Model railroaders are a passionate bunch, and we are no different! our goal is to bring to you the best model railroading content and information on the internet. The Dakota Modelers Group is made up of a growing team of model railroaders with unique talents and skills. Scroll down to see a list of authors on the website and their individual portfolio pages.
James Willmus
Webmaster of DMG and a lifelong learner in the hobby. Currently constructing a small HOn3 layout of the Black Hills and Fort Pierre circa 1900.
James values learning all he can to improve his own modeling skills and greatly enjoys the challenge in building model railroads. He is also an expert on designing models on Fusion360 and possesses a wide variety of skills which make up for his twisted mind.
Michael “Mike” Thoreson
The current Vice President of the Black Hills Railway Society, Mike is the club’s resident master weathering artist and an occasional contributor to DMG. He is currently modeling an N scale shelf layout of the Twin Cities and Western in a spare room of his house.
You can catch Mike down at the BHRS club helping new modelers, running his own equipment, and managing club affairs.
Jordan Schmieg
Jordan now calls Andover, South Dakota his home but is a recent transplant from Bristol… 10 miles away. Graduating in 2025 from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, Jordan is a member of both the Black Hills Railway Society and the James Valley Model Railroad Association.
Besides baseball, Jordan’s passion and specialty in the hobby is the Milwaukee Road. He is currently building an HO scale layout depicting the Milwaukee’s operations in and around Andover in the 1970s. Jordan can be bribed with Pabst Blue Ribbon or old items from the Milwaukee.
Oliver Brehm
Every one of these collaborative groups needs at least one avid railfan on call and Oliver is our main man for that job! Residing in Grand Island, Nebraska, Oliver works for the Nebraska Central Railroad. In his spare time he travels extensively to photograph and video trains all across the continent, but much of his work focuses on class II and III railroads in the upper Midwest.
He is happy to share his talent for photography and provide crucial knowledge that helps to make our models more accurate.
