Phoebe Vet MisterBeasley So, I guess my goal is to build a time machine. And you know what? That is fun. My layout has a Tardis. Will that do?
MisterBeasley So, I guess my goal is to build a time machine. And you know what? That is fun.
So, I guess my goal is to build a time machine. And you know what? That is fun.
My layout has a Tardis. Will that do?
Which Doctor are you using?
My goal is to finish my existing layout and operate it with a small crew. Started the thing two houses ago in 1984 (BC). Currently have about 95% of the trackwork done and a bit of scenery. In the process of converting from Dyantrol to NCE DCC. Am finding more time available now that kids are in college/working.
Still finding all phases of this hobby fun!
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
NP2626 I sort of “winced” when I used the word "GOALS" and model railroading in the same breath. However, the word “GOAL” does seem to fit this line of thought on what we want to accomplish with our model railroads.
Alton Junction
I have also noticed that as a crowd, the majority of us seem to be old codgers! I guess then it’s no wonder that we might not get along at times!
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Guess I'm one of the yungins here. I'll be 61 in May.
My goal is to get my son to move out of the house so that I can clear his exercise equipment out of the garage. Then I can actually start to build a layout.
Make no mistake, I love my son dearly. In fairness to him he has been through a few bumps and grinds, but he has now been in an established career making good money for several months. He just wrote qualifying exams for his next level of accreditation in municipal Water/Waste Water management so once the results come in for the exams (he said he did well) I am going to have a heart to heart discussion with him about getting on with his life.
In the mean time I have lots of projects in various states of completion to keep me occupied, but if you haven't guessed it already, I'm getting a little impatient to start building bench work.
Thanks for letting me vent!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
A recent goal (2-3 years old now) was to complete car cards done for all my rolling stock and start operating. Since many people seem to think operation to be the ultimate goal, I wanted to give this aspect of model railroading at least a try. So, in the last two years, I have operated small peddler freights delivering cars around the layout and just recently I have come-up with a 10 train schedule that will take me as a single operator about 5 hours to run through. The jury is still out as to whether; or, not I think operations are fun.
My goal is to finally get a layout up and running after all these years of buying, building, painting, decaling, detailing, planning, dreaming, and hoping. Years of work just kept getting in the way. I want to see those long trains running behind those lovely locos I've been collecting. "Completion" of a model railroad may be an unreasonably optimistic goal because of my current age; but I know I can work in that direction.
Tom
Finish my layout sometime this century as I didn't finish it in the last one
Thanks! Happy B-day to you, too! It's fun to be middle aged again!!
My goal is to not leave mine in boxes. I knew someone who had a great collection and it sat in boxes for year except for the ones in the display cases.
I also just want a freelance layout that I can run both my smaller and larger rolling stock. Last but not leave is to enjoy them and have fun with them.
IRONROOSTER NP2626 In a little more than three weeks I'll be 65. Am I one of the younger people on this forum? Yes. In 2 1/2 weeks (April 2) I will be 68. Enjoy Paul
NP2626 In a little more than three weeks I'll be 65. Am I one of the younger people on this forum?
In a little more than three weeks I'll be 65. Am I one of the younger people on this forum?
Yes.
In 2 1/2 weeks (April 2) I will be 68.
Enjoy
Paul
Me, too. 68 April 1.
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Heck, I was writin' my 1st Grade dissertation when most of you kids were born . . .
BroadwayLionNathan's Hot Dog. (Note to self: gotta build a Hot Dog Stand!)
Russell
I'm 69. You're 65. AC is 57. That means you're middle-aged.
Well first off I'm only 57......
My goals are simple, model a fictional, but believeable section of a large class one railroad in the early 1950's - a time before I was born - so it has nothing to do with my "childhood".
I simply like that time in history, the post war boom, the nature of railroading then, and the presence of both steam and diesel locos as well as the last of the glamorous passenger trains.
There are more specific goals - broad curves for good operation and looks, long trains, signaling and CTC, representing this Mid Atlantic region, and the fantasy of being the President of the Railroad (being a railroad engineer is secondary to the whole thing - I much prefer the dispatchers job).
And related to that is one important technical goal - to be able to operate the layout three different ways:
With a group of experianced operators with full blown CTC fast clock operation.
OR,
Operate it as a multi train display layout for non railroaders,
Operate as a lone wolf in a prototype manner.
I also want good scenery, but it need not be over the top detailed. Scenery is like many things in this hobby - very subjective.
These have been my goals for a long time - they have changed very little in more than 25 years now.
Sheldon
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader
My goal has always been to live up to my inspiration: John Allen's Gorre & Daphetid Railroad. That layout had a wonderful balance of realism and whimsey. Reports are that it operated well and derailments were few. The layout was well crafted and there wasn't much plastic.
I'm realistic in that I cannot devote the time to my layout that John Allen did; his lifestyle was very different from mine. So, I'm not trying to do as extensive of layout, but his work is my measuring stick for character and quality.
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
My number one goal is to have fun.
My model railroad is intended to simulate the Burlington Route in the 1950's through the early 1960's.
I grew up next to the Burlington in that era, and that is why I made those choices.
This era is when railroads offered quality passenger train service, and I miss that part of American history. Accordingly, I include passenger service typical of the CB&Q.
Freight service on my layout includes several industries at various locations on my railroad. Much of the cargo is shipped from one industry to another giving a purpose for the freight trains.
My layout design is sectional benchwork for an around-the-wall track plan. My method of construction is to build one section at a time and complete the scenery for it. That way, I did not get bored looking at just boards and track. Track is mostly flex track. Most turnouts have manual operations with Caboose Industries ground throws. Switch machines are only used in hard-to-reach locations.
The track plan is bascially a double track main line with a return loop at each end. There are various side tracks and branch lines along the way.
I have wirelss DCC, and the engineer walks with the train he is operating.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
To have fun?
I am now 68 years old, and I started my layout nine or ten years ago. It brings back my youth, taking me back to my boyhood. When I took down my teenage layout, I stored my trains, track and structures, and moved them with me from basements to attics as I made my way through life. When I came back to the hobby, my old friends were still with me and most of them grace my layout today. My layout brings back memories of my younger days in the 50s and 60s, with the trains I remember, the cars, the trucks and the advertisements. I put era-appropriate music on the stereo.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
To learn, enjoy, and share a hobby with my wife of 30+ years.
Richard
Speaking of Woodpeckers, there is one pounding away on my steel roof as I type. If brains were dynomite he couldn't blow his feathers off.
After I got back to the hobby I really leaned towards the "making a scene look as real as Possible" direction. Getting my 4-4-0 chugging around the layout while I work away is most enjoyable. I hope to never get to the point where I am scratching my head looking for something else to do on the layout, but if I do I am glad I have room to expand.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
My dreams are... Finally finish a track plan that works with the modern era. Build it on a HCD. Power it up with DC or DCC (I don't know yet). Have fun!
The goals... I have a lot of diesels and freight cars to buy. Then getting track, structures and scenery.
The track plan is alright but it's missing a few industries, a diamond interchange next to a junction if that fits with 15" curves on a 36" door. A long main line train of 12 to 14 cars with a small local.
I model N Scale, Union Pacific and BNSF.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Building a realistic model of a freelanced East end of the Wheeling & Lake Erie. My reason? Its a local road, and one very few people do.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
My goal was to build a railroad with a concept that continually inspires new horizons in my modeling. I feel the reason behind your railroad's existence -- real or imagined -- is key to finding that satisfaction. Part of my method is to keep things within reach, but also requiring a stretch, both literally and figuratively.
The layout is starting to look finished. I don't regret that at all and it was one of my sub-goals; a Plywood Pacific is OK for a few years, but you also want to see a finished landscape. A lot of my structures are stand-ins, but also good looking enough I'm a long way from replacing them at my leisure. New projects pop up regularly, inspired by what the layout has come to be, somthing not completely planned, but with a solid overall theme.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL