Model Railroad Podcast

Model Railcast Show #54
Mon, Mar 9, 2009
Posted by: Ryan Andersen

Show #54

Quick Yard Office

Round House
Bernie's Decision Matrix

Join Bernie Kempinski and Marty McGuirk with Ryan and Tim to discuss Bernie's Decision Matrix.
It may help you in choosing an existing model railroad to build, or one like it.

Decision Matrix Files (note: right-click the link below an choose save file as...)

 

 

Branch Line
What has the Internet done for you lately, specifically when in comes to model trains? 

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Posted by: gtown150 MRCS Pioneer on Mon, Mar 9 2009    
Scotty offers a unique perspective on the hobby even if I am not a craftsman kit consumer. His interview lends well to your overall effect on the model rr community so great choice.
Posted by: HOTRAINS4LIFE MRCS Pioneer on Mon, Mar 9 2009    
All I have to say is that was a great show again Guys!!!!!,I really enjoyed the conversation you guys had with Bernie and his Matrix. The only thing is that I think you guys should do a show on operations I think it would help a lot of people out who are just getting started on the first or second layout like me. Another Thing I think you guys should cover is basic track work on how to lay track and set it and also cover how to create yards and place sidings. I think this will also help a lot of the Newbies Out there like me!!!!!
Posted by: dramos_1701 MRCS Pioneer on Tue, Mar 10 2009     www.nyhrr.com
Good show guys! I had most of your crew over on Friday night for my Op session. I went well. The matrix is a great idea and I used something similar to it when I decided to do the NYHRR.
Posted by: alkemscalemodels MRCS Pioneer on Tue, Mar 10 2009     www.alkemscalemodels.com
In case you download Marty's spreadsheet, note that he did not add the color code to his scores. Thus the colors don't line up with the rest of the matrix or his scores. I did not go through the trouble of adding code to the cells to do the color code automatically. The colors are really just to make the chart look interesting and don't affect the analysis.

I note that Tim did update the colors for his matrix.
Posted by: darkterritory MRCS Pioneer on Tue, Mar 10 2009     www.Housatonicrr.com
Hey guys, good show. The decision matrix could be a very useful tool to some folks with several options and are not sure which way to jump.

As far as the internet goes, it has been a boon to me in that I've made many friends and collected an untold amount of information about my railroad because of it. One of my best research tools is my own website - much critical data has come in from visitors who have sent me maps, photos and text describing things about the railroad I did not know. It does have its down points, but I believe it has really helped my modeling a lot.

Craig
Posted by: dio51662 MRCS Pioneer on Tue, Mar 10 2009    
Good show again. I particularly got a kick out of the rants about the internet. I run a few yahoo groups and I basically found you have to be a tyrant to make sure the list doesn't run amuck. My Anthracite RR list has over 2000 participants and there have been times people get off topic bad. A long off topic thread on hot dog joints comes to mind. Funny how the idiots tried to justify it by stating the hot dog places were located in the anthracite region.

It amazes me how people think their freedom of speech pertains to every forum and public venue and their "rights" are violated when you do not let them say or talk about what ever they want. This happens on the lists, and it happened when I ran a local radio station with some of the DJ's there. You have freedom of speech and can say anything you want on your own time and dime. In the case of the radio station, we were regulated by the FCC and what one fool would say could jeopardize everyone else at the station. In the case of the forums, the people who come there to learn about that topic have their enjoyment of the forum ruined because of a few dopes who think what they have to say is more important than the rules.

If you want to be a part of something I run or have created you have to follow the rules. In the case of the forums I run, stay on topic.. period. Go off topic you get a warning, do it more than once you get what my fellow moderator likes to call a smack down. End of story. Don't like it, start your own list. A few did in the case of the Anthracite list and failed because they let the forum be wide open and people tired of the sillyness quick and quit.

Well...That's my rant. Wow! I feel much better! LOL

Anyway I also enjoyed the talk about layout design on paper or lack of, that Marty and Bernie talked about. This is how my last layout was conceived. I had a basic footprint of the benchwork and strung together my LDE's. The layout was based on the Lehigh and Hudson River, N-Scale, between Warwick NY and Andover NJ. I had finished the track work and had the DCC running before I had to take it down because of a move.

Again, great show!

Ted (Vlad the Impaler) DiIorio
East Broad Top, 1942-43 HOn3
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Posted by: CVSNE MRCS Pioneer on Wed, Mar 11 2009     snery.com
One thing not brought up during the decision matrix discussion is the fact that a prototype freelanced railroad (which Bernie didn't have any examples of) will almost always score higher when compared to a specific prototype plan provided "Prototype fidelity" is not a heavily weighted factor.

Why? Simple. A prototype-freelanced concept will always score higher since it by definition can contain the things you like the best - want a great bridge scene? One magically appears. Need a large brick mill on a river. Voila!!! There it is. The fact that the proto-freelanced SNE scored higher than the prototype-based layout plan proves this fact.

More importantly, I'd like to know what happened to the discussion we had about the
O scale USMRR project - it was an interesting talk (I thought). To get in the spirit of things I even had Civil War music (Bonnie Blue Flag, Tenting Around the Campfire Tonight, etc . . . ) playing in the background. Can't wait until it's time to operate - I have one or two of my internet "friends" I'd like to recommend for the sharpshooter position . . . provided I get to play counter-sniper . . .



Posted by: CVSNE MRCS Pioneer on Wed, Mar 11 2009     snery.com
We could easily slip into a "why the internet is great/why it isn't" discussion - that, frankly would hold my interest about as long as a discussion of the latest issue of MR, RMC, etc . . . (which is, to be precise, about 4 seconds). I'd recommend the MRCS stick to modeling topics.

Marty
Posted by: LVRRMAN on Wed, Mar 11 2009    
Ryan, good show, don't stress about always delivering "Podcast Gold", it's OK, trust me, we will all come back week after week. "If you Podcast it, they will come......"

Ralph
Posted by: CVSNE MRCS Pioneer on Wed, Mar 11 2009     snery.com
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Posted by: ricky4208 MRCS Pioneer on Wed, Mar 11 2009    
Ryan,

quote totally what LVRRMAN wrote!

Very nice and interesting show again. Keep doing this amazing work and... looking forward to downloading the next podcast.

Regards, Ricky4208.
Italy
Posted by: ChrisNH MRCS Pioneer on Thu, Mar 12 2009     model-railroad-hobbyist.com/blog/671
I used a decision matrix to help narrow prototype options on a previous layout design. It was useful even without having a specific plan sketched out. I was looking at things like type of traffic, industries served, and scenic opportunities. It helped me to go from being unable to decide on a layout choice to being unable to decide on the weight of my categories!

Hopefully now we have checked the box on lamenting the shortfalls of the Internet in general and message boards in particular and can focus back on model railroad topics.

Chris
Posted by: jbaakko on Fri, Mar 13 2009     http://rr.blockchoice.com
Speaking of online... I recently got an email from a new "profile" type site, like facebook/myspace, ect... HobZob

If you click the invite link above, you'll automatically be entered into my friends list when you join. I don't get any special privileges when you join, just another "friend".

However, I like the "push" for MB Klein, they're one of my top "vendors" though I frequently go into Reed's Hobbies in La Mesa CA to pick up, or special order another Athearn car. I think that's the best way for me to pick up rolling stock, which seems to be more of an impulse buy item for me.

I agree with the eBay comments, I've pretty much stopped selling there, as they frustrate me with all the new "buyer protection" rules.
Posted by: MILWJKD MRCS Pioneer on Sun, Mar 15 2009    
Nice show, guys.
While I was listening, I filled in my own version of the matrix. Yikes, looks like I'll be making a few changes (like going from freelancing to prototype modeling). Thanks for the matrix. It works great.

As far as the internet and trains go... my personal experience has been that if you find a group to discuss niche items with, like a specific railroad, a specific type of operation, etc... it seems to work better than the huge forum idea. Shopping online is a real benefit for me, but I would have to add an asterisk to that statement and also state that I only shop online at auction sites for things I know I'm searching for, like out of production models, etc... that I don't care the condition, just that I can get the item. Most of the time online, I'm buying straight from the manufacturer.
 
 
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