So I have a special enthusiasm for Locomotive projects. I love to build and improve kits, make balky units run smooth, add a few details to dud looking ones, heavily kitbash them. Both Steam and Diesel.
I know that makes me far from unique. Hi Darth, Mel! Everyone else! It's my favorite default aspect of the hobby. Next in line is scratch building structures. Building and 'bashing vehicles is up there too. But the locomotive thing is the most alluring.
Therein lies the problem. I'll go out to the layout room to work on scenery and see one of my pet loco WIPs, and start tinkering. Evening gone. The layout itself is suffering a lack of progress. Track is 100% operational. About 50% of the plywood is at least covered, with scenery in various stages of completion, but no area complete. None of the 8 major structures are done, much less the little ones. Ballasting is about 25% done.
And I actually LIKE to do this stuff, and when I do, it makes an appreciable diff each time. But... then... I revert to the loco thing. Like that recent tractive effort scale I made.
So on a rather impulsive descision, I packed up ALL locomotive WIPs, and related boxes of motors, details, NWSL components, all of it. And I made a list of them as I put them in a sizable box. I'm kinda shocked at myself. I'd have never guessed.
It came to 70 possible locomotive projects, half of which are close enough I'll finish as planned. So I put that box in a corner of my layout room that's hard to get to, gotta move some cabinets to get to 'em.
I think by removing them from easy access, I will be inclined to get on with the scenery, the idea being getting the layout complete enough that when a visitor comes in, it will look "finished" (yeah...) No obvious gaping areas of plywood, or white plaster shell, unpainted structures awaithing windows, cardboard stand-ins. Facia nice and uniform. Enough greenery so it doesnt look like Mars.
It's not that hard, it's well under way. Oh, it will take some time. Then I can lift the ban. Meanwhile maybe I'll start posting real progress. Dan
Southgate 2 And even then concentrate on them in small groups, like Kevin does
The groups are rarely very small.
I have been known to spend day after day working on a project that does not need to be done while I ignore the operational layout just a few feet away.
Sometimes I will ignore trains for a couple of months while I paint a new wargaming army.
Do whatever brings you pleasure. It is a hobby.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Kevin, you quoted one of quite a few sentences I edited out to make the lengthy post shorter! Well, at least I can see I'm not alone. And, for me MRRing is a winter activity. Last 2 summers I only went in the layout room to charge cordless tool batteries. Dan
Southgate 2Kevin, you quoted one of quite a few sentences I edited out to make the lengthy post shorter!
That happens to me all the time.
I will re-read a post, then edit it, just to find someone responded to something I removed.
Down here model railroading is a Summer time activity for me. It is so beautiful outside right now that is would be a shame to waste these wonderful days.
Southgate 2And I actually LIKE to do this stuff, and when I do, it makes an appreciable diff each time. But... then... I revert to the loco thing.
I find myself in similar situations and I'm also a "loco-junkie" spending hours on a project to make it layout-worthy. Sometimes I know I should be working on something else but for what ever reason I'll find myself poking around on yet another engine or, sometimes I'll dig out a freight car kit as sort of a "reward" in between other projects.
My "comfort zone" is sitting at the bench, something in the background, music, an audio book or a classic film or railroad DVD on the big screen. I can get lost for hours there.
I find that I have to get "in the groove" in order to concentrate on the layout itself. Yes, I DO enjoy that kind of work and when I have visitors (remember those days?) they seem to enjoy and comment on seeing the progress on the layout itself, not so much which particular engine might be pulling a train.
This alone is what motivates me to try to stay focused on making layout improvements. Over the past two years I've picked out places where I have had either bare plywood or simple green static grass as a "placeholder" for future development.
Here's two examples:
Ready-track-east by Edmund, on Flickr
and more recently:
Turntable_lead-b by Edmund, on Flickr
One other spot:
Tower_grounds by Edmund, on Flickr
and after:
Tower_oct by Edmund, on Flickr
PRR_Tower by Edmund, on Flickr
I guess it all boils down to self-determination. I keep putting off tackling my city-downtown area. One drawback is that I have amassed SO many different structures for the city that I certainly don't have room for them all and it is difficult for me to weed-out the ones that don't "make the cut" so to speak.
Thanks for bringing this up. It helps to talk about it Ed
Southgate 2 Therein lies the problem. I'll go out to the layout room to work on scenery and see one of my pet loco WIPs, and start tinkering. Evening gone. The layout itself is suffering a lack of progress. Track is 100% operational. About 50% of the plywood is at least covered, with scenery in various stages of completion, but no area complete. None of the 8 major structures are done, much less the little ones. Ballasting is about 25% done. So on a rather impulsive descision, I packed up ALL locomotive WIPs, and related boxes of motors, details, NWSL components, all of it. And I made a list of them as I put them in a sizable box.
So on a rather impulsive descision, I packed up ALL locomotive WIPs, and related boxes of motors, details, NWSL components, all of it. And I made a list of them as I put them in a sizable box.
The layout itself is suffering a lack of progress.
It is? Isn't tinkering with WIP locos part of layout progress? To me, "layout" means anything related to running trains on some sort of surface. So, that includes framework, track, structures, locos, rolling stock, electronics, ballast, landscaping, etc. Whether it be 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, longer, the layout will be done when there is nothing left to do. So, do what I do and work on whatever project suits your fancy.
Southgate 2 It came to 70 possible locomotive projects, half of which are close enough I'll finish as planned. So I put that box in a corner of my layout room that's hard to get to, gotta move some cabinets to get to 'em. I think by removing them from easy access, I will be inclined to get on with the scenery, the idea being getting the layout complete enough that when a visitor comes in, it will look "finished" (yeah...) No obvious gaping areas of plywood, or white plaster shell, unpainted structures awaithing windows, cardboard stand-ins. Facia nice and uniform. Enough greenery so it doesnt look like Mars.
Rich
Alton Junction
gmpullmanMy "comfort zone" is sitting at the bench, something in the background, music, an audio book or a classic film or railroad DVD on the big screen. I can get lost for hours there.
Yes Yes Yes!
My workbench is exactly the same. I love to spend hours there just working on whatever interests me, one of my favorite movies on the monitor, and the real world is not allowed.
Well the "nice" thing about a self imposed ban on locomotive projects, complete with packing away the temptations, is that there is absolutely no consequence (other than twinges of remorse) to breaking your vow and unpacking the box. And unless you get in a confessional mood we'll never know either. As Oscar Wilde said, I can resist everything except temptation.
When my parents both quit smoking in the late 1960s (when they learned a cousin we were all very fond of had incurable lung cancer), they took two opposite approaches to quitting. My mother threw all her unsmoked filtered cigarettes into the trash (actually she gave them to me; she smoked Lark brand cigarettes which had small bits of charcoal in the filter -- the perfect size for HO scale coal. So I cut into the filters, salvaged the "coal," and then threw the cigarettes into the trash).
My dad by contrast kept a pack of his beloved Chesterfields in his dresser drawer, on the basis that he had not really "quit" unless the cigarettes were right there and he made a continuous decision not to smoke them. That pack was there to the day he died. As he would say "I COULD smoke any time I want to. I choose not to."
Dave Nelson
I also much prefer to assemble a loco kit, or upgrade an existing loco, than doing trackwork, buildings or scenery work. My trackwork was completed a few months ago, and I'm almost done with the buildings. That required a lot of discipline - I alternated between fun loco work and other stuff...
I must admit that I find scenery work a bit intimidating. I have limited experience in this and I am affraid to wreck things. I'll jump in this summer, when all of the buildings are completed.
Simon
You really need to find people and share skills, I know, hard to do. I like to do scenery and can do other but would prefer to lay track and do scenery work, even like to ballast in smaller lots. Wish I could find a local that was a very good at DCC, can do it but just don't enjoy it.
What one person finds annoying, another is loving. DCC and ballasting are just some of those that pop in. There are plenty of others!
I hate to suggest it, but you might benefit from writing down a list of tasks. This way you can keep track of what to do. You also can focus on a project until you're at a stopping point or done. Some hate lists b/c they see them as a "honey-do" list but they work for me. Also good to physically cross off a done effort.
kasskabooseWhat one person finds annoying, another is loving. DCC and ballasting are just some of those that pop in
So true. I am the only person I know that finds ballasting relaxing.
I dislike ballasting and the end result so much that ALL my track is HO Kato Unitrack. Problem solved.
I also do not enjoy tinkering with engines, and only due routine work that needs to be done.
My joy is railfanning my own trains...putting on an engine that I want with the train I want and just letting it roll.
John
DanTwo Bits says you can’t do it!I most likely have more unfinished projects than anyone on this Forum as well as the messiest workbench.It’s our hobby, who cares it’s part of the enjoyment of the hobby. What ever blows your skirt up.I’ve been working on making castings of my new figures for over a week and everything is fighting me tooth and nail, again its part of the greatest hobby in the world.I ran out of casting resin and decided to go with a different brand resin and the learning curve has just about finished me off. I think I figured out the trick of the new stuff after 6 sorrowful attempts. Its all part of the hobby. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Southgate 2So I put that box in a corner of my layout room that's hard to get to, gotta move some cabinets to get to 'em. I think by removing them from easy access
Well, I don't think that's such a great idea.
If you can't see them you'll forget that they're there, which will just result in you acquiring more of them.
kasskaboose What one person finds annoying, another is loving. DCC and ballasting are just some of those that pop in. There are plenty of others! I hate to suggest it, but you might benefit from writing down a list of tasks. This way you can keep track of what to do. You also can focus on a project until you're at a stopping point or done. Some hate lists b/c they see them as a "honey-do" list but they work for me. Also good to physically cross off a done effort.
Ballasting isn't my favorite thing to do but generally I don't mind anything to do with scenery which is what ballasting track is. I can do it fairly quickly. Sometimes I need to touch it up a bit. Electronics is my bugaboo. It is my least favorite aspects of the hobby, especially when it requires soldering.
RR_MelAs well as the messiest workbench.
That is a bold statement!
I am not in the running for this title. My workbench did get messy from time to time, but it was never nearly as messy as some of the pictures I have seen shared by others.
A few responses...
In general, anything I do on the layout is enjoyable. I'm just concentrating my focus for a while away from my easy, even lazy default. Also, the layout itself not huge, about 110 sq feet. And some of the proposed structures are pretty large and simple, not to get bogged down in superdetailing.
Richotrain: To me, Locomotive progress right now isn't really Layout progress.. There are already enough engines on the layout to keep the trains moving. My own eyes want to see Scenic progress.
Last spike Mike: Of course the layout will never be 100%. Nor would I ever want it to be. Just reaching for at least an overall pleasant appearance.
GMP: Yup, The comfort zone applies here. Pandora tunes mostly. Or CDs
DKNelson: Quite true about the no consequence thing! We'll see about my self disclipline.
Simon: My scenery experience is limited too. Ive never gotten this far before, so progressing from here means breaking that ice. I think doing so will then result in gaining momentum, and being more enjoyable.
Kasskaboose: Already started the list. And I find I like ballasting now with that tool I posted about in layout construction.
Mel: I'm smart enough not to take your bet!
Maxman. I remember every locomotive I ever owned. Better than every friend's names Ive had. Maybe that's not good... But I won't forget 'em.
John NYBW: My soldering skills are barely adequate. I avoid complicated electronics too. DC here.
Mel and Kevin. I can only function for a while with a messy workbench. I have to clean and organize regularly.
I mentioned that MRRing is a winter thing only. BUT! Two things have changed in my life that I haven't experienced before over a spring-summer-fall, which may change that. I recently retired from night work, leaving that big o'l chunk of after dark time open now. I'm a night owl and often the creative juices actually just get started at around 10 pm.
And, just this year I now have a big shop out there that I can go cut masonite or anything else I can't do in the layout room, even in those wee hours. That really loosens up some restrictions. We'll see how that plays out. Even I don't know yet!
Dan
I will fix locomotives, add decoders, improve lights, add engineers, weather them and add decals, but I don't buy locomotive kits.
I just kind of drew the line there. Structure kits and rolling stock kits, sure. Track laying and scenery, of course. But only tinkering with locos.
After I finished the original Phase 1 of my layout, I thought about how long it took. It was about a month per square foot. That's everything, including the rest of my life. I just didn't need more projects. I'm happy with that.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
SeeYou190...I am the only person I know that finds ballasting relaxing.
Well, now you know another one who views it the same.
Wayne
Southgate 2So on a rather impulsive descision, I packed up ALL locomotive WIPs, and related boxes of motors, details, NWSL components, all of it. And I made a list of them as I put them in a sizable box. I'm kinda shocked at myself. I'd have never guessed.
Dan,
Welcome to the club. Juggling between modeling projects and building the layout is always a struggle for me. I will stop forward motion on the layout for a variety of reasons – hosting a layout tour or Ops session or perhaps just excitement about a modeling project. Things always zig-zag back and forth between modeling and layout construction and at times I have to remind myself that it is a hobby.....
Ironically my locomotive projects are often the projects that run to a point of frustration and then are put back in the box for “later”. I do eventually come back to them and complete the model but the time lapse is sometimes years.....At this point I am taking the long view having recently completed some projects started more than a decade ago.
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
OK. I give in! Rather, I gave in. Oh, about a month or more ago I got the box out. But I just looked, seriously, didn't get into any of the WIPs. I did put them back in their usual storage places. Just wanted to see them. (Sniff) Then I continued steady on the scenery, some serious track improvement, and structural benchwork & fascia improvement.
One thing I did allow myself to do during the hiatus was to quickly lube and test run Ebay scores, 5 I think. But I put them in storage right away.
As to the scenery, or at least minimal ground coverage, the layout has gone from being about 25% covered, to somewhere over 75%. You've been seeing it in WPF, sometimes just in the background. Many structures got improved, some appreciably, but none completed. Some more started even.
Earlier this week I decided I've made plenty of progress. Not what I proposed I would, I have to admit. Mel and others were right! But for all intents and purposes, I'm calling the ban thing a success. And over.
A favorite WIP loco was selected I dived in and worked on it for a couple evenings, it was GREAT!
The scenery and such is still progressing too. And it will continue to, but at a more relaxed pace.
That's all. Dan
I find my interest comes in waves, and has shifted over time. Buildings and scenery are my main interests; the layout itself is very simple mechanically, electronically, and operational (all manually controlled turnouts, 1 big block of DC power, almost no grades, operation is technically by wheel report but more often is "hm, think I'll move two boxcars from the cannery to the SP interchange.")
But sometimes I too get the urge to add more motive power or do upgrades/modifications to the fleet. My layout has an urban setting so most of my hobby time involves building and kitbashing structures and other city scenery, but didn't do a lot of operating. Track maintenance falls behind and the layout has developed dead spots. Haven't messed around with sound yet, but figure it's next on the list.
Recently I made the jump to DCC so 2/3 of my equipment is out of commission (I converted the easy-to-convert stuff, the rest is mostly brass with open frame motors that will need extensive/expensive repowering), but the experience working on the first wave of now DCC compatible locos has me really interested in getting better at fixing engines, remotoring, and adding details to some of my projects that I decided to just start running once they were "good enough" but not complete. While my current setup seems minimal but tolerable for DCC (18 gauge main bus, feeders every 6 feet or less, power-routing Insulfrog switches) I'm now planning to repower much of the layout with 12 gauge main bus and adding a bunch of feeders to parts of the layout that go dead (although I'm discovering the joy of "keep alives" that let motors waltz through dead spots without a shimmy, I still want to improve my layout's power standards!) So sometimes a change in direction in the hobby spurs a new interest and a new skill to learn. But I imagine the urge to build more buildings will return before long; I've got 12 feet of industrial district to populate with industries, roadside buildings, and scenery, and I've never built a bridge before but I have two major river crossings to model!
Southgate 2 OK. I give in! Rather, I gave in. Oh, about a month or more ago I got the box out. But I just looked, seriously, didn't get into any of the WIPs. I did put them back in their usual storage places. Just wanted to see them. (Sniff) Then I continued steady on the scenery, some serious track improvement, and structural benchwork & fascia improvement. One thing I did allow myself to do during the hiatus was to quickly lube and test run Ebay scores, 5 I think. But I put them in storage right away. As to the scenery, or at least minimal ground coverage, the layout has gone from being about 25% covered, to somewhere over 75%. You've been seeing it in WPF, sometimes just in the background. Many structures got improved, some appreciably, but none completed. Some more started even. Earlier this week I decided I've made plenty of progress. Not what I proposed I would, I have to admit. Mel and others were right! But for all intents and purposes, I'm calling the ban thing a success. And over. A favorite WIP loco was selected I dived in and worked on it for a couple evenings, it was GREAT! The scenery and such is still progressing too. And it will continue to, but at a more relaxed pace. That's all. Dan
Nice to see I'm not the only one who has problems focusing on the task at hand. I'll go down to the layout room with a specific task in mind and invariably something will distract me and the next thing you know, several hours will have past and I will have made no progress on the intended project. Sometimes I'll even switch from the project I diverted to and start something else completely unrelated. I've never been officially diagnosed with attention defecit disorder but I have no doubt I've had it my whole life. My mind just keeps channel surfing.
I've completed my extensive mainline several years ago although there are some track and scenery maintenance tasks that need attention. I began construction of a connecting shortline about two years ago. I got about halfway through and then got bogged down at a town at the halfway point. I've got most of the track laid in this town but because of access issues, I need to get the structures and streets in place before continuing laying the track. That's where I've hit the wall. I told myself I would at least complete the trackwork on the shortline this winter and here we are halfway through and I've done almost nothing. I need to add some benchwork to continue with the track and that is now #1 on the to-do list. We'll see if I can stick to it.
My layout is 100% functual and has been and so is basic scenery, adding little details as the mood hits me. What I had been putting off was fixing buildings that needed repairs after the move that were never attended to, all my loco projects are in clear shoe boxes, who knows they may never be finished with the price of sound engines ggoing down in price and I have some neat componants too like a Bull Ant drive I picked up on e-bay.