WOW, I never expected such a diverse list. It does appear, however, that track work (including ballasting), soldering, and wiring lead the list of most common issues.
I would like to call out three respondents and hope they do not take offense. First, richhotrain, who told me to start a thread like this when I mentioned it in another thread on another topic. Second, Water Level Route and Howard Zane who bent the original rules, however there is no possible misunderstanding about where they stand on their issues. In Water Level Route's case it is soldering and in Howard's case it is keeping cats off the layout.
It is also great that everyone approached this topic in the manner in which I originally intended, serious albeit lighthearted and irreverent in some cases.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
RR_Mel Having lost my local model railroad hobby shop 7 years ago my most frustrating thing is having to wait for everything to arrive through the mail. Mel
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
1. The local hobby shop sucks. It never has anything I need except Evergreen styrene. They have a couple of Athearn items I might be interested but they keep them hidden behind the counter where you can’t really see them. The employees, and owners act like they hate being there. (Actually the owner died a long time ago. His wife and kids, grandkids, hate being there.) 2. Dusting. It doesn’t take long before that white stuff starts piling up. 3. That eBay burn, when you get ripped off buying online. Sometimes the only description is ‘see image for details’ and the picture is blurry or low resolution so you can't see broken parts. Or when they charge you $4.95 for shipping and the postage label says $1.25. And don’t forget the old, ‘here is an old kit that is listed as new’ but when you try to put it together it is missing one part.
Lone Wolf and Santa Fe3. That eBay burn, when you get ripped off buying online. Sometimes the only description is ‘see image for details’ and the picture is blurry or low resolution so you can't see broken parts.
My policy to questionable items is pass it by there will be more.
One more thing I will add..
Getting down on all fours with flashlight in hand looking for a dropped part only to find it defied the law of gravity and landed several feet away.
Is it possible the apple that fell and bounced off Newton's noggin didn't fall in a straight line?
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I get frustrated sometimes spending five or ten minutes looking for my glasses only to find out they . . . umm . . . weren't really lost.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
[quote user="ROBERT PETRICK"]
Because you are wearing them?
bearman ROBERT PETRICK I get frustrated sometimes spending five or ten minutes looking for my glasses only to find out they . . . umm . . . weren't really lost. Robert Because you are wearing them?
ROBERT PETRICK I get frustrated sometimes spending five or ten minutes looking for my glasses only to find out they . . . umm . . . weren't really lost. Robert
Yeah.
Has happened more than once.
I need to add a 3rd
3. People that proclaim the hobby is dying.
Paying premium prices and getting low end quality. Quality control among the manufacturers is pretty poor. That's not true of every manufacturer, but there are far too many in the model railroading industry who don't give the customer the quality he pays for. If I pay top dollar for a piece of rolling stock, I shouldn't have to tinker with it to keep it from derailing. It should work flawlessly right out of the box.
mlehman ROBERT PETRICK mlehman 3. Rerailing trains on hidden trackage after a cat sneaks into the layout room. Rerailing trains on hidden track even when cats don't sneak in isn't that much fun either. True, all too true, but... I have way too much hidden track, so built it fairly bulletproof and maintain my equipment to a high standard. Cats are the source of most derailments, I am thankful to say. It's a pretty rare occurence otherwise.
ROBERT PETRICK mlehman 3. Rerailing trains on hidden trackage after a cat sneaks into the layout room. Rerailing trains on hidden track even when cats don't sneak in isn't that much fun either.
mlehman 3. Rerailing trains on hidden trackage after a cat sneaks into the layout room.
3. Rerailing trains on hidden trackage after a cat sneaks into the layout room.
Rerailing trains on hidden track even when cats don't sneak in isn't that much fun either.
True, all too true, but...
I have way too much hidden track, so built it fairly bulletproof and maintain my equipment to a high standard. Cats are the source of most derailments, I am thankful to say. It's a pretty rare occurence otherwise.
I guess I'm lucky to be a dog person. The stairs to my basement are too steep for my two beagles. My mutt comes down once in a while but usually just sniffs around and then leaves. I did have to teach him that the train room was not a potty room.
1: Not having enough time to complete projects.
2: Having too much "stuff", as Jim put it. (I'm sure I can use this [fill in the blank] for something with my layout....) Don't get me wrong, it's organized... But some might say it's an organized mess!
3: Dust. (It is out of scale!)
4: Ballasting.
5: Cleaning up said dust.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Just to follow up...I never said my "stuff" was unorganized since folks (not you, Ricky) seemed to think I just had one giant pile of stuff in the middle of the room. Just that my work table is messy. But after 40+ years in the hobby you just seem to accumulate stuff that takes up a lot of space. I have most of the items organized in trays, boxes and assorted containers. But there are items I know I'll never use and they're not really worth much or I used a piece here and there on other projects.
I decided to start getting rid of some things the other day. I had a tray of old box cars that were all damaged in some way and never ran well. I figured "Why bother to spend time fixing them when they are outdated anyway?" So I took off a few of the trucks that were decent and threw away the rest of them. Yes, I threw them away and it felt good! It's a start.
Jim
>I get frustrated sometimes spending five or ten minutes looking for my glasses only to find out they . . . umm . . . weren't really lost.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJDNsJEnWqk
bearmanSecond, Water Level Route and Howard Zane who bent the original rules, however there is no possible misunderstanding about where they stand on their issues.
Mike
Water Level Route, I assume that soldering is the aspect you are referring to.
Kitbashing!
" width="120" height="75" />
Me trying to kitbash in a nutshell.
if it hasn't been mentioned already..........
Purchasing a typical "limited run" locomotive or passenger car....then sometime in the future (a year later) a body or mechanical part breaks or goes missing. You contact the manufacturer/distributor and, of course, the rep tells you "Sorry, there are no more parts available for that unit!"
After your blood pressure comes down; you search the web hoping that another manufacturer makes that part ( or something that's close enough). Then if the results are zero, you scan ebay for an entire unit, in damaged or worn condition that someone wants to quickly unload, that would qualify as a "parts donor" on the work bench.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
The yellow 'report abuse' triangle is too close to the blue 'go to top' arrow! With my arthritis and age I keep hitting the wrong one.
OldSchoolScratchbuilder The yellow 'report abuse' triangle is too close to the blue 'go to top' arrow! With my arthritis and age I keep hitting the wrong one.
Mouse with scroll wheel? I never use the go to top arrow. Just the wheel between Left and right click.
Not having a dedicated model train shop despite the fact that the city I live in has a long history of railroading and model railroading and tons of modelers today. Seriously the only thing here is one hobbytown USA and they keep getting stuff from the wrong region. (A city in Southern and NC&StL territory with GN, B&O, SP, UP, and CN locomotives but they dropped the ball on grabbing the Intermountain Dixie Line and Southern F3's in stock, they didn't even try)
OldSchoolScratchbuilderThe yellow 'report abuse' triangle is too close to the blue 'go to top' arrow!
Simply tap the "HOME" key, if you are using a regular keyboard. Home and End will take you to the top or bottom, respectively.
Good Luck, Ed
Trying to make a prototypical consist but you don't have the locomotives or freight cars to so, when you want to build it.
Not having the materials you need to build your layout. Which it takes a full year for more to get. When you put a deadline on yourself to complete it within 4 months.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
In no particular order:
1. Wiring
2. Wiring
3. Wiring
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
Adding a decoder to a DCC ready locomotive
Replacing couplers on cars
Tuning up cars
Making sure no headlights are burned out