Eyesight getting bad: Change scales???

[NevinW]

I just spent the last 45 frustrating minutes trying to put glazing into the windows of a HO caboose that despite using magnification hood, it did not go very well. My eyes are going down hill and my close-up vision is getting really bad. I went to the opthalmologist and it is just getting older, there is nothing seriously wrong. Old age is a bummer.

What has everyone else done at this point? I could switch to S or O gauge. Would this help? On3 or On30 could be very interesting. I would serious consider changing to a larger scale if I thought it would improve my enjoyment of the hobby. Opinions? - Nevin

[Hawks05]

if you want to stick with the hobby and can't see very well like you are saying i think your best bet would be to switch to a larger scale. seems like the only sensible way to about it.

i don't know how old you are, but my grandpa who is 91 and has horrible eye sight bought this TV with a magnifing thing attached to it. its like this camera where you can read papers, do projects, fill out forms, etc.... it was like $1200 i think or something but there is this little camera above it which will video kind of what you are doing and project it onto a TV. it has helped him out a lot.

i don't know your situation though. so maybe switching scales might be your best bet.

[Jacktal]

I'm 52 and I've already noticed a decrease in the quality of my vision,and I don't believe it will likely improve as time goes on.Just like you,my optalmologist says I still have excellent vision "for my age".However I model "N" scale and since space doesn't permit a large layout,with the expense of replacing my equipment,a change of scale is practically out of question.

One major asset for a modeller,specially with restricted vision,is trying to get the very best lighting possible.I've installed extra neon bars on the ceiling and was amazed by the difference.I can now see small parts much better than before and don't have to use the magnifier any more....for now at least.

I don't know how good is your lighting over your workbench.If it's already very good...and I mean very good...maybe that a change of scale is the only solution but I would certainly give this option some thoughts before I'd do that.The 48" dual neon bar is the standard fixture in my shop(have three of them)...not very stylish but highly efficient.

[Anonymous]

Time for an Optivisor, but there is another brand, unfortunately I can't remember the name of it that I prefer. Wear it for detail work.

[AltonFan]

QUOTE: Time for an Optivisor, but there is another brand, unfortunately I can't remember the name of it that I prefer. Wear it for detail work.

The great thing about the Optivisor is that you they make a variety of interchangable lenses in various powers. If the lens you're using isn't strong enough, get a stronger one! Since I work in N scale I have the most powerful lenses, plus the Optiloupe. (However, I find the 7x is best for most projects.)

QUOTE: One major asset for a modeller,specially with restricted vision,is trying to get the very best lighting possible.

I have to agree with this, too. Moreover, even with good ambient lighting, it might be a good idea to have a bright, adjustible table lamp in the workshop. You'd be surprised how much difference a few more watts and lumens make. (However, follow all safety recommendations regarding bulb wattage, etc.)

[cacole]

Switching scale seems like a very costly proposition -- I would switch the power of the lenses in the Opto-Visor first and see if that helps.

[Anonymous]

One of the reasons I went to HO after a lapse of many years was i could almost see what I was doing and having a limited space for a layout I went to HO rather than N scale. My main hobby is astronomy but that went to the sidelines when my vision began to get worse.

[Anonymous]

I think we're all heading in that direction over time. I'd say switch to a larger scale. In my case I had a large Lionel layout when I was a teenager. Switched to HO as an adult. I can see switching back in a few years.

[michaelstevens]

[8D][8D]
I'm another old phart, who was loosing the ability to see for close-up HO detail work.
I had always worn spectacles for "shortsightedness" and my solution turned out to be bi-focals. With the "progresive" type of lens, I'm even able to use the transition area, as an adjustable focus.
Don't give up (on your scale) until you've tried bi-focals (or just reading glasses) in combination with improved lighting.
[:)][:)]

[IRONROOSTER]

Well, I like S scale myself but primarily because I like the size both to work on and to watch run. Even though I'm 56 and my eyesight is slowly getting worse I don't have major problems yet. But I use lots of lighting from multiple angles. My work desk has three desk lamps plus the overhead, that with my optivisor and I can see pretty well. While I think S is the perfect size, if you have to change for vision reasons you probably should go to O scale or even G. Otherwise, you'll be changing again.
Good luck
Paul

[tomwatkins]

I'm 58 and have worn bifocals for years. I model in HO and really don't want to change scales. I use an adjustable lamp hanging over one side of the workbench with a 150watt bulb and an Ottlite on the other end of the bench. Both are aimed toward the center of the work area to eliminate shadows. The combination of the two lamps really gives me good work light which, I think, is as important as magnification. I also use a 3x magnifier for really close work which also works well for me. Don't give up on a scale you really enjoy until you've tried really good light and magnification.

Tom Watkins

[DSchmitt]

While you can see the detail better in a larger scale, being larger doesn't necessairly make it easier construct.

About 15 years ago I nearly lost my sight due to diabeties During that period, I didn' find it any easier to work on 1/35 scale model tanks than on 1/160 scale trains.

Fortuately I got the diabeties under control and my vision recovered.

In the last few years my vision has deteriorated due to age. I don't have to wear glasses for close work yet, but a strong light sure makes a difference.

[bcammack]

I'm terribly myopic and am slowly losing my vision in my right eye due to macular degeneration. I am currently working in N scale. The keys that I have found to make this work for me is a good optical magnification visor. The best you can buy. Then plenty of bright task lighting. The brighter the light, the more your irises close down and the better you focus. For me it helps the right eye because it's down about 30% from the left. Under bright lights with the visor I get the rare pleasure of sharp, balanced stereo vision again. Lastly, elevate your work surface so the object you're working with is right under your visored nose! :)

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Brett C. Cammack
League City, TX

[AggroJones]

Sorry to hear about your eyes. Nature can suck. I suggest you stick with HO and use magnifying glass and more intense lighting when you must work on somthing tiny.

[Hawks05]

man. i hate reading about this. i'm 17 and had to get glasses a little under 2 years ago. best thing i've ever done i think. sad part is i found out that i needed them when i was at the DMV to get my learners permit. my family has a history of eye problems. my grandpa who is 91 started losing his eyesight probably 4-5 years ago. he can barely even tell who anyone is now even when you're about 2 feet away. sad thing is he still drives. hopefully i can get contacts this summer to try out again. just for baseball mainly.

i guess my first idea is out of the question. probably better lighting would help and that opto thing people are talking about.

[NevinW]

Thanks for the responses and advice. It is not like I am going blind, my distance vision is still great but the close up stuff is all blurry. I have the bifocals which are great for work and I have the optivisor with with the strong lens. But what I have loved most about the hobby is building things and detailing them and that is clearly much harder than it used to be with eyes. On the other hand it seems my modeling skills have recently improved - maybe not being able to see my errors has some advantages. :)

I did some looking around on the net and it is clear that O scale is getting some really nice things lately - check out Atlas O for example. I have a 10 X 20 train room that currently houses a model of the B&O on a shelf going around the room. Converting it to O scale might not be that difficult or that expensive. You would have less locomotives and cars and the buildings would be fewer but twice as large. It is doable and might bring back the detail that I enjoy. I think I might do some cadrail drawings using Atlas 2 rail switches and see what would fit. - Nevin

[Anonymous]

I think that the maginfication number relates directly with age. [:D]

For instance, 2x - 20 year olds, 3x - 30 year olds, 4x - 40 year olds, 5x - 50 year olds, etc., etc.

[Anonymous]

Hello Nevin,

Welcome to the club. As Red Green says "I'm pulling for you, we're all in this together" I unfortunately have a day job that necessitates beeing able to see well. I cut gemstones and have been known to facet stones below 1mm.

I have a small arsenal of magnification both wearable and hand held. I would recommend a loupe that attaches to the side of the optivisor to see close and a jewellers loupe for checking progress. More useful than lenses are special tools for holding and manipulating small items. Gem setters use little sticks with a dab of beeswax to hold small stones, specialty tweezers and tiny watchmakers holders are also worth investigating.

During my denial stage I removed my specs and declared "looks pretty good from here". Well that only works until some smart arsed friend shows up with a 3+ megapixel camera and sticks it 50-60 mm away from your fuzzy eyed fumble fingered creation.

[Anonymous]

I too have been struck by that "age" thing, but considering the alternative, getting older is not a bad thing. I've noticed that my eyesight has begun to deteriorate also. Before I got heavy into trains, I talked to a lot of old timers that have been doing the hobby for a while. I did find a common thread among the ones I talked to. They started out in HO, moved to N, and then as they got older, they went back to HO because they had trouble seeing the wheels on the cars when they placed the cars on the track. I did not want to buy a scale and then loose all of my "babies" due to eye sight problems, so I choose HO. Although S scale would be perhaps ideal, it seems to me there are limited offerings compared to N, HO, and O scale. I don't want to sound like a commercial, but I have been taking Ocular Nutrition from Hi-health (they now have a website), and have found that my eyes do not bother me as much for seeing things. It is a dietary supplement made specifically for the eyes. Again, don't want to sound like a commercial and I apologize if I do, but it does work for me. I plan to stay in HO because I've spent a lot of time making several cars and engines too sweet to depart with, and too enjoyable to watch poli***hose rail heads.

[bruce22]

my friend, just stay with what u have and keep company with people in your same age group. Cheers and I know of what u speak.

[Anonymous]

Yes, speaking from that "same boat"...it's getting tougher as the years go by.
It's HO in my case, and I'm 60.
Not to be too contrary on the magnifying devices, but I find it a bit difficult to do fine work with any kind of magnifier, if it's to take more than about 30 seconds. Why ?...because one's fingers and tools are also magnified to the same degree.
So if you want to paint an HO figure, you magnify it nice and big, then try to paint it with a broom, [ fine brush], holding on to it with two redwood tree trunks [ your fingers ], or with an excavator grapple [ your smallest pliers ].[:p]

Not fun !
As my eyes go, my fingers also are losing dexterity, especially when applying small detail, trying to apply decals or transfers, or installing specialized Kadee coil-spring couplers and truck springs....really I'm at the point of giving up even trying most of those things. On the plus side, I don't see the detail that well now, either.[;)]
I'm hoping to help out a friend, who's 78, this winter as he starts over again...this time with Lionel O tinplate. If I help him build his new layout, I might get hooked on the big stuff. Too bad it's so costly.[:(]...

[Anonymous]

Yes, speaking from that "same boat"...it's getting tougher as the years go by.
It's HO in my case, and I'm 60. Bifocals for last 10 years or so.

Not to be too contrary on the magnifying devices, but I find it a bit difficult to do fine work with any kind of magnifier, if it's to take more than about 30 seconds. Why ?...because one's fingers and tools are also magnified to the same degree.
So if you want to paint an HO figure, you magnify it nice and big, then try to paint it with a broom, [ fine brush], holding on to it with two redwood tree trunks [ your fingers ], or with an excavator grapple [ your smallest pliers ].[:p]

Not fun !
As my eyes go, my fingers also are losing dexterity, especially when applying small detail, trying to apply decals or transfers, or installing specialized Kadee coil-spring couplers and truck springs....really I'm at the point of giving up even trying most of those things. On the plus side, I don't see the detail that well now, either.[;)]
I'm hoping to help out a friend, who's 78, this winter as he starts over again...this time he's going with Lionel O tinplate.
If I help him build his new layout, I might get hooked on the big stuff. Too bad it's so costly.[:(]..."Golden Years" my foot ![xx(]
Merry Christmas,
Mike

[bcammack]

I'm hoping that before my eyes get too terrible, there will be suitable technology to let me work looking at a highly magnified television image while manipulating my tools and the model via remote controls that scale my movements down by about 50%.

One of the discount/closeout computer web stores I frequent has been offering a 200x magnifier TV camera for < $50. If it was something like 10x, I'd be on it in a heartbeat! <g>

Regards,
Brett C. Cammack

[Anonymous]

I'm a month or so away from 60 and just got some new bifocals a couple of months ago. WOW! I didn't realize how bad the old glasses were. My problem is a health condition that affects my hands. If I do a bunch of yard work, etc. first my fingers aren't steady enough for modeling for several hours. This plus limited time for the hobby spells slow progress on the layout, but it's still a fun hobby!

ed

[vsmith]

Nevin,

I know the feeling, last weekend I tried to add some detail railing to a building on my HOn30 micro-layout and had a heck of a time with it. I'm only 40 but have already switched primarily to large scale, its just a whole lot easier for me to work on things.

Question, have you looked at On30 lately? theres a lot of stuff out there thats big enough to do details easier on since its O scale but it runs on HO track so you dont have to scrap everything.

[BR60103]

At last summer's NMRA convention I went to a clinic called "Eyesight and the Aging Modeller".
The clinician made the point that shifting to a bigger scale doesn't really clear away the small detail problem; you end up putting smaller detail items on because they're now visible to you e.g. lettering on builders plates instead of an oval blob.
I suggest that if you can still see well enough to put the trains on the tracks, stick with the scale you have.
I've never had good distance vision -- worn glasses since age 8 or 9 -- but now my close up is starting to go. I've got continuous bifocals, but the neck strain of looking at close items is something else. Consider some cheap glasses focussed at your working distance. I find that the Optivisor makes me bend over to get the work in focus so that my nose interferes with the tools. [xx(]