I started the RPM blog in 2016 after moving from O’Fallon, Illinois to Ramstein, Germany for work. I thought maintaining a blog would be a good way to keep my modeling friends up on what I was doing while 4,400 miles from home.

I moved back to the U.S. for work in 2022, and then moved back to Germany a second time–again, for work–in January 2025. I reside in Germany today.

I have spent my adult life in the U.S. Air Force. I served on active duty for over 22 years and retired in 2010. Since then I continue to serve the Air Force as a Government Civilian. My career has been spent in Operations, Aerial Transportation and Education. I was a C-141 Navigator early in my career.

I have been a modeler and a railfan all my life, although like most guys I took long breaks from the hobby during college and early in my Air Force career. I created and hosted the St. Louis RPM meet from 2004 to 2018, and since then have assisted in the development and hosting of several other RPM events. I also created and edited the Seaboard-Coast Line Modeler magazine, which is the quarterly modeling magazine of the ACL & SAL Railroads Historical Society. I have about 60 articles published; the most recent was in Model Railroad Planning 2025.

– John Golden