Are you having FUN

Drew1125

Active Member
You know,
I've put nearly a year into this tiny little layout of mine, & still so much to do, & not enough hours in the day...
I enjoy certain facets of the hobby more than others. Structures & scenery are my favorites.
While my skill levels are certainly not on a par with some of the guys on here, I really do enjoy this hobby...probably more now than ever.
I never let boredom get the best of me...If something I'm working on gets a bit tedious, I'll put it down, & work on something else.
That's the thing about model railroading, there's always something to do somewhere else.
Sometimes I think I spread myself a little too thin, but hey, there's no boss, & no deadlines!
So the answer is...
Yes, Shamus, I'm having fun!
 

RI541

Member
My lay-out is in its second year, I've had the trains running but wasn't happy with one particular area, so this last weekend I ripped it out. I've done more this past weekend than I have all winter when I usaly have time to work on it.

I have pictures over in the Rock Island thread of my weekend adventure.(last two pages)

Last night I got to thinking about how Rory has ripped up his track. Since I've already torn up a third of mine and replace it to more my liken.So when the wife is gone my service yard is going to take a trip. Then I can redo it to a more suitable area. Then hopefully I'll be more enthusiastic about watching the trains run.
 

roryglasgow

Active Member
I'm back in the flow now! :) I just finished cleaning up the track. Now I've got to sort it into little piles and pick the pieces that I want to use. Maybe tomorrow night I'll put together a rough-in of the main loop so I can get a better feel for the size of the layout. That depends, of course, on whether or not I change the plan again! hehehe The fun never stops! :):):):)

-Rory
 

bobrien

Member
Good grief guys!! All this talk about "ripping up tracks" - "45th layout" (45 !!!!!) and here I am still researching my FIRST.
I too have been getting pretty obsessive about this new hobby and I read somewhere in here a week or so ago, that the best advice to a new modeller was to "read,read,read".
Well hell, I done so much reading my head hurts.
I have so many diagrams; layout schemes;train pictures;rail and loco catalogues; railway history chapters;a tool kit brimming with new fiddly little bits;an order for a VERY hard to get replica of a 1957 Locomotive in original NZ Rail colours;a workshop full of scrap bits of timber;advice from people who I never even knew had any idea about model railroads;phonecalls from young grandsons asking "is it finished yet?";expansion plans for future developments that really hinge on my first layout actually even being constructed; - and all I want to do is lay some track and build some mountains. Plus Winter is on it's way here and it's going to be darn cold out in that workshop.
And all my wife can say is "why don't you just stick your model airplanes dear..."

In all seriousness - I can see little opportunity for myself to EVER get bored. What a wonderful wonderful hobby. I only wish I had taken the time years ago to get started.........
Bruce
 

roryglasgow

Active Member
Bruce,

It sounds like you're ready to get started! Just build something and experiment! My first "layout" was an irregular oval laid down on two thick pieces of cardboard. I experimented with curves (including reverse curves) and even added a little scenery for fun. After a few days, I'd take the track up and put it back down in another configuration.

Then I built a "real" layout on foam and plywood, using a trackplan that I made up myself. That was fun, too, but it was short-lived. There were too many...ummmm...shortcomings to the plan. So I took it apart and built one based on Atlas' N-11 (Unhinged and Horizontal). That's the one I recently took apart when we moved.

And if the progression continues in the same direction, the next one will be even better!

So, get crackin' before the workshop freezes over! :)

-Rory
 

60103

Pooh Bah
I generally enjoy anything to do with railroads or model railroads except when I make too many mistakes or the kit doesn't do what it was supposed to do. I've been at it since the age of about 2 (and I'm retiring in June) so there's always something to do.

My wife says that what I really like is reading about it -- she keeps looking for a sign that says "Reading Railroad" but apparently the Reading wasn't a Railroad.

Shamus sounds like a typical Brit modeller -- build fantastic layouts with infinitesimal detailing and then start another as soon as it's finished. Of course, they're only about 2 square feet. ;)
 

kf4jqd

Active Member
I slow down

Hello everyone:

This past winter I spent less time and money on the layout as compared to last winter. Main reason why, we are moving. I haven't even been to the local hobby shoppe very often. The owner thought I have alrady moved away! :eek:

I also have another hobby. Amateur Radio. That is a costly hobby. However, I am making plans for a coffee table layout. Still searching and buying Rock Island Line items!

Andy
 

sumpter250

multiscale modelbuilder
60103,
There was a reading railroad, in pennsylvania.
Bob,
Speaking of Pennsylvania, the PRR had bobber cabooses. Like you, I assume these were used in branchline service, or short hauls. I didn't think they were comfortable riders. After I posted the photo of the logging caboose, Shamus hinted I should do a bobber. I remembered I had a four wheel frame somewhere, when I found it I started the project. Interesting question, though. I really never gave much thought to what kind of use a bobber would have.
Pete
 

sumpter250

multiscale modelbuilder
David,
I stand corrected. Most of the photos I've seen of Reading equipment, are lettered simply, READING .
Come to think of it, the only place I've seen "READING R R " is in a monopoly game.
Pete
 

Drew1125

Active Member
Rory,
I'm really looking forward to this new layout of yours...
Just looking at the track plans you posted has got me daydreaming of something new...:eek: (that's my wife's reaction to what I just said :D )
Be sure to take lots of pictures, so we can all watch the "play-by-play"!
It's so exciting to start a new one aint it? :)
 

shamus

Registered Member
Well guys, I have to say that I AM NOT HAVING FUN TODAY, Wife got me painting and hanging wallpaper in the Kitchen, took ages to remove all the old wallpaper with a "STEAMER"
waver.gif


 

roryglasgow

Active Member
Charlie,

I'm really excited, too! The day before yesterday I sat down on the living room floor and put together the main loop so I could get a feel for the size. It's going to be small, but I think it'll be fun to operate! I started the benchwork yesterday and hope to finish it up this weekend. I'm going down to McCoy's after work to get a sheet of foam...

-Rory
 

Drew1125

Active Member
Shamus,
I can relate!
My wife had me penciled in today for yard work (the yard with no tracks, that is :D ) But HALLELUJAH! the skies have opened up, a warm spring rain is falling, & it looks like I'm gonna have to stay in & work on that other kind of "yard" :) (sorry dear)
Rory,
Don't sweat the space problem...make working within its limits part of the challenge of modeling!
Here's some of "Charlie's Small Proverbs"...

-Smaller size makes for smaller headaches...

-Smaller size means you can acheive a high level of detail in a short amount of time...

-Smaller size means you're not stuck in the middle of some huge project when you decide you want to change directions, & do something else (i.e. different scale, different era, etc...)
 

roryglasgow

Active Member
I saved those proverbs to my hard drive, Charlie! hehehe I might post them on the edge of the layout when guests come by. :)

-Rory
 
Yes Shamus I know what you are talking about, wife is off this Sat and has me slated to build the top canopy for her large salt water fish tank ( 180 gal.). On the other hand I have it fairly lucky. I work 12 hr shifts, and with the work around the farm that we have it keeps me busy most of the time, and do not have long streches to work on the hobby, although lots of time to think and plan. So with four or five days physically away from the layout, when I get back to it it is most enjoyable. It gives me a good break and time to plan what I am going to do next.
Charlie, we are the opposite here, the weekend is to be cloudy, cool and rain, and I have the weekend off, last night shift tonight so this means, except for Sat. work around here, the wife is working Sunday and Monday that means TRAIN TIME !!!!!!!!
Ron..Southern BC, Canada.
 
Charlie & Shamus, thats great words of advice, I too have a small layout, like Rory I just finished typing mine out in large letters, I have two copies on the computer table beside the fasteners, when I sign off I am going to the layout room and one goes on the door into the room and the other over the workbench. Ron..
 

sumpter250

multiscale modelbuilder
Shamus,
Glad the "steamer" worked on the wallpaper, a diesel would have removed the walls too.
This forum has added some of the fun that otherwise would have ben missing. Thanks.
Pete
 

Bob Collins

Active Member
Gee, now I wonder that if I cut up my large layout into say quarters, would I be having four times as much fun :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Oh well, I guess I'll continue to plod along.......

Went into a train store in a high dollar mall in downtown Kansas City today. The only HO they stocked was Marklin AC. Had lots and lots of O and G, including a really, really sharp looking RI Rocket with the silver cars:cool: :cool:

Bob
 
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