Post Chattanooga Update(s)!

Christine didn't think we'd sell any of the CV boxcar decals, we ended up selling out of the 1940-63 decals we brought with us! 

We're back from the National Train Show in Chattanooga and we certainly had a great time!

Christine's prize winning entry into the contest - "Hometown Crossing"

I have some other thoughts on Chattanooga that I may share at some point - after all this was the first NMRA National I've attended since 2015 so I'm bound to have some opinions. 

But in this post I want to cover two (actually three!) highlights for the Artisan Rail Media team - We were really excited to announce our second book, Modeling Civil War Railroads by Bernard Kempinski, and the other (better!) half of the Artisan Rail team took first place in the People's Choice Awad in the Arts and Crafts category with her quilt "Hometown Crossing." That makes one NMRA prize winner in the family, and it isn't me ... !!!

Modeling Civil War Railroads, Artisan Rail Media's second book!

About Bernie's book - it will be 120 pages, landscape (horizontal) format, all color (with the exception of a few b&w Civil War era prototype shots) and a ton of new line drawings, plans, and tables and charts. 

Bernie is putting the final touches on the manuscript and photography, and we are on track for a November 2026 release. Check this blog, my Southern New England Railway Facebook page, or the artisanrailmedia.com website to preorder. Look for the web site to go live for preorders sometime later this month - in the meantime we have Modeling Autumn Scenery available.  https://www.artisanrailmedia.com/

Meanwhile, just down the road from Chattanooga ...

Our youngest son Matt, who some of you may remember as a little tyke at train shows or a teenager at some of our operating sessions over the years, took time out of visiting the Atlanta Aquarium to ask his girlfriend the big question. She's a big shark fan, which makes no sense to this old sailor, but I guess it takes all kinds. 

They went to Atlanta supposedly as a birthday trip to see a whale shark - Matt had all this planned and even flew Amanda's sister in from Colorado (she's a professional photographer) to capture the moment. I have no idea how he got the shark to cooperate, but I have to give the boy credit - and Amanda's sister certainly got a great photo for them to remember the moment! 

To answer the inevitable questions:

1. She said "Yes!"

2. We absolutely ADORE her!!

Congratulations Matt and Amanda!!

Modeling Autumn Scenery book and Artisan Rail Media

 
Wow, I see that I haven't posted anything here since November! Yikes! Well, hope anyone reading this had a wonderful Holiday season - and Happy New Year, albeit a couple of months late!

Our new website - Artisan Rail Media - where you can order our new book! 

I have been posting - occasionally - to my Southern New England Railway Facebook group. And you're more than welcome to join the fun there. But I have an excuse for not posting things here - 

When I really get into a project I tend to dive into it, and things like Facebook and blog post updates don't take priority. In other words, I usually float from one project to another - but when I focs - I get really focused. 

For the last few months I've gotten very serious about finishing my Modeling Autumn Scenery book. I've talked about doing this book for a number of years - and have been thinking about it even longer than that! 

This is one of two possible cover photos for the book. 

I'm pleased to say that it is almost done - - to the point that it should be shipped off to the printer sometime in the next two weeks and be ready to ship shortly after that. I'm trying something new - self publishing this book. I considered doing a print on demand option but have been disappointed with the color and printing quality of that approach. 

One of the page layouts for the book. 

A scenery book - especially an autumn scenery book - where color is everything - needs to have the best looking photos possible. So, Christine and I are taking a risk and having the book printed by a print shop here in the US that specializes in short print runs. The test proofs looked great, so we're very excited about getting the book in our hands, and hopefully a LOT of yours! If nothing else we don't want to end up with a garage full of these things!

What's in the book? Essentially it's everything I've learned that I can remember about modeling autumn scenery. Here's the list of chapters: 

Chapter 1: Fall Colors

Chapter 2: Scene Composition and Planning

Chapter 3: Backdrops

Chapter 4: Landforms

Chapter 5: Vegetation and Ground Cover

Chapter 6: Background Trees

Chapter 7: Foreground Deciduous Trees

Chapter 8: Conifers

Chapter 9: The Colors of Autumn

Chapter 10: Autumn Details

Full color. (I've lost count of how many photos). 

Approx. 100 pages. 

And best of all I've been able to include some photos from other models who depict the fall on their layouts. These give some much needed variety to the book, and show how others model other parts of the fall - from early mostly green season, through the peak colors of fall, all the way to the "dead" season. I'm immensely grateful for these friends who have been so willing to contribute to the book! 

Actually, even if you model the height of summer you should be able to find some useful information in this book - just use a lot more green than I do! 

How can you get a copy? Well, we've set up a little business to sell these things (and some other products, more on that in a moment). You can get the book at the special prepublication price of $24.95 + shipping at our new web site - Artisan Rail Media. 

What about those other products? Well, for starters we have Central Vermont boxcar decals, as well as SNE "modern image" decals that we'll list for sale. But first the book must be done! 

A couple of upcoming projects

 I've been pulling together a couple of projects that I plan to offer to the model railroad community in the next few months (essentially sometime in the first half of 2024). Thought I'd mention them here in case anyone is interested. 

The first is a long planned project - decals for Central Vermont freight cars. For example, there's been several resin kits offered over the years for CV freight cars - especially the boxcars - and even a number of injection molded plastic cars (such as Accurail) that while certainly completely accurate models of CV cars are decent stand ins. The one thing the resin kits and the plastic cars have in common in that there's something (in some cases a lot of somethings!) wrong with the lettering. And to the best of my knowledge no one has ever done lettering for the "as delivered" boxcars. 

Several years ago I started working on the art work to develop more accurate CV lettering. That project frankly sputtered along for years so a few months ago I asked Bill Brillinger at PDC to pick up the ball and carry this one home. 

Last night I reviewed the final artwork for the boxcar decals. Essentially there will be three variants of this lettering. One will be the as delivered scheme for the 40,000 and 41,000-series boxcars. (the single line lettering will work for the 42,000-series cars as well). 

I also plan on a set for the post-1940 stacked Gothic lettering (with the post-1963 "pregnant tapeworm") for the 41-, 42-, and 43000 series boxcars. 

This first group of decals will be limited to the boxcar lettering for the 1920s built cars. I already have plans for a second series of decals that will include lettering for the flat cars, and MofW equipment. 

While I'm doing these mostly for my own use, I'd be glad to offer them to anyone who is interested. Please let me know in the comment section if you have any interest in these - and if so which set(s) you'd be most interested in. 

The second project are a couple of new books I've been working on. 

As many of you know, I've given my "Modeling the October Scene" clinic a number of times over the years. This book pulls together the content from that clinic, along with a lot of other items I don't have time to cover in a 45 minute clinic, into one volume. 

The second book, tentatively titled "Modeling Steam and Transition Era Rolling Stock" (I know, truly riveting!) is a compilation of modeling tips and tricks. It will address topics such as getting ready to run models truly ready for the layout, adding details to some simple kits, and more advanced projects such as mixed media and resin kits. I may even include something on scratchbuilding cars - but that remains to be seen. Finally, I plan to include chapters on painting, lettering, and weathering cars. 

I'd like to gauge potential interest in any of these projects. If you're at all interested please leave a comment in the comment section - letting me know which decal set(s) you'd be interested in, and/or which of the planned books. 

I should add that I have no idea what the cost of any of these may be at this point - for the decals I'd assume somewhere between $5-$10/set (which should include decals to letter at least a couple of boxcars). If I self-publish the books, which is my current plan (I haven't spoken to any publishers at this point) I trying to keep them around $20. None of these estimated prices include shipping of course! 

Thanks in advance!