The A.R.T. of Model Railroading

[SpaceMouse]

 Now before you go getting your knickers in a wedgie, this not going to be a diatribe on the virtues of Malcolm Furlow [removes hat] nor will I compare him to Frank Ellison [removes hat] or John Koester Armstrong Allen.

In fact, this is not about art at all. It is about A.R.T. of model railroading. In case you still haven’t figured it out, the dots between the letters means it is an acronym. They stand for:

Anal
Retentive
Tendencies.

Now unless you have the IQ of Sponge Bob and you have a just a circle of track on the carpet and laugh uncontrollably every time your loco falls off the track, you have ART. If you are a model railroader, you have ART. It is just a matter of degree.

And it is incurable. Some people would argue that if you didn’t have ART you would never amount to much of a modeler. I am one of them.

In fact, I would argue that your enjoyment and satisfaction is at its height if you can identify and remain within your ART level. To make it easy for you I have identified the 12 levels of ART so you can categorize yourself.

Read Entire Article

[pastorbob]

Okay, I read it and can only say "with all the world problems like NMRA new emblem, will ExactRail ever get a car right to suit the nitpicking community, do you have to completely scratchbuild and put the interior in a passenger car while asleep in your bed" and other related problems that vex us all, how can you get so frivilious as to write that essay and share it.

We gotta get serious about our hobby, even if we don't know what we are doing.

Bob

[galaxy]

Gee, I HAD an oval of track on the carpet and laughed uncontrollably when the loco fell off, so I nailed down my E-Z Track with ten-penny nails on the green grass mat next to the train station parking lot filled with 1950's trucks and autos beside the coaling and water towers to service my GP40 diesel locomotive all set in August of 1910.

And I thought I wasn't anal retentive!

[Geared Steam]

4x8's FTW!!!!! 

[Motley]

So based on those levels, I guess I'm a level 12 on that scale. I carefully place each piece of ballast based on satalite and photos (taken with my $5k camara w/extra-zoom lens) of my prototype.

Does that make me anal?

[IRONROOSTER]

 Help - I'm not sure where I fit. 

I have nailed half my Brio track to the floor, but the string I use to power my loco broke and I don't know how to fix it. 

So where am I ???

Paul

 

[cudaken]

  Funny you posted this Chip, I have been thinking along the same lines. 

1. You covered your layout with green paint or astroturf and bought a “lot” of structures off eBay that you line the track with. You placed at least one station on every side of the oval so you can operate.
2. Your track works even when you run the $10 Model Power 0-4-0

 This sounds a lot like me, but not quit. Lot of my layout is still covered by carpet, but I have added a section that is foam based and looks pretty darn good. Main section of the layout the track has no roadbed. Yet I have spent a lot of time getting the track to work well. I can even run my big engines through number 4 turnouts and the few 18inch turns will handle Big Steam and Big Diesels.

  One of the reasons I have not got into sickening the entry layout is I enjoy watching the trains as much on the green carpet section as the well done foam mountain section.

  Another item you might want to add to your ART list Chip. You stopped using the Big Hand to move freight and engines around. I will spend 20 minutes clearing spurs, moving engines to get 1 engine out of the engine yard on to the main. I all so break down trains or build trains using engines only.

 So I guess I have a little ART in me.

                       Cuda Ken       

 

[SpaceMouse]

Bob,

I know. I'm sorry.

Gee G,

Even you.

Geared STeam,

Michael,

I'd like to talk to you about that camera. Can you get a good depth of filed to get a sense of how the ballast is stacked or are you stuck with just arranging the superstructure.

Paul,

You and my son are about even par. Her is his "Pittsburgh" layout. 

Ken, 

About the $10 Model Power 0-4-0--that's some major wobble you got going there. 

 

[rrinker]

 I see bridges, I see 3 rivers coming together.... looks like Pittsburgh to me!

 

                           --Randy

 

[ChadLRyan]

Hmmm... Ahhhh

Is THIS A.R.T. or a T.U.R.D. ?????
.........Totally Unrealistic Representation Depicted....

Well, (although could be embarrassing) this is one of my first kitbashes. I started with an unknown U-29 Ore car after seeing a friend’s Video showing a DM&E plow in a very quick crossing shot. Mind you, this was BEFORE I knew what 'Prototype' meant, & I didn't have any RR mag subscriptions or references. I did what I thought would work & be cool. After spending a lot of time designing the blade angle & determining the truck position, I cut off the front bolster (the 'A' end -remarkable I knew that) & moved it forward. Then I used a cardboard pattern & a torch to bend styrene around a brass tube & steel bar at an angle to try to form blade parts. I engineered & altered the rest to make what I though I had seen in the video. I tried to make it like I thought it may have been done, with very little experience or knowledge of any railroading.
The Pusher is an 'in the works' Atlas GP40 in DME colors. It shows fitting & assembly scars, & I will fix all that after I add working ditch lights & figure out some sort of decal solution (Dakota Minnesota & Eastern -spelled out [made my own but they ran/distorted, many unsuccessful tries]).
Well, although many may say this is a T.U.R.D.  -I am still proud of it. When it is damaged, it gets repaired, & I really do think it is still cool, whether or not it exists on the real rails. I like it enough, that I'm not ashamed to show it all of you. Hopefully you can see where I was & where I'm going, & that is what is really great about this hobby. 
Thanks
PS: I'm ready for winter...    (modeling season!!!)

[Allegheny2-6-6-6]

 Yes and once again I don't fit in here either...............lol like was once said I would never join a club that would have me as a member. All I can say is I have invented new cuss words and my wife has listen to on going rants coming from the basement when no one is there expect of me and the little plastic people. She reminds me that isn't this supposed to be fun. I get more frustrated with myself when things just don't go exactly so. Not saying that I have to count things down to the last rivet in the boiler or that last nail in a piece of siding but when I have a scene figured in my mind or one I've seen and am trying to replicate and it doesn't turn out the way I like I get lets say more then upset. I refrain form these personal outburst when I am at the club for fear the big butterfly net will come out and the nice men in the white coats will take me for a ride to my happy place. I will voice my disapproval with something I've done and usually get the what are you nuts speak it looks great.

I guess I constantly keep moving the bar upward and sometimes maybe at too fast of a pace but how else are you ever going to improve your skills?

[vsmith]

OK Chip, with this being the "relaxed" degree that I approach the hobby with today, I guess my grading on the A.R.T. index would be a -1. Maybe not everyones cup-o-tea but then I'm also not wincing in extreme pain whilst pooping Top Ramen out my catflap.

[CTValleyRR]

Uh oh!  I think I have a problem... Anyone know Spongebob's IQ?  Mine's 55, for the record. 

You know, it does kill me when I read something in a review that says, "The drivers are 6 scale inches too close together".  Hmmmm.  In HO, that's.... wait for it.... 0.07" on the model!  Now how could you possibly tell that just by looking at it.  MegaART.

 

[tomikawaTT]

Yo, Chip,

I'm Numero Uno on the A.E.N. scale:

What?  Me worry???

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - sort of)

[steemtrayn]

Top 5 signs you are anal-retentive

 

1. You keep large redundant amounts of all your sundries such as laundry detergent so that you never risk running out.
2. You don’t just sort the money in your wallet by $1, $5, $10, or $20, but also sort the bills by wear-and-tear so that you get rid of the bills in the worst shape first.
3. You look up anal-retentive to see whether it needs a hyphen.
4. You don’t just keep a grocery list, you micro-optimize order of the items on the grocery list so that you only make one pass through the grocery store.
5. After a power outage or when Daylight Savings Time starts or ends, you feel the need to set all your clocks to the same minute and second.
6. It really irritates you when someone says a list has 5 items and you count six.

[IRONROOSTER]

steemtrayn

...You don’t just sort the money in your wallet by $1, $5, $10, or $20, but also sort the bills by wear-and-tear so that you get rid of the bills in the worst shape first.

...

 

No No No.  The bills are arranged front forward, right side up, and sorted by serial number within denomination.  You spend them in numerical order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy

Paul

 

[ErnieC]

steemtrayn

Top 5 signs you are anal-retentive

OMG thst's me!  Someone understands, now I don't feel so alone.

Ernie C