Who We Are

The Cast and Crew Of North American Locomotive Works
(in their own words...)

Jens-Chris Baerenz

Currently in 10th of the "Albertus" High School in Lauingen. I'm a Train-Fan since my dad played with our "N" scale model railraod. Since on American layouts you have more to do (like switching, yard work, etc.) I like this more than german layouts, on which the trains are only running in circles, and running, and running. My favorite railroads are Union Pacific, Santa Fe, Burlington Northern, CSX, Amtrak, Chicago and NorthWestern and Rio Grande. I wish I could visit the USA and get into a "newer generations" loco, e.g. C44-9W or SD70MAC, to take pictures of it and to put the head outside the window, while the engineer is reaching 74 mph. *dreaming*
My system specifications (Dell Dimension 4300 with a few add-ons): Pentium 4, 1,6 GHz, 256 MB SDRAM, 40 GB HD, Soundblaster Live! 4.1 Soundcard, GeForce3 64MB DDR Ti200, Ethernet Link Network Card 100, 80Watt Speaker System. My MSTS is running on a 1600x1200 resolution on my 19' monitor. Job at NALW : 3D designing and Paintshop

Emil (Buzz) Benz III

a.k.a. Buzz (been called that since i was born - NO one calls me Emil...) (Principal Modeler and 3d Designer). Born in St. Louis, MO, in 1976, and still live here to this day. I have an Associate Degree in Computer Networking Technology from Ranken Technical College, and am currently employed by AT&T. I work for their WorldNet Managed Internet Service. My specialty is Cisco Routers and the TCP/IP protocol, over T1, FT1, T3, OC3, OC12, FastEthernet, ATM, and Frame Relay. I am also proficient in the Windows OS and PC hardware, with some experience with Novell NetWare. I also worked for Henze's Hobby House, a shop dealing primarily in HO trains.
I am married and have one child, and a second one on the way. I have been interested in railroading since as long as i have been alive. My specific interest is Amtrak, especially from the 1980 - 1994 era (before the Genesis killed off the F40). I also have a big Flight Simulator fan, and enjoy aviation in general (though i'll take a train any day!)
System Specs: Custom Built - AMD AthlonXP 1700+, Shuttle AK31A Motherboard, 512 MB DDR RAM, 64MB GeForce3 Ti200, SoundBlaster Live! Value sound, 40GB WD 7200 RPM IDE HD running both Win98SE and WinXP, 30GB WD 7200 RPM HD containing files accessible by both OS's, Matshita 32X CD/DVD Drive, Sony Spressa 32/8/4 CD-RW drive, RealMagic Hollywood Plus DVD Decoder card, Remote Control for the card, Brother MFC 7160 Fax/Scanner/Printer/Message Center, and i connect to the 'net via a Telepath 56K modem. Currently my visual experience is brought to me via a Gateway EV700 17" monitor, while my audio is through a 3pc. Boston Acoustics speaker set.

Graeme Cox (aka SamSpade)

Born 1954 in Adelaide South Australia. Have always lived in Adelaide except for a year spent travelling Britain and Europe on a shoestring.
My father worked for the SAR (South Australian Railways) starting in the days of steam and working through the big diesels ending up minding passengers on the metropolitan Railcars. Spent most of the last 20 years working as an Information Technology Officer for the Australian Federal Public Service. This 'experience' covered operating an ICL minicomputer system, PC-based Network maintenance, Database Management (both PC and mini), IT Training, PABX monitoring, Programming in various ( probably dead by now ) languages and of course the ubiquitous Help Desk roles. Currently I provide Services Administration for a South Australian based OEM, Protech Australasia. I make sure that people and equipment get to clients when it's supposed to. Protech is a business partner with the likes of Compaq and EDS.

Harold Clitheroe

A.K.A. "HAC" was born in 1950, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I'm part of the NALW Paint Shop. I've been with Canadian Pacific Railway for 29 years and am currently living in Calgary, Alberta and doing project mangementin the Information Systems department at CPR. I'm also a third generation CPR man, which should explain why until teaming up with NALW, all my MSTS stuff has been CPR. I've also got the only official license from CPR to distribute "official" MSTS CPR skins, and have worked with both Train Artisan and Maple Leaf Tracks to help them get CPR content out to the public. I'm married and have two children, both grown. My son works at CP as well, making it 4 generations of CPR family. I was involved in the 2816 restoration product, and one of my proudest CPR possessions is my "2816 Support Crew" lapel pin. I have always been interested in railroads, although with a severe CPR bias. I've been across the country a couple times on the "Canadian" when CPR still had passenger services and gave out passes. One of the things I enjoy doing in MSTS is weathering. You may have seen my "beat-up boxcars" series on Train-sim.com.When I'm not skinning, my hobbies include watch collecting ,horseback riding, and mucking about with computers..

Matt Cyr

I was born in 1983, in Kenora Ontario, Canada. I am currently working part-time and am hoping to hire on at Canadian Pacific in the distant future if they ever start hiring. I have always been interested in trains ever since I could remember. I have done some HO scale modelling which I sort of lost interest due to lack of space and costs. My dad has been working for CP for 22 years and is currently setup as an engineer. I have been able to go on a couple of train rides with him and hopefully some more in the future! I think I am very lucky to have a father that works for the railway he has answer many of my questions about trains and the railway. I also like to ask how his trip was and sit down and hear about how it went which to me always sounds exciting. Some of my other hobbies other than MSTS are hunting, fishing, snow machining and shooting sports ( trap and skeet and some rifle shooting).

Matt Donnelly

Born in Auburn NY 1981 (and still living here). Student in college going for a 4 year degree in Business Administration. I also work part time and have a scholarship for my grades and good work ethics. Amtrak is the railroad I am interested in, especially the 1990 - current stuff. I am a locomotive horn enthusiast and collector, with digital recording capability.

Kelley Ellison
Hi!! My name is Kelley D. Ellison. I am a almost 35 year old man who LOVES trains!! I live in a small midwest town in Northern Illinois called Cherry Valley. I have lived her all of my life. I grew up less than 100 yards from the C&NW's West Chicago-Freeport, Il mainline, although it was Rockford-West Chicago from the mid-80's on. I also am 30 miles from one of the most famous railfan locations in the world-Rochelle, Il. where the C&NW-CB&Q (Now UP-BNSF) mainlines cross.
   I grew up watching ALL types of railroading right out my window so to speak. From Grainger branchlilne stuff, with a aging GP7 or switcher and four or five cars and caboose rocking violently on under-maintained track, to High-iron mainline freight on the Illinois Central, which ran 1/2 mile from my home. (Chicago-Omaha mainline) PLus I live 5 miles from the Belvidere Chrysler Corporation Auto assy. plant so I seen ALOT of auto racks and 86ft cars. (Which are my favorite)
   I am old enough to remember anything from small Alco's and Fairbanks-Morse locomotives, to the newest SD90MAC's. (EMD SD40-2 is in my opinion, the ULTIMATE locomotive!!! Sleek, smooth, and powerful!!)
   One thing I have ALWAYS liked, was lights on trains. Especially Mars lights, and flasher beacons. My fondest memories are some with the old IC trains at night with the Mars lights sweeping the skies.(IC also holds the record for most-lights-on-a-locomotive.)
   I got into computers just a few of years ago, and I use to be one who laughed at my friends who spent alot of time on the "box" as I called it. Little did I know how this would change my life!! As a former railroad worker, and Jig Grinder operator prior and since, it was only natural when MSTS cam out, I tried to light the locos in the sim more "prototypical."The quordinate system used for the lights are just like I use in a daily basis. The first system I did took me over 16 hours and a whole lot of asprin!! ;-) Since then, I have done engines and cars for people all over the world. Some have become close friends. To me, that is what this is all about. Fellowship of people who have a common intrest, and try to make things better and sharing a love of trains.
   My job here at NALW is lighting engineer on locos, cars, etc. I am proud to be a part of this elite group!! Not bad for a guy who use to laugh at people on the computer!!! ;-)

John Fowlis
A Vancouver BC native, born '63, I have one daughter age 9. I studied Naval Architecture in St John's NFLD graduating in 1984 and I am now the Hull Superintendent for the Washington Marine Group, a large tug and barge operator on Canada's west coast. I have always been a steam fan collecting postcards and visiting locomotives when ever I can, but never had the space for a model layout. But then came MSTS and now my working skills set for designing vessels could be used for making Steam trains and some diesels too! In addition to all that I also enjoy building and flying radio controled gliders and small electric powered airplanes.

Joe Hildenbrand

I was born on November 23, 1973, and grew up outside of Philadelphia Pa. I left Philly and joined the U.S. Marines at age 18. I was a fire fighter and served nine years before being medically retired last year. I'm currently living in Fort Worth TX, if you ever visited Tower 55 on a Sunday, you might have seen me. Because I got disabled, I'm starting over and going to college full time. I haven't yet decided what field to major in, it's a toss up between chemistry or computers. I've been interested in railroads all my life. I collect and make model trains, mostly in HO scale, along with collecting memorabilia: public timetables, employee timetables, and mostly engine manuals. My main railroad interest is the Pennsylvania Railroad, particularly the electrified region, and traction.

Tim Kent

I work full time here in Winnipeg, with aspirations to work for Canadian National / Canadian Pacific or VIA Rail here. I figure if I apply enough they are bound to hire sooner or later. My interests include Trains , model railroading, and MSTS. My winters are spent goaltending on a couple hockey teams while my summers are spent riding my Honda CBR 600. I also play Keyboards and guitar in a local cover band here in Winnipeg.

Michael MacFall

Born in North Tarrytown, New York in 1963, I grew up in the shadow of the NYC Harlem Division during the dark days of PC, hearing the whistles every night at the Readers Digest crossing. This is what began my interest in railroading. In my teens I would ride daily, and spent many summers by the tracks with whatever operator was working the crossovers in Pleasantville and Chappaqua. I also was blessed with the opportunity to ride in the cab on an FL9 into Grand Central Terminal. Since being a mediocre guitar player that didn’t practice enough couldn’t pay the bills, I started in the graphic arts industry in 1981, working with Data General mainframes running typesetting software (actually I just needed a job). I have been in the industry ever since, managing typesetting systems, teaching desktop publishing and supporting print production in New York, Baltimore, Hartford, Danbury, CT and Santa Cruz, California. Currently living in squalor(!) in Whitman, MA and working for a mutual fund company, I commute on the Old Colony lines into Boston daily, as the station is right outside my apartment. By fate, it fulfilled a long-time dream of being able to see trains through my front window. All of the artwork for the skins I produce are done on a Macintosh, using Adobe Illustrator 9 for logos and other necessary elements, and Adobe Photoshop 6 for everything else. My current systems are 2 Macinsosh Powerbooks (1 wireless), Athlon XP1700 (NVidia chipset, 256DDR, GeForce4 440 64mb), Duron 750 (256SDRAM, GeForce2 MX 400 64mb)
Am currently single, 38, no kids, have no grey hair, still have all of my teeth, and am average weight for my height (6’).
North Tarrytown doesn’t exist anymore. They renamed it Sleepy Hollow.

Phil Moberg

NALW affiliate. Backed into skinning MSTS models as a result of some informal experiments. Born in Portland, ME, in 1953, and spent the next 20 years as a Coast Guard brat. Rode many an interesting passenger train from Canada to the Gulf Coast, and as far west as Kansas City as a part of the bargain. Worked for the Valley Railroad Company in the early ‘70s. Past President and Chairman of what is now known as the Railroad Museum of New England. Over twenty-five years service in the Connecticut DOT. Student of railway history and active HO modeler most of my life. Main vices/interests are the NY NH & H (I never did turn in my ten shares to PC), all sorts and conditions of electric traction, Soviet/Russian Railways (it’s a long story), and William Stroudley’s magnificent steam locomotives.

Chuck Schneider

Born 1945, Allentown/Bethlehem, Pa (Big Steel Country) Raised and Educated in New England (Southern Connecticut near NY border 36 miles to NY Penn on the NH) And that is where my lifelong love affair with Trains began. Served in the US Navy (Submarine Service) Active duty from 1963 to 1968 , Reserves from 1968 to 1989 retired Lt.(Same as Army Captain) (Mustang ˆcame up the ranks via Petty Officer, Chief Petty Officer and Warrant Officer) Married, 4 Children (all grown) and currently 5 „Grand-Critters‰ (all boyz ages 1 to 4). Currently Reside in Fairfax, Va., (Washington, DC suburbs) Employed as a Software Engineer and Systems Engineer by a Fortune 500 Company...




		The Cast and Crew Of North American Locomotive Works (in their own words...) Jens-Chris Baerenz Currently in 10th of the "Albertus" High School in Lauingen. I'm a Train-Fan since my dad played with our "N" scale model railraod. Since on American layouts you have more to do (like switching, yard work, etc.) I like this more than german layouts, on which the trains are only running in circles, and running, and running. My favorite railroads are Union Pacific, Santa Fe, Burlington Northern, CSX, Amtrak, Chicago and NorthWestern and Rio Grande. I wish I could visit the USA and get into a "newer generations" loco, e.g. C44-9W or SD70MAC, to take pictures of it and to put the head outside the window, while the engineer is reaching 74 mph. dreaming My system specifications (Dell Dimension 4300 with a few add-ons): Pentium 4, 1,6 GHz, 256 MB SDRAM, 40 GB HD, Soundblaster Live! 4.1 Soundcard, GeForce3 64MB DDR Ti200, Ethernet Link Network Card 100, 80Watt Speaker System. My MSTS is running on a 1600x1200 resolution on my 19' monitor. Job at NALW : 3D designing and Paintshop Emil (Buzz) Benz III a.k.a. Buzz (been called that since i was born - NO one calls me Emil...) (Principal Modeler and 3d Designer). Born in St. Louis, MO, in 1976, and still live here to this day. I have an Associate Degree in Computer Networking Technology from Ranken Technical College, and am currently employed by AT&T. I work for their WorldNet Managed Internet Service. My specialty is Cisco Routers and the TCP/IP protocol, over T1, FT1, T3, OC3, OC12, FastEthernet, ATM, and Frame Relay. I am also proficient in the Windows OS and PC hardware, with some experience with Novell NetWare. I also worked for Henze's Hobby House, a shop dealing primarily in HO trains. I am married and have one child, and a second one on the way. I have been interested in railroading since as long as i have been alive. My specific interest is Amtrak, especially from the 1980 - 1994 era (before the Genesis killed off the F40). I also have a big Flight Simulator fan, and enjoy aviation in general (though i'll take a train any day!) System Specs: Custom Built - AMD AthlonXP 1700+, Shuttle AK31A Motherboard, 512 MB DDR RAM, 64MB GeForce3 Ti200, SoundBlaster Live! Value sound, 40GB WD 7200 RPM IDE HD running both Win98SE and WinXP, 30GB WD 7200 RPM HD containing files accessible by both OS's, Matshita 32X CD/DVD Drive, Sony Spressa 32/8/4 CD-RW drive, RealMagic Hollywood Plus DVD Decoder card, Remote Control for the card, Brother MFC 7160 Fax/Scanner/Printer/Message Center, and i connect to the 'net via a Telepath 56K modem. Currently my visual experience is brought to me via a Gateway EV700 17" monitor, while my audio is through a 3pc. Boston Acoustics speaker set. Graeme Cox (aka SamSpade) Born 1954 in Adelaide South Australia. Have always lived in Adelaide except for a year spent travelling Britain and Europe on a shoestring. My father worked for the SAR (South Australian Railways) starting in the days of steam and working through the big diesels ending up minding passengers on the metropolitan Railcars. Spent most of the last 20 years working as an Information Technology Officer for the Australian Federal Public Service. This 'experience' covered operating an ICL minicomputer system, PC-based Network maintenance, Database Management (both PC and mini), IT Training, PABX monitoring, Programming in various ( probably dead by now ) languages and of course the ubiquitous Help Desk roles. Currently I provide Services Administration for a South Australian based OEM, Protech Australasia. I make sure that people and equipment get to clients when it's supposed to. Protech is a business partner with the likes of Compaq and EDS. Harold Clitheroe A.K.A. "HAC" was born in 1950, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I'm part of the NALW Paint Shop. I've been with Canadian Pacific Railway for 29 years and am currently living in Calgary, Alberta and doing project mangementin the Information Systems department at CPR. I'm also a third generation CPR man, which should explain why until teaming up with NALW, all my MSTS stuff has been CPR. I've also got the only official license from CPR to distribute "official" MSTS CPR skins, and have worked with both Train Artisan and Maple Leaf Tracks to help them get CPR content out to the public. I'm married and have two children, both grown. My son works at CP as well, making it 4 generations of CPR family. I was involved in the 2816 restoration product, and one of my proudest CPR possessions is my "2816 Support Crew" lapel pin. I have always been interested in railroads, although with a severe CPR bias. I've been across the country a couple times on the "Canadian" when CPR still had passenger services and gave out passes. One of the things I enjoy doing in MSTS is weathering. You may have seen my "beat-up boxcars" series on Train-sim.com.When I'm not skinning, my hobbies include watch collecting ,horseback riding, and mucking about with computers.. Matt Cyr I was born in 1983, in Kenora Ontario, Canada. I am currently working part-time and am hoping to hire on at Canadian Pacific in the distant future if they ever start hiring. I have always been interested in trains ever since I could remember. I have done some HO scale modelling which I sort of lost interest due to lack of space and costs. My dad has been working for CP for 22 years and is currently setup as an engineer. I have been able to go on a couple of train rides with him and hopefully some more in the future! I think I am very lucky to have a father that works for the railway he has answer many of my questions about trains and the railway. I also like to ask how his trip was and sit down and hear about how it went which to me always sounds exciting. Some of my other hobbies other than MSTS are hunting, fishing, snow machining and shooting sports ( trap and skeet and some rifle shooting). Matt Donnelly Born in Auburn NY 1981 (and still living here). Student in college going for a 4 year degree in Business Administration. I also work part time and have a scholarship for my grades and good work ethics. Amtrak is the railroad I am interested in, especially the 1990 - current stuff. I am a locomotive horn enthusiast and collector, with digital recording capability. Kelley Ellison Hi!! My name is Kelley D. Ellison. I am a almost 35 year old man who LOVES trains!! I live in a small midwest town in Northern Illinois called Cherry Valley. I have lived her all of my life. I grew up less than 100 yards from the C&NW's West Chicago-Freeport, Il mainline, although it was Rockford-West Chicago from the mid-80's on. I also am 30 miles from one of the most famous railfan locations in the world-Rochelle, Il. where the C&NW-CB&Q (Now UP-BNSF) mainlines cross. I grew up watching ALL types of railroading right out my window so to speak. From Grainger branchlilne stuff, with a aging GP7 or switcher and four or five cars and caboose rocking violently on under-maintained track, to High-iron mainline freight on the Illinois Central, which ran 1/2 mile from my home. (Chicago-Omaha mainline) PLus I live 5 miles from the Belvidere Chrysler Corporation Auto assy. plant so I seen ALOT of auto racks and 86ft cars. (Which are my favorite) I am old enough to remember anything from small Alco's and Fairbanks-Morse locomotives, to the newest SD90MAC's. (EMD SD40-2 is in my opinion, the ULTIMATE locomotive!!! Sleek, smooth, and powerful!!) One thing I have ALWAYS liked, was lights on trains. Especially Mars lights, and flasher beacons. My fondest memories are some with the old IC trains at night with the Mars lights sweeping the skies.(IC also holds the record for most-lights-on-a-locomotive.) I got into computers just a few of years ago, and I use to be one who laughed at my friends who spent alot of time on the "box" as I called it. Little did I know how this would change my life!! As a former railroad worker, and Jig Grinder operator prior and since, it was only natural when MSTS cam out, I tried to light the locos in the sim more "prototypical."The quordinate system used for the lights are just like I use in a daily basis. The first system I did took me over 16 hours and a whole lot of asprin!! ;-) Since then, I have done engines and cars for people all over the world. Some have become close friends. To me, that is what this is all about. Fellowship of people who have a common intrest, and try to make things better and sharing a love of trains. My job here at NALW is lighting engineer on locos, cars, etc. I am proud to be a part of this elite group!! Not bad for a guy who use to laugh at people on the computer!!! ;-) John Fowlis A Vancouver BC native, born '63, I have one daughter age 9. I studied Naval Architecture in St John's NFLD graduating in 1984 and I am now the Hull Superintendent for the Washington Marine Group, a large tug and barge operator on Canada's west coast. I have always been a steam fan collecting postcards and visiting locomotives when ever I can, but never had the space for a model layout. But then came MSTS and now my working skills set for designing vessels could be used for making Steam trains and some diesels too! In addition to all that I also enjoy building and flying radio controled gliders and small electric powered airplanes. Joe Hildenbrand I was born on November 23, 1973, and grew up outside of Philadelphia Pa. I left Philly and joined the U.S. Marines at age 18. I was a fire fighter and served nine years before being medically retired last year. I'm currently living in Fort Worth TX, if you ever visited Tower 55 on a Sunday, you might have seen me. Because I got disabled, I'm starting over and going to college full time. I haven't yet decided what field to major in, it's a toss up between chemistry or computers. I've been interested in railroads all my life. I collect and make model trains, mostly in HO scale, along with collecting memorabilia: public timetables, employee timetables, and mostly engine manuals. My main railroad interest is the Pennsylvania Railroad, particularly the electrified region, and traction. Tim Kent I work full time here in Winnipeg, with aspirations to work for Canadian National / Canadian Pacific or VIA Rail here. I figure if I apply enough they are bound to hire sooner or later. My interests include Trains , model railroading, and MSTS. My winters are spent goaltending on a couple hockey teams while my summers are spent riding my Honda CBR 600. I also play Keyboards and guitar in a local cover band here in Winnipeg. Michael MacFall Born in North Tarrytown, New York in 1963, I grew up in the shadow of the NYC Harlem Division during the dark days of PC, hearing the whistles every night at the Readers Digest crossing. This is what began my interest in railroading. In my teens I would ride daily, and spent many summers by the tracks with whatever operator was working the crossovers in Pleasantville and Chappaqua. I also was blessed with the opportunity to ride in the cab on an FL9 into Grand Central Terminal. Since being a mediocre guitar player that didn’t practice enough couldn’t pay the bills, I started in the graphic arts industry in 1981, working with Data General mainframes running typesetting software (actually I just needed a job). I have been in the industry ever since, managing typesetting systems, teaching desktop publishing and supporting print production in New York, Baltimore, Hartford, Danbury, CT and Santa Cruz, California. Currently living in squalor(!) in Whitman, MA and working for a mutual fund company, I commute on the Old Colony lines into Boston daily, as the station is right outside my apartment. By fate, it fulfilled a long-time dream of being able to see trains through my front window. All of the artwork for the skins I produce are done on a Macintosh, using Adobe Illustrator 9 for logos and other necessary elements, and Adobe Photoshop 6 for everything else. My current systems are 2 Macinsosh Powerbooks (1 wireless), Athlon XP1700 (NVidia chipset, 256DDR, GeForce4 440 64mb), Duron 750 (256SDRAM, GeForce2 MX 400 64mb) Am currently single, 38, no kids, have no grey hair, still have all of my teeth, and am average weight for my height (6’). North Tarrytown doesn’t exist anymore. They renamed it Sleepy Hollow. Phil Moberg NALW affiliate. Backed into skinning MSTS models as a result of some informal experiments. Born in Portland, ME, in 1953, and spent the next 20 years as a Coast Guard brat. Rode many an interesting passenger train from Canada to the Gulf Coast, and as far west as Kansas City as a part of the bargain. Worked for the Valley Railroad Company in the early ‘70s. Past President and Chairman of what is now known as the Railroad Museum of New England. Over twenty-five years service in the Connecticut DOT. Student of railway history and active HO modeler most of my life. Main vices/interests are the NY NH & H (I never did turn in my ten shares to PC), all sorts and conditions of electric traction, Soviet/Russian Railways (it’s a long story), and William Stroudley’s magnificent steam locomotives. Chuck Schneider Born 1945, Allentown/Bethlehem, Pa (Big Steel Country) Raised and Educated in New England (Southern Connecticut near NY border 36 miles to NY Penn on the NH) And that is where my lifelong love affair with Trains began. Served in the US Navy (Submarine Service) Active duty from 1963 to 1968 , Reserves from 1968 to 1989 retired Lt.(Same as Army Captain) (Mustang ˆcame up the ranks via Petty Officer, Chief Petty Officer and Warrant Officer) Married, 4 Children (all grown) and currently 5 „Grand-Critters‰ (all boyz ages 1 to 4). Currently Reside in Fairfax, Va., (Washington, DC suburbs) Employed as a Software Engineer and Systems Engineer by a Fortune 500 Company...







All release dates subject to change without notice. © 2002 North American Locomotive Works. All rights reserved.