Based on the "Not Retired or Financially Comfortable" thread, it is evident that a lot of people here are not well off, some even struggling to survive, AND YET are determined to engage in some kind of model railroading. This shows the depth of the hobby and that it is more than a hobby, which I've always known.
There is a deep therapeutic aspect to model railroading. I don't know exactly what it is, but it is there.
Maybe it is building an escapist world away from the harsh realities of life in your chosen space, where you can call the shots, and pour all your creative thoughts. Maybe it's creating something from nothing.
I don't know, but there is something special, and it all revolves around trains and the tracks they roll on.
For period modelers, I think a big part of it is in recreating scenes and activities from the past, or from fantasy. Things we can't experience again in any other way because we can't really go back there, in terms of geography or time. Maybe it's the closest we can get to having a time-travel machine. I think there's an element of that in all modeling that doesn't concentrate on the present. Lots of us formed the model railroad addiction as kids, and carry those childhood memories into the modeling we do today. For modelers who do focus on the present, it's a way to have the train we WANT to see, travel past us WHEN we want to see & hear it, and do what we want it to do because we're controlling it. If you're stuck working in a big city, but long for the wide open spaces of Wyoming, you can build an approximation of that in the basement.
Big Boy ForeverThere is a deep therapeutic aspect to model railroading. I don't know exactly what it is, but it is there.
Indeed there is..The hobby has helped me overcome a lot of life's trouble waters from Health problems to being laid off.Even help me through the death of my wife, my parents and close friends.
When I was marred my "me time" was devoted to modeling/railfaning 80%,10% gaming and 10% fishing.
As my late wife told one of her friends about my hobby..I would rather have Larry doing that then running the bars and chasing lewd woman.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
In my case - I have been a Model Railroader for 50 plus years and I started playing trains when I was 6 !
As I grew up I kept trying to do OPERATIONS! with my American Flyer Trains as I had all of the operating accessories!
We all know that the AF trains only run 2 ways Wide Open and Shut OFF!
So this then makes it dang near impossible to do real slow OPs - but I kept trying!
Now that I got into HO trains and the equipment runs slow enough - Operations is now a reality and I have made every effort to build a layout that will support the type of OPs I always wanted!
Now I did not do this over night - and when I first began the new layout (which is my Current one) I certainly had to put out larger sums of money to get the Track and Turnouts. And I saved up for this project!
BUT - now that I have that part done the average amount I spend a year is less then $2000.00.
I know that this can seem like a lot - but this is all I do!
I DON'T have a Boat - ATV - UTV - Dirt Bikes - Go on Sking trips - Go to the beach for a week - on & ON!
It is Trains - and nothing else!
Priorities!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
cmrproductsI know that this can seem like a lot - but this is all I do!
Russell
Despite the price whining that crops up, giving entirely the wrong impression of our hobby, it's actually one of the few hobbies where you can spend anywhere from $1/month to $10,000/month and still enjoy yourself.
Era, location, prototype, equipment, operations and more are all up to you. You can work in scales from tiny Z all the way up to 1:12 , after which things turn into real RRing anyway.
Layout size depends somewhat on scale and desires, but they can range from roughly a foot square all the way up to 1,000s of square feet.
If you're not enjoying the hobby, look around at other options, as you probably just haven't discovered your real interest in the hobby yet.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Yes, it is a great hobby. I am glad my dad introduced me to it when I was very young. Thinking back he/we did what he could afford. Nothing grandios, but a whole lot of fun. When I am in the train room I can feel him there with me grinning ear to ear at our new layout. Still a modest layout, but a step up nonetheless.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
thomas81zIm an armchair modeler since my divorce and selling of my house, but I bring my locos to work & lube , clean &install DCC for now untill I get another place
thomas,
Yep, you're one of us just as much as the guy with a barn-sized layout. I was an armchair modeler for many years myself. The workbench, even if temporary, provides a place that is within virtually everyone's means and is a great way to enjoy and learn the hobby, too.
There's still many ways to enjoy working on equipment, research, and planning also. Likewise, many great layouts have been born from periods in people's lives like that. Sometimes that isn't even necessary, even if possible finanicially. There are some great club layouts out there, as well as modular ones. What's important is that the trains give us a common point of reference, a "language" that's also known internationally, if you ever get the chance to go abroad.
mlehman thomas81z Im an armchair modeler since my divorce and selling of my house, but I bring my locos to work & lube , clean &install DCC for now untill I get another place thomas, Yep, you're one of us just as much as the guy with a barn-sized layout.
I am now an armchair pilot, hanglider enthusiust, scubadiver, golfer, skier, mountainbiker, R/C plane guy, Sailboat lover, world traveller and a host of over things. Do to my health all I can do now is carry on a good conversation and live vicariously through others. Nothin wrong with that.
This weekend I put the finishing touches on what I call Phase 2 of my layout. For the moment, it's "done." I was just looking over it, and I realized it was the layout I'd always wanted, ever since I was a boy. And now I have it.
The feeling of completeness won't last. Don't worry. It's an illusion. The lumber for Phase 3 is downstairs in the garage.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
It is a great hobby. Being a truck driver I don't get enough time to work on layout or run trains. When inget home wife lets me spend as much time as I want. I have a 8x12 layout in basement.
Big Boy Forever There is a deep therapeutic aspect to model railroading. I don't know exactly what it is, but it is there. Maybe it is building an escapist world away from the harsh realities of life in your chosen space, where you can call the shots, and pour all your creative thoughts. Maybe it's creating something from nothing.
There is. In summer of 2006, I got laid off from a job I enjoyed, and I was very depressed the next couple of months. One day, I looked at my 4x12' HO scale layout that was gathering dust, and decided to dismantle it, salvage what I can, and downsize it into a 4x8' N scale layout. The whole process of planning and building something new gave me something to look forward to, and changed my overall mood completely (fortunately I still had some money saved up, so I wasn't in that much of a dire financial situation (yet). I also made friends with a local eBay seller and was able to buy a lot of N scale trains from them for real cheap.
Hi!
Sounds like philosophy 101 to me!
Model railroading has been a life long interest to me (I'm 70) cause I love trains of my youth, working with stuff, and creating a minature world, etc., etc.
But most of all, I just love to play with toy trains.
Lets not make it any more complicated than that!
ENJOY....................
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
mobilman44 Hi! Sounds like philosophy 101 to me! Model railroading has been a life long interest to me (I'm 70) cause I love trains of my youth, working with stuff, and creating a minature world, etc., etc. But most of all, I just love to play with toy trains. Lets not make it any more complicated than that! ENJOY....................
Seems like you are in the minority here about just playing with toy trains from the time of youth.
Everyone else is agreeing with me, that model RRoading is a therapeutic activity.
Actually I do agree with that, but prefer to make it a simple explanation.
During some difficult times at work, I often referred to my layout as my "pacifier".
MR is a hobby, and serves the same philosophic purpose as any other hobby.
I was a model railroader through my teens, but when I finished college and ventured off to have a career, family, etc. I gave my layout away (I couldn’t sell it – putting a price on it somehow cheapened it in my mind, so I gave it to a fellow teen model railroader), because I knew that I couldn’t care for it as I moved from apartment to apartment. Over the next 20 years I enjoyed other hobbies, but I never really let go of model railroading.
When I moved into a house that had space for a layout, I got back in. Everything about the hobby was the same or better than when I left it in 1979. What I’m most grateful for are better motors, control systems, ground foam, and the internet (these forums are an example of the way the internet has improved the hobby). The really important aspect of our hobby did not change: It causes me (and probably most of you) to really look at the real world. In my early model railroading days, I would create something and it would look almost right, so then I’d look at the real world to see what I was missing. I’d adjust and look until I got it right. Over time I evolved to just looking at the world in greater detail – asking myself “If I were going to model that, what are the subtle details that I might miss?” I find myself paying attention to rust patterns, mud splatters, paint peels, rocks, bricks, and so on. My guess is that most model railroaders find that they look at the same sorts of things – stuff that most folks miss – and we are grateful to have developed an appreciation for the mundane everyday world. Most other hobbies don’t seem to create this affliction, but ours does and I think that’s one thing that makes it so important in our lives.
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
mobilman44 MR is a hobby, and serves the same philosophic purpose as any other hobby.
I disagree: I think it is something special, not just another hobby.
Of course that depends on what level you want to take it to.
If it's a 4X8 with a grass matt, plasticville buildings, trains going round and round, then it's a toy, although I guess some people enjoy it, and that's good.
If you are trying to duplicate exactly a RR scene and operation, with realistic scenery, realistic track, realistic weathering and detailed equipment that rivals miniature scenes that used to be shown in Hollywood movies before computer graphics, then that goes WAY beyond just another hobby. Add to that a feeling of escapism and you have left "Toy Train-Ville"and entered "Art-Engineering Accomplishment-Ville"
shayfan84325 I was a model railroader through my teens, but when I finished college and ventured off to have a career, family, etc. I gave my layout away (I couldn’t sell it – putting a price on it somehow cheapened it in my mind, so I gave it to a fellow teen model railroader), because I knew that I couldn’t care for it as I moved from apartment to apartment. Over the next 20 years I enjoyed other hobbies, but I never really let go of model railroading. When I moved into a house that had space for a layout, I got back in. Everything about the hobby was the same or better than when I left it in 1979. What I’m most grateful for are better motors, control systems, ground foam, and the internet (these forums are an example of the way the internet has improved the hobby). The really important aspect of our hobby did not change: It causes me (and probably most of you) to really look at the real world. In my early model railroading days, I would create something and it would look almost right, so then I’d look at the real world to see what I was missing. I’d adjust and look until I got it right. Over time I evolved to just looking at the world in greater detail – asking myself “If I were going to model that, what are the subtle details that I might miss?” I find myself paying attention to rust patterns, mud splatters, paint peels, rocks, bricks, and so on. My guess is that most model railroaders find that they look at the same sorts of things – stuff that most folks miss – and we are grateful to have developed an appreciation for the mundane everyday world. Most other hobbies don’t seem to create this affliction, but ours does and I think that’s one thing that makes it so important in our lives.
AMEN to what you have said.
Big Boy,
As you've noted, there are folks who enjoy the hobby whether poor or rich. Many of us have gone through lean times and had no place for a layout. I went through a long period of 15 years with no place for a layout after a separation and divorce, and some job ups and downs. One guy in this forum even made it clear that since I didn't have a layout, my opinoins and recommendations weren't worth listening too. We go through our ups and downs but trains are one way we can still have a little fun. I focused my no-layout time on research, refining my fleet and doing research.
Cheers, Jim
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I certainly agree that there is a place in the hobby for people of any financial means. No doubt it is great to have the dollars to enjoy the "latest and greatest". I have been lucky enough to pick up some new sound-equipped locos, and I get great enjoyment from them, but no more so than I can get from a properly used 99 cent bottle of craft paint. It's about turning your vision into reality. No amount of money can do that by itself. The way I see it, anyone can buy the same engine I have, but my scratchbuilt structure or car is one of a kind, just like my layout design and operating plan. Those things are priceless.
Jim
Visit look4trains.com
thomas81zIm an armchair modeler since my divorce and selling of my house, but I bring my locos to work & lube , clean & install DCC for now untill I get another place
Ever thought of getting off that "armchair" by building a small switching layout?
A switching layout that can be set up and taken down for storage beats nothing and waiting for "some day" to arrive..