Riding my Harley (yes, it's an '86 Softail). Light carpentry (arthritis limits range of motion). Railfanning. Ex-WP. Ex-SP. Ex-SN. Ex-TS.
Mark
WP Lives
Wagner was another sleeping car design & they probably had their own patented features. Could your model be a salesman's demonstration model or an adverrtising prop? Scale models of railroad items have possibly been built for as long as we have had the big ones, but there's not much literature on the early efforts AFAIK. I believe a few toys and other models from the 1800's exist, but serious scale modeling didn't become popular till after 1900. Availability of electricity in the home made it possible to have primitive operating model railroads, but cost and availability of components probably restricted the hobby to those who were pretty well off, or who had special talents and skills. During the thirties the hobby became popular enough to support magazines like Model Railroader.
I'm interested in railroad hisroty and pasenger travel. I've just entered into the world of model trains through my research of a model in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum.
Not a model train in the typical sense, this is an over 2' wood model of an interior with fully functioning adjustable upholstered seats and sleeping berths. While I've tenously connected the model to a patent from 1869 ( not Pullman or Woodruff), I haven't been able to find out why this model would have been made (it's too large for a patent model and far too elaborate). A selling tool?? When did model train building begin as a hobby? Did the hobby of model making include larger wooden models of interiors in the 19th century?
Any of you history buffs have any ideas?? I'd really apprecaite any information you've got!
BATMAN GP-9_Man11786 when it comes to grilling, it's charcoal or nothing!Dinner I don't know why, but I become violently ill after eating anything cooked on charcoal that was started with starter fluid. We did have an electric starter and then got lazy (old age) and went with Natural Gas plugged right into the house. The good thing about the Gas is we use it all year round as it heats up instantly even on the coldest days. And is great to use during our power failures.
GP-9_Man11786 when it comes to grilling, it's charcoal or nothing!Dinner
I don't know why, but I become violently ill after eating anything cooked on charcoal that was started with starter fluid. We did have an electric starter and then got lazy (old age) and went with Natural Gas plugged right into the house. The good thing about the Gas is we use it all year round as it heats up instantly even on the coldest days. And is great to use during our power failures.
Tracklayer
- Music (playing music/music recording/production) - singing, keyboards/piano, bass guitar, guitar, alto sax
- Computers (I do both PC and Mac)
- Travel
- Bicycling
- Hiking
- Astronomy
- California native plant gardening
GP-9_Man11786when it comes to grilling, it's charcoal or nothing!Dinner
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Now that the weather has warmed up here, I've been indulging one of my other passions, grilling. In fact just yesterday I got some NY strip steaks that were cut just right. I used a nice dry rub on them and grilled them over charcoal with hickory wood chips. Not to start a flame war (pun very much intended) when it comes to grilling, it's charcoal or nothing!
Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.
www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com
@P&Slocal: I think this particular "cockpit" was somewhere in the $150 - $200 range, but that is just for the cockpit part (not the monitor, seat, wheel, pedals or computer). It is completely made out of PVC pipe from Lowe's. Yes, you can race just fine with a single monitor. That's what the majority of people race using. I don't have the big bucks to race triple-screens. The seat is from an old Honda Civic from a junk yard. I paid $40 for it. The monitor is a standard 24" LCD monitor. My computer is a Macbook Pro actually, and I race on the PC under Windows 7. My wheel and pedals are from a company called Fanatec. This particalar setup was around $350, but that was about 4 years ago, and I need to upgrade.
And I don't have the money at all for all those fancy montion cockpits. But some of my racing buddies do. No... I'm not jealous at all.
BATMAN Born in 1957 and had trains with Dad from day one. 1966 started a pretty good sized Strombecker Slot Car layout....Still had trains. 1967 Started playing a lot of Golf. Still had trains. 1970 started skiing, lots of fast (unorganized) downhill at Whistler, Big White and Lake Louise. Still had trains. 1972 started playing the Guitar and became friends with some good musicians and owners of Vancouvers largest recording studio. Ten years of seeing some well known bands recording their albums. 1973 bought a "Honda 500 four" motorcycle. 1974 Grade 11 and 12, offered a job to work in Proshop at Golfcourse 40 HRS a week, Golfcourse Pro got me playing some very good Golf, had girlfriend. Trains started getting dusty! 1976 Offered job by Federal Government. Started to Travel the world. Trains stored. 1977 Bought brand new 1978 Maroon Chevy Van and spent a ridiculous amount of money turning it into a Custom Shaggin Wagon. It was great on all those ski trips. 1978 New girlfriend has horses, spent a lot of time riding and going to events with her. Broke up 8 years later. 1979 Learn to fly and would chase my friends around the sky in Piper 181s pretending we were top guns. Including around those mountains in Crandells photo's NW of Vancouver. My flying instructor was a "just retired" Canadian Airforce instructor. He convinced me to go for an interview with the Canadian Armed Forces. I went to three and wrote a three hour exam to test my suitability to be a pilot. I must have passed as they phoned me on a regular basis for the next two years to see if I was still interested. 1980s Learned to Hanglide, started sailing, did white water river rafting, including rivers in Australia and New Zealand. Started Scuba Diving. Loved The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Started Mountain biking bigtime, Still played lots of Golf and Skied. Still thinking about trains. Travelled a lot. 1989 Bought a 1990 Mazda RX7 Turbo II. 1990s Still traveling and playing lots of Golf, lots of Mountain Biking and Crazy Skiing. Some broken bones along the way. 1991, Sold my Customized van for almost as much as I paid for it 14 years earlier. Did I mentioned the inside looked like a Captains cabin on an old sailing ship. I often wonder what ever happened to it. 1997 January 20th. I heard that if you haven't got married by the time you were 40 you probably wouldn't do so. So I married a long time friend of mine nine days before my 40th birthday and had a boy 11 months later and a girl in 2001. Got my bucket list out of the way and then got married and had kids. I saved the best for last. 2001 Son and I have a 5' x 10' peace of plywood full of Thomas the Train. 2002 Had to get glasses and I am slowing down. Not skiing anymore (knee's are shot) 2004 Out comes my old train stuff and away goes Thomas. 2005 Mountain Biking isn't happening very often. It's time to move the Grand Piano out of the 15'x24' trainroom "to be" and get started. 2007 Golf is no longer enjoyable. 2009 Arthitis has grabbed me by the throat and I am told to take early medical retirement from Feds, much to my chagrin. Present day, Trains, guitar, Riding my John Deere ( we have an acre in grass I feel like Forest Gump after a life of thrills) making wine and involved with sons Hockey. My wife shows and breeds dogs and our house is always full of people. I am 57, my is 52. We are both retired and that allows us to spend a lot of time with our kids now 12 and 15. In the Summer we hit the road or Airport the day after school gets out and come home when we feel like it. I also am a Huge Star Trek fan.
Born in 1957 and had trains with Dad from day one.
1966 started a pretty good sized Strombecker Slot Car layout....Still had trains.
1967 Started playing a lot of Golf. Still had trains.
1970 started skiing, lots of fast (unorganized) downhill at Whistler, Big White and Lake Louise. Still had trains.
1972 started playing the Guitar and became friends with some good musicians and owners of Vancouvers largest recording studio. Ten years of seeing some well known bands recording their albums.
1973 bought a "Honda 500 four" motorcycle.
1974 Grade 11 and 12, offered a job to work in Proshop at Golfcourse 40 HRS a week, Golfcourse Pro got me playing some very good Golf, had girlfriend. Trains started getting dusty!
1976 Offered job by Federal Government. Started to Travel the world. Trains stored.
1977 Bought brand new 1978 Maroon Chevy Van and spent a ridiculous amount of money turning it into a Custom Shaggin Wagon. It was great on all those ski trips.
1978 New girlfriend has horses, spent a lot of time riding and going to events with her. Broke up 8 years later.
1979 Learn to fly and would chase my friends around the sky in Piper 181s pretending we were top guns. Including around those mountains in Crandells photo's NW of Vancouver. My flying instructor was a "just retired" Canadian Airforce instructor. He convinced me to go for an interview with the Canadian Armed Forces. I went to three and wrote a three hour exam to test my suitability to be a pilot. I must have passed as they phoned me on a regular basis for the next two years to see if I was still interested.
1980s Learned to Hanglide, started sailing, did white water river rafting, including rivers in Australia and New Zealand. Started Scuba Diving. Loved The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Started Mountain biking bigtime, Still played lots of Golf and Skied. Still thinking about trains. Travelled a lot.
1989 Bought a 1990 Mazda RX7 Turbo II.
1990s Still traveling and playing lots of Golf, lots of Mountain Biking and Crazy Skiing. Some broken bones along the way.
1991, Sold my Customized van for almost as much as I paid for it 14 years earlier. Did I mentioned the inside looked like a Captains cabin on an old sailing ship. I often wonder what ever happened to it.
1997 January 20th. I heard that if you haven't got married by the time you were 40 you probably wouldn't do so. So I married a long time friend of mine nine days before my 40th birthday and had a boy 11 months later and a girl in 2001. Got my bucket list out of the way and then got married and had kids. I saved the best for last.
2001 Son and I have a 5' x 10' peace of plywood full of Thomas the Train.
2002 Had to get glasses and I am slowing down. Not skiing anymore (knee's are shot)
2004 Out comes my old train stuff and away goes Thomas.
2005 Mountain Biking isn't happening very often. It's time to move the Grand Piano out of the 15'x24' trainroom "to be" and get started.
2007 Golf is no longer enjoyable.
2009 Arthitis has grabbed me by the throat and I am told to take early medical retirement from Feds, much to my chagrin.
Present day, Trains, guitar, Riding my John Deere ( we have an acre in grass I feel like Forest Gump after a life of thrills) making wine and involved with sons Hockey. My wife shows and breeds dogs and our house is always full of people.
I am 57, my is 52. We are both retired and that allows us to spend a lot of time with our kids now 12 and 15. In the Summer we hit the road or Airport the day after school gets out and come home when we feel like it.
I also am a Huge Star Trek fan.
FRRYKidIn my case, it somewhat depends on the day. Being ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, for those who aren't familar with the acroymn)
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
In my case, it somewhat depends on the day. Being ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, for those who aren't familar with the acroynm), I tend to jump around a little bit. Some days it might be getting into my love of History in various different ways. (That was my minor in college.) In some cases, it is by watching movies based on true events. (Recent ones include Argo, Defiance and the Iron Lady.) It also can be by watching documentaries on historical subjects. In others, reading books about history. Historical buildings even work there way into my railroad. A bridge on my switchback and three buildings are all based on historical buildings here in my hometown.
Other days, I indugle my love of Legos. (Yes, I am one of those adults who loves Legos.) Most of what I build is railroad-related. I have a micro train that I built that is currently sitting on my entertainment center. I also have build 4 Lego trains of various kinds as well, one of which was built as a trade of services. (I built the train and the grandmother of the kid it was built for made some stuff for me.)
Currently, the major thing that is keeping me somewhat busy (other than model railroading, of course) is planning for a reception for my Mom & Dad in honor of their 40th anniversary. It is less than two weeks away and trying to make sure everything is ready is getting quite interesting, especially when one doesn't drive. (The reception site is not that far from where I live and I have a good handcart for moving all the bits and pieces. The cake is being delivered, thankfully.) I have been planning since September so I hope I get this pulled off. (Given that this is not exactly inexpensive, that allowed me to spread out the costs.) The other interesting thing is this is being planned as a total surprise. Mom is one of these people who likes to keep things rather private. When I did an ad for their 35th, she wasn't real enthused with me about it, but, after a while, she warmed up to everybody wishing her "Happy Anniversary." (She and I both work in retail.) I haven't exactly figured out how to get them to the site, but I will come up with something.
napa15You need to generally have a wheel and pedals to be able to race properyl. Well, this is my home built "rig"... or cockpit.
Needs hydraulics.
http://hackedgadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/crazy-racing-simulator-by-motion-sim_2.jpg
Steve S
Mononguy63
Yeah Strat is still popular now. Im a sports video game guy but hours can pass when I play strat, never have played the football or hockey. Just figuring out my next "project" now, dont know if I am going to do a draft ( hard to do with the crads and dice version ) or a 2013 replay.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
This probably counts as Model railroading but I refurbish & sell locomotives, (mostly HO, some N scale) I also enjoy woodworking, hunting, boating, fishing, home remodeling projects, refurbishing garden tractors (mostly John Deere) and then theres always the honeydo list which includes all of the home repair, car repair & anything else she can think of. Unfortunately most of these are expensive hobbies and it can be hard to keep up with all of them.
Michael
Never attempt anything you don't want to explain to the EMT
Napa15,
Now that hobby piques my interest! How much do you have in a set up like you have? I watched a few videos on Youtube and saw others with multiple screens. Can one get by with just 1 screen? I was a big fan of the GT games when I had a console. This looks like it is somewhat similar but more updated.
Robert H. Shilling II
Well, I'm fairly new to Model Railroading... but I am not new to my other hobby. I've been sim-racing online for somewhere near 10 years. For the last 5 years I have been sim-racing with a service called iRacing.com. It is an online only sim-racing community where you race against only other humans, in anything from Mazda Miatas to NASACAR to Formula 1. All tracks and cars are laser scanned, to be accurate to within milimeters. It's a blast and I enjoy it a lot. Their promo video is here, to get an idea of what it is like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLfkPntDlO8
As with model railroading, you have to build a layout in order to enjoy the hobby (for the most part). You need to generally have a wheel and pedals to be able to race properyl. Well, this is my home built "rig"... or cockpit.
I also enjoy painting cars for the sim (game) for other people to use for free. Some of that work is here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/102700810654735985344/albums/5977310343778757793
OK.. back to the layout!
V8VegaScience fiction dosen't make any sense to me.
Oh come on! It is all perfectly straight forward if you do a little reading. For instance, if they use the reflector dish to send a Neutrino pulse out to repair a tear in the space time continuum it all makes sense. There are four kinds of neutrinos, three are detectable and one is not. However they know the fourth is there because of the way the other three move.
Go ahead and Google Neutrinos and learn something today. We should all learn one thing new everyday, even if it is just a new word.
http://www.ps.uci.edu/~superk/neutrino.html
One thing that stands out in this thread- very little mention of anything having to do with watching TV or playing video games. Maybe that sets us apart?
Lots of very cool hobbies!
Oh, and how could anyone here NOT like Star Trek? Think we should take that as a given
Huntington Junction - Freelance based on the B&O and C&O in coal country before the merger... doing it my way. Now working on phase 3. - Walt
For photos and more: http://www.wkhobbies.com/model-railroad/
Heartland Division CB&Q What? .... . There is a life outside of model railroading! .... ..... I'm stunned. Who would have thought so?
What? .... . There is a life outside of model railroading! .... ..... I'm stunned. Who would have thought so?
I`m just as shocked as you are......
Dennis Blank Jr.
CEO,COO,CFO,CMO,Bossman,Slavedriver,Engineer,Trackforeman,Grunt. Birdsboro & Reading Railroad
I enjoy mechanical things- IH Cub Cadets, IH agricultrual equipment especially Farmall tractors, and working on and riding pre 1980s Schwinn Bicycles. Model Railroading is more a winter hobby for me.
Modeling the N&W freelanced at the height of their steam era in HO.
Daniel G.
In My Opinion. This thread is a lot better, then the Anniversary Boxcar thread, that just sits idle, with no one involved. Something to think about, Hosts. One thing for certain, it is cordial and interesting to many people, who usually don't interact on the Forum's.
Enjoyed reading them and seeing the pic's.
Frank
this thread is sounding more like a Trekkie discussion group than a model railroad thread. :). But that's OK. Other than trains, I like jewelry making. A year or so ago I took a class at a local college and learned how to make pieces from scratch, but I also do some beading for my wife when she asks me to. It's kind of fun. I work mostly with sterling silver. Gold is just too expensive. I also like to kayak (the lazy river variety). I don't have time for much else hobby wise. Probably leaving out a dozen activities that don't come to mind at the moment.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
dominic c jeffrey-wimberly One of the biggest points of bother though is where'd they get parts for that corvette? 20th century - 23rd century?
jeffrey-wimberly
vsmithI also had issues with JJs Trek, like if Nero gets blown into the past, knowing full well his people are doomed so what does he do, sit on his ass for 20 years waiting for Spock to show up???Huh????
You make valid points, but the one I highlighted, I had a different take on it. I was under the impression that Nero was jumping around in time to find the exact time that he could confront Spock. That's why his crew ask that captain what stardate it was. It seemed they were having problems finding the right stardate. But overall I really enjoyed those two movies. Yes they were different and at times a little confusing but they brought in a new generation of fans and renewed interest in the franchise to keep it going. We can debate things about the old movies. But one you can never deny, those two new movies were 20 times better than star trek 1,5&6
Joe C
jeffrey-wimberlyOne of the biggest points of bother though is where'd they get parts for that corvette? 20th century - 23rd century?
Come on Jeff. They have 3D printers now. Can you imagine what they would be capable of in the 23 century?. Then again maybe there will be ways to preserve vintage cars or anything else for that matter to their orginal state.
French and Indian War re-enactment. I portray a French Canadian militia man (milicien) and have been putting together a kit for French Marine. I have been a participant in all but one of the major 250th anniversary battles.
I also have dabbled in early American history at Martin's Station in SW VA and at the John Sevier Homestead in TN.
I enjoy shooting black powder firearms and have done so in competition. I do it more for fun than to actually win.
I enjoy putting together jigsaw puzzles.
I am a hockey fan. Just a fan now, but played defense and left wing back in the mid 90's in an adult recreational league.
I have owned a 67 Impala SS and a 67 Chevelle SS396. Both have been sold off but would like to find something else. Right now I am thinking a 70 K5 Blazer would be fun to restore.
I also collect diplomas and certificates of completion. I have my high school diploma, 20 some firefighting certificates, 2 lumber grading school diplomas, 2 Bachelors degrees (History and Secondary Education), a Masters degree (Curriculum and Instruction), and a truck driving school cert. of completion.
I am moving to southern Nevada at the end of this month and I guess I will be looking for some new hobbies once I am there!
Fun thread. I actually selected my MR screen name with HObbies in mind since I've got quite a variety. Can only really do one or two at at a time and I sort of rotate through them. Not quite up to snuff with the model railroad yet (its been a very long time since my first layout) but working my way along and getting better at it as I go.
Classic Pontiac restoration. I just finished this one before starting the MRR layout last year. Sort of a sleeper for a Lemans- I put a healthy 455 CID engine in it.
Aviation, in particular RC scale warbirds. This one got me invited as a VIP to the big WWII airshow in PA (MAAM) some years back. Got to meet the pilot and some of the crew of a P-61 that flew in the same squad as the plane I modeled which was very cool. Here's a magazine shot and a pic of me talking with the crew at the airshow. My RC club lost our big flying field years back so model airplanes have been on the back-burner for some time, but I still work the local full-scale airshow every year.
Built/raced various cars over the years, both 1/4 mi and dirt track. Don't drive anymore except testing new builds on the 1/4, but I still get involved in racing every now and then.
Bass fishing- have several 10+ lb fish on the wall. Here's one of them.
I'll stop with the pictures, but not quite done with the list
Walt