Italian modellers unify italy with youtube

Read the introduction to a great story from Off the Tracks issue 4, then download the magazine to read the rest... and you can watch the video of their creation below!

In Italy there are many model railways, they can be large or small and if we were to put them all together in one room, they would reproduce all the regions of Italy. Model trains are deeply loved by us Italians who build them - just as they are by model railroaders worldwide... they remind people of their childhood... of their past and joy. Of course, it is not always easy, we often have to fight with family and roommates for model space. And of course money is needed. However, these and other factors have not stopped many model railway enthusiasts from Rome to Sicily creating masterpieces. In their efforts you'll see everything from Italian trains to fellow European ones... and even American trains - for those who are daring! In the past many of these model railroads would only have been known to a few through specialist magazines, for example - but now since the advent on the internet, and especially YouTube, many layouts are becoming more and more well-known. Social media allows us to see all types of Italian railways - from their creation right up to the present day; from regional trains to freight trains; from fast expresses to luxury trains ... basically, trains of all sorts. Despite the plethora of great Italian layouts that we can feast our eyes on through the web, there's still a degree of disconnect. Do we really know the men and women behind the layouts? We see them and hear them in their videos but we can't really 'see' them and 'know' them. Could they - and us viewers - really connect? I'm going to tell you of our attempts to create some unity and a shared channel and a way to connect all us YouTubers and Facebookers who have the passion for model railways. It's a story of union, of passion, of fun, but also of fights, because from the meetings between various train-lovers there were quarrels. The idea of creating a YouTube channel with the aim of connecting virtually all these model railroads scattered throughout Italy has remote origins. It was born from the thoughts of some train fans who had the dream of making model railroad film footage par excellence - film that would showcase some of the most beautiful “model-trains’ film” ever made. In Italy, however, as often happens, pessimism is dominant and therefore it was believed that the idea of connecting many Italian model railroads on a single "virtual trip" would fail - there would not be sufficient interested parties, for example. However, a group of train-lovers from every part of Italy, and against all odds, met for the first time in 2013. Their only purpose was that of creating a "train" which would “connect” all the model tracks of Italy. Crucial to this project was YouTube.  ​