We're Modelers, too!

by TSG Multimedia's Dan Cortopassi

I got started in model railroading when I received an N scale layout and some trains for Christmas when I was all of 3 years old. I was maybe a little young for such tiny trains, but the bug bit and has never let go. I stayed in N scale until the late 1980s. Dissatisfaction with the performance of the N scale locomotives of the time and a burgeoning interest in HO led me to switch scales.

Starting over in a new scale enabled me to focus more, as my N scale collection was mostly made up of whatever had struck my fancy. In HO I started out modeling the then-present day Southern Pacific and Santa Fe. Funny thing is, the present day keeps advancing. Eventually I decided to concentrate on the late 1980s and early 1990s time period. I still ended up with a few locomotives and cars that don't fit the era, but having a theme helps me to resist the urge to want everything in the store.

In 2006 I moved into a much smaller place and lost my HO layout. John and I also decided to build a switchback model to help show people who might not know what a switchback was how one operates for our Shays in the Redwoods video. We decided to do this in N scale so that the model could be smaller. Through all of this I have rediscovered N scale.

One thing I was pleased to discover was that modern N scale locomotives perform very well, vastly better than those of 20 years ago. So now I am once again focused on the present day, modeling mostly BNSF and UP.

I have painted up some N scale equipment for our fictitious Tuscany & Sabine Grove, which I envision as a shortline operating somewhere in northern California. Hopefully we will have occasion to show some more of these models in future productions. Meanwhile I will be posting some pictures in the gallery here from time to time, so be sure to check back once in a while for updates. John has some N scale models, too.

I have not given up HO, mind you. I still have more HO stuff than anything else, and you will be able to see some of it in our upcoming DCC installation video. As part of that project, I have built a 5 foot long Free-Mo style module so we will have a finished setting to film the completed locomotives in the DCC video.