teen model railroader qouestian???

[Anonymous]

Great to hear all this enthusiasm for work!

Seriously... all you youngsters... (What's it like to be young? I can't recall)...

No, seriously. When you start looking at work/career/college and start to produce a CV / Resume think about ALL the good/positive things that your interest in MRR has got you into... "I do toy trais" doesn't say much to a prospective employer but "I've got my act together to go out and find work to pay for my interests... which have taught me... history, photography, woodwork... the list is endless (but make sure you can answer questions on it in an interview... saying it taught you "IT skills" but that was only how to set your DCC decoder is not good... writing a programme... or even just maintaining an inventory would be good).

Keep having fun.

[skates94]

Just wait kids........ One day you will get a great career making decent money BUT then you will get married and your Wife will control the money and you will still get nothing but a lousy allowance. [*^_^*]

[loathar]

Stand on a busy corner (near a hobby shop) with a sign that says" Will work for flex track and rolling stock"[:D]

[Train 284]

I do every job I can get to earn money. I have built my layout on the one-piece-at-a-time approach, and it saves money. This would probably work good for you too.

[scole100]

Get your dad involved in the hobby too. That way when you ask for some cool new car or loco, he will be much more understanding of your need. My son has done this to me. His hobby is photography. He makes sure to include railroad and model railroad photographic opportunities when he tells me why it is that he needs some new gadget. It does work.

[Noah Hofrichter]

I don't get much of an allowace per week, so most of my money comes from odd jobs. I have a standing Job mowing the lawn and Shoveling snow around our house(Which I did for the first time today), and I also rake the lawn, water new grass or the flowers, and stuff like that. It can be very lucrative actually. And of course I get a lot of money for Christmas and my Birthday.

Noah

[tmcc man]

Well, I gather money from various sources. I chop wood, mow lawns, put up christmas lights, and shovel snow. I am 15 and will be getting a job in the spring as a caddy. There is also Christmas, and this year my parents are buying me an Aristo Craft outdoor Dash 9 and 6 roadrailers. I model many different scales, HO, O and G, and I might be starting in S. O and G are my two main ones, and I hang out in the CTT forum all the time. I also have a wide knowledge in both of these gauges.

[ICRR1964]

WOW! I'm glad we have the younger generation involved in MR! I have a nephew who I talked to over the holiday who is going to be 16 soon, he helps me in the summer months on constrution jobs I do, and I pay him well. He helps his dad do things around the house and learned the art of working with brick and concrete! Anyway he offered to sell me all of his train stuff because he has lost interest in it! I am off Saturday to help him disassemble his layout and pack everything up! I am not going to buy it from him, but am going to help him pack it all away for later on in life when he is older! His interest has changed from trains to cars, and girls. I did the same thing when I was his age about 30 years ago. I know the cost of supplies, loco's, and freight have gone out the roof over the years, just stay in the hobby as long as you can, it will always be there for you younger modelers later on in life! Glad to see there is interest from the younger modelers!

[trainboyH16-44]

Oh, and I am also trying to get a job at my LHS.
Aggro, I have never found monry on the sidewalk or bus, other than pennies (I'm collecting!)
Matthew

[Anonymous]

I work part time at Home Depot, cashier during the week and a stocker on the weekends. Working there really helped when I got started because I got the wood and everything that I needed to start the table before I left one day. Some weeks I spend more money than I need to on trains and sometimes I don't hardly spend anything.

[rolleiman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AggroJones

Back in my day, we didn't have allowance.

[(-D][(-D]

I asked my father for an allowance once... His response was "you get fed don't you??".. During My teen years, trains were usually aquired as gifts for birthday and Christmas... Which kind of sucked since they are a week apart.. Odd jobs funded anything else I wanted to get.. An Akane H-8 would have only been a distant pipe dream.. Come to think of it, it still is.. [:D]

The younger set working to support the habit of MR should be commended.. Keep it up..

Jeff

[cheese3]

I mow peoples lawns

[railroadyoshi]

I don't recieve allowance. Next summer i'll be getting a job at the LHS. To fund my MR, i rely on money accumulated from various points in the year. I don't accept money from my parents for the work I do for them, even though they offer it, because I feel its my duty as their child.

[AggroJones]

Back in my day, we didn't have allowance. I got the occasional $5 or $10 bill from my father when he had a finacially good day. And I collected any money I found walking down the street and or riding the public bus. When I graduated from Jr. high and recieved money from various older sibblings , is when I had enough money for a real model locomotive (an Athearn).
Then when I was 15, i got a summer job working for the city. Clearing brush from empty lots and removing garbage. That paid minimum wage; enough to fund a railroad.

[trainboyH16-44]

I clean bathrooms in my house, and mow my lawn. And I'm good at getting my parent's money for that, they understand that a Kato costs almost $200! And I clear snow whernever I can.
Matthew

[trainfreek92]

hey guys thanxs for the replies!! its cool to here how others got money for mr when and are in there teens! Tim

[UnionPacific3985]

I'm 18 and I own a Lawn Service which make real good money so that's what I use to buy rolling stock and some locos. Usually for birthdays and Christmas my parents will get me something nice. Last year I got a Genesis UP3985 Challenger and the year before I got 2 Genesis UP SD70's.

[james saunders]

well atm i work once a week and get $40 which doesnt go far, but as of next week ill be working full time because its the holidays ill be getting $250, which isnt bad considering im only 16, but i say the Mrr ing will take a back seat for a while because i have other priorities atm such as saving for a car.

james

[Eriediamond]

I grew up on a dairy farm and when I was a teen back in the middle 50's, I talked my grand father into buy a hay baler for me. I custom baled hay and straw and had the baler paid off the first year and thats how I made my extra money. You are doing fine trainfreak. Only the times and jobs have changed. Ken

[on30francisco]

I'm not a teen but when I was one a long time ago, I used to save money from a paper route I had. I also did odd jobs for the neighbors and of course got model railroading supplies for Christmas and birthdays. In those days, we used to scratchbuild, build kits, scavenge for usable parts (for our railroads), and improvise to save a few bucks. We would also order from some of the mail order hobby supply houses that advertised in MR magazine. The attitudes of some of the LHSs and their customers was much more congenial toward youngsters back then. Many old-timers (customers) would talk to youngsters in the LHSs, give them useful modeling advice and would offer them equipment that they did not need. I remember several guys sent me some of their used locos, track, boxcars and some structures. They mailed them to our house and didn't ask for a cent.

[Anonymous]

My dad generally gives me 40 dollars a week, that I use mostly to buy bus tickets and my lunch. Often, I have a few dollars left over anyway, but when I save my money by bringing by lunch from home instead of buying one, I can usually afford to get a few little things at the hobby shop at the end of the week.[:)]

[Anonymous]

I have a job, I get paid, I'm currently saving up paychecks to get an Akane Allengheny. It's not that hard once your old enough to work and can start gathering your own funds.

[joeyegarner]

So, I'm not a teenager but just like the odd jobs you do I had some kind of part time job from the time I was just 13 so your on the right track!! No pun intended.

[trainfreek92]

hey guys just wondering how other teen model railroaders get the money 2 mr? for me i get 15 bucks a week for allowance and $$20 every time it snows 2 shovel 2 neighbors walk ways!! and of course birthday and christhmas[:D] so what about you guys??? Tim