1 January 2012


The Skype chat went extremely well. I started it at 5:00pm 12/31/11...and ended at 2:08am 1/1/12 (a 9 hour session.) I want to say thanks to Jim from Australia, Matt from Ohio, Steve from Illinois, Malcolm from California, The Professor from Australia, Anders from Sweden, Fred from Canada, Craig from New Jersey, and Jennifer from Canada for making it an enjoyable evening. It was a nice way to end the old year and start the new one. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did.

I wonder if Tom would be up to another 9 hour marathon for next week's recording?

Just kidding, of course.

PS - I also want to thank Matt and Jim for trying out their video chat feature. It was nice to watch Matt ballast the track on his shelf layout, Anders showing off some of his Swedish models, Steve with the steamer chuffing around his layout, and Jim just being Jim on his video feed. They all added a special touch to the evening.

28 December 2011

I just wanted to say we had a really interesting Skype chat on Tuesday, the 27th. I started the call at 7:00pm ET and it quickly turned into an international affair.

Fred, from Canada, came online first. He gave me a brief video tour of his layout with his commentary on what he has in mind for it. I was getting jealous looking at all the room he has.

Next was Anders, from Sweden, talking about his Brooklyn-Queens, New York layout.

Then Malcolm, from California, came on and talked a little about his layout.

We had a lively discussion going on about a little bit of everything in the hobby (and somethings out of the hobby...doesn't THAT sound familiar) before Malcolm had to call it a night to take care of "daddy" chores.

Next in was Jennifer, from Canada (and Fred's girlfriend). I really enjoyed talking to her and getting her perspective as a woman working in the hobby. We even talked about what we could do to get more women interested in model railroading. (Might make for a good discussion on the regular recorded show sometime...note to Tom.)

And before we knew it, it was Midnight (6:00am in Sweden). OMG, a 5 HOUR CHAT!!! Who woulda thunk it!!! We finally decided to call it a night at 12:14.

I want to thank everyone for a great time, especially to Anders for going the whole chat...THAT is dedication.

All in all it was nice to be sitting in my living room in Delaware and having a discussion with folks from around the globe. It felt like we were all just sitting around the dining room table with a nice glass of (insert name of favorite drink here) just shooting the breeze. I now wish I had the capability of recording the show. I'm seriously considering it, once I get back to getting a regular income again.

I'm not sure how I would be rated as a "host", but we all had a good time and I'm looking forward to doing it again. I know -I- had a blast doing it.