Welcome to Around The Layout Podcast
Join us as we talk to model railroaders just like you and learn about their beginnings, challenges, accomplishments
and the things they love about our hobby. Come hang out with us Around The Layout and be inspired to create your own model railroading story to share.
Ray Arnott -
Show Host & Creator
Although he loved trains from a young age, Ray got a relatively late start in the model railroading hobby. He grew up with a Tyco Chattanooga HO scale train set, but space restrictions in his childhood home kept the trains in a box for many years. After a few years of attempting to build a small layout, he joined a local club where he met his mentor, the late Michael DeBoise. Mike took Ray under his wing, introduced him to operations, helped connect him to a great group of modelers, and got him hooked on this fantastic hobby.
Together, Mike and Ray would create the Providence & Worcester and New England Central Railroad Interchange Model Railroad - a roughly 2’ x 18’ switching layout in the basement of Ray’s home. Ray belongs to the Tri-State Railroaders, an operating group that comprises of 8 operating layouts, including his, in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Inspired by the casual conversations at operating sessions, group functions and pandemic-era virtual gatherings, Ray has created “Around The Layout” to allow model railroaders of all levels to share their passion for the hobby.
Paul Cassar -
Executive Producer
Paul has been involved on both prototypical and model railroads for over
50 years. As a child he developed a passion for trains and commenced
with a HO layout during school years. As he entered adult life came
marriage, work in Railroad signaling and children. Later in life Paul
reentered model railroading with an N scale layout based on Missouri
Pacific.
In 2014, with a house move, the N scale layout was dismantled
and sold to fund a move to HO scale and the build of the current layout,
the Riverbelt Line. The Riverbelt line is a proto-freelanced shelf layout loosely based on the MoPac, Norfolk and Western and the MKT interchanging in the Kansas area.
Paul is also active in social media and is the administrator for the
Facebook group HO Scale Shelf Modelers with over 13K members. He was the
4th to appear on the Around the layout podcast and continues to
contribute to the podcast behind the scenes.
Don Irace -
Co-Host, Talking Ops With Don Irace
Don is a well known figure in the world of model railroading, particularly known for his creation of highly operational and realistic layouts. Don, along with his father Dick, created the well-known Providence & Worcester HO scale layout in his home in Scituate, Rhode Island. In 22 years, this layout grew to cover the entire basement of his home. With an operating crew of 15, Don hosted operations every Thursday night for many years, totaling nearly 800 sessions!
When Don retired, he first planned on a small switching layout in a spare bedroom. However, his desire to host operations and share his railroad led him to purchase a 12x20 shed for his new home in Sebastian, Florida. Don created a new take on the Providence & Worcester, rich with operations and capable of keeping a crew of 5 busy for hours.
Don’s passion for realistic operations and helping others achieve the enjoyment he has received from the hobby has brought him to co-host the monthly “Talking Ops With Don Irace” episodes. Don brings his vast knowledge of model railroad operations to the conversation as he and host Ray Arnott hear from other model railroaders about their love of simulating the real thing.
You can find more about Don’s Providence & Worcester on his YouTube channel and Facebook page.