John D’Angelo and friend.

Al: We’re closing in on the completion of our fourth full year of publishing what began as Virtual Model Railway Journal, became Virtual Railroader e-magazine and is now the VR Reading Room. During that time we have published around 250 articles from various authors and built a collection of add-ons for various train simulators. It’s been a great ride – one I hope will continue for many years. One of the things that has made it such a joy for me has been working alongside John D’Angelo. (As in many things virtual, I have never met John face-to-face, but have been in constant touch with him since he jumped on board following the release of our first issue of VMRJ in January 2004.)

John has a knack for keeping his articles short, focused, and interesting. Perhaps it’s related to his many years as a TV production manager for NBC in New York, or maybe it’s just his way of looking at things that keeps the boy in him alive. In any case, his enthusiasm for trains of all kinds – real, model, virtual – comes through in his writing and creation of add-on routes for Trainz. This is, after all, a hobby. And hobbies are all about having fun doing something you enjoy. The activity and enjoyment are the goals here and John excels at it.

For those unfamiliar, John has, along with numerous how-to articles, been handling all our interview articles and created his own series of "Download Gold" articles. You’ll see his byline on countless articles here from the past four years.

It’s long past time for everyone to get to know John a little better. So without further delay, here’s JOHN:

John: Ooooops, is that spotlight on me? It’s a funny feeling being at the other end of an interview, but I’ll try my best.

The Early Days

I spent my early days traveling across the country on trains because my dad was a high ranking officer in the U.S. Army during WWII. As his assignments moved him across the country, my mom, my sister and I traveled in trains during the height of the steam years.

Once we traveled from Pennsylvania Station to Chicago in the middle of winter. I remember that our train had a GG1 electric locomotive pulling our string of heavyweight Pullman cars. As I watched the snow coming down while we quietly rolled out of the tunnel, the steam heat in our sleeper car hissed gently. I quickly fell asleep listening to the Doppler effect of crossing gate bells as we traveled along in the night. I was awakened in the middle of the night as the train rocketed through the darkness at high speed, the Pullman car whipping from side to side and the wheels clattering. Up ahead was a Pennsylvania Railroad K4s 4-6-2 thundering through the dark night, sparks and smoke flying into the air. As we hit the curves I could see and hear that beautiful engine pounding along into the night as snow whipped by the window. Unforgettable!

When we arrived in Chicago, we had a layover of two days because civilian rail travel during WWII was spotty. We were due to catch a train to San Antonio, Texas where my Dad was waiting for us. We stayed in a hotel near the train yard and I could hear the chuffing and whistles in the yard all during the night. For a four-year-old little boy, it was an adventure that became etched in my mind.

I did not see my first Diesel locomotive until after the war. We boarded a train bound for Florida and the Seaboard Lines engine was an F7 diesel. I stood in the vestibule of our car with the conductor, and as he called “All aboard!” I leaned forward to brace myself against the opening jolt of the locomotive. The conductor said “Oh no, son, this engine’s a Diesel! You don’t have to do that.” I relaxed my stance and the train smoothly pulled out of the station without the slightest jolt. I said “Well, I’ll be darned!” and he smiled at me and said “Man, you really are a pro!”

Railroading is also in my blood because my grandfather was a conductor for the Long Island Railroad in the early 1900s. Unfortunately, he passed away before I was born and I never had the chance to talk to him.

Toy Trains and Models

Following the war I became involved in building my layouts with American Flyer toy trains. By the time the fifties started I had amassed a nice collection of American Flyer running gear and accessories. When I went away to school, my dad decided to give away my American Flyer collection and they were all lost to me, including that great Union Pacific Northern 4-8-4 and the Santa Fe Chief with the Alco PA and PB diesels.

After I married Kathleen, and we owned our own home, I built an HO gauge model RR in our basement. I used two power packs and block wiring for interesting operation. I based it on the look of the Gorre & Daphetid, although it was much smaller than John Allen’s classic. It was named the Rock Bottom Railroad. I studied layout design by reading book after book on the subject and John Armstrong’s books were a great help to me. I also did some Lionel collecting during this time and had a simple Lionel layout for the running of the equipment. When we retired and moved to our new home, a basement railroad became out of the question. All the gear was sold and I became a train hobbyist without a train!

Computer to the Rescue

The very first computer program I used for simulating railroading was Build your own RR by Abracadata. It was a very simple two-dimensional program with the view from directly overhead. You could move a train around a layout you created. The “train” was made up of simple symbols for the different cars and the train moved with a clicking sound. This was the Neanderthal of virtual railroading.

When Trainz was announced, I felt that this might be something that I could enjoy working with and I purchased the first edition of Trainz. From that day on, I was hooked! Here was a computer program that allowed me to model railroads in 3D with excellent animation. The Surveyor mode allowed me to build routes quite easily and I was able to put to use all the years of experience I had with layout design.

There was another aspect of the hobby that I wanted to pursue. I wanted to share my work with others and began submitting routes to the Trainz Download Station (DLS).


Arrival at Central Terminal.

The United Central route was my first effort and I created updates and additions to it as Trainz came out with new versions. I also designed the Black Canyon narrow gauge route and that creation has been around in a number of configurations. With my full permission, friends of mine have incorporated the original Black Canyon into their own routes. I’ve lost count of the routes that I’ve created that are still at the DLS in all versions of Trainz.

Then came the capper! I saw a notice on the Trainz forum from Al Barten about his new online magazine, Virtual Model Railway Journal (VMR Journal), and I thought that perhaps I could contribute articles. I really enjoy writing, and I wrote an article for Al to look over. He liked what I wrote, and I have been contributing articles to him ever since.

Lately I have combined route design and writing. I have been creating routes in TRS2006 that have little or no custom items, accompanied by an article describing them for publication at the VR Reading Room. I wanted people to be able to use the routes without having to add a ton of extras, and these routes exhibit that “Zen” approach. Al has made them available as free downloads at the Virtual Railroader Downloads page, and I hope folks enjoy them.


Portland to Boston route in winter.

I enjoy experimenting with AI (Artificial Intelligence) and working out solutions for the movement of trains. Sometimes having to overcome some crazy engineer who just has to go the wrong way is frustrating, but it is also fun.


Altoona 2004 route in winter.

As we head into 2008, I see a bold new world of virtual railroading ahead of us and I wish all of you and the folks at Auran great times in the years ahead!

John

Al: Thanks, John. We’ll be watching for insightful your observations and imaginative creations as the new year unfolds. There’s a rumor afloat that will you have a Christmas present ready for us all come December 1st or there abouts. Stay tuned, everyone!

Al

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�2007 Alfred Barten and John D'Angelo. All rights reserved.