Before and after Model Railroading: Life just ain't the same anymore...

[Dave-the-Train]

Jerry

Is that tree reaching out to try to grab the train?  Nice pic, any chance of a larger version?

Most places I work people start out having a laugh at my looking at everything (both as a subject and to see what can be recycled into model/layout parts).  At least half of them usually get to pointing things out or putting things by for me.  Most people prefer the little bit I talk about trains/models (I deliberately keep it down) to people endlessly going on about their computer games.  I haven't yet heard of someone getting a divorce because of a game but I'm sure it will happen.

[jwils1]

Great thread.  So true how our environment now brings out such appreciation for much of what we have often taken for granted.

Model Railroading is truly an amazing hobby that makes better, more appreciative people of us, including friendships and kinder, more giving, helpful people.  I also look at every weed, bush, rock, tree, and of course ballast, ties, and rusting rails.  I've recently noticed the beauty that fall/winter landscapes provide.  The colors are subtle but really beautiful in their own way.

I also love the photography in Trainorders.com and RailPictures.net, and of course Trains Magazine, as they often contain great shots of the world around us, providing many ideas for modeling.

[tstage]

bump

[fsm1000]

You know you got the bug when you can't throw ANYTHING out until you look at it for a week trying to figure out if you could use it on your layout.

The fun comes when your sweetie does the same:D LOL

[tstage]

Oh, I agree!    I have gotten so bad, my wife has gottwn into the act.  We will be out somewhere and she will point out some big tree and says somethign like   "Look honey, isnt that a perfect model railroad tree?"   or she will see a cute barn or house.   "You need one of those honey."    God, I love her so.

John,

It's funny you should mention that.  My dear wife is also supportive of my MRR hobby and even interested in it, at times.  On a somewhat regular basis, she'll inquire by asking, "So, what's new in the train business?"  After explaining to her what I'm working on or what I'm attempting to accomplish, she'll also start to take notice of those particular things out in the real world.

Tom

[canazar]

Oh, I agree!    I have gotten so bad, my wife has gottwn into the act.  We will be out somewhere and she will point out some big tree and says somethign like   "Look honey, isnt that a perfect model railroad tree?"   or she will see a cute barn or house.   "You need one of those honey."    God, I love her so.

 

Where I have found I got it bad, is when I got to the hardware store.   I can go to that place 3-8 times a week for my job, looking for paint or hardware..    Now, everytime I go in and get the last thing I need... I find myself looking at paint, foam, or trying to find that little thing that will make   a "Oh, cut this down a little, tweak this a bit and this will make a perferct thingmajiggy "

[tomikawaTT]

To all which has gone before - I resemble that!

Actually, I can't remember my life before model trains.  I teethed on a box car!

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[jecorbett]

You know you are a model railroader when you see an office building that has just been constructed and say to yourself, "Gee, they should do a little weathering and it would really look great."

[tstage]

So close...well next time you come around here look me up. I'll take you down to the club.

I would enjoy that.   Chip, I actually thought of you yesterday on the trip over, knowing that you were only an hour or so ENE of the city.  My wife's uncle mentioned that there was a nice trolly museum/MRR layout on I-79 (about 10 minutes up the road from Canonsburg) that was worth seeing. 

On the trip home, we talked about going back for a 2-day visit in the next few months to spend more time with our (my wife's) relatives.  If we do, I'll definitely try and pop over to Indiana to stop by and say hi.

Tom

[Dave-the-Train]

You got it right!

Plus

• stumbling across old books  - on all sorts of subjects - I've got one on (UK) external sanitary pipeware... those "trees of pipes down the outsdie of buildings.
• learning to solder...
• making baseboards
• finding a loco cheap
• smuggling it back into the train room
• forgetting to close the door bridge in front of the ...
• spending time on forums

[Eriediamond]

Count me in here too. Allow me to ramble here a bit. I'm a "senior" I guess you could say, and an over the road tricker for the past 48 years. Last summer I was traveling to Latrobe, Pa to pick up a load of lumber on route 30 which is two lane and crossed a bidge over a creek or river. An abandoned rr ran parallel to the highway and the old bridge piers were still in that river and kids off all ages were swimming there. What a scene for a model rail road. Also in my travels I often run along abandoned rr right of way thats over grown with trees and such and I can just picture running along with a local freight headed by a "mike" or "consolidated". Ahhh, memories. Enough rambleing and memories. Ken

[dean_1230]

Tom,

I felt this exact feeling this past week. I was on my way from Las Cruces NM to El Paso to catch a flight back to Cleveland. At one point along I-10, i saw a structure that I'm going to have to put on my layout. it was the tanks from two 10k gallon tank cars set up on scaffolding. The tanks were about 10 feet off the ground. I have no idea what the tanks were being used for, but they looked awesome!

of course, the two other people in the car had no idea that my mind had shifted over into the 'hobby' mode nor did they probably even notice the tanks.

Dean

[SpaceMouse]

So close...well next time you come around here look me up. I'll take you down to the club.

I agree. You not only see things, but you think about how you will model or weather it on your layout.

[jblackwelljr]

Tom,

I agree and I think it's pretty amazing.  I've always looked at the big picture, but in doing so, I missed a lot of the details.  As this hobby continues to "invade" my conciousness (meant in a positive way), I find myself looking at all my surroundings in a different light. 

The other benefit of this enlightened observation is not only am I filing details for use on my layout but I'm also gaining more appreciation for both nature's and man's accomplishments.  Of man's accomplishments, it seems the lasting ones are those that work in harmony with nature, not those that fight it.  A lesson to be learned there.

I think I'm still developing my eye for detail - obviously yours is a little further ahead.  Nice to know there are others affected similarly and in such a positive way.

 

[Tom Bryant_MR]

Ditto.  Every outing my wife and I make I am constantly looking and then turning over in my mind, how could that be modeled ?

And, my ear can pick out the sound of a train whistle amongst all the traffic & neighborhood noises around where we live.

Regards,

[selector]

Tom, you have captured my own experience very well.  It was during the latter stages of building my first layout last year that I began to "see".  Even though I had well trained eyes due to my time in reconnaissance and tank commanding many years ago, and due also to my experience at the eyepieces of a decent telescope, I had to teach my eye to see nature in a much less casual way.  It was when I approached the scenicking part of the job that I began to look around and notice rocks and tree bark.

Nature is truly wonderful, and our attempts to tame it have yielded some pretty neat structures, if we do say so ourselves.  Witness our friend Karl and his rendition of the mighty Kinsol trestle.  Pretty hard to beat that!

-Crandell

[tstage]

Yesterday my wife and I drove from Cleveland to the Pittsburgh area to have Thanksgiving dinner at one of her relatives.  The drive over was very beautiful.  The temperatures were in the 40s but the skies were blue and it was sunny.

As we traveled east/southeast across eastern OH into western PA, I began to realize just how much model railroading - in such a short amount of time (2-1/2 years) - had made me much more acutely aware of the things around me that, for years, I either had never noticed or had often taken for granted:

• Rock and land formations - Dirt comes in a variety of colors and texture.  So does rock.  Spending time soaking in just how striations in the layers can add realism.
  
• Trees and grass - Where, how, and under what circumstances do they grow?  (Definitely easier to see, now that the leaves have fallen off.)
  
• Bridges - Every one is almost unique in and of itself.  There are similarities.  But there are also some subtle differences - even between the same type, in different states.
  
• Utility/pole lines - Even more so than bridges, they come in different sizes and configurations.
  
• Structures - Barns, facilities, industries, etc..  Along SR 60S, we approached what appeared to be either a steel mill or some sort of refinery.  I thought to myself, "There has to be a railroad coming up in order to get supplies into and product out of that facility".  Sure enough, within a 1/4 mile, my presumptions were confirmed.
• Grade crossings
  
• Roads - Types, lines, colors, textures, defects, etc.
  
• Water - Streams, rivers, puddles, etc. and their effects on the land
• Animals
  
• Aging and decay - The colors, effects, and degrees.
  
• The interrelationship of all the above to one another.
  

Ever since I began my own layout, I observe the visible world around me - both natural and man-made - in an entirely different light.  And those observations change and intensify as I begin to study and understand the different aspects of the prototype - with the burning question in the back of my mind, "Hmmm...How would I go about modeling that?"

I know that this is nothing new for some of you.  I just wanted to express it out loud anyhow.  Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings...

Tom