What causes it really? I walk in the train store and buy wheels, GN box cars, and CB& Q grain box car. Every pay day i go to a train or hobby store and go home and build. I do it without thought, it just happens! I need to know what causes the train bug! I even sold guns since i had way too many and then I bought TRAINS! ITS A BUG! I DONT WANT THE CURE! I want to know what causes it, please.
Far as I know you're born with it. You either have it or you don't.
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
I found I have an inner collector---right now it is gazing longingly at a Virginian Ry 2-10-10-2 in a 1967 edition of MR. And wishing I could find one in brass----
I think they'll take a long while isolating that bug---
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
I know this does not apply to all of us. But some of us this does apply. I once read in a train book about Lionel trains - "It is not the trains themselves that we want. What we really want is our father's arms around us again". Perhaps this is true.
Jeff
My self, I need something to look forward to. It is all so the quest, the hunt for that perfect something. Compared to my other hobby's this is was cheaper and safer.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
This is neither an answer nor a logical explaination, but a caution. I've had the bug since the Johnson administration (maybe Truman?) and one day --today was my day-- you'll wake up and realize you've got " too much stuff!!!" I spent a lot of $$$s to remodel my house in order to have a train room. End result worked out fine in many ways, but today I sat down at the work bench, opened a drawer that I had not looked in for several years and realized that I had 2 dozen resin, cast metal, etc. HO car/truck kits that I'll never take the time to build with everything else the layout and locomotive/rolling stock fleet needs.
I turned from there and dug through the drawers to rediscover some wonderful custom painted locomotives, all in need of DCC conversion and none DCC ready. When they are all ready to go, there won't be enough room on my rather spacious layout to run them without major collisions.
My point, I guess, is celebrate your passion, but keep your focus narrow. I've got fine examples of every Class 1 railroad that operated in Texas in the '50s. That is 10 in all. I get stressed trying to figure out how to work the T&P, Cotton Belt, Rock Island and FW&D into a sceniro. That leaves the Katy, T&NO, Frisco, Santa Fe, MP and KCS/L&A sitting on the sidelines waiting their turn.
Don't stop, but keep focused.
I keep mine in a jar with holes in the lid.
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
Is railfanning considered part of this malady. Like slowing down a half a mile from a grade crossing hoping a train will come along and force you to stop and watch?
It's the gearhead in most of us men that attracts us to trains, the 1:1 scale ones down to TT scale.
I am not sure it is a Bug but more of a Gene .My Sister's boy is a Train nut and she can't figure out why , his dad could care less about trains and I know my sister could care less . But I love trains to the point I work on the real ones and play with the model ones , my oldest up to about a month ago when we laid her off was a car knocker like me , and growing up she had her own model railroad . My Grand father I found out after he passed away was a switchman for the New York Central . It is in your blood !!!!!!!
I know you don't want a cure but a partial cure is having a wife that controls the finances in the family! Enjoy your time!
Yeah, but what bugs her?
There are times when my wife would classify it as a mental illness.
Robert Beaty
The Laughing Hippie
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The CF-7...a waste of a perfectly good F-unit!
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the
end of your tunnel, Was just a freight train coming
your way. -Metallica, No Leaf Clover
Some of my ancestors were involved with the railroads from both sides of the law. Some were railroad employees and others were train robbers and a few were employees who stole from the railroad on occasion.
mreagant When they are all ready to go, there won't be enough room on my rather spacious layout to run them without major collisions.
Me too. It's time for a bigger layout.
I think it's genetic. Some of us just like equipment. Some like musical instruments. There is some raw, primitive longing in us for these huge beasts, even reduced to minute, room-sized scales.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
As person who makes his living, or used to anyway, in designing and building things, I like the sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing a scene. Just as I enjoy stepping back from a freshly painted wall, a nicely finished banister, or a room newly boxed in with sheetrock. It's just nice to know that you did something, and you, and everyone else, can see the results!
But yes, it's a disease, no doubt about it!
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
jeffrey-wimberlySome of my ancestors were involved with the railroads from both sides of the law. Some were railroad employees and others were train robbers and a few were employees who stole from the railroad on occasion.
I find there is a big comfort factor in model trains for me. Since I was born trains have been in my life, real or model or toy. Flying real and R/C planes is a hobby I love, but there is a comming home feeling I get with trains. I really relax and unwind when the trainroom comes into view and feel great after having spent time in there.
Things like taking "The Campers Special" from Winnipeg to our lake cottage in Ontario. The train was the only way to get there and when our stop came there was always a big rush to get all the supplies and lumber and new boats and motors and mail out of the baggage and boxcars and off the flatcar so the train could get on its way. It was the mainline after all.
It could be all the time my dad and I spent together when I was a kid working on our layout. Or taking the Canadian from Winnipeg to Vancouver when we moved.(even had our pet budgie in our roomette with us) Family members getting summer jobs with the railroad to pay there university tuition.( nice to see they actually worked at some point in there lives ) Or the fact that the railroad is so ingrained into this countrys history. Who knows but it is in the blood somehow.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
just a thought , do you live close to any high voltage towers.... or maybe close to a low frequency underground antenna
GTX765 What causes it really? I walk in the train store and buy wheels, GN box cars, and CB& Q grain box car. Every pay day i go to a train or hobby store and go home and build. I do it without thought, it just happens! I need to know what causes the train bug! I even sold guns since i had way too many and then I bought TRAINS! ITS A BUG! I DONT WANT THE CURE! I want to know what causes it, please.
Obviously you have contracted a Centipede or a Doodlebug. Centipedes are typically found in Southwest Pennsylvania while Doodlebugs are more widely spread and can be found all the way from the hills of Pennsylvania and Western Maryland all the way to Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. The Eastern variety can be identified by its broad top, while the Western variety has a dark brown coloration and the light and dark stripes on its face.
If you happen to catch one of these bugs you should know that there is no cure. The only effective treatment is steam although some people indicate that brass can also provide temporary relief of symptoms. More recently there have been some promising reports of a treatment involving a Diesel-Electric process.
However if you do have "the bug", as its often referred to by its sufferers, you should know that you do not have to suffer alone or in silence. There are support groups throughout the country and around the world, and also numerous online forums and websites that allow victims to reach out to each other and offer useful advice and access to treatments and therapeutic devices.
Unfortunately the cost of therapy and treatment can often accumulate into the thousands of dollars. And some sufferers have been known to spend many hours pursuit of the therapies needed to treat their particular variation of "the bug". Presently the ailment is neither recognized or categorized by either the American Medical Association or the major insurance providers. As a result many sufferers have difficulty affording adequate relief.
Fortunately there is a small but energetic group dedicated to bringing about change in this area. In conjunction with the President's initiative for Healthcare reform, they are proposing that this "bug" be categorized as a Schedule II illness and develop a standardized treatment regimen that can be applied more broadly to suffers. And also to work with Insurance and Healthcare providers to be more sensitive to the needs of sufferers and offer treatment at an affordable cost utilizing either a co-payment or sliding-fee basis.
If you suffer from this ailment, please- do not allow yourself to be railroaded into silence. Signal your interest by flagging down your representative. Indicate your particular aspect and don't let your representative gandy-dance around the issue! If we all work together we can give this initiative the green light and onto the right track.
jwhitten