Online Model Railroad Show

[RRFilmie]

Hello Fellow Modelers!

I'm a producer for an Emmy-Award winning production company and we are currently developing a show for the model railroad communities. We would have an expert host who would probably travel the country (and possibly the globe) to meet layout owners to discuss their layouts, trains, and interest in the hobby, as well as advice and how-to's.

Our goal is to develop a high quality online video for layout enthusiasts. From my research, I can see that you are all very interested in seeing each others work and share videos and pictures constantly, but I wonder if you wouldn't be opposed to a high quality (most likely High Definition) version of this, with the addition of expert advice and discussions.

So I'm here to get your opinions and advice on developing this idea further.

We would like to provide the program for free online, with advertising on various sites and in various magazines, allowing you to click and view on demand.

Does this sound interesting to you and could we build some enthusiasm for such a project? Again, we'd be using high quality cameras to get to the gritty passion of layout building.

Please let me know what you think about our program and any ideas or opinions about what kind of topics we could have our expert delve into. I'm open to hearing all of your comments!

Thanks, Rachel

 

[jbaakko]

Sounds like a plan, but you're going to be up against a well known name in the model railroad world. Model Railroader is working on something to the effect.

 

[NIevo]

I think it would be a great idea. I am constantly on You-Tube watching video's but hate the quality. Only problem I see is with the download time of High Def video's. Alot of people on here still have dial-up because all there money goes to the hobby I have DSL now but just switched from dial-up myself. I would personally like to see a TV program like this. Tracks Ahead on PBS was ok but it is hardly ever on and not dedicated just to model railroading.

 

[Raton Bob]

I'd be very interested in watching videos, especially downloadable high-quality high-def clips (streaming video is a no-go).

Topics I'd be most interested in are theories of layout design, overcoming layout obstacles, and multiple-train operations.

 

[RRFilmie]

Online Video

Model Railroader is working on something to the effect.

Thanks for the feedback! Do you mean ModelRailroader.com? Do you know if they are already in production? Because they will be a large competitor for sure!

-Rachel

 

[UP2CSX]

Rachel,
ModelRailroader.com's parent corporation is Kalmbach and they are working on the same type of layout tour concept. The difference is it wouldn't be free although there haven't been any official announcements yet.

Assuming Kalmbach goes ahead with their plan, a major hurdle will be exclusivity. I'm fairly certain that you would make the owner of a model railroad sign some kind of agreement not to allow another company to produce a video of his layout for some period of time and I assume Kalmbach would do the same.

Advertising supported free videos would certainly have an appeal to me but Kalmbach already has huge presence, both on-line and in print. You would have to be able to get your presence know to the MR community and that won't be cheap. In addition, I suspect that both of your companies would want to film the same layouts since there are not a huge number of really famous layouts in the MR community. Compensation would play a role, I'm sure, but most model railroaders would rather be featured in a Kalmbach produced video rather than by a company which is not as well known in the hobby.

I like your idea and hope it can work out but there are some major challenges ahead for it to succeed.

 

[RRFilmie]

Kalmbach Videos

Thank you very much for that information! We will certainly have to look into their potential project. I'm glad I posted on here, as I haven't found anything about this in my own research, but who knows better than the MR community itself?

Thanks again, and let me know if you have any further thoughts!

Cheers,
Rachel

 

[jbaakko]

I think it would be great to have a free one, and assuming so, MR's would most likely be a paid item, time will only tell.

I'd say go for it, and see what you can do. If it fails, then dumping the video's on youtube would be cool!

 

[Raton Bob]

In addition, I suspect that both of your companies would want to film the same layouts since there are not a huge number of really famous layouts in the MR community.

Speaking for myself, I'd be more interested in smaller layouts, one-man operations, home layouts, and unknown layouts. The 'famous' layouts can already be seen anywhere - in person, online, and in magazines.

And I'd certainly be more interested in free downloadable episodes than subscription-based programs.

Good Luck!

 

[NIevo]

Speaking for myself, I'd be more interested in smaller layouts, one-man operations, home layouts, and unknown layouts. The 'famous' layouts can already be seen anywhere - in person, online, and in magazines.

And I'd certainly be more interested in free downloadable episodes than subscription-based programs.

Good Luck!

+1 I agree that there are a handful of layouts that everyone in the world who is into Model Railroading has seen. I would love to see some smaller or less known layouts that haven't been "discovered" yet.

 

[EvoMan454]

Yes I'm up for this idea but you should try to do this before MR does. Once they start you will have a hard time catching up since all of the MR fans (Almost all of the model railroad community) will like what they do. But if you get a head start you'll have a better chance. Besides alot of people enjoy seeing home layouts for more ideas vs club layouts since nobody will be constructing a club layout in there home.

 

[bjdukert]

Modelrailroader has the Dream-Plan-Build series of DVD's that show the different layouts as well as the How To's and your plan would be interesting as it would be from a different view point. I would like to see more of the How To's and go with more detail into it than the other series does.

 

[MilesWestern]

It certianly does sound like an interesting and informative idea, and there's plenty of model railroaders out there from whom to draw information, layout tours, and advice.

I do however must ask the following from you:
-Where are you based out of?
-Where's the Money? (Revenue to cover all the travel expenses etc?)
-Would people on here be familiar with your emmy-award winning shows?

-Also a few tips:
-I think you should have a rotating host, perhaps the most prominent of the local modelers to host the show in the are you're shooting in, dedicated and interested in the layout or person that he wants to visit.
-Not many modelers have radio announcer's voices, or actor's good looks (although quite a few well known modelers are in the entertainment industry), so be ready with a really good voice-over person that has a pleasant voice and no regional accent.
-I also suggest that you put alot of variety into your shows. (example) Show a layout that depicts florida in the same episode you could talk about washington's rich history of logging operations in the 1900's.
- In most cases I would steer clear of how-to's unless they're REALLY unique. Most aspects of model railroading could NOT be done in a cooking-show style format.

If you need any more help, please contact me via Private message on this site. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

[OldGettysk]

Would be a great idea . Just will have to see how things play themselves out . There is an awfull lot of critique in some circles .

 

[HaggisKennedy]

Isn't there a guy who already did something like this? He was wandering around the NMRA Convention in Cincy back in '05. I vaguely remember some kind of discussion somewhere about what he was doing. I know he was active on one of the online groups, but can't remember which one.

I think his show was on some public access channel somewhere, or one of the higher digital locations.

Kennedy