Model Railroad Video

--> 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


 

Good Deal On Structures

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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

Hulett Unloader  $186.98 - $99.98

Rolling Mill $175.98 - $94.98

Rolling Mill $175.98 - $94.98

Coke Oven $142.98 - $77.98

Coke Oven $142.98 - $77.98

Blast Furnace $263.98 - $139.98

Blast Furnace $263.98 - $139.98

Blower Engine House $164.98 - $129.98

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





 

New Chessie System Products for 2013

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

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

Saving Money On Hobby Tools: Part 2

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