sister that is located in Ft. Wayne, IN.

http://www.remarkableohio.org/HistoricalMarker.aspx?historicalMarkerId=544&fileId=108744

Another great place to visit is the Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum in Bellevue, Ohio. They have quite a collection of railroad equipment to see there. This is a great place to see some old railcars that you don’t see anymore. They also have a number of diesel locomotives from days past.

http://www.madrivermuseum.org/gallery/equipment/wabash_diesel.jpg

If model trains and family fun are your style there is a place to take the kids to get them interested in trains too at the Entertrainment Junction in Cincinnati, Ohio. This place has model trains to look at, and to buy. In addition there is a part of the place that has a play area themed with trains for the kids. This is the location of The American Railroading Museum with interactive displays to teach the whole family about trains, and how trains helped to build our great nation.

http://www.entertrainmentjunction.com/cincinnati_model_trains/photos_railroad_museum

Now I would like to share with you a couple of photo opportunity locations. The first is in Deshler, Ohio call the Deshler Crossroads Park. It is on CSX property run by the Deshler Historical Society. The location has over 60 trains a day going to and from the North Baltimore, Ohio Inter-modal Facilities. There are a ton of trains every day from CSX, BNSF, NS, and Union Pacific if my Intel is right.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=99078867462&set=pb.98386332462.-2207520000.1375317926.&type=3&theater

Last but not least for this post is the Fostoria, Ohio Iron Triangle in Fostoria, Ohio the Fostoria Rail Preservation Society have been building an amazing RailPark there. That will be really great once it is finished. This is also a great location to shoot your favorite CSX locomotives.

http://www.fostoriairontriangle.com/

Well I hope that you have enjoyed this post. I look forward to telling you about other great railfan destinations in Ohio and others too. Also, if any of these locations interest you be sure to look them up on Facebook to see what they have to offer, and the times you can go.

Till next time, thank you for stopping at the station.

Robert

http://fostoriairontriangle.com/festival.htm

Chessie System Model Update

2013-07-19T23:41:00.002-04:00

Hello, Trackage Video Blog Readers:

It is an exciting day for this Modeler and Railfan. In 1977 the locomotive 2101 former Reading Railroad loco got a new paint job, and was named The Chessie Steam Special. In April of that year it made its first trip from the paint shop to Philadelphia, and then to Baltimore. The loco was put together to have a number of excursion trips to celebrate the B&O Railroad’s 150 birthday.


http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29154

The loco ran a number of trips for revenue starting May 7, 1977. I did not see the engine and its cars in 1977, but my Grandfather and I chased it in his green Cheverly pick-up truck in 1978. I got to see it cross the Harpers Ferry Bridge, and disappear into the tunnel. Then we traveled along side of the great big T-1, Northern 4-8-4 loco through Sandy Hook and into Brunswick a place I had been before to look at B&O Chessie locomotives in the later years of my Grandfathers service as a B&O Engineer.

I was already collecting toy HO trains at this time, and to be honest I think my Grandfather started buying HO models for me at the sight of my Mother being pregnant. I had a big mess of train engines and cars, and in fact they filed an old Army footlocker. I really only wanted the Chessie painted stuff, but I had a variety.

I had a love for the trains anyway, but I had never seen a Steam Locomotive before. I was only 5 or 6 years old. They are quite impressive to me even today. Well like I said, my Grandfather and I followed along with this Baldwin built 2101 that was originally a I-10a 2-8-0 #2021 built in 1923 and was converted to Reading 2101 T-1, Northern 4-8-4 in 1945, and operated until 1956 when all steam vanished on the Reading except for four T1's 2100, 2101, 2102, and 2124.

Since that day I wished for an HO Scale Model of The Chessie Steam Special. I got an email on the 18^th of July saying that the deadline to order an HO version from BLI had to be in on Friday the 19^th. I was distraught to say the least, this is the second run of this locomotive that I know of, and I could not get my hands on one at all. That all changed today I got my preorder in for it today and it should be in at the end of September. I have never been so happy in my life, and would like to thank the staff at Hobbytown USA in Holland, Ohio for making my childhood dream a reality. I am sure that none of you know but my family and I are going through a ruff time right now. I had to sell my drum kit to make ends meet this week, but I would trade a second drum set to get a piece of history in my hand, that will forever remind me of the great day I spent with my Grandfather.

http://www.broadway-limited.com/images/view.aspx?productId=1803&index=0

This is something that I am trying to express in my writing and school projects that model railroading is fun, but it is heart warming and doing it with your kids, grandchildren, and anyone that you love is rewarding and will make memories that last a lifetime. For those of you that are modelers you know what I am talking about. I would encourage any of you to take someone under your wing and teach him or her all the modeling skills, and railroad history that you can. I am 41 and I play with trains.

For more information on The Chessie Steam Special, check this out.

Thank you, for stopping at the station.

Robert

Business Plan Expert Views

2013-06-09T17:34:00.001-04:00

I am currently working on writing a business plan, for my future business Trackage Video. I am working on it in my Business Plan Development class at Full Sail University. That means that I am almost at the end of my degree program at Full Sail University, and that makes me happy. It also leaves me a bit frightened too. Now I will have to go it alone in the real world, and make my mark.

I am not very confident that I can write a successful business plan, on my own. I am hoping that I will do well in this class. This post is for class and I need to research business plan experts. I thought that I would look for them from Score. Score is a good resource to people starting in business, or people that need help making their business better.

I found an article by Cynthia McCahon, she has work for a number of years helping clients with business planning. She has worked to found SamplePlan.com, and now has founded Enloop a company that helps entrepreneurs with affordable software to build business plans.

The three keys that every business plan needs according to Cynthia are:

· Know your industries NAICS statistics

· Know your cost of goods/cost of service

· Know your competitions retail price

Knowing the statistic for your industry can help you know if there is a market for your product. If you can see what other companies are doing you will know if yours is compatible with the rest of the market.

Knowing the cost of your goods or service will help you make better financial forecasts. Knowing the cost associated with your business will help you to determine the retail cost you should charge for your business.

By knowing your competitions retail price you will know then if you can compete with them. Also if you have a product that is higher priced then your competition you will know that you need to explain why to your customers.

The next expert tips came from Rieva Lesonsky; Rieva is the CEO of GrowBiz Media. He company helps start and grow new businesses. This article talks about how to create a fresh business plan.

Three tips from Rieva Lesonsky:

· Make a plan for social media

· Make a plan B

· Include your market understanding

Making a plan for social media is a good idea, because if you don’t use it you are missing out on a good marketing tool. This is how a business keeps up with its customers.

Making a plan B is good advice; you never know when trouble will strike your business. Having a contingency plan for your investors will show that you took time to think about everything.

Showing your understanding of what you plan to do will show that you are experienced. You can show that you know more then your competition you will have a better chance at running a successful business.

Now I think that all this is good advise and will try to put all of it to good use in my business plan. Writing a business plan is hard work, but is a necessary tool to running a business. I don’t think that I personally did very well in my industry analysis section this week. I understand my target market and how to reach them, but not very good at interpreting information from the Cencus.gov site.

If you are like me, and have a business idea there are places on the Internet that can help. These two articles are just a small example of what Score can help you with. In addition I would like to add that some of the experts say that by the time I graduate, that I will need to write a new business plan. That is how fast things change in the world today.

Model Railroad Video

2013-05-27T19:26:00.000-04:00

--> Today, I would like to write a review of Model Railroader Video Plus, a new subscription site offered by Model Railroader Magazine.

http://mrv.trains.com

As you all know Model Railroad Video has changed over the years, as has a number of thing in the hobby. We have seen VHS tapes become obsolete, bringing the model railroad video to DVD, and now to digital download or web TV. I think the change is good for the future of model railroad media.

The reason is that this is a hobby that people get into later in life, in most cases. Is that because they have more time, or because they have more money, I don’t know? As people get into the hobby in the future they will have been using computers regularly, in today's day-and-age. It seems only natural to upgrade all they ways we enjoy the hobby.

Now on to the review:

First I would like to say that they have a number of price points available to fit your needs. You can subscribe monthly to the site for $4.95. The 2^nd option is you can subscribe annually for $44.95. The next two options are for $59.95 for print magazine with video subscription, or digital and video subscription for the same price. These are the prices for a new Model Railroader Video Plus member.

If you are a subscriber to the magazine currently, you can purchase an annual subscription for $25. These are introductory prices and are normally a little bit higher regularly.

http://mrr.trains.com/mrvoffer

You can purchase your subscription to Model Railroader Video Plus here at this link http://mrr.trains.com/mrvoffer.

I just signed up for the subscription today for one month to try it out. I viewed a number of videos on the site. I watched at least two videos from each category that was available.

I must say that all of the videos are very professional, and they are all in high definition. The videos can be viewed on computers (Mac or Windows), tablets, phones, and the quality is good for watching on your television.

There is a site that gives more information about exact requirements for viewing at this link http://www.kalmbach.com/mrvhelp that can answer a number of your questions.

There are a bunch of real cool videos on this site that make it worth checking out for at least one month. I would like to say that there are a few videos that you may have seen if you subscribe to the magazine. I would like to remind everyone that it is a relatively new site, and say that there are not a ton of new videos to watch. With that said, they are adding new videos every month.

There are new shows that are on the site that are different from the shows on Model Railroaders website too. Video Step By Step, Cody’s Workshop and Roundhouse are a few of their new shows.

Cody’s Workshop is a bit more how to then Cody’s Office, so if you are a fan of Cody’s modeling both shows are on the site. I think both of these shows are very good, and I get a lot of my modeling tips from Cody.

Roundhouse is a neat new show that is kind of a model railroad talk show, an idea that never crossed my mind planning my business plan out. They have Model Railroader staff and guests talk about all things modeling and railfaning. I enjoyed the couple shows that I watched of this.

My favorite new feature is the 3D Track Plan videos, this make the Model Railroader track plans come to life. They are a computer-generated walk-through of the track plans on Model Railroaders Track Plan Data Base. This is much like how people build 3D models of their layouts in small scale to see it before they model it, very cool.

The Model Railroader staff’s how to videos are really great; they have a way of making everything look easy. If you have had access to The Dream Plan Build Video Series DVDs then this is more of the same, if not it is good information for new or intermediate modelers.

This subscription video platform is easy to use, affordable, and very professional, this is truly an extension to the magazine. The videos let the pages of Model Railroader Magazine come alive, in the how to sections of the videos.

I would recommend this site to all new modelers, and any subscriber to Model Railroader Magazine. I am very pleased, to have signed up for this.

If you were hoping for the site to have a ton of videos before you join, then I would wait a bit. I would say that if you had three days to do nothing, you could possibly watch everything on the site (just a guess). New videos are added every month, that is a good feature of the site. All the videos are professional, also a good thing. The price is right; you could spend the annual fee on two videos or less.

Over all I would give it a thumbs up.

Thank you,

Robert

References

Kalmbach Publishing Co. - Model Railroader Video Plus. (n.d.). Kalmbach Publishing Co. - Hobby, craft, leisure time magazines, books, events, shows. Retrieved May 27, 2013, from http://www.kalmbach.com/mrvhelp

Model Railroader Magazine - Model Railroading, Model Trains, Reviews, Track Plans, Forums. (n.d.). Model Railroader Magazine - Model Railroading, Model Trains, Reviews, Track Plans, Forums. Retrieved May 27, 2013, from http://mrr.trains.com

Model Railroader Video Plus. (n.d.). Model Railroader Video Plus. Retrieved May 27, 2013, from http://mrv.trains.com

Model Railroader Video Plus. (n.d.). Model Railroader Magazine - Model Railroading, Model Trains, Reviews, Track Plans, Forums. Retrieved May 27, 2013, from http://mrr.trains.com/mrvoffer

Adding Lighting Effects To Steel Modeling

2013-05-11T16:40:00.001-04:00

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As you may know steel was a very large part of the U.S. economy. Most of the steel production that was done in the U.S. is now gone. Steel was a very important part of the railroads revenue, from hauling ore to mills and hauling finished products out.

Two places that I have been to in my life stand out, when it comes to thinking about steel production and they are Pittsburg, PA. and Baltimore, MD. I remember as a teen watching the ore boats come into Sparrows Point to off-load at Bethlehem Steel, I also remember seeing all the trains in-and-out of the plant.

I found a few videos that I thought you might enjoy, that will show some steel mill activities to go along with my earlier post Good Deal On Structures, about the Walthers Cornerstone products. I hope that these videos will give you some good ideas about how to model a steel mill on your own layouts.

The video that I found to show is really cool, slag cars being dumped at Bethlehem Steel 1994.

--> Dumping slag at Bethlehem Steel in 1994 From: steelmanjules, YouTube Video. (2007, September 26)

Slag Car

You can buy slag cars from Walthers or your favorite hobby store, when in stock. Bachmann also makes a reasonably priced DCC GE 70 Ton locomotive with Bethlehem Steel reporting marks to pull your steel production rolling stock.

Ge 70 Ton Locomotive

The next video is a video how to, for teaching how to model a slag dump. Keep in mind that this is in N Scale not HO, but you can adjust what you need to for your scale. The video I am going to share is how to install lighting to make the slag that is dumped look hot still. I think that this is a very cool idea and thought that you would too.

How to model an N scale slag dump continued. --> From: djstrains.YouTube Video, (2012, August 7).

Lighting effects can make your model railroad come to life. You can light buildings, streetlights, and a number of other things on your railroad to make a scene stand out. Lighting for your layout can be powered by track current or other methods, and controlled on DC layouts or DCC layouts.

Add that extra realism; add lighting effects to your layout.

Thank you,

Robert

-->

Reference:

Bethlehem Steel- Yellow and Black - GE 70-Ton - DCC [60612] - $95.00 : Bachmann Trains Online Store!. (n.d.). Bachmann Trains Online Store!. Retrieved May 11, 2013, from http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=258_288_308&products_id=2045

Gold Line(TM) Slag Car Ready to Run -- Painted & Numbered Single Car (932-3144) -- Walthers Model Railroading. (n.d.). Walthers Model Railroading - main page. Retrieved May 11, 2013, from http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/932-3144

djstrains. (2012, August 7). How to model an N scale slag dump continued. Steel mill model railroad layout - YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved May 11, 2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4a2unLQovA

steelmanjules. (2007, September 26). Dumping slag at Bethlehem Steel in 1994 - YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved May 11, 2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhJF_hTJ2Rw

Distribution of Trackage Video

2013-04-28T16:00:00.000-04:00

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Hello Readers,

Today, I would like to share more information about modern distribution in the model railroad industry. I have touched on this subject before, but will go into more detail. I would like to start by saying that I am for the modernization of this hobby, it is a little behind the times in some of its distribution. The industry is starting to modernize now in every part of the business.

First this industry upgraded to better production of the products, that makes all the products better, more realistic, and the N.M.R.A. made standards for manufactures to follow. Then the companies now use the web to advertise products, how to, and reviews of products in videos. Now most model railroad groups, clubs, and events are advertised on the Internet. The days of print magazines are slowly slowing down, but digital magazines are on the rise. VHS Tapes turned into DVDs and will start to go to Blu Ray now.

Or will the Blu Ray Disc get stopped in this hobby before it gets started. We are starting to use YouTube and a number of other sites to get modeling information. There are a number of great modelers that are posting their work online, free of charge. I still say that pro-quality videos can make an income and now is the time.

That leads me to talk about Digital Downloads and Cloud Server subscription services. As you may know Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine has been around for a few years now. Joe Fugate is a great modeler. He saw a need to take model railroad magazines into the digital age, good for you. As you may know he posted an article about this on their site, title Publishers Musings – Adapting publishing to the times.

This is something that Joe said that made me think “Model Railroad Hobbyist launched in 2009 as a new media digital publication for model trains. We adopted the Google model of free content funded by advertising, and we’ve grown steadily at 30% plus per year to reach an estimated audience of over 70,000 per month. In the last 12 months, our largest growth has come from readers with mobile devices.” (Joe Fugate, January 01, 2013)

What if Trackage Video made the films that we plan to make; we put them on a cloud server. Then we set it up like Model Railroaders new Video Plus. Then use Joe’s paid advertising model and give subscriptions away for free to the Trackage Video Internet TV Channel. I think that it just might work. I would rather get videos for free then to pay $50 a year for them.

You say to me that Model Railroader is the best and are known more then I am. This is true, but I am a member of the N.M.R.A. I have access to all the best modelers around many that have been in the pages of MR. Would the members of the group be willing, I don’t know. Only time will tell let the pieces fall.

Thank you,

Robert

Good Deal On Structures

2013-04-21T16:08:00.000-04:00

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Hi again, everyone this is Robert with some news for you about Walthers. Walthers is bringing back some older products from its Cornerstone line. They are bringing back their Waterfront Series. There are eight structures and a number of detail parts for this line. The company is advertising a new product from Sylvan Models to go with their kits; it is a Tramp Steamer in resin. There are a number of products that could be used with these kits, to build a great piece of waterfront property. If you are modeling an east coast railroad, this is some great stuff to add to your layout. It would be perfect for building a downtown Baltimore port area addition. In Walthers fashion the kits will work on a number of railroads, check them out.

I am good a finding deals, as you all may know from my tool tips from past posts. I was looking at Walthers Flyer today and noticed that they are having a sale. This is not news at all, because they are always having sales. The savings on most of their products are not that big of a deal. They have some savings that are a few dollars per item. This is good if you are buying a bunch of stuff, every dollar helps, right?

Then I did a search on just structures from their Cornerstone line. What did I find, you ask? I found a great big sale on their Ashland Iron line. As you know some of these kits are hard to find in hobby shops and when you do you break the bank with the purchase. I don’t know how long the sale is on, but I know it is on today. These items had the best sale prices that I have seen on the site in a while. It was not just a $5 discount or even $10, much better.

Regular Price - Sale Price

Hulett Unloader $186.98 - $99.98

Rolling Mill $175.98 - $94.98

Coke Oven $142.98 - $77.98

Blast Furnace $263.98 - $139.98

Blower Engine House $164.98 - $129.98

This is a great start to building a steel mill on your layout. Walthers reports also that all of these products are in-stock ready to be ordered. There are a few other structure kits that are on sale, some of the Ethanol products and the Transfer Table for your engine house too.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by, please do yourself a solid and check Walthers out before these items are gone. These products are perfect for those of you modeling the B&O or Pennsylvania railroads, any place that steel was made.

If you are interested you should pick up this book too. The Model Railroader's Guide To Steel Mills from Model Railroader Books. You can order it from Kalmbach or find it on Amazon.

Have a good one and see you next time.

Happy Modeling,

Robert

Learning About the Law From Podcasts

2013-03-27T21:45:00.002-04:00

Hello, Trackage Video followers. Today, I will be discussing some legal subjects that relate to my business plan. This post will discuss legal issues that I will face starting my model railroad video business. Issues like; intellectual property, trademarks, and licensing agreements.

One of the greatest things that I learned in this class was how to fill out all my registration forms for my intellectual property. In todays business the use of the Internet is very important. Along with the use of the computer comes the need to protect what belongs to you. It is much easier today to be violated by someone infringing on your rights as a copyright owner than in the past. It is also much easier to become the target of a lawsuit when you do not follow the law.

I learned about a case between the University of Alabama and Daniel Moore. Mr. Moore is an artist that has done a number of paintings that depict Alabama player, playing football. He also makes some novelties that the school sells through a licensing agreement. The school told the artist that he needed an agreement to sell his paintings, which the school also sold in their bookstore. He refused to get the licensing to make his painting from the school. What do you think happened next? That is right the school tried to sue him in court.

Anyway the court said, that it was his First Amendment right to make his paintings, even though the schools uniforms are depicted in the painting. He did not need an agreement with the school, even though it was a work for sale, because there is artistic expression in his work. Under the Lanham Act he could have only been infringing on the University of Alabama if the work had no artistic expression or, the work misleads the public as to where the source is from.

So, to me that means if I paint a model railroad station to represent an era in time or, to represent a company that I am modeling that would be artistic expression. With that said, I would still need a licensing agreement with the manufacturer of the station. Now I have learned that some companies will give you permission to show their product in your videos, without cost and others may charge. In the long run it may be better for me to check with the owners of the business first to see what they say.

In my videos, I will need some kind of catchy jingle that will let everyone know this video belongs to me. I could hire a musician to write and perform my song, and register the song as a work for hire. I could write the song myself and register it with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. I could buy a licensing agreement for a song already recorded; there are a lot of options out there for me. But, I need to be protected from piracy or from a lawsuit.

That brings me to the next podcast; it explained the types of copyright protection that I can get for my theme song. What I need to do is to maintain control of both types of music copyrights. The two types of copyrights are publishing rights, and recording rights. These two protections cover different things. Publishing rights protect my written work, such as the lyrics, and the notes of the song written down to make the song. (Sheet Music) The next is recording rights and that is just what it said, the song as it is recorded. Then no one can use the song without getting a license from me to the song.

Then if someone uses the song without my permission then I can take him or her to court for damages. Owning all the rights myself will make it so I do not have to share royalty payments to a producer or record company. I can sell the song later, or make a licensing agreement to a company, or musician to use the song, and make money from it, if I choose to. This podcast explained it to me better then what I got from the textbook in class.

On to the next topic for this post, making sure to have all the licensing agreements that I need to be protected. In this podcast the lawyers are talking about companies going to webpage designers to get your website built. They are discussing that many people do not know that you need a licensing agreements to use the pictures that are on your page. The web designers put great stuff on your page, and then you get into trouble for using the images. The web designer did not get an agreement with a stock image house to use the pictures on your page.

The podcast even touched base on there sometimes being legal issues in doing what I am doing right now, blogging. It can happen that your blog gets popular and someone may not like what he or she reads on your page. The lawyers talked about getting agreements with the people you interview so they cannot come back later and make you take it down. One of the lawyers has an eBook to help teach you what you can do and not do on the web.

So these are some of the many challenges to forming a business. I think that it is in everyone’s best interest to get an entertainment lawyer before starting up a business like mine. I can read all the books I wish and I will still only know so much. I have learned why lawyers get paid so well. It is a hard job to search through case law to see what to do. I barely have a clue about law. I have had two classes now, and I know how to register my IP and how to find a lawyer on the Internet. Well, I guess I know a little more than that, but not much. I will need to make sure all my pictures; music, video, and product placement or prop agreements are good before I take my first shot. Thank you for checking us out today, I hope you did not get bored with the post.

Robert Reynolds - Trackage Video

Looking Into Possible Legal Issues

2013-02-10T15:56:00.001-05:00

Hi, Trackage Video reader’s todays post will be for my Advanced Entertainment Law class. Yes, that’s right law class. I must first point out I am not now or will I ever be a lawyer. I will be looking at three cases, and evaluating them as they relate to my business plan. When ever you start a business there are laws that need to be followed, and protection from the law that should be considered.

The first case is from the United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit. The case is a copyright infringement case between Latin AmericanMusic Co. INC. as plaintiff and Media Power Group, INC. defendant. I found this case on Findlaw.com the case was heard on January 15, 2013. LAMCO sued MPG for having its radio stations play music that they didn’t have a Performance License to play on there radio stations in Puerto Rico. The original case was to claim the use of twenty-one tracks, but the court agreed to only twelve tracks, and this lead to this appeal.

I am not going to get into this case anymore then this. When Trackage Video produces a Video or any music for a video we will make sure that we file the proper paperwork to be able to protect ourselves from these issues. If we use an artist’s music in our videos we will get a performance rights agreement before putting the song in the video. In the case that we write our own theme song we will file a copyright with the copyright.gov website. This is a Form SR for sound recordings. We will use a publishing organization, such as BMI to watch out for our song being played without permission also.

Case number two is about Bob Marley’s family bringing alawsuit against Bob’s half brother Richard Booker from the Huffingtonpost.com. Richard was using Bob’s family name and images to sell food products. He was also using the family name and images to promote a concert in Miami. The lawsuit is on the grounds of trademark infringement; the family claims that Richard has no right to use these things to promote his business. The case was filed on December 1, 2011 and has been settled out of court.

This is a message to us all in business not to use what we don’t have permission to use. This includes music, video, names, and photographs, or you could find yourself in court. I don’t know the details to the outcome of this case, but I am sure there was some profit sharing involved. Trackage Video will never use a celebrity’s likeness or name without a contractual agreement giving us right to do so.

The third and final case to look at today is about a case between DC Comics as plaintiff and defendant Mark Towle. Mark is a custom car builder and owner of Gotham Garage. He is being sued to stop making replica cars of the Batmobile. Mark argued that a custom car is not copyright infringement. However the judge in this case sees things differently. The Batmobile’s design is a protected work of intellectual property.

This is a good thing to think about when designing something for your business. If someone before has done it, you had better get permission. In my business plan I have to design a train layout and it needs to be original. If I publish my plan and it has been done before, I could get sued for theft of someone’s intellectual property. This is something that the modeling community could do to protect their plans too. After you drawl your plans get a copyright on them. Not that I think model railroaders should run around suing each other. This would give you protection from video companies like mine from using your design without compensation.

Well; thank you, for joining me today. I tried to work my law class in with model railroading the best that I could. I hope that you enjoyed it.

Until next time,

Robert

New Chessie System Products for 2013

2013-01-27T15:31:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone, I would like to let you in on a few new products in HO scale for 2013. I will be letting you know about my favorite road, so don’t go out and buy all of them. So I can get them too. I am joking, if you buy them up the company might make more. If you are a modeler or collector of model railroad models then you will understand. If you were not a modeler you would think that there is an endless supply of the models out there. I am here to tell you that is not the case. Chessie System models are some of the hardest to keep on the selves.

As you all know I am a big Chessie B&O fan. I have had lots of trouble getting the models that I would like to have. In 2013 there are a couple of great new Chessie models coming out. At least two companies have new Chessie System locomotives coming out this year. So lets get to it.

First, Athearn has come out with its first catalog in over a decade and it is not just a catalog it has prototype information in it too. I remember in my youth Athearn locomotives were about 75% of my motive power. They produce a great product; since the addition of sound, and DCC control they are even better. The first new CS model is an Athearn Genesis GP9 Phase II locomotive in Chessie paint. It will be available in March. There are several road numbers and it comes with or without sound. These units will be B&O and C&O with proper details.

The next new locomotive will be also a Genesis, a GP15T. These will come in 3 road numbers and will all be C&O locomotives. They will be all prototypical in detail. This locomotive is great for late Chessie System modelers. The locomotive was delivered to the C&O in late 1982. This loco would not work on my layout it is to new. These engines will come in DC or DCC also.

The next company putting out some really nice CS locomotiveis MTH. We have a GP35 in CS paint that is in DCC/DCS and DCC ready. These locomotives look great, very realistic. MTH is known for its large-scale locomotives more then their HO, but these are amazing. These come in 3 road numbers and they are my favorite road name B&O. I wish that I could buy a fleet of this one. They also have a C&O and B&O GP35 in the classic blue paint schemes

Both of these companies offer many other locos. Athearn has a number of Union Pacific heritage units for sale that are popular right now. In addition both companies offer some C&O and B&O EMD locomotives of the early diesel units, like the F7 or E8. The F7 C&O from MTH is greatly detailed. So go check them out.

Thank you,

Robert

Bringing Up the Next Generation Of Model Railroaders

2013-01-10T20:29:00.000-05:00

This month I am studying Product and Artist Management. I thought about many people saying, that this hobby is dying. I don’t agree with that at all. I think things are just changing, and many fear the changes. I was thinking; how do you manage a product if there are no people to buy the product? This would be hard to do. So, my blog post for this addition of the Trackage Video Blog will be about ways to get youth into the action.

You all know my story. My grandfather was an engineer on the B&O, and he started buying HO scale trains for me when I was in the womb. He took me to see the famous 2101 Chessie Steam Special in 1978, and gave me a few up-close looks at a few GP units. I even got to operate a B&O GP unit once, and a powered Budd car too. This is what started me off on loving trains.

I have started to do much of the same with my son, and three girls. I took them to see engine 765 Nickel Plate Road Lima Locomotive built Berkshire in action, and have taken them to see the sister of the 765 the 779 in a park in Lima, Ohio. I also got to take my son to see the Amtrak 40th Anniversary Train. I also show him videos, and let him see what I am doing in the hobby. I don’t know if it will be his thing; or not, only time will tell.

Now: let us take a look at some of the products out that will help to get new modelers in the future. Kalmbach Publishing Co; has a great idea to reach children that will one day be the model railroad modeler, a magazine called Trains 4 Kids. This magazine has pictures of prototype trains and model trains. The magazine has games and puzzles to play. It is much like a Highlights magazine that is about trains. I think this is a great way to get some junior engineers started.

There are a few kid friendly shows for the train-loving child now. First you have Thomas and the Chugginton shows. There has been a great Christmas movie done in the last few years too, called The Polar Express with Tom Hanks voice as the conductor. My son loved the movie a lot. My grandchildren like Thomas, Chugginton, and the Polar Express a lot too.

In the May 2012 issue of Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine there is an article called Kids and Model Railroading that may give some tips on how to get kids involved in the hobby. Many train shows are now offering small clinics for teaching children about modeling. There is now an organization called Youth in Model Railroading that is just for kids. YMR is a bit like the National Model Railroad Association for kids. I think that this is a great idea.

Without bringing kids into the hobby there is no future for it. It is a good idea for the model railroad industry to do what it can or the hobby will disappear. This will be bad for modelers, and bad for the companies that make model railroad products. If you are a modeler, railfan, or railroad worker get involved with some kids, yours or someone else’s maybe both.

Until next time, thank you

Robert Reynolds

Negotiations and Deal Making

2012-11-25T23:13:00.004-05:00

This month in school I am studying Negotiations and Deal Making. So this month on Trackage Video blog we will talk about negotiations. I would also like to recommend Roger Fisher and William Ury’s book called Getting To Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. This will help you learn how to be a better negotiator.

Picture of Tony Koester from Kalmbach

I first would like to say a big thank you to Tony Koester, the person that I interviewed for this post. It was great for me to have the opportunity to interview a big name in model railroading that you all have herd of, I am sure. The interview was conducted by email just before Thanksgiving, the day before in fact. Tony Koester was very gracious in answering my questions as busy as he must be, and the day before a holiday. He is truly a great guy to do this for me, and you, my followers.

First, if you do not know who Tony Koester is, here is a bit about him. According to the Allegheny Midland Historical Society web page, Tony studied electrical engineering at Purdue University in 1966. He was the cofounder of the Nickel Plate Road Historical &Technical Society. Tony has also worked as an editor with Railroad Model Craftsman magazine, and at Model Railroader magazine. He has a number of books that he has authored, and is one of the main people that made proto-freelancing of model railroading popular with his HO Scale Allegheny Midland layout. He is currently the At-Large Director, Worldwide for the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA). There are a number of other things that Tony is involved with in the realm of model railroading.

Tony's New Book from Kalmbach

Tony Koester’s most resent book is How to Kitbash Structures from Kalmbach Publishing. This book is to help teach you how to make commercial buildings work for you. Differently then the way the manufacturer planned by showing you how to alter them to make them fit on your layout.

So here is a commentary of the interview that I did with Tony, and with his permission I am sharing it with you. This is my take on the conversation, not a word-for-word quotation of the interview.

I first told Tony that I am a student at Full Sail University and I would like to interview him about his negotiation techniques. I thought with him working with the NMRA, and being an author, he would have some experience with negotiating. He told me that my questions were not really inline with him being an editor, but he worked as a manager for Bell Telephone Laboratories, and his experience there would be more in line with the questions I asked.

I asked him how he separated the people from the problem at hand? He told me “that you need to plan out a time for each thing on your agenda. He said that this keeps the topics on the problem, and will not allow the meeting to become a clash of personalities”.

I asked him how does he recognize dirty tricks, and how he handles them? His answer was “that you need to do your research, and know whom you are meeting with." He also said that "knowing the rules to the negotiation is very important". He said that "if he knows someone is trying to get over on him he lets him or her know that he knows".

I had also asked if he could give me an example how he worked toward mutual benefits in a negotiation. He told me about working to produce a science magazine and that they subcontracted the work out so there was only one person to get blamed if something was wrong. This would keep a fight over who did what wrong from happening. He also told me that he was part of doing this same thing with the NMRA’s magazine. The NMRA contracted out editing, production, printing, and distribution to an outside source so if there were any problems, that company would have sole responsibility.

I asked him how he thought others saw him as a negotiator? He said “he never got into a pushing and shoving match, so he said that they must have saw him as fair and honest." I then asked him if he thought that there are times that it is good to be a hard negotiator, and what are the circumstances? He had said “in the Midwest that a hand shake might be all you need to have a deal, but on the east coast or in a big city he said dot your I’s and cross your T’s because you might get taken for a ride if you are not prepared or experienced". He also noted “in today’s economy everyone is out to make a few extra bucks".

Last, I asked if he had advice to give about being a great negotiator? He said “you need to know more about what you are negotiating than anyone else in the room." He told me "you need to be friendly and polite but prepared." He also pointed out "if you are not honest and you lie you will be found out, and not trusted again".

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed this post. I would like to thank Tony Koester again, and add that I hoped that the way I expressed our interview is acceptable to him. I hope that all of my followers will check out Tony’s new book, How to Kitbash Structures, and the book Getting to Yes.

Thank you,

Robert Reynolds

Saving Money On Hobby Tools: Part 2

2012-11-10T18:45:00.000-05:00

Hello, welcome to the Trackage Video blog my name is Robert Reynolds CEO of Trackage Video. Today’s blog is about how to save you some money on model railroad hobby tools Part 2.

Again I would like to say that in no way am I discouraging anyone from buying products from any number of hobby tool suppliers. But if you are like me on a limited budget I have built this presentation for you. This month I am in Entertainment Business Finance, and thought how can I do a post on finance for the Model Railroader well here you have it. Saving Money On Hobby Tools so lets get started on part 2.

Last time we talked about several items that you will need to do model railroad projects. I had said to you that next time I would show you how to save money on some more advanced modeling tools. I have decided to go a different rout for this post today, and show you some great deals that I found on Amazon to help you save money on hobby tools. We will look for several products on Amazon, and I will compare them back to some of the most well-known hobby tool suppliers like Micro-Mark, ModelExpo, and others. So lets look at these great deals that I have found to get an air-brush compressor, air-brush, and paint booth all in one location for a lot less then getting them from one of the for mentioned stores. We will need to pay a bit more then the $80.00 that I mentioned in my first post. The reason is that I am going to find you an airbrush compressor that has an air tank on it.

I have been using my tank-less airbrush compressor, and finding out that it is very important to have a tank version. You can use a tank-less but I think that a tank will work better. I have been working on a model of a UP Big Boy, and had some problems with airflow of my paint as the compressor started to loose air presser having a tank on your airbrush compressor will fix this problem. We will need to make sure the compressor has an air regulator too. There are air settings for different types of painting in the hobby without an air regulator you only have one setting.

So this is what you need to do. First, log on to Amazon.com then in the search bar type in airbrush compressor with tank as of today you will get 276 results. The very first item that comes up is a great deal, and a great compressor, and it comes with a free hose for $100.70 that is a good price to a $265.00 Paasche at Micro-Mark. Lets keep looking to see if we can find a package deal that comes with a nice airbrush to go with the compressor. So you can find an airbrush, and airbrush compressor package for about $150 to over $300 on Amazon even a Paasche that is like our first pick with an airbrush for around $180 that is a better price that most hobby stores sell them for. You can get a tank-less airbrush with a regulator for about $70. As I always say shop around find the best deal. It is not always necessary to buy the name brand most of the time the same company made the two anyway.

On to paint booths, and this one can be very ruff. I have been having a hard time finding any paint booth that is less then $200 in a hobby catalog, and I found some on Amazon that would work for small projects. I am not sure how great some of these smaller booths would be for all model railroad projects. I will show you what I have found, and tell you that you could build your own booth to save money too. Again go to the search bar on Amazon.com and type in paint booth then check it all out. The first one that came up today is a small portable type that I was talking about. I am possibly going to buy this product myself in the future. This one is $69.95 it has a small turntable so you can rotate your project, and it comes with an air hose to vent fumes to the outside. I would say that this would work for you to paint your rolling stock, and locomotives but it is made from plastic, and I would only use water-based paint with it. The solvent-based paint would most likely eat away at it over time. On this same page you will find other paint booths at some astounding expense several offerings over $200 to over $400.

I have found a nice airbrush on Amazon for you it is the Master S68 Multi-purpose Dual-action Airbrush for Auto-hobby-craft. It is being sold for $28.96 this looks like a nice airbrush, and the cost is nice. Many airbrush set can cost up to $100 or more. I know that you can get a nice double action airbrush from Harbor Freight Tools also for about $20. I have these and they work great.

I would like to tell you about a nice tool set that I found so that you can have a nice rotary tool without having to buy it from Dremel. If you can afford a Dremel rotary tool then go for it. I encourage you not to buy cordless rotary tools I have lost two so far to date from battery problems. One was a Dremel, and the other Chicago Tools version so one expensive, and one cheap. If you do wish to spend top dollar on a rotary tool buy a Proxxon instead of a Dremel this is my opinion take it or leave it. On Amazon you can buy a rotary tool for just over $10 to over $150 but I found a nice hobby package deal last time that I will now share with you from PJ Tool & Supply a rotary tool set with other needed hobby tools for $44,50.

Set contains:

• Dremel type rotary tool with 40 accessories and a heavy-duty carrying case.

• 4 pc. Dental Pick Set

• 5" Curved & Straight Hemostats

• Needle file set

• Riffler file set

• 13 pc. Hobby Knife Set

• Head Magnifying Glass

• Inspection mirror

• Magnifier Tweezer Combo

• 4 pc. tweezer set

These are some of the items that we talked about last time with a rotary tool not a bad price.

I think that I am going to have to do a part 3 because this post has gotten kind of long so next time I will get to the specific HO Scale specialty tools.

Please let me know if you like this feature on the Trackage Video Blog.

Thank you,

Robert Reynolds

Saving Money On Hobby Tools

2012-10-26T18:28:00.000-04:00

Hello, welcome to the Trackage Video blog my name is Robert Reynolds CEO of Trackage Video. Today’s blog is about how to save you some money on model railroad hobby tools.

First I would like to say that in no way am I discouraging anyone from buying products from any number of hobby tool suppliers. But if you are like me on a limited budget I have built this presentation for you. This month I am in Entertainment Business Finance, and thought how can I do a post on finance for the Model Railroader well here you have it. Saving Money On Hobby Tools so lets get started.

The most basic tools that you may need are listed here; hobby knife, needle files, screwdrivers, and tweezers, pliers, sprue cutters, pin vise drill, and drill bits. You can get them from a number of suppliers. These are the tools that you would need to build model railroad rolling stock. They are needed to work on cars, and locomotives. Some of these tools would be used to scratch build model railroad rolling stock, and locomotives as well as buildings, and model scenery.

You can buy a hobby knife set from a handful of places. The set shown in my video is a 33-piece set that has a plastic caliper, tweezers, mini screwdriver, and a bunch of other things that will come in handy. The price is about a dollar cheaper for more stuff at Harbor Freight Tools then the set at Micro Mark. The set at Micro-Mark is only three handles with 13 blades no extra tools. For a dollar less I would go for this set, and I did. This set from Harbor Freight tools is only $15.99.

The set of diamond needle files costs $16.99 at Model Expo, and at harbor Freight only $7.99 for 10 not 5. I cannot tell you if the files are better at one place or not but you can buy almost two sets for the price of one plus it is 10-pieces to 5. So you can get 20 for the price of 5 not a bad deal at all.

There are two sets of precision screwdrivers the one on the left in the video is $33.25 from Micro Mark, the one on the right $6.99 from Harbor Freight. The one from Harbor is a 33-piece set in a case. There are a number of different places to get this type of product. You can get them from Wal-Mart, and Big Lots even. But even if I had the money I would never pay over $33.00 for a set of screwdrivers to work on my car let alone on a hobby.

Both sets of the tweezers in the video are available at Harbor Freight. The one on the left is a 7-piece set with three coated in rubber so they can be used during soldering. This set is $3.99 compared to a set of two coated at Model Expo for $1.99 a dollar each. The set on the right is a 6-piece set of fine point tweezers for $5.99 as apposed to $21.75 at some other retailers.

Both of the plier sets in the video are very similar to each other. The 6-piece set in the presentation I have, and have had no problems with them at all. They are made by Pittsburgh Tools, and have a limited lifetime warranty. Are they better I don’t dare say but they are cheaper. There is a second set that you can get from Harbor that has a pair of pliers that is good for bending trip pins on your cars and locomotives that is about $3.00 that you could add with this set and have about all the pliers you need for small jobs working on the railroad.

Hobby Town USA has Xuron’s sprue cutter for $13.49 and Micro Mark is selling it for $17.95. This is not a really big difference but as you add your tool costs up it will make them worse then they need to be. There are several different kinds of sprue cutters. The one on the left in the video is a tweezers type that is a good suggestion to have. This product from Micro Mark is $18.75 if you need them you may have to pay this for them. I have not found a cheaper alternative for this product at this time. I will keep looking, and let you know.

I have an example of a pin vise drill in the video, and micro drill bits used in modeling. The pin vise on the left is $4.00, and the bits are $6.00. This is a good deal from PJ Tool & Supply. Micro Mark and Model Expo plus a number of hobby shops sell this product for much more. They can cost you $20.00 or more from some of the specialty stores. That covers the basic tools to start you out.

So for the items that we covered already there has been a big savings by shopping at Harbor Freight Tools, and by shopping around. If you do not have a Harbor close to you then look for them online. You can shop anywhere you would like to, but if you are on a budget I would look around first. Buy shopping around I have paid $90.18 for the listed items. I have showed you how to save $71.83. The average hobby tool shop price would be $162.01, and don’t forget to add the tax to both numbers. This is still a nice savings on hobby tools. You could buy a locomotive for your layout for $71.83 and get change back. (Not a great one) Not to mention like I said in the video some of these cheaper tools had more to them then the expensive ones.

There are a number of other tools that you will need to go into your model railroad toolbox. That is all for now next time I will tell you about some more tools that you will need and want. I will help you find airbrushes, and airbrush compressors at a great price. Then I will help you find a good rotary tool without paying over $80.00 for it. We will look into paint booths, and a few specialty items; like an N.M.R.A. HO gauge, an HO scale ruler, some more tools that you can find at Harbor Freight to save money to buy that Walther’s DCC Proto 2000 locomotive you wish to have on your layout. Till next time, thank you for stopping at the station.

This is a list of Internet sites to buy your hobby tools, and remember shop around. I will point out that sometimes buying tools from a cheaper tool store may mean that it is not as good as the name brand. I am giving you the best information that I can. All of the products that I have listed here I do own. I have had no problems at this time.

Walther’s

Model Railroading Industry Trade Association

2012-10-10T19:42:00.000-04:00

I would first like to say hi, and welcome to all my readers. This post is going to be about the model railroading’s industry trade association the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA). This is an assignment in my Business Storytelling and Brand Development class at Full Sail University. This is meant to get me in touch with my current industry’s trade association, and to understand my market. Since my business is making model railroad how to videos the only place that I could really think about that best fit my business was the NMRA. There are other trade associations that cover model railroading like the Hobby Manufacturers Association (HMA) that hold the I Hobby Expo. They cover the companies that make, and sell toy trains. I think that the best one for me is the NMRA because they are the association that sets the standards for the manufactures to make the toys, and other materials needed to build a layout.

The NMRA is a world wide non-profit organization that is meant to help advance the model railroader through education, and fellowship with like-minded individuals. They have also worked hard to insure that hobby product manufacturers make products that can be interchangeable with each other according to a specific scale. There are a number of different scales in the hobby of model railroading; such as O, HO, N, S, Z, and On3 just to name a few. HO 1:87 being the most popular of all the scales. So as I said the NMRA have standard rules for manufacturers to build their products in specific scales. For example with HO 1:87 scale all products can be used on a layout together. This doesn’t mean that modelers don’t use other scales with HO for different purposes. An example of that is using N scale trains in the background of an HO layout for the purpose of forced perspective.

The NMRA has 15 regions in North America that cover the United States, and Canada. The region that I live in would be the North Central Region this region covers parts of Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. In each region there are different divisions. My division is Division 1 in Toledo, Ohio. Each region, and division has officers that run the day-to-day operations of the organization. The NMRA have a magazine publication that you can subscribe to with your membership that lets you know about news, and events that pertain to model railroading/rail fanning. The NCR also has a newsletter for their specific region with more of the same. Their newsletter is called the HotBox, and the local division has one called Train Order. These publications have ads for products, news, dates for events, pictures of trains, pictures of model layouts, and articles written by members of the clubs on how to do different aspects of model railroading.

There are a number of things that you have access to by being a member of the NMRA. One for my area is if you are a member of the NMRA you are automatically a member of the NCR, and Division 1 model railroad club in Toledo, Ohio. The best thing is that you are entitled to get insurance on all of your model railroad products through an issuance company that works with the NMRA. You can be protected incase of fire, theft, and loss in an accident travelling with your model railroad products plus a lot more. The NMRA also has a program to get modelers to become the best they can. This is called the NMRA Achievement Program. A modeler must do different tasks that are model railroad related, and have them judged by their piers to earn points to get awards. There is an advanced achievement award called a Master Model Railroader that means you really know your stuff. I hope to get that title one day myself. So if you are not a member you should look into becoming one. The organization is meant to benefit the hobby as a whole, and you can reap a number of rewards from being a member too.

You can join the NMRA Here.

Thanks for stopping by I will see you all again soon.

Robert Reynolds

Trackage Video

Good Advise From TED.com

2012-09-27T15:38:00.003-04:00

I have been having a bit of trouble in knowing whether or not to go through with the Trackage Video plan. I know that it will be a joy to do. I don’t know how fast the money will start to come in. Will I be able to secure the money I need to run the business? There are a lot of what ifs. Then I saw this video of Gary Vaynerchuk, and he was telling everyone at his talk to stop doing what he or she hates. He was a bit loud and very forceful in his manner. He really made me stop and listen to what he had to say, and I would like to share it with you my readers.

In Gary’s talk he told about how it is just stupid in todays Internet world to do a job you hate. He had worked for seven years at a family owned business and saved the money to start his own business. His business that he left was very successful. He decided that it was not what he wanted. He then sold the company, and started a new one. Now his business is doing what he likes, and he is making a profit. In his talk he told everyone that they too could do the same thing. He said that the seventy-year-old C.E.O.’s of the world are no longer in control of everything.

He had said that no mater what you are into there is a call for it in the market. All a person needed to do was just start doing it. That is what my blog is about too. I am very much a rail-fan, and very much into model railroading. There is a market for new ways of distribution in the model railroad industry. I have pointed out a few of these in earlier posts. Now I have a successful businessman telling me go and do it. Gary was saying that it might not happen over night but work at it, and it can happen. So I am committed to doing Trackage Video with some help from a friend of TED.com’s encouragement.

I would like to say to all of you that read this life is to short to be unhappy in it. There has got to be something that all of you would like to do. Go out find people that are like you and do it together if you don’t have the funds on your own. I am going to make this dream a reality, and if you have some ideas for me give it up. Maybe we can partner into something great. Walthers and Model Railroader all started with a dream, and now they are the top names in this industry. Who said that we could not go from a tradeshow table to a big office one day doing something we love. I know that right now I subscribe to Model Railroader and buy their videos; and tomorrow I use the magazine to sell mine that is the glory of the Internet, and Capitalism.

Online Marketing In The Model Railroad Industry

2012-09-19T17:19:00.001-04:00

Online marketing in the model railroad industry is booming. New technology that is available today, in sales of model railroad products is way better than ever before. There was a time not that long ago that you were limited to going to a hobby shop, and buying what they had on the self. You would also be able to order from that shop by catalog, and then wait for the product to come in. You could still do this today, but you don’t have to. Companies now market directly to their customers online. Some hobby shops have adapted to the change in technology. Then there are some that have gone out of business, because of these changes. It is not my intention to put down stores that have not changed with the times. I personally like to be able to walk into a shop that sells trains, and get information from someone that truly knows what they are selling. I do like the change in prices from shopping on Amazon, EBay and other Internet based hobby shops.

I subscribe to a number of hobby stores that market directly to me by email. These companies show me new products, and let me know when there are sales. One of these hobby stores is Train World, and they have a very large selection. They have a physical location and an online sales platform. This is one of the ways that hobby stores are surviving in this economy; instead of being able to sell just to one neighborhood, they are now able to sell to the world. You may have to wait to get your product unless you live in New York, but they have customer service numbers and cheaper prices. This is only one of many mom and pop stores that have grown into major players in this industry. So with this in mind I say: “if you have a hobby store and it is not doing well, then try to expand into Internet sales, and if you have no money or customers then you need to close down and try something new.” This is the nature of Capitalism to make money. So if you are a modeler that is not tuned into new technology then you should get into it soon, because times are changing.

Other new technologies in this industry that are marketed online: magazines, video sales, how tos, and anything that you can buy that relates to the hobby. Video of how tos are a bit behind the times. I am planning to change that real soon. First off on that topic, how many of you have a working VHS player anymore? I can tell you that in the last few years I have had a few, but they never last long. How many times can you play that Allen Keller VHS before it is no good anymore? (I am not downing Allen at all) Nowadays it is hard to find a VHS tape to record on, but train videos are still being sold that way. Allen Keller has even taken some of his old VHS and put them on DVD. I say make them on Blue Ray Disc, you can add PDF files to them and much more. Look at Model Railroader Magazine stepping up to the plate with an online downloadable magazine, and how to books. This is the future my friends. How about Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine with it’s free online subscription, they are making money just selling ad space on there website, it cost the modeler nothing. The magazine is comparable to Model Railroader and it’s free. (Not putting down MR, I am a subscriber)

I Told You

I know that it may not mean much to my readers, but I am learning a lot at Full Sail University getting my Entertainment Business Degree. I was a person that did not really care for shopping online, downloading music, or think that online education was any good. I also thought that big block stores are terrible, but have changed my mind a bit about it. (I have a Sam’s card now even) I still like the individual attention from a sales person at a store, but say God Bless to the big block and Internet store. Without these stores I could not even begin to have anything that I have now. Having said this now, I have alienated my fellow modelers that sell goods at train shows. Here is the glory of it, I plan to sell direct to the public from tradeshows. With technology being the way it is, I can show my videos from Trackage Video at the show. I will then have some videos on DVD, Blue Ray, and then I will have cards (Like at the Wal-Mart checkout) to sell for a downloaded video. This is much cheaper for me; I don’t have to make as many duplicates at Disc Makers, and then can pass the savings on to you. This is just one of my plans for the future, I do hope that I don’t put anyone that makes railroad videos out of business. It is my plan to try to work with as many railroad video makers as possible to get their videos out in the same way as mine. (If there is anyone willing to work with me; Allen, Model Railroader, TM Books and Videos get in touch we can build a team.) I have many good ideas very little money.

Trackage Video Online Marketing

That will wrap things up for today, and if you are interested in being part of the evolution of model railroad videos contact me. I hope that you liked this post and I will be back again. If you are a rail-fan or model railroader follow me through my journey through a masters degree and the start up of Trackage Video.

Robert Reynolds

I am linking a few good online sites that direct market to the model railroad hobbyist, and I do not get paid for this or endorsement products (Yet).

MTH

Model Railroader

TM Books and Video

Train World and Train Land

Model Railroad Hobbyist

Walthers

Model Train Stuff

Factory Trains Direct

ExactRail

Modeling In Film

2012-09-12T17:18:00.001-04:00

Modeling In Film

My Project and Team Management class Instructor, Nicholas Carver, inspired this blog topic. He asked me this question, “I wonder if you could make a connection to miniature modeling in film?” This is a topic that I have not even thought about. I started to look it up on the web and found a few things of interest. I only thought of the How To Videos for my future business plan, but the film industry still uses models for some of their scenes today. The thought of this opens a new door for my future business Trackage Video.

In my research of this topic I found the film The Legend Of Zorro [2005]. The film used a 1:4 scale model train to blow up in the final sequence of the movie. I have found a video of this scene, and also a few pictures of the train from Weta’s website. According to Weta “there was a time that there was no alternatives to using models for certain movie tasks, and that rumors of their demise are exaggerated”. Weta has built models for a number of movies: The Lord Of The Rings, King Kong, and others. Generally speaking the same techniques that model railroaders use to model: mountains, towns, backdrops, and all other aspects of scenery could be used in film. 1:4 scale is a big difference to 1:87 scale of HO modeling, but very similar. Anyone that is reading this that is not familiar with scale models 1:87 means it takes 87 of this size to make 1 proto-type. The movie model at 1:4 means that it would take 4 to equal 1; this is in lay terms, and there are mathematical equations involved.

1:4 Model Train By WETA

The next movie that I would like to talk about is Unstoppable [2010]. In this movie the models used are the real things. They are a number of engines owned by a few different companies. The engines are painted for a fictitious company called, AWVR (Allegheny and West Virginia) the trains area or trackage rights are in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. According to MyRailfan “Canadian Pacific #9777 and #9758 played #777 and #767 in the film's early scenes, while Canadian Pacific #9782 and #9751 were given a damaged look for portrayal in the later scenes of the film. AWVR #1206 is played by 3 SD40-2 units from Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad.” One of the locomotives had to be modified, to be used for the filming of the cab scenes. All of the locomotives in this film were painted special for the movie. The locomotives that were painted to look as they were damaged; is like a techniques used in model railroading, called weathering that makes a model look real. I have not found any information on any models used in this movie; they could have used some, I don’t know. They did use some CGI to film some of the effects. This would be an example of 1:1 modeling.

Modified Cab

This has added a new possible business model to my future business Trackage Video. I could branch out into the motion picture industry. I could build model trains for film, or even become a company that would be a consulting firm about the railroad for film. There is a lot to think about here. I would like to thank my instructor for the food for thought. If you are interested in model railroad videos, or trains in general please feel free to follow me through my Masters Degree Program at Full Sail University, and the start of my future business Trackage Video.

Thank you,

Robert Reynolds

What’s New In Model Railroading From the National Train Show

2012-08-11T14:08:00.002-04:00

What’s New In Model Railroading

From the National Train Show

On August 3-5 The National Train Show was held in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This is a big tradeshow for the model-railroading hobby; this is the place that all the hobby manufacturers unveil their new products. Companies such as W. K. Walthers, Athearn, ExactRail, and Atlas make a big showing at this annual event. There are a number of great looking new products out this year, one of the highlights come from Walthers. They decided to unveil their new Chesapeake & Ohio train in Grand Rapids, because the prototype did travel through the town in its years of operation. Model Railroader Magazine was also there and gave us that could not go a glimpse of the action. There is a video of “Cody’s Office” that has Cody of Model Railroader talking to a representative of Walthers about the new C&O product, and some of their other products too.

I personally am a fan of motive power myself, so I will tell you a little bit about the new WaltersProto 2000 engines that were unveiled. The model is of the Electro-Motive Division E7A diesel locomotive in C&O Pere Marquette paint scheme. The model will come in four road numbers; two in DC with SoundTraxx sound decoders, and two with DCC control and sound. If you know anything at all about the Proto 2000 line from Walters then you know these look great. They come with Five-pole skew-wound can motors, and painted metal grab irons, handrails, and uncoupling levers. The cost of DC powered is $199.98, and DCC powered is $299.98 they will be available in March of 2013.

The next products are great Walthers Pullman-Standard cars. They have cars available with or without lighting, for DC and DCC. Walthers is great with the details of these cars; they look just as they did in the past. They are so detailed that they have prototypically accurate window tinting. In addition, some cars even have a real metal finish to simulate stainless steel that is appropriate per the type of car. They did not stop at just that; they even have accurate wheel sets too, 36” turned metal wheels. These cars will come out: September, October, November, and December with a cost of $69.98 unlighted, and $79.98 lighted.

It is my opinion that Walthers has done it again with a superior set of motive power and cars that will make your layout look great. For those of you that model in this era in Chicago or Detroit, this would be a great set to have. They appear to photograph well against a blue-sky background, buy the picture on the Walthers website. If you are a fan of C&O you need this postwar streamliner on your layout, you can preorder them now at www.walthers.com.