This being my first post to the forums, I wasn't sure what to post. It took me a few minutes to get a decent thought started, and then it hit me.......I'm getting old.
But as I sat here and thought about it, I realized that this is a train forum, and I love trains. Have so ever since I was a little kid. And I thought about all the fun that I had since then, and I'm still having fun. Oh, I don't have a dedicated layout. Our place is small, and space for anything is at a premium price. Still, I have a son that is almost 12 years old now, and I've bought him a couple different O scale sets over the years.
We set them up from time to time in the living room floor, and still get a kick from watching them go around the track. Basic oval, but larger than what comes in a set, because we add some extra strait sections. And the trains are all different, so we never get bored just watching one. I know that a few switches would give us "operation", but really it is all in how you look at it.
Now because I am getting older, I have noticed a trend towards the larger scales (sure is easier to put a car or engine back on compared to HO and N scale). However, I have some of these around as well. I have thought about doing a scenic module of two in HO. Just have not made the time yet.
I'm considering a 4x8 Nscale layout as a project layout with my son a short time from now that will sit on a base with wheels to be rolled around and out of the way for storage purposes. It is an ambitious project to say the least, but i have carefully thought out the major details ahead of time, and all great projects come slowly anyway. When completed, I hope to submit an article with photos and details to Model Railroader. I believe that it will be well worth it in the end, because of a couple of the details that I'll build into the finished layout.
I've also been buying bits and pieces of equipment and details for an upcoming G scale project. I want to build something that we can enjoy as we sit out in the yard during evenings and weekends. The next major purchase for it will be a suitable power system to run the whole thing. Should be a lot of fun here as well.
SO.......even though I'm getting old, I'm still having fun with what I consider to be the worlds greatest hobby. If I live to be 100, I'll always love trains.
TRAIN BRAIN - Welcome to Trains.com!
Darren (BLHS & CRRM Lifetime Member)
Delaware and Hudson Virtual Museum (DHVM), Railroad Adventures (RRAdventures)
My Blog
TRAIN BRAIN!
Welcome to the forums!!
I have trains on the brain as well. I think everyone on the forums must suffer the same affliction!
The way I look at it is that I am only as old as I feel (which is normally a good state of mind except when I have to pick something up off the floor!).
Good luck with your projects. I hope you can keep your son interested. Don't be too helpful - let him do his own thing!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Welcome, Train Brain!
Most of us are like you -- we have trains on the brain much of the time, and many, if not most, of us are getting on in years.
So I'll leave you with the immortal words of George Bernard Shaw: "We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing."
'Nuff said.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
If you have a 12 year old son, then you are not old. ☺
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Welcome to the forums.
None of us are getting any younger, but we are still having fun, at least I am.
Changing scale size due to changes in ability as we get older is an often concidered topic. However, with the advent of so much R-T-R and pre-built kits in both HO and N, it is not as much of a problem as it used to be.
A 4'x8' N scale can be quite a layout. Are you limited to an island or could you do an around the walls instead? Many are now finding that they offer more possibilities and take up less space than an island. (You can extend a penninsula from an around the room is you have room.)
Have fun,
Richard
Welcome, Train Brain. That's a pretty spiffy first post...nice!
I will be 60 this June, and I understand I am getting old.....er. I still don't think of myself as old, and I sure as aitch eee double hockey sticks don't intend to act my age. Not while I am active in model trains, anyway.
It occurs to me that one way of keeping young, and ensuring your squeeze does as well, is to play young. Keep active and fit, get the right rest, play at some things, and be unpredictable at times. Oh, and never stop at two things...dreaming and learning.
It is nice to have you here.
Crandell
TRAIN BRAIN, to the forums here! We all sorta have trains on our brains here or we would be doing some other hobby...like knitting! {LOL}
I am at a midlife crisis status, sorta. That is when I began "playing" with trains again, sorta.
We saw a local nearby auction house having a train auction. We {MOH- My Other Half and I} went to the preview show, but unless one was a collector looking for a special piece, most of it was junk. MOH surprised me by saying "N scale is great".
I had O, O27 as a kid and teen and some N scale as a teen. I dug out my old N scale stuff and started playing again. BUT I had always wanted HO so I pushed the limited space issue and built a small HO layout. MOH has Nscale to run under the table top Christmas tree.
We have no children, so "no excuse" to "play" with trains, but we both love them. Now we take vacations to see museums or old restored 1:1 steam trains running and go for rides on them. THere is never any argument over the destination ending in Steam trains. We live close enouhg to Steamtown National Historic Park in Scranton to go frequently.
You choice for a "father/son project" sounds great as long as it holds his interest as well!
Take lots of pics to document your journey as you build your layout if you intend to submit to MR mag. The finished product may be great, but they may want some proceedural documentation as well. They may take it on, but it may be awhile before it appears in print- they collect stuff far in advance of when they run it so they always have material on hand and categorized, so don't be disappointed.
Enjoy the hobby as you like it, and be sure to let your son help with the "big decisions"...you can always build another layout to your specifications later after he is gone.
If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask. we are here to help, share, commiserate and provide input.
Again,
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
as noted earlier,you're not old. if you feel you are, visit a retirement home.
Springfield PA
Welcome!! Designing and building a train layout is a way of keeping young, at least mentally. The brain, like any muscle needs excercize or it will waste away. Thinking about a layout, how to build it, how to make it work and how to make it better is a great mental excersize. The basics are not that difficult, and you can spend the rest of your time refining your skills and making a better product.
Keep coming back to the forums, do some research and get a-building. Ask questions, the forum is used to helping newcomers; the only dumb question is the one that is not asked.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
BroadwayLion If you have a 12 year old son, then you are not old. ☺
Maybe, maybe not. I was 33 years old when my first son was born. He's 15 now. Yeah you can do the math. I call it "late middle age".
I feel your pain, I'm getting old, too.
Oh wait, I'm still in high school
Acela
The timbers beneath the rails are not the only ties that bind on the railroad. --Robert S. McGonigal
TRAIN BRAINI'm getting old.
Welcome aboard!
By the way -- There are three signs of old age...
First you begin to forget things -- (I don't seem to recall the other two!)...
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
Very funny Acela026. No, really, very funny. But just you wait...
I spend half my time just looking for things. I can make something disappear in the same room within seconds. Otherwise it ain't so bad. I can now buy all the stuff I didn't have as a kid.
Acela026 I feel your pain, I'm getting old, too. Oh wait, I'm still in high school Acela
Enjoy it while you can. All too soon will come the responsibilities of job, home, and family. Then just try to squeeze in some hobby time.
Only insight I can give you is before you know it your son will be in college. Time will start slipping by very quickly. Enjoy every moment you can with him. My son is now 23 yrs of age and in graduate school. Really miss him and the things we did together. Sure wish we would have statrted that layout we always talked about. But working nights and having a demanding job really puts the hooks on some plans and before you know its too late.
My first forum post as well...
I understand the "gettin old" issue well...tho I try to maintain the total denial I have followed mosst of my life..."Oh Ill Never get OLD"....LOL....then you see the Doc more often and they tell you stuff you just don't want to hear...its like That
Like you Train Brain my place is very small and being an A frame adds additional layout challenges. Im blessed though with a wife who agreed to giving up half the small living room and have now for 2.5 years been working on my O layout. When I finally got the trains running though I bet my blood pressure dropped 20 points and WOW it has been FUN!
diningcar8 - Welcome to Trains.com!
diningcar8 My first forum post as well... I understand the "gettin old" issue well...tho I try to maintain the total denial I have followed mosst of my life..."Oh Ill Never get OLD"....LOL....then you see the Doc more often and they tell you stuff you just don't want to hear...its like That Like you Train Brain my place is very small and being an A frame adds additional layout challenges. Im blessed though with a wife who agreed to giving up half the small living room and have now for 2.5 years been working on my O layout. When I finally got the trains running though I bet my blood pressure dropped 20 points and WOW it has been FUN!
Just don't be silly like my mother-in-law. First, she refused to take calcium supplements to combat osteoporosis, now, a broken hip, two broken wrists, a broken back, and multiple surgeries later, she has almost no mobility. And she can't hear a thing but refuses to get hearing aids. Why not? "Because that's what old people do." She's 71. It's possible to grow old gracefully if you don't live in a constant state of denial.
diningcar8!
Welcome to the forums. Lots of great people and ideas here!
I agree with you on the blood pressure thing. Supposedly I have high blood pressure, but with a few meds and (I strongly believe this is crucial) a couple of hours almost every night on model trains, my blood pressure is just fine. I know that when I am stressed the train workbench is the first place I go. I don't have a layout yet, but when I do I think I might possibly be able to levitate when running trains!
My BP drops till I set a switch wrong and have a derail.....LOL....then the dog hides!
diningcar8 My BP drops till I set a switch wrong and have a derail.....LOL....then the dog hides!
You need to upgrade to DCC -- so that you can experience the wonders of a derailment AND a short!