"Friendly Fridays... Hello again, old friend!"

I guess I have a love-hate relationship with Model Railroader magazine. On the one hand, we go way back to my formative years in the hobby when I was gleaning everything I possibly could and was attracted to every era, every geographic locale and every road name. But things evolve and readers like me begin to define our likes and dislikes and move from novice to something beyond.

I have subscribed on and off for years and just signed up after going MR-free in 2015. I do not envy editors and publishers of print media in this day and age of online overload where every yahoo (pun intended) can allegedly disseminate expert information, helpful advice or entertaining anecdotes to anyone who will listen via blogs, websites, YouTube, Facebook, etc. (Yes, I do see the irony here!)

But Model Railroader marches on, trying to appeal to newcomers while holding on to established hobbyists. It can't be easy. And losing a beloved icon like Andy Sperandeo recently doesn't help. But a new columnist has been named to carry on the monthly operations feature and he's a real good, knowledgeable guy!

It was good to hold the magazine in my hands again, but immediately based on the cover and bonus insert, I wondered if my interests had passed it by... or was MR trying to tell me something? But there was neat news inside. A buddy was becoming a regular columnist.



New operations columnist Jerry Dziedzic (center) joined our road trip a few years back. Here Jim Dalberg appears to be selling something at Kip Grant's D&H Sonnyvale Branch that Jerry just isn't buying. But Jerry's true entertainment value on that trip was seeing him wind up Tony Koester over each night's dining arrangements... just for the fun of it.



Jerry's own basement empire is the multi-deck HO scale New York, Susquehanna & Western that fully occupies the approximate 25' x 40' space. His three staging areas are in a separate room that is about the size of my entire layout! It is fully operational and awaiting scenery. The design and fabrication of his unique pivot-lift-gates using drawer glides mounted vertically was featured in the May 2014 issue of Model Railroader.

I haven't known Jerry too long and haven't spent that much time with him. But the time we have had together has always been very enjoyable, whether it's that road trip, or operating on the Susquehanna or just having craft beers and Jersey cheese steaks at the historic inn down the road from his home.

 

He is currently helping me with some roadbed decisions I need to make which I expect to cover in a future post. But for now, I wish my newer friend the best in his exciting endeavor. Jerry's column will debut in the April 2016 issue of that older friend. Check it out.

 -30-

 

   BONUS:  JUST  ONE  MORE  THING  BEFORE  WE  GO...  

 

Jerry is a retired chemical engineer who winters in Colorado with his wife Laura. They serve as guides with the Breckenridge Ski School and are very active in the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance. He thoughtfully sent along a photo of "the view from my office"...  Nice!