Meet Dave Casdorph – Part Two

Editor’s Note: We hope you read and enjoyed Part One of our profile of Dave Casdorph, the newest member of Atlas’ Research & Development Team. If not, we urge you to learn more about his fascinating background before proceeding with this next installment.

While creating dioramas in HO, Dave Casdorph models N Scale at home; although he hasn’t had a chance to set up a new layout yet. At Atlas, he works in HO, N and O Scales. Before leaving California for New Jersey, he had an entire room dedicated to a U-shaped, two-track mainline with two yards and a long passing side, on which he ran “a lot of modern intermodal trains.” That’s a reflection of his all-inclusive approach to model railroading. Dave is not married to any one road or scale, preferring a wide range of roads, styles and eras.

“Everyone perceives their hobby their own way, but some restrict their interests to one railroad,” Dave said. “I’m interested in all of it, including railroads in Japan, Germany, Sweden and more. In my position, I like to be objective and that, (modeling in only one road or scale), would be detrimental to my job.”

Dave Casdorph braves the wilds of Cajon Pass in San Bernadino County, California in his 4x4 to chase trains for future reference.

In addition to his extensive writing projects, Dave is equally well known for his real world railroad photography, which focuses primarily on freight cars. He photographs constantly, at shows he attends around the country and even on vacation.

“I have thousands of photos from all over the world,” he related. “Over the years, I’ve had some humorous encounters with police asking what I’m doing, especially since 9-11 as security has tightened. When policemen ask ‘why’, I reply, ‘Do you go to baseball games – why?’ Everyone thinks from their own perspective. Some people think model railroaders are weird, but they are no weirder than anyone else with avocations. I never go on private property without permission, but I’ve occasionally been prevented from taking photos. Most often I get told I’m in a bad neighborhood and it’s my own security they are concerned about. I see it as a first amendment issue.”

“Once in Green Bay, Wisconsin, I was confronted by a cop who said it was an issue of my safety,” Dave continued. “I told him, ‘Sir, I’ve been working in East L.A. for a long time and this is a primo neighborhood to me.’ If I’m asked to leave, I do, but I still think it’s no different than taking photos at a sporting event.”

Dave’s photos have made his new Atlas Modeler, a monthly online publication available exclusively on the Atlas website, extremely popular with serious model railroaders, and Dave is grateful for the massively positive response it immediately received, and continues to receive.

“I wanted to do something that was frequent and corresponded with Atlas product releases,” Dave explained. “My goal was to coordinate with the monthly releases, at least to some degree, to support the products with prototypical information. Other model railroad manufacturers put their products out there and expect the customers to buy and know whether the products have merit. Many modelers don’t get out to see the trains. They are armchair modelers who would like to know more and can’t for one reason or another. We can provide the background, as well as show why we sometimes can’t copy the prototype exactly. This gives modelers a better idea of how a model is made and the limitations we sometimes face. We want to make them to learn as much as possible about the products we make.”

Dave explained that freight car prototyping didn’t become popular until the 1980s, as most train photographers were shooting primarily locomotives. The cost of film at the time made it even more prohibitive. With the introduction of digital photography, Dave’s vast collection of freight car photos continues to grow, and he now gets photos sent to him over the internet from all over the world, providing Atlas with expanded opportunities to offer its customers an even wider, more “colorful” and more interesting range of products.

“Atlas is indeed fortunate to have someone of Dave's caliber helping to make our models come alive with their high level of accuracy and detail,” said CEO Thomas W. Haedrich. “On a more personal level, I believe all of us here at Atlas enjoy Dave's quick smile and sense of humor.”

Never one to rest on his laurels, Dave plans to work toward a doctorate in botany, seeing that as an extension of his overall interest in science and biology. It will be just another hat to hang on his rack of ever-growing accolades and achievements. With Dave Casdorph on the staff, Atlas’ legions of fans worldwide can expect great things; and a few happy surprises along the way.