Aquia Line Engine House in NMRA Magazine.

 From Sept 2026 NMRA Magazine. Photos by Cynthia Priest

Road Trip Part 2 NMRA National Convention 2026

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The 2026 NMRA convention in Chattanooga was a fun and productive time.   There were a lot of events going. Here is a quick summary of the events related to Civil War Modeling.

The ACWRRHS, which is also a Special Interest Group, of the NMRA had

*  a large display TTRAK layout

* a computer monitor displaying a early test of a civil war module for Trainz 22

* posing with costumes to create photos that can be used to make 3-D printed figures

* several static displays of engines and rolling stock in N, HO and O scale,

*  a 3R O scale display layout. 

* Thom Radice, DC Cebula, Marty Vaughn and I presented talks on various civil war related topics. There were also other speakers that presented ACW era talks.

* Most of the ACWRRHS members made trips to Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain. These highlight the importance of Chattanooga in the ACW.

* Artisan Rail Media announced that they will be publishing my next book, “Modeling Civil War Railroads.” We are hoping to have it published by November, 2026.

* I entered my machine and engine shop in the model contest and I was pleased to be awarded 4 awards, The National Judges Award, NMRA Editor’s Favorite Model, Hunterline Award for best scratchbuilt wooden model, and finally, Best In Show.

..

On Monday, several of the ACWRRHS members visited Charlie Taylor’s large O scale layout. We had a great time operating it.

I think most of us in our group thought it was the best NMRA convention we had ever attended. 

it.

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October Update - the AI Invasion

Proto People

An example of prototype people I can 3D print for my layout

I have spent much of October involved in developing a range of figures suitable for the Aquia Line. This is because there are very few civil war era figures available in the market that are in non-combat poses. So I decided to make my own.

One of my long term objectives was to learn 3D sculpting software to sculpt and then print those figures for my railroad.  I considered Zbrush and Blender as possible software tools for this. Both have pretty steep learning curves so I delayed learning them. Zbrush is also very expensive, while Blender is free, open source. However, I learned about a new sculpting service called Meshy that greatly simplifies the process. Meshy uses AI functions to convert 2D images into STL files that can be 3D printed.  It is similar to the photogramatry process used in 3D scanning, but it uses AI to extrapolate a 2D image to 3D.  They charge a subscription fee, but it is not too expensive. 

The work flow is  as follows

•     Find an image that I want to use as inspiration for a figure or set of figures. 
•     Clean up the image in Photoshop. 
•     Import the 2D image to Meshy and create an STL.
•     Clean up and or repair the STL file in Blender and  Meshmixer.  For example, add an arm that the AI may have omitted, or fix the insignia or hat style on a figure. I also embellish the facial and other details. 
•     Export a final STL that I can use in Chitubox to create the sliced file that can be used on a 3D printer.

 I am not going to bother going into detail on any of those steps as there are thousands of websites and Youtube videos that explain them. The bottom line is that this work flow saves me a lot of time in the sculpting phase of the process.

With this I have been able to produce 3D prints of actual people that I find in images taken on the actual Aquia Line. I have developed a range of these figures that I sell on my Alkem scale models web site https://alkemscalemodels.biz/proto-people

Story Telling 

Another one of my long term objectives is to use the USMRR Aquia Line as a setting and prop for telling stories in video or graphic novel format. I am not a big fan of  superhero graphic novels. But I do like more realistic and historical stories told in graphic format and they are fun to make. However, the possibility of making a video story has been enhanced with the use of some of the new AI video tools that are coming available. I have done a limited test of these and the results are promising, but not quite where they need to be yet to make a good video short. 

Here is a test video that I made using mostly Grok, but also some RunwayML. 

Unfortunately, RunwayML has been disappointing. Grok works better but has many limitations. So, for now, this objective will have to wait until the AI video generating software improves. 

NMRA MER Annual Convention

I attended the NMRA MER Annual convention in King of Prussia, PA, which is a suburb of Philadelphia, PA. The convention was fun, although a bit on the expensive side. The hotel was very nice and convenient to a lot of other attractions, such as the Audubon Center, where I went twice to bird watch.  I went to one op session, managed to attend one clinic and spent a good part of Saturday acting an an evaluator for the Model Contest.

The model contest was very well run. My team was very proficient and did a great job in evaluating the many models. I also entered a model in the contest, so I had to sit out that category.

I am happy to report that my model of the USMRR Machine shop won three awards,

•     First Place in On-Line Structure
•     The Charles Haldik Memorial Award for best model of a southern RR subject
•     Best in Show

I will be taking the machine shop to one more show, then I will be installing it on the USMRR Aquia Line. I should mention that I used figures from my new line to populate the model.

On my way home I stopped at 4 model railroad open houses. All were very nice. I met Bruce Friedman, who is an Alkem Scale Models customer and has an impressive modern prototype based railroad.  He was kind enough to demonstrate his contemporary US Army tank train on his layout. It is an amazing 70-car long train full of DODX cars hauling Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and a few other odds and ends.  

Bruce had this posted on the wall of his train room.

It was an interesting coincidence that his and my model railroads were featured in the same issue of Model Railroader. 

Joint Potomac and James River Division Meet and other travels

My dioramas, which feature Sherman tank models, on display next to actual Sherman tanks

I attended the joint Potomac and James River Division Meet last Saturday, 4 Nov 2023. That meet culimated a busy period of hobby related travel.

Charlie's Layout is the top floor of a large 3 car garage.

To briefly recap, I drove to Memphis, TN via Lexington, KY (where I visited Chase, Muzuki and Ruka) to attend the ACWRRHS annual meet from 12-15 October. The highlight of the meet was to be two op sessions on  Charlie Taylor's Memphis and Charleston Model RR.   We got to run trains one day. Then Charlie and his wife contracted COVID (fortunately not serious cases). So we had to resort to alternate plans. Those included a joint build of TTRAK models in the hotel, and I did a presentation on the latest news on my layout.

While in Memphis, we ate BBQ, spent an evening on Beale Street listening to music, and squeezed in some rail fanning. I also visited the massive Bass Pro Shop in the pyramid. 

On Sunday I drove to Birmingham, AL. I picked up Alicia at Birmingham airport. We then spent the week with Danica, Adam and Merritt. Alicia returned home on Tuesday for a doc appt. So I had to baby sit Merritt by myself for a couple days. It was tons of fun. 

On Friday I drove to Fort Moore in Columbus, GA to meet my brother, Rob, to  attend an armor model contest and open house at the US Army Armor and Cavalry Museum. I was there earlier in the year, but it was great to revisit with more time to look around. We brought some models to display. 

We also managed to get in a round of golf at Maple Ridge GC. I actually played pretty well for a change. 

The show was fun. We didn't get any awards, but we did get to get close up looks at the vast collection of armor they have on display.  

One other unexpected highlight was that I got to meet some customers of my Alkem Scale Models DODX flat cars. David Perkins even had some on display. He really lobbied me to continue to produce those and other DODX cars.

On the drive home I made three stops in Virginia. 

First was to Drewry's Bluff.  This was the site of a famous CSA fort on a steep bluff overlooking a sharp bend in the James River. In May, 1862 there was a battle there when the Union Navy tried to break through to Richmond, VA. The fort held and the Union Navy pulled back. 

The National Park Service has preserved the site and has a recreation of one of the heavy guns that defended the fort. Other than the dirt mounds left by the entrenchments, not much else survived. The bluff is very steep. It is obvious that this was a strong position, at least from river attack. 
 

Next stop was at Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond. The state and the NPS have opened a new museum there. Some of the original brick buildings are still present. The iron works underwent  significant expansion after the civil war, so it is difficult to envision how it looked at the time of the war. But, the NPS have two dioramas of the works. One depicts the appearance during the civil war and the other about 50 years later.  I did get an answer to a question that had been nagging me for some time - there was no rail spur directly to the works during the civil war. Wagons and canal boats were the primary means of transport to and from the works. 

The museum was pretty good too. Not as extensive as the Pamplin Museum of the Civil War, but with several interesting exhibits. Some highlights to me were the uniforms of several notable rebels both male and female, Jeb Stuart's boots, and a period field desk. There was also an interesting exhibit on the rise of paper money as a result of the civil war. 

Last stop was a visit to the Stafford Civil War Park. This park sits is situated on 41 acres that hosted the Union Army's 11th Corps, 1st and 3rd Divisions, following the December 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg. You walk or drive to 8 different stops to view the remains of several union army camps and entrenchments.  The sites are well marked with signs and replica guns and shebangs (temporary huts built by soldiers for housing). Like Drewry's Bluff, I was impressed with the roughness of the terrain, The entrenchments would have been very difficult to assault. 

I had two weeks at home to recover from the trip. That included surprise laser surgery to repair a small hole in my left retina. I was not having symptoms from the issue, but my ophthalmologist noticed it during my regular eye exam. It pays to get your check ups. My vision is back to normal.

Sean's layout building - Wow!

This gets us to the Joint division NMRA meet. I got there a bit late so was only able to attend one clinic. Mark Gionet described how he scratch built a lattice truss step bridge. Then it was off to lunch and some layout tours. I visited Sean Hoyden's massive NS layout under construction in a separate outbuilding. 

He lives near the Chapman's Mill in Thoroughfare Gap. This was a stone mill built before the civil war. Of course, this was the site of a civil war battle. But there is also a nature preserve and hiking trails. I need to go back with my birding camera.  NS B Line passes by the mill and you can see the mill from I-66. I drove by this dozens of times, but never stopped to take look. 

Finally on the way home I stopped at Ernie Little's HO layout. Ernie is the current president of the Potomac Division. He has a nice layout in part of his basement.

So we are caught up for now, but I am leaving on Wednesday for Great Lakes Getaway. Hopefully I will get a chance to operate on some of my favorite layouts in the US.

Mid-West Wanderings, Part 2

Coal mine off Corridor H near Mt Storm WV

After completing several jobs at my son and daughter-in-law's house, the road trip continued with my driving to Indianapolis to attend the joint NMRA/RPM Indy Junction Meet. The meet was very successful. About 500 people attended. The hotel was very large and it offered multiple clinic rooms, space for several model train layouts, and two large rooms for vendors.  It was great fun to meet new people, especially folks that say they read this blog! Thanks. Leave a comment if you can. I was greeted at the registration desk by my wife's 2nd cousin, Barbara Soward. She is a model railroader who is married to Fred Soward, the NMRA Louisville Division superintendent. 

Nice limestone quarry model in the contest room

Some type of furnace model in the contest room

RPM Meets and NMRA conventions have a lot of similarities but with just a few differences. For example. the NMRA had a model contest room where NMRA personnel judged the models.  I could not see the name tags for the contest models, so I don't know who made them, But, there was also a RPM room where folks could display models without judging.  This worked very well in my opinion as the judging room was more formal with visitors required to be quiet and to leave drinks at the door. Meanwhile, the RPM room was more social with folks gathering to discuss models and enjoy the experience. 

The judging  is part of the Master Model Railroader process, but it also adds a competition where the "best" models are selected.  I don't get too worked up over the model contests as there is a lot of subjectivity involved.  That is why I tend to prefer the RPM approach.  I had some of my civil war railroad models on display in the RPM room. 

RPM meets also have a tradition of reimbursing clinicians for their presenting a clinic at the meet. For example, at the MARPM, all clinicians get free registration. Normally, the NMRA doesn't not do that. They do reimburse some of the officers' expenses and sometimes for the key note speaker. Mike Skibbe, the RPM manager at Indy Junction, invited me to attend, and the meet did cover my registration fee but none of my other expenses. Nonetheless, that was welcome as the travel expenses were somewhat high this year with gas at $5.30 a gallon.

Nice Great Lakes lumber schooner model at the RPM by Greg Rich

Scene on John Dick's layout 

I presented 2 clinics at the meet describing my Aquia Line progress, I attended 5 other clinics, and visited one home layout, which was John Dick's Milwaukee Road Beer Line. 

Kevin Kayser's clinic on the C&O in Kentucky was neat. He uses a lot of Alkem Scale Models products.  

Bill Darnaby presented a clinic on his Maumee Railroad. About half way through he said, "well that's finished, what's next? "Then he proceeded to show pictures of the Monon RR, a favorite of his youth. I thought he was going to say he was going to rebuild the layout as the Monon. But he calmed my fears by describing how he is just building detailed, scratch built models of his favorite railroad just to keep building. He does not plan to dismantle the Maumee. 

Bill Neale gave a nice talk on what he did on his layout during COVID and after a successful back surgery. His changes included new lighting, fascia paint and operating signals. The latter was a big job. 

Gerry Albers presented a talk on lessons learned from building his huge Virginian RR set in WV. Gerry lives near Cincinnati, but was unavailable for touring when I was there the week before. 

Kieth Kohlman did a clinic on Realistic Outdoor Photography. He showed many examples of artful photographs of his N Scale models and modules taken out doors. 

Beautiful O scale turnouts

I did see some nice O Scale track work and switch stands for sale in the vendor area.  

It was fun to see a lot of folks I know. Notably, Doug Tagsold showed me photos of yet another expansion of his narrow gauge railroad. He is an amazingly fast builder. 

Alas, I developed a sore throat the first night there, so I returned to Lexington the next day after my final clinic was over. Luckily, my son runs a COVID testing lab, so he tested me as soon as I got to his house, and then again next day when I developed cold like symptoms such as runny nose, head ache, and sinus congestion. Luckily, I did not have COVID, just a cold. But, that meant the rest of my trip to see my granddaughter and her parents had to be cancelled. I also missed out on a lot of planned activities at Indy Junction.

I stayed with my son for one extra day to finish installing a new stair railing to his basement. That job was really difficult as they bought a pre-fab-ed aluminum stair railing that was designed for 35 degrees. But their existing  stair railing was 45 degrees. It took me all day to get it installed.

I returned home via the Corridor H road from Weston, WV to  Strasburg, VA. This route is not yet complete so there are some 2-lane sections. But the new 4-lane sections run along the ridge tops through some beautiful mountain scenery. I passed the old B&O line through Buckhannon and then through the Western Maryland RR territory of Elkins, Parsons, Thomas and Davis. I saw a coal mine with lots of trucks in action, and the CSX marshaling yard near Mount Storm power plant, but all shrouded in fog. I returned safe and sound, but very tired. I did another COVID test when I got home and I was negative. Luckily the cold symptoms are waning and I feel better now.  It was a good trip, despite being cut short and not getting to see my granddaughter. 

Former WM depot in Parsons, WV. I stopped there for a lunch break.

Mid-West Wanderings Part 1

View from Turkey Spur Overlook at Grandview Park

 

Amtrak Cardinal at Clifton Forge

My trip began with rain in Virginia, but by the time I was in the mountains of West Virginia the weather was glorious.

I stopped at Clifton Forge, VA to eat lunch. I was just in time to see the Amtrak Cardinal arrive. Then I stopped at Grandview State Park to take a break and do some hiking. I got some spectacular photos with the lead one probably my favorite.

I arrived in Lexington, KY at my son and Daughter-in-law's house where they surprised me with news that I was going to be a grand pa for a second time! So exciting.

Interior of the half dome at Cincinnati Union Terminal

The Alkem Scale Models pig?

The next morning I met John Burchnall, my host for the weekend, at the American Sign Museum for a weekend tour of sights and layouts in the Cincinnati area. We also visited the Cincinnati Union Terminal where we did some railfanning. Next we visited EnterTrainment.

One of the early rail scenes at EnterTrainment

These model buildings are nearly 8 feet tall

EnterTrainment is a spectacular indoor G scale model railroad. It is about 25,000 square feet. The venue also has a railroad museum, hobby shop and a fun house for kids and adults. While we were there we got the VIP treatment with a backstage tour. We also got to meet Je'rod Cherry, a former NFL defensive back with New England Patriots. He was doing working with Don Oeters, the owner of EnterTrainment, on some charity work.

Jerry Strangarity (l) and John Burchnall (r) at Jerry's layout

A detailed scene on Jerry's Layout

The next day we visited Jerry Strangarity's highly detailed Reading Railroad HO Scale layout, Jerry is a master builder of models and telescopes. The images show some examples of his fantastic work.

Coal Breaker scene on Jerry's layout

In the afternoon, I presented a talk on waterfront terminals and operations to the Cincy Division. They had a great audio visual set up. The talk was simultaneously broadcast on Zoom. They must have enjoyed it because they invited me back for another talk next year.

Chase and Muziki taking the Porsche to work
while I stay at the house to do projects

I returned to Lexington where Chase and Mizuki had prepared a smoked pork loin on their smoker. Then we roasted S'mores at the fire pit while we watched the Luna eclipse.

The next morning the kids took the Porsche to work, while I stayed home and did home improvement projects on their house.

The trip continues with a visit to Indianapolis for another NMRA event. 

 

On the Road Again

Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine.” Ludwig Van Beethoven. 

Is there any doubt that model railroading can be considered art. This scene from 

Brian Kelly's HO Scale C&O layout might argue for it.

I returned from Florida last week and spent the rest of this week catching up and doing what we called in the Army "recovery."

The Florida trip was great. I took AMTRAK Autotrain there and back.   I had a roomette going down and coach seat coming back. The roomette was nice, but not as good as a night in a hotel. The coach seats are better than airplanes, but still not as comfy  as the roomette.

The train ride down was on time but coming back we were 5 hours late due to equipment trouble and then late crew change.  But, I was lucky both times as my car was one of the first to be unloaded.

Other highlights of the trip  include my first rounds of golf where there was money at stake. I actually ended up winning in both matches, thanks to a skin and closest to the pin in the first and  by sinking a long birdie putt in the other to win another skin in a scramble. If you are not a golfer, you have no idea what I just said, and that's OK. 

We visited two museums, the Brevard County Veteran's Museum and the Valiant Air Museum. 

Both were great.  The Brevard Museum had a nice variety of items on display from all services and across US History. These choppers were on display outside. 

Valiant Air has a great collection of restored aircraft. Only a few of them can still fly, but most are in pristine condition.  Here we see my Cayman GTS in front of a not so pristine Czech Mig.

We visited two model railroads. 

 On Sunday we visited Rich Bellanger’s new HO/HOn3 layout. Rich is a prolific and talented modeler in several genres- wooden ships (he built the model of the US Constitution at the Brevard Museum),  aircraft, armor, and trains. He has an interesting way of making concrete streets and sidewalks for his layout. He uses black gatorfoam and Rustoleum cement color texture spray paint. He then details cracks and expansion joints with a pencil. Simple and effective.

On Monday we visited Tom Johnson's bedroom-sized layout. It’s a beautiful gem with amazing attention to detail. Tom is the master of integrating roads into the backdrop. 

Tom said he gets his model  trees from a supplier in Poland. They flock them with miniature leaves that have the correct shapes. 

The IPMS meet went well. There were about 55 people that entered models, down from previous years.  There are some really nice models on display. All my models won awards including a second place for best large diorama for the Full Metal Jacket, and also for my Stay a While and Listen fantasy diorama.  My brother's large helicopter and tank diorama got the Cinema Militaire award.  

For some reason the creature from the Black Lagoon was a popular theme at the meet. They had a full size mannikin as well as several models of it. 

While we were at the show we were able to watch a Spacex launch from the town of Cape Canaveral. That was very cool.

As soon as I returned home, I attended an op session at Brian Kelly's C&O layout. It had been almost 20 years since I last saw it. He has created a gorgeous layout that is as well sceniced as any you might find. Plus, he uses several Alkem Scale Models kits on his layout.

I am departing tomorrow to attend two NMRA events on consecutive weekends. On 15 May I will be in Cincinnati presenting a talk to the Cinncy Division of the NMRA.

On the next weekend 20-21 May.  I will be at the Indy Junction NMRA and RPM meet.  In between I plan to see my kids and granddaughter.

Potomac Division Meet at Mary Surratt House Museum

I attended a mini-meet for the Potomac Division of the NMRA at the Mary Surratt House Museum in Clinton, MD. The meet involved several talks in the morning and two layout tours in the afternoon. I gave the last talk of the morning by describing some of the techniques I used or are using to build my layout. My talk went well, despite some early laptop-projector issues.


The museum is a set of buildings including the restored tavern. It was here that John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin, stopped to retrieve weapons and supplies which had been hidden there. As a result, Mary Surratt, the owner of the house, which was rented out to others at the time,  was tried and convicted of conspiracy to assassinate the President. On July 7, 1865, she became the first woman to be executed by the United States government.



In the afternoon I visited Dale Latham's Piedmont Southern and Glenn Paulson's Conrail layouts situated in south east Maryland. Dale's layout in a two car garage is largely complete, beautifully finished, and operational. Glenn's layout is a massive double deck in a large basement. He has an impressive steel mill. It occupies about 60-80 linear feet on a narrow shelf of the lower level. The mill is spread out with each major structure residing along the backdrop with mostly narrow benchwork. It is an interesting way to model a steel mill that I don't think I have seen before. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of it.

A scene on Dale's layout. The bakery is named after Dale's wife, Anita, who is legendary for her baking prowess.