BRAKIE I suppose we could define layout by what size.. At 66 I would be a fool if I thought I could build a basement filling layout and get it up and running Why? The desire is no longer there for undertaking such a task not only because of my health issues but,I know all to well how fragile life is and how fast it can end. So,in that light I would undertake a smaller size layout that could be up and running in a short period of time. I also want to get a return on the thousands of dollars I have invested in my models by using them in my remaining life time..
I suppose we could define layout by what size..
At 66 I would be a fool if I thought I could build a basement filling layout and get it up and running
Why?
The desire is no longer there for undertaking such a task not only because of my health issues but,I know all to well how fragile life is and how fast it can end.
So,in that light I would undertake a smaller size layout that could be up and running in a short period of time.
I also want to get a return on the thousands of dollars I have invested in my models by using them in my remaining life time..
Larry
I am 67 and every day I get up and head for the Basement!
Building a 2500 sq ft Layout has been my project for the last 14 years as I started this one in 2001.
I look forward every day in doing something to the layout - working on Scenery - a building or changing a track arrangement in my one yard (which I just finished up on Tuesday)!
I host an OPs Session every 2 weeks - SO the projects have to be considered that they can NOT leave the layout NOT RUNABLE - which make some very interesting in doing!
If I did not have this monster to work on I probably would be dead as this is what keeps me going.
This notion of not working on a layout - even starting a new one (which I hope to be able to help my Youngest Son when he begain his dream layout) - is sort of one way of looking at dying!
Although everyone is different - I plan on doing something in Model Railroad until I drop dead!
I have been a MRR Club member for over 25 years - I spent a lot more time working there when I was between layouts!
I have waited most all of my life to be able to go play train everyday - and by danged I WILL!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
Short answer - NO!!!!!! I've known more than one person who was still building a layout on the day they passed away. I remember one person in particular who made a comment on one of these occasions to the effect that all of that time had been wasted and they (the deceased) had missed all of the fun. My response was - "You didn't know the deceased very well. He had a ball working on his layout and his eyes would light up any time you asked him about anything related to it. The fact that he never got to see it run in completed form is too bad but of no great consequence."
MisterBeasleyI would ask, though, if we are ever young enough to have a serious expectation of being able to finish a layout?
Yes,when we were young full of spitfire,vinegar and indestructible.Nothing but,nothing could stop us from reaching our goals.
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Both my parents were always active and very involved in things. My dad retired and was about fifty pounds over his ideal weight. My mom was fit and a real go getter dawn til dusk. My dad would sit on the couch and wait for her to come home at the end of the day from what ever activity she was involved with that day. He would complain to me that "he didn't sign up to be alone in retirement". I told him if he lost fifty pounds and got in shape he would be doing all these things along with her. She even started to travel on her own. He said his weight had nothing to do with how he felt. I told him he was sitting around waiting to die and he shouldn't expect mom to do the same.
So I made him a bet that he couldn't be active for a day with another 40 pounds and he accepted. I put two back packs on him, one in front one on his back. I put 40 pounds of presto logs in them and boy did I prove my point.
He lost 55 pounds and got in shape. He and mom both traveled the world and were incredibly active in many things until the end. They had a solid twenty years of go gettin til dad died and mom another ten years after that. She had a quintuple bypass at one point and asked if she could borrow my exercise bike to get back in shape after. Didn't take her long.
Energy levels come from conditioning and diet. I can't do a lot of things I really want to just because it hurts to darn much. Getting exercise and eating right are not one of those things and have nothing to do with age. There is always something you can do to stay in shape.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I'm 67 and looking forward to retirement so I'll have more time to build.
I would ask, though, if we are ever young enough to have a serious expectation of being able to finish a layout?
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I agree with Riograde5761 I never have a layout, but I do have collection of railroad equipment. My house that I live in doesn't have enough more for one. I been trying to make one for the past 20 years. I even don't have room a short shelf layout. This is the worst way of the hobby.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
IMHO, age is meaningless, if you still enjoy building your layout and it does not become a chore. I am a youngster of 58 years, and there are some limitations I have for health reasons, but what the heck! My heart is still 7
Howard:
I am a youngster of 66, but two of my 84 year old friends are building a layout in one of their basements, and take a small n-scale layout to selected local shows.
If you want to spend time in your layout room, building, wiring,etc then may you enjoy every hour you spend there for many more years.
Dave
Well age is all relative. I am only 61 but can outrun a bus for a few blocks and can outrun all my relatives except for the very young (and I am not a runner). I wear out my neices and nephews and can still do an 8 hour day in heavy construction though I don't have too but am doing a remodel for my sister. Sure you slow down a bit as you age, but I am in better shape than when in my 40's. Only thing that annoys me about layout building is dry times as I am not much of a multi-tasker.
I was a bit younger when I started this middle sized layout in the down stairs guest room. It's a bit narrow since I needed to be able to put up the occasional guest.
It needs trees, more ground cover, and details. The coil of wire behind the station is for station lights. It will be connected to a lighting bus.
And here it is after ballasting. There are still endless projects to do, it ought to keep me railroading for a long time. Which is the idea after all.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
I turned 76 in August of this year. I have an HO layout in my basement - Point-to-Point with an optional run-around. I am using DCC with NCE. What a lot of fun. I had my firt train at the age of 6 or 7. I got hooked on HO Scale when I found a Model Railroader magazine on the news stand at my local railroad station in 1953. I ride on real trains as often as is affordable. Let's hear it for old guys and trains.
Howard,
If building a layout gives your life meaning, then that's what you should do whether you're 18 or 81. For an 18 year old, there's lots of other options and usually more limited resources. For old folks, model railroading may be one of the last things you can still participate in...right into the grave if need be (I like the idea of a portable mini-layout that will fit in the casket )
Besides to give up something meaningful is to give up hope. No need for that as you get older, as there are pelnty of other things to remind us of the alternative. Better to cling to our hobby and our hope as long as possible.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
PM RailfanI do find myself wondering if they make caskets big enough to hold a shelf layout.
That's why they invented Zn3.
This is the ONLY hobby in the world where age does not count. Matter of fact, though I am no where near the age you are, I do find myself wondering if they make caskets big enough to hold a shelf layout. Live long and prosper my friend!
Never too old -- I'm 77 going on 39, as Jack Benny would have said. I belong to a local club that has a large HO scale indoor layout and a rather largish G scale outdoor layout that we're still working on. I also have my own HO scale and G-scale layouts at home.
The day I stop working on layouts, whether at the club or home, will be when I'm too old to get out of bed.
The day you stop doing things you enjoy and give up is the day you stop living and are just waiting to die. As fast as the last 20 years seem to have gone, it won't be long until I am in your shoes. I was collecting and refining my roster but always on hold, waiting - it was no way to enjoy the hobby. For the past 14 years I have not had a space for a layout really of any size and finally have a little space to be building and gettings stuff out of the boxes and having a bit of fun. For those of you who have space to build a layout of any size, count your blessings! I'm not a relic yet, but maybe some of them will chime in.
I think many of the collector/accumulators may be people like me, who for reasons of living circumstances, failing/ed marriages, economic downturn, etc. did not have a way to "flesh out" the hobby, and could only collect for the day they would be able to use those trains. Collectors have often ben criticized for just collecting stuff, but often they are not that way by choice, but maybe they are doing it to keep the dream alive for when things finally turn around for them. Ironically I've met a number of people in the past year or seen them on forums, people who were dreaming the dream for a number of years, and are now finally starting to build a layout. Model Railroaders in waiting maybe, bursting from the cacoon.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Many have questioned my sanity for possibly again starting another huge sized layout. ( I have never claimed that my possum was fully baked). I'm 76 now, and somehow I just cannot desit from building layouts.
Are there any other relics like me still actively building layouts and traversing stairs several times a day. I'd sure like to hear from you....maybe we can share thoughts and ideas. In a previous posting I solicited advice on where to locate such a railroad and received many fine and intersting thoughts.
Also what do folks think the average age of a model railroad builder is (not collector or accumulator)?
HZ