Jim Pollard, left, holds a copy of his book at Barnes & Noble, while his son, Ross Pollard, holds a copy of his magazine article, at the bookstore.

I’m pretty sure I have revealed one of my deep, dark secrets in this weekly column space some time ago.

It is about a strange hobby that I have, and pursue usually in my basement during the long, cold winter.

Well, actually it is not a really strange hobby, so much as just a bit unusual. And a lot of people just think it is a bit odd that I like doing it.

“It” is model railroading. And I am not alone in the pursuit of this hobby. I saw somewhere recently that as many as 250,000 to 500,000 folks admit to being active model railroaders. And, apparently, the hobby has had a bit of a mini-explosion during the recent COVID pandemic years.

I got bit by the model railroad bug about 60 years ago when I was 12 and I saw someone’s large model railroad set in their house.

Over the years I have built about six model railroads, but only three of those were actually pretty good sized, up and running, and had buildings, hills and scenery.

And, yes, there is a pretty decent one in my basement right now, that I work on during the long, cold Blue Earth winters.

There are a couple of other model railroaders here in the Blue Earth area and I thought I knew who all of them are.

So, I was a little bit surprised when Jim Pollard told me one day that his son, Ross, was going to be featured in Railroad Model Craftsman magazine for a model railroad tunnel portal he had scratch-built.

“What!” I said. “Ross is a model railroader?”

Well, not exactly, Jim explained. Ross is a modeler, he said, but a plaster modeler. He did make a plaster tunnel portal for a model railroad, and then he did make a small little N-scale model railroad to put it on. But, it turns out, that is his only foray into the world of model railroading.

But it is a beautiful tunnel portal. And many tunnel portals model railroaders use are made from plaster.

So are our hills, ditches, mountains and roads – all made using various types of plaster, then painted and covered in grass and dirt and rock materials.

I found it interesting that Ross is basically an expert in all things plastery: types of plaster, and the craft of creating art using plaster.

He now hopes to be doing a series on using plaster in arts and crafts that will be published in various craft magazines.

He also has a self-published book on how to use plaster.

Who knew plaster was so popular? Well, model railroaders know all about plaster, from plaster of Paris, to plaster cloth used for making casts for broken arms, to a plaster called Sculpt-a-Mold.

I have used them all to make the landscapes on my model railroads.

I found it interesting that Ross Pollard was so excited to see his article in this month’s Railroad Model Craftsman magazine he couldn’t wait to get a copy sent to him – so he and his father Jim went to Barnes & Noble in Mankato to get a copy hot off the press.

And there, Jim Pollard found a copy of his book.

Father and son artists, and now father and son authors.