Model Railroading & Social Media

[@NitroStarGT]

Me no social media either except for KZbin. Too time consuming for most folks. I enjoy your vids and appreciate your time with sharing it

[@canadian-l4q]

A/N , from Canadian Shield 9mm ..dear sir, this writing is more for my benefit to put in words, than yours to comprehend and understand, or read,. i am Poli, 57, live off grid, in can. shield,on top of a mountain, in a log cabin,alone i am writing this to inform you of the inspiration this hobby has given me to stay alive. Im alone because all of my family has entered Elysium, if your religious it means heaven,i have 1 sister left, and we are now connected like glue,she supports me in this hobby for what she sees as its results. there are 2 components of the hobby that are distinct, One is the fact the hobby is at its OWN pace, you create the pace, you set it at your own discretion, and its always at the state you last left it, to carry on , like a book. The second is the people, even with the tension between our two countries, ive enjoyed hours of talking with Americans who have have phoned me at home, just to talk. about the trains ,..and army crap(im a vet). which ive included some USA in my layout now. ive been part of EVERY hobby you can imagine but never seen a train set in my life until 79 days ago, so far the MOST enjoyable hobby,...... .. Just wanted to thank you for your video site, your the very first one i clicked on and took advice from(not all tho). i have same system, trains etc that YOU have, and i was so pleased with decisions i made scince im a poor person it was vital to get right the first time. And ya i went to hobby store FIRST, to buy a BOOK,lmao! .and also to see ALL the scales,side by side to decide my future,..............You keep it real, i like that. And thank you for all the fun im having,...on my building of layout and your vids....and scaring the living hell out of my cats with the loud trains. hope this kinda maybe made some sense,. but THANKS..from ME to YOU, yours truly Poli sherlock

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

I'm glad you're getting inspiration from the channel and enjoying the hobby - especially starting with a book! this channel will always keep it real, focus on fun, and try to be helpful in the hobby. no matter what the rest of the world is doing - hobbies bring us like-minded folks together and the model railroading community is a great group of people on youtube.

[@joesestito4342]

I agree with social media it more or less has harmed generations of kids not to mention our country. I appreciate you taking the time to put together your video sharing your layout , tips and techniques. I have been building models my entire life from plastic cars, planes, ships and model railroading. Even being a hobbyist/modeler for many years I’m always learning something new from someone which is the best part . I enjoy seeing your layout as it’s very well done. Thanks for sharing….. Joe

[@Maniac_trinity]

I can see what you mean with kids in the hobby. I just started with it (at 15) and I use my money from my job to help fund it. It definitely is nice to have a break from the screen or anything and just use trains, it is just really nice and I wish more people realized about it

[@genejablonski9909]

I really appreciate the info and inspiration you provide to me and all the other train modelers who watch your videos. Most of all I do appreciate the time and effort you put into these great videos and I THANK YOU!.

[@wilzdart]

I think it is safe to say we all watch you tube videos mostly to learn how modelers get great results in all aspects of the hobby. I think you are doing your best to inform, show in detail how to do things! Also I am sure others read the questions and answers you give. Sharing how to go A thru Z to finish a job is great thing you do. I have been modeling since 1974 in N scale never had anyone to learn from and when you met someone, you never got down to the nuts and bolts on his results. You can be explained all the technics but you have to practice it a lot you will never master it. Just because there is snow on the roof it doesn't mean there is no fire in the stove. Thanks Will

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

Practice is definitely the key. I can watch something a million times but until i do it, i don't consider it learned. KZbin is definitely an advantage to modelers now that most of us didn't have at the start. Hopefully, the vids make this a more attractive hobby for new railroaders - regardless of age or skill level.

[@jonpowell-ov3yh]

I agree with you regarding social media, the toxicity is far too pervasive. Plus, to be honest, most of it is just pointless. It also sounds like you have a healthy perspective regarding KZbin and model railroading. There seems to be a tipping point that catches so many content creators out, when they start overthinking things and they let the channel take over their lives. When it moves from hobby to an "obligation" (or an obsession) it's time to take a break. It's not a healthy hobby if you aren't enjoying it...

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

Bingo - that's it right there. when it becomes a 'job' or a need - it's time to step back, turn the camera off, and remember why we do this - to relax.

[@canadian-l4q]

i was thinking it, and you were texting it

[@Conrail3385]

That first coal car on the coal drag derails at 7:10 on a switch and keeps going, thats what model railroading is. I love it! Yes, model railroading is and can be expensive. My wife and I find that the most expensive bill we have right now is our groceries. I do not do social media, only KZbin. Wife does that enough for the both of us. Thank you very much for your videos!

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

The coupler on the ScaleTrains loco is short shanked and it kept taking that car off the tracks - i grabbed it off screen before it caused a full derailment because i knew it was going to do it. I need to change out the coupler for a medium-shank MTL one and it'll be ok. Groceries are a bit much for sure - a like to cook but meals have been a lot simpler in the last few years. These damn locos are getting expensive! :)

[@Wizzard033]

I just turned 54 and I guessed you were about 40 from comments you've made. I think mostly it's just a cost prohibitive hobby, Which goes hand in hand with having enough space to have a hobby room. I have a small shop behind my home that I built to enjoy my hobbies and recently (last year or so) have been able to set up a nice start to a large N scale layout I have about 150' of flex track down so far in a "G" shaped folded dog bone loop with several spurs and switches on a 57" high shelf. Now I'm working on a 26" grade to reach 83" where I will exit my shop to the Master bedroom of my Home. I currently have the grade operating at 2% to 12" with sprus and one siding along the way. Once in the master bedroom the rail will traverse two walls and exit down the hall about 45' with a siding in the middle. Then it will enter the living room make a full loop with a few spurs, industries, and a siding then reverse back down the hall for a return trip. All-in-all around 350' of track. All done modular aside from the shop.

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

modular is definitely the way to go. my new sections are modular and my older ones are more traditional table-style. this hobby requires a lot of time, money, and definitely space! there's a lot you can do in smaller spaces, but most folks seem to be drawn to the long winding trains like we see in the real world. i've found the new problem is market offerings as far as pricing goes. for instance, a new scaletrains loco is going to run you about $260 - which to some is a lot of money. it's definitely a lot when you consider most of us started with $25 Bachmanns. I know that's a huge difference in offerings but the next caveat is that if ScaleTrains releases a loco you like and you buy one but 6 months down the road you want another - they're gone! So, you have to make the choice, do I buy them all now or hope to find them later? I have four of their GP30s preordered and i know they're all going to hit at one time when they ship. it's both exciting and painful. combine that with a lack of space and most folks are extremely busy - especially while the weather is nice - it's easy to see why people leave the hobby or never join. sounds like you're off to a great start and hopefully have the woes of starting far behind you!

[@tommynorwood5184]

Hi C Mastracci , I know you usually post on Saturday. But when I didn’t see one first thing popped in my mind was I’m wondering if you had some bad weather from Debby. After some of the video I saw from your area. You just keep on doing what you’re doing. I like the way you do your thing and your comments. You tell it like it is that’s what I like about the channel. Thanks for sharing. Have a good week. 😎😎 👍

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

Fortunately we dodged most of Debby - little bit of rain and maybe a gust of wind or two but that was about it. and with the grass pretty much dead from the dry weather and heat, i wasn't going to complain about a rain day!

[@Mikey45013]

There's a larger crowd of younger people in the hobby then most think. The local hobby shop said 16-35 is there largest buyer group they just don't join the clubs so most think they aren't into it. I know in g scale 20-40 is one of the largest groups

[@canadian-l4q]

Hi Mike, in Canada, its a mix here, all around , older folk like supply trains, while younger enjoy the passenger trains..like the speed trains so theres 2 surges going on here in my opinion.

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

i'm glad younger folks are getting involved. i've noticed at the last few train shows, there's quite a few 20-40 yo in the mix and a lot more women, too. i almost fell over when a saw a guy pick up a loco at the last show, show it to his girl, who replied - no that's not the one, i have that one. i was like wow... how'd he do it?! LOL!

[@Mikey45013]

​​@AlleghenyNorthern funny you say that. My Girlfriend has a few engines and cars herself. She has a g scale climax, mallet, and gp38. She has cars for all 3. She convinced me to buy my g scale fef-3 and bigboy this past past year.

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

@@Mikey45013 pretty sure every single guy reading that just thought back to Napoleon Dynamite saying "Lucky".

[@Mikey45013]

@@AlleghenyNorthern haha best part she has never told me I have to much. 138 engines and over 650 items of rolling stock in g scale. 8 engines and 90ish pieces of rolling stock in n scale

[@Truenorth143]

Hey, can you show a little more on your port build? Just kinda curious if you are planning a container crane. By the way I love your videos.

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

Yes, when i get into the port i'm definitely going to do some vids. i'm still figuring out what i want to do and my plans to expand the layout mean the port is going to get larger, too.

[@sernajrlouis]

Cool video 😎👍

[@Melinko7902]

Just came to say I'm one of the under 40 crowd who's into the hobby. I have about 27' of benchwork to start with, any advice on starting a channel to document this process?

[@canadian-l4q]

Be yourself, do what you want, and mostly, have fun with it

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

First item, is go on Amazon or somewhere similar and get phone of those fancy little iPhone tripod deals. I got a set that had a floor stand and a table mount rig. i look back to some of my hand-held vids and it's rough so having the tripod is good. Next, be yourself while filming. don't play to the crowd, don't play for likes - play to show your work and your progress. some will like what you do, others won't. pay the haters no-nevermind and always be real in your comments to the rest (troll if you want, i know it's fun sometimes). Third, show your failures as well as your successes. it's important to show you're genuine and if you make a mistake, own it, and show the fix. sometimes the fix is starting over. others will learn from what you do right and what you do wrong. Next, don't be afraid to ask the online community for help. Lots of good folks on here with lots of knowledge - try to pool them all together. Last pointer - don't let the channel take over your life. these channels get addicting and they'll burn you out - focus on your hobbies and sometimes, turn the camera off and just run trains.

[@dennisarmes3473]

hello allegheny northern !!! excellent video and thoughts !!! i could not agree more !!! btw, i am gonna take a guess here.... are you in or near the pittsburgh area ? i just have a gut feeling but i may be wrong !!! i am a retired westinghouse engineer and have been to the steel city hundreds of times, no shit !! i live 35 miles directly south of buffalo and this week, which is week 2 of the nfl preseason, our steelers come to highmark stadium just 20 minutes away !!! KDKA/ coach tomlin/primanti's/ etc are always fun !!! i might be wrong about this and way out of line as to your location... anyway, beautiful layout, great comments and many cold beers to you !!! denny armes, superintendant, rosenberg div. bprr

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

with work i'm very familiar with the pittsburgh area. great place to railfan, too - CSX, NS, Union RR, AVR, B&P...

[@dennisarmes3473]

@@AlleghenyNorthern sorry, bills in pittsburgh for preseason game # 2 !!! need more yuenglings !!! i have 3 carload express sd-60's and 1 avr engine painted by tom poeschel who owns motown models... excellent work as my bprr interchanges w/avr just a bit north of pittsburgh in eidenau... as you said, just a great place for railfanning !!! we visit the hobby shop in cranberry but "back in the day" a.b. charles was the place to go for our model railroad "disease" !!! thanks for the return note and many blessings to you, A.N. !!!

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

@@dennisarmes3473 Oh I remember stopping back at AB when it was in Dormont - that was a very long time ago. not sure what's there now. When you're in town next, you need to stop where I stop when in town - Esther's Hobby Shop in Millville. It's a hobby shop that's only N-scale, so bring your wallet.

[@dennisarmes3473]

@@AlleghenyNorthern AN.... thanks for the tip but i am in ho up to my ears !!! about 155 engines and way too many cars !!! but, as i am retired now with no real family the layout is moving along nicely !! i was a westinghouse engineer for 30 + years and have been a KDKA listener since about 3rd grade with my am-fm panasonic radio i bought in our drug store at a very young age !!! the last time i heard anything about abc was that they moved and started to become a radio controlled/rocket/slot car/model store, then someone said they had closed, which was quite some time ago. i agree w/ you, pittsburgh is at the top for me when it comes to railfanning !! well, the bills and steelers plat tonite.... i am a lifetime fan unfortunately and am 20 minutes fron highmark stadium... btw, did you ever go to bobby rubinos for ribs back in the day ? it is no longer around either. gimme a primantis' sammich and a cold "yinger" !!! denny ps... do yuins get to see the steelers at the stadium often ?

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

@@dennisarmes3473 so, this will probably get me banned from ever returning to the city, but the steelers are not my thing. grew up in a hockey family; i'll watch any hockey game but football is too slow for me. in my entire life, i went to one Steeler game and honestly hated it - i'd rather be at home, on the couch with a whiskey than freezing my junk off watching the jumbo screens because i couldn't see the play down the field anyway. BUT that's just me. As for HO... ugh! LOL. now that being said - i'm contemplating a small HO traction layout because i think that would be cool - overhead power and all. but then again, i'm also considering an O gauge in the bar room along the wall with a z-gauge in the bar and a g-gauge around the garden. so, we'll see where that goes after i reconfigure the main layout. i'm thinking most of that will wait for me to be retired as well.

[@mustachemike802]

I just recieved my Scale Trains SD 40-2 Lease unit in DCC and although it's a great running model it came out of the box with the engineer window not even mounted and the rear snowplow detached... I don't mind telling you, for what I paid for it I expected a little better quality control! I mean, the engineer's window is supposed to be mounted INSIDE the shell! So how is it that it is rattling around inside the box? Granted, both issues are an easy fix, but why am I having to repair a brand new unit ?!?... It's definitely disappointing!

[@canadian-l4q]

never bought one , but at the shows they always seem to have problems, atlas and kato are reliable and best motor ,drive system, all of my fleet have all run out of box from get go with zero defects, thanks for input, i will steer clear

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

you should never have to repair new stuff - regardless of who manufactured it so i would be upset as well! fortunately, i did not have that issue so yours may have been an unlucky fluke. performance and quality issues is why I stay away from BLI.

[@richardweiner6815]

Have to agree about the weather. Looking forward to being cool without ac.

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

finally got a little bit of a relief from the heat but the humidity came back! looks like a rainy weekend so... such a shame, guess i'll have to spend the weekend in the train room!

[@richardweiner6815]

@@AlleghenyNorthern I guess you’ll just have to grin and bear it.

[@dennisarmes3473]

those are some great ideas, AN !!! my layout really took off after retirement... but now i fish less often as i sold my boat due to back problems. nothing like a bumpy ride while walleye fishing on lake erie !!! i see you said you did not like football. well, i hate the way the game has "progressed", all hip-hop, rap bullshit that identifies with certain segments of our country but forgets about the folks that got them to this point... i see total selfishness and money grabbing, so i have actually cut down on football as it is now a bullshit organization aimed at the young black community almost totally. the networks and professional leagues did the same thing to basketball back in the early 90's.... i do not watch that at all !! like you, i like hockey !!! living here near the canadian border, i have been watching hockey night in canada since about 2nd grade. i would climb up on the roof and point our antenna north towards toronto to get cbc.... then get back up before our folks knew i changed it !!! denny ps... i am a manhattan guy myself !!! blessings to you, AN !!!

[@AlleghenyNorthern]

Don Cherry is a legend and what they did to him is a crime against humanity. But for all the reasons you state, football is just not watchable anymore. Most of the BS stayed out of the NHL - every now and then they have to do a thing, but mostly it's just the game. I want to be entertained during sporting events, not lectured about some stupid social trend everyone will forget about in a week's time. BUT, onto the trains... stay tuned to the next video update - more ideas about what's coming.

[@dennisarmes3473]

@@AlleghenyNorthern AN...yes, what they did to our coach was absolutely awful !!! he spoke the truth... those people should have shown respect to the canadian troops and when i heard what happened to him for speaking the truth i just about shit my pants !!! the assholes he was referring to should be deported in my opinion !!! btw, when i said manhattan in my previous note, i meant the drink not the burrough down ny ctiy way !!! i am a native western new yorker who loves modeling trains, walleye fishing, hockey ( especially hnc !!!), and cold beer, usually stella but once in awhile several blue moons !!! i got a pleasant surprise in the mail today.... 2 brand new athearn genesis bc rail blue and silver dash 9 44cw's !!! absolutely beautiful and weigh a ton !!! i might add conspicuity reflectors, but i see the prototypes do not have them... what do you think, should i add them as they would look great with the blue livery??? ??? also, btw, i heard on wgr 550 out of buffalo that the leafs may not re-sign marner !!! they better keep him and balance their roster money !!! blessings to you, AN, and i will wait, per your suggestion, for your next clip !!! denny