Lance Mindheim

Lance Mindheim's Los Angeles Junction Railway, Lance Mindheim photo.

Here is someone that I personally think can get more folks into the hobby thanks to his layout design ideas & how to model the prototype: Lance Mindheim. 

He helped me to focus on the PRR's Cambridge Secondary Track through his writings (as opposed to other areas on the Delmarva that I originally planned to model - although I could do so at a later date).

I see Lance as one (of many) forward thinkers out there in our hobby. He suggests that you model what you know & slow down movement & shifting on your layout – much like the prototype railroads do today (& have done so in the past).

I can agree with this because I can personally attest that to just set-out one car from a train takes about 20 minutes. You have to take into account for stopping the train, setting handbrakes (& now testing the effectiveness of the handbrakes), making the cut, pulling clear of the customer's switch, lining the switch, spotting the car, tying the handbrake on the car (& testing the handbrake), pulling clear of the switch, doubling back up to the train, charging the air brake system back up, a brake test for air line continuity, & taking off the handbrakes - all prior to departing the customer.

In the real world, this averages 20 minutes - trust me.

His website can be found here:

http://lancemindheim.com/

Here is his blog on his website:

http://lancemindheim.com/contact/