I recently received the latest seven 36' woodside reefers that AtlasO has put out. They are as exquisite as I've come to expect from Atlas. A teaser photo is below; all of the photos are on the Atlas Reefer Photo Catalog page on my web site. I've also shot a video of the reefers on the layout, being hauled by the MTH Premier PRR H3 2-8-0 Consolidation. It's available on my Multimedia page as well as on YouTube (click below). Enjoy! 
And no, for once it's not a train! I finally broke down and got a new computer. After seven years (!), the old Pentium IV was really feeling its age and with all of the good reviews of Windows 7, I decided that it was finally safe to take the plunge. I now have a computer that's based on the Intel Core I7-920 processor running Windows 7. It has a quad core, essentially four CPUs on one chip. But, each core runs two threads so in effect I have EIGHT CPUs! With 8 GB (who, years ago, would have ever thought that we'd have computers on our desks with THAT much memory!), Windows 7 is very happy and the speed of it on this machine is phenomenal. As an example, when I wanted to make a DVD from some of my videos, it took about 150 minutes on the old computer. On the new one, with the same videos and the same DVD software, it was done in 18 minutes flat! Needless to say, I'm a happy camper! 
The two computers are networked, and between them I now have 5 TB (!!) of storage — again, just a few years ago, who would have believed numbers like that! And, I'm not done. I've started looking at Hi-Def camcorders (Canon, of course). Think of how the train videos will look in HiDef!! Happy New Year everyone!
I've been posting my toy train videos on YouTube for a little over two and a half years and there are now 94 videos. In that time, as of today and taken together, they've racked up a total of three million views! Not bad for toy trains! 
On a very rainy and windy late October day, I played with my new Mohawk, a stunning model of the New York Central's 4-8-2 steam locomotive. It's the first in my recollection that's come with detail work that you add on after unpacking it — smoke deflectors (elephant ears) that are cleverly made to snap on and off, and additional piping for the bottom of the tender that you screw into place. It has the new quillable whistle that is fun to play with. It's a great smoker, as you can see from the photo below! It runs very smoothly, has great sound (as you can hear in the video), and is all-around a great model locomotive! I've shot a bunch of photos that are available on my web site on the 4-8-2 Mountain page. I've also done a video that's available on my multimedia page in your choice of formats (Windows Media, MPEG-4, and Real Media). It's also been uploaded to YouTube; click on it below to watch it in somewhat abbreviated quality.
I picked up my new MTH Premier Mohawk (a 4-8-2 steam locomotive that was used by the New York Central) earlier this evening. It's exquisite! A set of photos, a video, and perhaps even a review will follow later today after I get some rest. It's been a tough couple of weeks.
… it's a doozy! For more than a year, I've been updating my Atlas Reefer Master List with the new reefers that Atlas has been issuing. And for more than a year, the version on my web site has been unchanging. It's amazing what a difference an underscore in a file name can make! 
It's now fixed and the listing on the web site is up-to-date. The Atlas Reefers photo catalog is now also up-to-date and includes the National Bohemian Beer reefer, with many thanks to Bob Lawrence at AtlasO.
When I was reviewing my videos, I noticed that I had shot the MTH Premier Alco PA-1 diesel locomotives with a freight train. Though they did haul freight, they were primarily designed for passenger service, especially when in the tuscan red with five gold stripes livery that I have. I had set up a passenger train to show a friend, so before taking it down I've shot a video showing the locomotives hauling the train they were designed for. As always with my videos, it's available in your choice of Real Media, Windows Media, and MPEG-4 formats on the Multimedia page of my web site. It's also available in lesser quality and resolution on YouTube.
In this day and age, where we all have to suffer through automated call systems refusing to connect you to a live person and uncaring reps when you finally get through, it's a very refreshing change of pace to find that exceptional customer service is still alive and well, so much so that I feel the need to comment on it. A few weeks ago, when running my layout for a friend, one of my locomotives derailed on a switch. Examining the switch showed that the tie rod connecting the switch points had broken. This was quite unusual; first, it was a Ross Custom Switch which is the finest made — all of the switches on my layout are Ross and all have been in place with no problem for many years — and second, it's not a switch that's used much. With many model railroad switches, if it breaks you throw it out and buy a new one. However, a few days later I called Ross and was told that it was perfectly repairable and that I should send it in. I did so and expected to hear from them as to the repair cost. Fast forward a couple of weeks and a box arrived from Ross with my repaired switch. And, not just repaired, but repaired at no cost! In this era, finding such service is exceptional! Needless to say, I recommend Ross Custom Switches in the highest possible terms! Thanks guys!
Six years ago, I was asked by the publisher of one of the toy train hobby magazines to write an essay on why the use of lamp oil as a smoke fluid in toy train locomotives is dangerous. That essay appeared in an issue of the magazine that year. Over the course of time, sadly, facts are replaced by urban myths and I see in various online venues that the myth of lamp oil is alive and well. In what's probably a forlorn hope of putting this particular urban myth to rest, I've published the essay, in slightly updated form, on my web site. You can read the facts about lamp oil and why it's a very, very bad idea to use it as a smoke fluid HERE.
I have three new things to talk about in this, my first entry for the new year. I got the new MTH Premier CNJ Camelback steam locomotive. Those who have never seen a camelback will probably find it an odd looking beast, with the cab athwart the boiler, but they were pretty common on the anthracite roads. The locomotive had an extra-wide firebox to burn the anthracite and, in fact, had two firebox doors as a result. This new MTH model is a superb reproduction of the original as it appeared during fan trips toward the end of its life. Here's a teaser photo.
Needless to say, I shot a video of this nifty new locomotive pulling a string of just as new Atlas reefers. It's on the Multimedia page of my web site in your choice of video formats and, in lower resolution and quality, on YouTube. Here's the YouTube version:
The Atlas reefers in the video are the eight new ones that I recently received. They're all quite attractive as usual; this one stands out however. They're all on the Atlas Reefers page on my web site.
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