PMeyer wrote: Model trains are the only kind of hobby store I've ever seen that are dedicated to only one hobby.Okay - I saw one radio control airplane store but only one. There are lots of model railroad stores!And the post office does not count as a stamp collecting hobby store! Paul
Model trains are the only kind of hobby store I've ever seen that are dedicated to only one hobby.
Okay - I saw one radio control airplane store but only one. There are lots of model railroad stores!
And the post office does not count as a stamp collecting hobby store!
Paul
The Mirriam-Webster definition of the word hobby: a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation
I've seen lots of stores that support certain specific hobbies:
Fabric Stores, Hi-Fi Stores, Computer Stores, Photo-gear stores, Fly-Tying Stores, Fishing Gear Stores, Leather Craft Stores, Coin Shops, Gun Shops, Woodworking Stores, R/C Car stores, Macramé Stores, Home Brew Stores, Gourmet Cooking Stores, Bicycle Stores, and Golf Stores (it's not a sport if you make up your own rules like many golfers do). I'm sure there are more, but I really don't think it is a valid argument to hold our Model Train Stores as evidence that we're something special.
I'd say there are lots of great hobbies and ours is one of them. I think it sounds silly to say ours is the greatest, because it is easy to determine that there are plenty of others that are its equal in terms of the pleasure brought to the participants.
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
Dave Vollmer wrote:
Dave, is that from the Depressories collection?
A positive attitude: It's what keeps you from being naked on the roof with a deer rifle.
If you're not part of the solution, you must be in management.
There is no "I" in team, but there is one in "kiss my ."
OPPORTUNITY: Yes, that's your boss. No, that's not his wife.
Andre
Probably why I like model railroading and don't play golf.
Let's see. How can I stir the pot.
I'm a model railroader, play golf, and I'm an athlete. (9 times Ironman finisher.)
Model railroading is a great hobby but golf is a game, not a sport. If an alcoholic, overweight man can earn a couple of 100K's a year playing pro golf, it's hard to call it a sport. I enjoy playing golf, but I demonstrate no athletic ability when doing so.
But aerobic full contact model railroading, that might be the next big thing.. I wonder if ESPN would be interested....
Mike Tennent
CofGMike,Well, since I called golf a sport, I'll debate the point.
If being successful while dosed on alcohol and being fat makes golf not a sport (ie, John Daly), then how do you explain David Wells, baseball pitcher? Or heck, Babe Ruth for that matter. And have you seen the offensive lines in the NFL over time? Is baseball and football not considered sports because drunk fat people make or made lots of money playing them?
As for not demonstrating athetic ability while playing golf, that I disagree with. Sure, it's not the raw power or speed that other sports use, but it's still a physical skill set beyond mere hand-eye coordination. IOW, if you can pull a muscle playing it, it's a sport. Paul A. Cutler III************Weather Or No Go New Haven************
Paul3 wrote: CofGMike,Well, since I called golf a sport, I'll debate the point. If being successful while dosed on alcohol and being fat makes golf not a sport (ie, John Daly), then how do you explain David Wells, baseball pitcher? Or heck, Babe Ruth for that matter. And have you seen the offensive lines in the NFL over time? Is baseball and football not considered sports because drunk fat people make or made lots of money playing them? As for not demonstrating athetic ability while playing golf, that I disagree with. Sure, it's not the raw power or speed that other sports use, but it's still a physical skill set beyond mere hand-eye coordination. IOW, if you can pull a muscle playing it, it's a sport. Paul A. Cutler III************Weather Or No Go New Haven************
How physically large the players are has no bearing on whether or not something is a sport. (If you insist on disagreeing, I'll ask the Japan Sumo Organization to send over a Yokozuna to sit on you...)
IMHO, if the activity involves public competition for prizes and prestige, it's a sport. (Am I imagining that Tiger Woods is making a lot more than George Bush? ) That includes golf, gymnastics, marathon running and all those crazy things people do on water, frozen and otherwise. To the best of my knowledge, the only people aware of any kind of model railroad competetion are model railroaders - and not even all of them.
So, what makes us think that model railroading is The World's Greatest Hobby? If you define greatest as being the most all-encompassing, consider the full suite of skills required:
Model airplane enthusiasts don't model airports, stamp collectors don't model printing plants, coin collectors don't model the Mint and most video gamers can hardly play the things, never mind write the software. But to be a model railroader, you eventually have to develop some level of proficiency in all of the above.
So, is model railroading, "The World's Greatest Hobby?" No other hobby even comes close.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
-----KEEPS GOING AND GOING AND GOING ----------THE STANDARD RAILROAD OF THE WORLD----------WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?----------WHEN IT ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY HAS TO BE THERE OVERNIGHT----------SO EASY A CAVEMAN CAN DO IT----------EVERYWHERE WEST-----Poteet:
You forgot:
-----ROUTE OF THE PHOEBE SNOW-----
I feel slighted.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow