Peter's Model Railroading
About
Thank you for visiting my web site. My name is Peter Vanvliet. I live in Houston, Texas. My main hobby is model railroading, and that is the purpose of this web site; to showcase the work I have done over the years. I started off in the 1970s modeling in N-scale (1:160), and switched to S-scale (1:64) in July 2008.
I have had a personal web site up since January 1994, and since August 1999 (when I registered pmrr.org), this web site has been focused on the hobby of model railroading. I also enjoy woodworking, playing the bass guitar, and go bike riding.
The photo on the right is of me doing some switching work on my previous S-scale layout. You can contact me at "peter @ fourthray dot com".
About This Web Site's Menu
"Home Page": takes you back to the main entry page of this web site.
"Prototype": information about the PRR's Chartiers Branch that I model.
"Layout": details and photos of the layout I am building.
"Equipment": all of the S-scale cars and engines that I own.
"Articles": any topics that don't fit in the above, including tools, non-S-scale items, etc.
"Library": information about books and magazine articles I have documented.
"About": some core information about me and this web site.
Getting Started in the Hobby
My inspiration for model railroading started with my parents occasionally taking us to Madurodam in The Hague, The Netherlands. A snapshot photo taken by my Dad in the late-1980s shows my Mom and myself on the right-hand side of the photo. Madurodam is a 1:25-scale model of most major features of Holland. There is lots of action and animation. The "streets" have been enlarged for full-size humans, but you walk right through the towns. I remember in one area, you walk under the train; that was always my favorite "rail-fanning" spot. Ships running in the canals with real water was another big attraction for me, as were the moving automobiles and airplanes. These are some good videos showing the miniature park: video #1, video #2, video #3. If you ever go to Holland, be sure to take a day to visit this park.
The small town where we lived was a major tourist attraction during the summers ("Keukenhof"). During those peak times, passenger trains would stop at our little station. The rest of the year they just flew by. From time to time I would ride my bike to the station and watch the trains.
When I was a young teenager, my parents got me an N-scale Fleischmann train set. Space was in limited supply, so all I had was a 2' x 4' piece of particle board upon which I placed my slowly-growing layout.
Returning Back to the Hobby
When I re-entered the hobby in 1999, I got back into N-scale, and also immediately adopted DCC as my preferred control system. Local modeler, Frank Wyatt, was instrumental in that decision, as he was using that system for his N-scale layout. Several years later, I helped Frank tear down his N-scale layout (yes, that's me in the first photo), and rebuild a very nice HO-scale layout (more info). I built the new benchwork in individual sections so that the layout could, theoretically, be moved. I also did most of the wiring work. Frank did the track design, track installation, and scenery and most of the structures.
Frank was also instrumental in getting me involved in the Northwest Crossing club in Houston, which, at the time, had Z-, N-, and HO-scale divisions. I was in the N-scale division. I eventually became the club's Librarian and webmaster. We participated in all the local train shows. I learned a lot about what it takes to set up train show layouts. I enjoyed the shows, but I didn't like the internal politics, so I left the club in 2002.
Switching Scales
When I switched to S-scale in 2008, I was contacted by Bob Werre (a well-known model layout photographer) to join the Houston S Gaugers. I really liked the relaxed feel of the group. Membership requirements are very strict: just show up! After joining the club, I took on the "job" of webmaster and we created our Houston S Gaugers web site. The club has a modular S-scale layout (code 100 rail, see photo), doing several shows each year. I left the club in 2018, because I was simply running out of hours in the day. Doing train shows takes a lot of time to prepare for, do the set-up, running the trains during the show, tear-down, and clean-up afterwards. Doing a weekend-long show involves me working on it from Thursday through Monday. That's 5 days. And that is ignoring the tiredness and recovery of such a labor-intensive activity. While I loved doing the shows and I really enjoy the group of guys and gals we have in the club, the amount of time the shows take, being self-employed, and then having to catch up on everything else in life after them, just became too much for me. I still maintain the club's web site.
When I switched scales in 2008 (see the photo, comparing the larger S-scale car to the identical smaller N-scale car), I also joined the national organization dedicated to supporting S-scale in all of its flavors, the National Association of S Gaugers (NASG). In December 2011 I was contacted by then-members of the NASG's board to consider taking over the position of webmaster for the NASG web site. I accepted the challenge. Although it does take some of my time away from model railroading, I enjoy maintaining the site and find it very rewarding work. It has now become the defacto S-scale web site.
Since I model the Pennsylvania Railroad, I am a dues-paying member of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society.
Battery-powered Engines
In 2012, I decided to drop my Digitrax DCC system in favor of battery-powered locomotives. This opened up a whole new avenue to explore, and I will never go back to track-powered trains. There is quite a bit of information about that on my web site, so be sure to look for that in the "Articles" section. I chose the Neil Stanton's S-CAB system, but there are other systems out there that are also geared toward battery-powered locomotives. If you model in HO-scale or larger, you should check into this new technology. It removed a lot of frustration factors for me about this hobby.
Published Author
I have written over 40 published articles in such magazines as the 1:64 Modeling Guide, the NASG's The Dispatch, and The S Scale Resource. You can see the list of articles on this page.
My Company
Professionally, I have been employed as a software engineer since 1990, starting as a consultant for a consulting firm (being hired out to a major oil company and a local engineering firm creating Windows software applications for them), and since 2001 I have been operating Fourth Ray Software as my full-time venture. Fourth Ray Software is a commercial software development and publishing company. You can visit the web site to see if there are any software products that you might like. All my software is targeted at the average Windows computer user.
In addition to maintaining this web site and my business' web site, I have also consulted in the development of other web sites, and I am currently the webmaster for these web sites (in parentheses I list what type of site it is, and what I do for it):
- Empire Trackworks (manufacturer's site; design and maintenance)
- Houston S Gaugers (club site; design and maintenance)
- NASG (organization site; design and maintenance)
- New York Central System (hobby site; maintenance only)
- Papa Ben's Train Place (retailer's site; design and maintenance)
- Pre-Size Model Specialities (manufacturer's site; design and maintenance)
- Sidetracks (retailer's site; design)
Awards
During the 2011 National Association of S Gaugers' annual convention in California, I received the "Josh Seltzer" award for this web site you are now viewing. You can read all about the award on the NASG web site, but briefly, it is awarded to those who use their web site to promote S-scale modeling.
During the 2012 NASG Convention in Tennessee, I received the "Josh Seltzer" award for the work I had done on the NASG web site.
Both are shown hanging on the wall in my office.
At the 2012 Convention, I also received the first-ever Trustee's Award, also for the NASG web site.
At the 2018 Convention, I received another Trustee's Award for the work I've been doing for the NASG web site.
At the 2022 Convention, I was honored to receive the Bernie Thomas Memorial Award, which is the highest honor the NASG offers its members, and carries with it a life-time membership.
About This Web Site
Here are some facts about this web site itself. I am all about freedom and privacy.
- This web site contains a lot of articles. All opinions expressed are purely based on my own personal experience. I don't proclaim to be an expert in any of the topics that I discuss on this site; I am just sharing what I've learned. None of the products mentioned are sponsored promotions; they are ones that I have bought and used (successfully, or otherwise), and might give you an idea of where to start. I also don't mind sharing my "failures", as both my "future self" and others might learn from my mistakes.
- I do not use Google's "free" service to track visitors on this web site. Many web sites do, because Google offers a free service to web site owners that provides the web site owners with very personal information about your visits to their web sites, which, of course, Google uses to both track your every move (on every web site so outfitted with their spying logic), and the ability to sell your behavioral data to their advertisers (which is how Google makes their billions, which they then use to bully us and trample on our Constitutional freedoms directly and indirectly). I am NOT willing to be a participant in that, so this site does not use Google's tracking. How do you know if a web site uses Google tracking? Watch the statusbar at the bottom of your web browser as the web site is first being loaded; you will see many hits to "google.com" being reported by your web browser. Alternatively, take a look at the source code of the web site, which will show the calls they make to google.com. If you have a minute, read this page.
- My web site does not use cookies. "Cookies" are small data files that are stored on your computer by your web browser (if implemented by the webmaster) to keep information about your visit to their web site. It might contain any data. Some of the data is harmless, but some may be used to hold personally-identifiable information, or to track your behavior on their web site. In Europe they passed a law requiring web sites to notify the visitor if they use cookies. That is why you see those annoying pop-ups on some sites that have European customers. It is stupid, because it is not like you can turn them off! And, even if they let you turn the notification off, they would have to create a cookie to remember that setting for you! So, your best defense is to set up your web browser to delete cookies and all temporary files when the web browser is closed.
Reality
The following is just my personal opinion. If you don't like it, just ignore it. I am a Constutional Conservative, leaning toward Libertarian.
Since so much of life depends on what those in charge do for, or in most cases, against us, it is important to get actual information and news, not the filtered stuff that legacy media, corrupt politicians, and those committed to totalitarianism want us to believe is the "truth". Here are my sources:
Real Raw News (use its search feature to find the criminal proceedings of all the public figures and their real fate)
Citizen Free Press (does quote legacy media)
The Latest U.S. Government Corruption Uncovered
Tucker Carlson Interviews
Jordan Peterson Interviews
John Stossel Commonsense
The Corruption of the Entire Medical Industry
How The Federal Government Should Keep Us Informed
Democrat "Representatives" Want These People Back in the U.S. WTH
2024: Donald Trump
2028: JD Vance
2032: JD Vance
2036: Tulsi Gabbard
2040: Tulsi Gabbard
2044: Kari Lake/Christi Noem
2048: Kari Lake/Christi Noem
Abolish the United Nations (part of the "One-World" government)
Abolish the World Health Organization (part of the "One-World" government)
Abolish the World Economic Forum (part of the "One-World" government)
Abolish NATO (obsolete old WWII relic)
Abolish the European Union (almost all European countries are now totalitarian regimes, either being controlled by communists or by Islam)
Abolish Islam, as it is the only "religion" that requires all humans to convert to it (i.e. brainwashing), payments (i.e. extortion), or physical death (i.e. murder) as the only three options. Their stated aim is to conquer the world. There is no love, no peace, no tranquility in that "religion", no matter how "moderate" they present themselves (they lie). Do not compromise! Cattle is considered more valuable than women. Who in their right mind thinks this is good!?! Muslims should never be elected to political office in the United States (you can see what happens in the UK); they simply cannot be trusted, as is shown by the handful who have made it to the U.S. Congress; they will always put their religion and their "home country" above the U.S. We are a Christian nation; if a Muslim doesn't like that, they are free to move to a country that supports Islam.
Free the people, world-wide, from tyrannical politicians and religions.
end of rant :-)
Solutions
Term Limits
To root out federal government corruption, we should have a U.S. Constitution amendment that limits each representative to the House and each senator to a maximum of two terms or 10 years, whichever is longer. This limit is the maximum amount anyone can serve, even if they switch between being a senator and a representative. Even good, ethical politicians (there are a few) eventually get corrupted by the system, so we need to do them a favor and not allow them to go down that path.
All federal government bureaucrats (those whom we don't get to elect directly), must be limited to a maximum life-time service of 10 years. Being in the government is supposed to be a service to your fellow citizens, not a life-time career. This would eliminate the current reality that the bureaucrats actually run the government, over whom the citizens have no control right now.
Campaign Finance
There should be a managed fund set up for each position for which one or more candidates can run. Any U.S. citizen or corporation can freely donate to any such race as much as they want, but the moneys go to the general fund for that position. The funds are then equally distributed (on a timely basis) to each of the candidates running for that position. That is the maximum amount of money that they are allowed to use to promote their campaign. All moneys in and out are a matter of public record (what it ultimate gets spent on can be private to the campaign). This eliminates the possibility of any one candidate getting vastly more funds then another candidate, and thus winning just because of their funding. It also makes it possible for a third (or fourth) party candidate to run, because, in the current system, they cannot accumulate the funding that the traditional Republican and Democrat parties can accumulate. It would make each position an even playing field, and the voter winds up having an actual say in who wins. It will also start us on the path of moving away from party-affiliation (which should eventually be eliminated altogether; you vote for the person based on his/her character and past results and experiences, not based on which party-affiliation they are beholden to). Since candidates can only spend what they have been awarded, there is no debt to recover from when a candidate looses. It eliminates all of the corruption that is currently taking place with campaign financing.