Railroad magazine used to have a regular feature highlighting an "Interesting Railfan". I thought I would run a similar series with some railfans who have agreed to participate. I'm asking each railfan 10 questions, some standard and some customized for the particular person. I hope you enjoy it. (See all in the series)
William Brillinger is a modeler who lives near Altona, Manitoba. I had the pleasure of operating on his layout once (so far) and he graciously agreed to answer my 10 questions. In a great twist, his wife Dana also answered the questions on his behalf. I've included her responses afterward.
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I grew up in a hardware store in a small town in Southern Ontario. I worked in a hobby shop in Kitchener for a number of my teenage years and later moved to Manitoba to work for Promotex. I am self-employed and work mostly in the model railroad industry, which is great because I get to spend most of my days playing with something train related - I manufacture a
line of laser cut model railroad detail parts. When I’m not playing with trains, I’m in IT and website development. I’m 43 years old and my wife, 2 teenage children, and I live just outside of Altona, MB.
2. Why do you like trains?
I wish I knew. I have always been fascinated with trains. I got my first “real” train set and a subscription to Model Railroader when I was 7 years old from my uncle who was a train nut. I also spent a considerable amount of time around the rail yards in Kitchener and London as a teenager. ...but I still can’t explain why I like trains.
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| CN 5320 in Emerson, MB, June 2011 |
3. Where's your favourite place to railfan?
Pretty much anywhere, but mostly I enjoy watching the happenings along the
Letellier Sub in southern Manitoba since it has a direct impact on my modelling choices.
4. Would you consider yourself a modeller, a railfan, or somewhere in between?
I’ve always considered myself in between, but when I really think about this question, I have to say railfanning is a means to an end: my modelling, so I suppose that makes me a modeler.
5. Why did you choose the CN Letellier / BNSF Noyes area to model?
I chose the Letellier sub because CN is my first love in the Railroad world and it’s close enough to where I live that I could gather information easily. Little did I know when I chose it how diverse this little connector line would be.
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| Engelhart, ON, June 1992 |
6. What's your favourite railway?
Well, here it comes. I have to betray my first love and say the
Ontario Northland of the 80’s is hands down my favourite Railway. The breathtaking scenery, diverse operations and a stand out paint scheme really captured my attention during yearly fishing trips with my dad when I was a kid, and it would have been the focus of my current layout if it were a little easier to get to from Altona.
In model form, I think my favorite railway is Mike Confalone’s Allagash. His series showcased in
Model Railroad Hobbyist is inspirational to me.
7. What attracts you to the operations aspect of model railroading?
Trains are part of a large complicated system that I find fascinating and moving freight is why they exist. Replicating this system in miniature gives my models believability and I find it immersive. Without aiming for realistic feeling operations, I feel like my toys are reduced to just that… toys.
8. What model would you love to see?
A decent RTR SD40-2W would be nice.
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| Bill's app in progress |
9. What projects are you working on?
Right now I am working on an APP for the conductors on my 2 man crews to use. The app holds paperwork such as timetables, rules, dbo’s, spins info and zone maps, and simulates brake tests, border crossing procedures and other tasks that people use chance cards or dice rolls to incorporate into op sessions. The app also provides sound effects pertinent to the conductor’s job such as coupler clunks and stretches, among others. It’s web based and there will be a generic version that anyone is free to use.
10. Is there anything better than Allagash Lemon Cake after running trains?
Nope.
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BONUS - Bill's wife responds for him!
AND THIS IS HOW MY WIFE ANSWED THESE QUESTIONS FOR ME… (Interjections in brackets by Bill.)
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am an Ontario refugee living in Manitoba. They have been very welcoming but I hate the cold; it makes my hair fall out. Since I like things to happen, I am always busy; directing my family, employee, and committees to complete tasks well. Some things however I’ve got to take care of myself. I built my own house (with some help), and I like to build my own detail parts for my layout. I like the process, so currently I enjoy the plywood prairie running around my office. My kids occasionally come to check up on my progress, or some neat thing I’ve just invented, and my wife comes along trainspotting i.e. taking video of entire trains, recording clunks, or scenery photos, if I promise Chinese food in Emerson. I inherited “Art” from my mom and “Computer” from my dad, so I was well suited to deliver pizza early in my marriage, which has since morphed into a tidy IT business, and hobby focused detail parts business, and the ability to paint. I participate in the online model railroad community and enjoy bringing the rail equipment I photograph to exacting perfection in HO scale.
2. Why do you like trains?
They are like thunder, harnessed power, directed to a useful, orderly, and efficient purpose. OK, I sat on a signal catwalk while a train rumbled by beneath me, and it was awesome!
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| Paperwork on Bill's BNML layout |
3. Where's your favourite place to railfan?
In Manitoba I like to hang out near the Emerson/Noyes crossing. The BNSF, CN, CP, and SOO can be spotted and often recorded while stopped for customs or crew change. Of course the US customs officers get annoyed if they think you are too interested in their VACIS system. Also the Chinese restaurant is pretty good and my wife will come along.
4. Would you consider yourself a modeller, a railfan, or somewhere in between?
I consider myself a modeller. I plan to build my own specialty pieces with materials labelled, styrene and thou, with evil smelling solvents, paints, and glues. When working with purchased rolling stock, I measure wheel spacing, replace couplers, cut off inaccurate parts, and make custom decals. Eventually, perhaps using my fantastic laser cutter, I plan to build my own buildings for my layout. Of course, the amount of time I spend trackside for “research”, throws me into the railfan category among my family.
5. Why did you choose the CN Letellier / BNSF Noyes area to model?
The CN Letellier / BNSF Noyes area is diverse, not crowded, with steady traffic, and close to home. BNML trains squeeze through the border with CP & SOO which makes for an interesting puzzle when transferred to the plywood prairie.
6. What's your favourite railway?
My favorite railway is the GNR.
(Ha! She’s just guessing!)
7. What attracts you to the operations aspect of model railroading?
Solving the switching puzzles efficiently is challenging and fun but it’s running the layout, bells, whistles, switches, delays, pick-ups, deliveries, and paper work issues really make the experience engrossing.
8. What model would you love to see?
I would really like to see a model of the caboose I scratch built many years ago. Also an HO loco model that doesn’t need so many adjustments to make it respectably prototypical would be fantastic.
(She nailed it here.)
9. What projects are you working on?
Currently I am working on laser cut hooks, shackles, binders, switch machines and card boxes for sale… And lighting and wiring on the plywood BNML. Fascia is next.
10. Is there anything better than Allagash Lemon Cake after running trains?
Allagash Lemon Cake is fantastic and my wife hasn’t messed it up, but there are things which are better.
(Oh yeah? Name two!)
Steve here. Thanks, Dana, and thanks again for the delicious Allagash Lemon Cake!
