Which BEST explains your attraction to model railroading?

[TrainFreak409]

I chose all of the above, but, I need to void out the thing about grandchildren, and the bar crack.

~[8]~ TrainFreak409 ~[8]~

[twhite]

I voted ALL OF THE ABOVE with the exception of bugging my wife. I live in California, she's happily re-married and living in Texas. Hm. Maybe I DID bug her! But I forgot the most important thing about model railroading. It keeps me YOUNG! Remember, girls get rid of their Barbies around 11, men keep their toys until God calls them. Just hope when I get there, He's alloted me at least a 24'x24' garage and an unending supply of Yellowstones!

[Anonymous]

One of the earliest memories of my childhood was the Christmas before I was 3 (birthday in April). Dad got me a Marx set and my memory is my cousin John and I sitting on the couch watching my dad and uncle John in the floor playing with the train.
I still have that train (50+ years later) and it still runs. I credit that train with kindling my interest in anything mechanical.
Over the years I've tried just about every hobby that involves building something and I keep coming back to trains. I just love them.[:D]

Cliff Smith

[Anonymous]

Its more fun to do then homework. And well, I do like my trains. I just wish I had more time for them.

Alvie.

[cmarchan]

I was 6 months old when I rode the pre-Amtrak Seaboard Air Line Silver Meteor. My first memory of prototype trains was riding the pre-Amtrak West Coast Champion in 1967, the year of the SAL-ACL merger.

I also enjoyed watching the local freights move in and around Tampa. As a kid, I jockeyed between Florida and NYC via the passenger train! I've experience traveling by coach and by sleeper. Like AntonioFP45, I rode the Subways of New York and watched the commuter trains on the old Harlem Line of New York Central (later PC then Amtrak).

I attended the Florida State Fair in Tampa, FL in 1969. Seaboard Coast Line displayed a working layout in H.O. scale. I remember seeing a passenger train and freight rolling stock in action while a switcher simulated yard operation in the background (just a loco and some cars moving back and forth). I just stood there in awe ( I was seven)[:0]. I've been hooked ever since!

[Anonymous]

I started with plastic model cars, planes, ships, etc, when I was a kid. I built many hot rods, detailed with colored thread to simulate battery cables, customized most of the cars some how. I ended up giving up modeling when I got married. A few years back I started doing WWII aircraft and armor. I had had a "train set" for about 10 years when I started thinking there must be something better. I bought my first Model Railroader mag and have been hooked since. I just can't believe what's available. It is mind-boggling. For me, it's all about FUN. It is, after all, a hobby.

[darth9x9]

My great great grandfather was a railroader,
my great grandfather was a railroader,
my grandfather was a model railroader,
my father was a model railroader........
so I guess it is in my blood!!!

[aloco]

Locomotives.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a railway family and had a lifetime of close access to the prototype. I learned all about trains while still young. I understood trainworking regulations and signalling systems before I reached high school. I rode behind virtually every class of steam locomotive that ran in this country from 1950 to 1990. I love everything about trains - the sight, the sound, the smell. Trains have a magical, mystical quality for me. I am fascinated by the machinery, the technology, the history.

As an adult with a job and a salary that made home ownership and leisure time purchases possible, it was inevitable that I would try to recapture and reconstruct these experiences and memories in model form. Now the prototype has gone, but steam still rules on my model railway. What is the attraction for me? It is the synthesis, the reconstruction of all my happiest memories. It is my life encapsulated. It is a time machine.

[Sunset Limited]

I grew up on trains. My grandfather worked in the roundhouse for the Souhern Pacific. Trains are great! Excellent hobby, you can imagine it ,create it and build it . It's like a work of art! You met people who are very helpful and willing to share their tips and experiences. Great stress reliever! You can get away from the real world and go to the one you created!