Don't get the LION started on eyesight.
Him had cateract surgery x2, and thought this is great I can see again. (NOT).
My primary specticles are no-lines. I tie them on a string so that I can drop them off to read.
Then I got another pair for working the computer, what with four monitors about 30" away etc.
Then I got some 1x readers for closeup work , and of course the optivisor for working on the railroad.
Oh well, I can manage.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I'm pushing 70 and am glad most of my layout, passenger and freight cars are finished. This was a goal to for me so when I'm "really" old and eyesite failing, everything look better on the layout. But so far I'm doing well and still model building.
I'm 67 and still do pretty good even though I have limited use of my right hand due to a stroke back in '05 and some days my shaky shake hands limits what I can to so,I spend more time switching cars on my ISL.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I am not quite a senior...but getting there. I did a run of cancer a few years ago and did 8 weeks of rad treatments...seriously affecting the right leg. Moderate levels of arthritis in the lower half of the body especially in the lower back. Definitely makes working on the model railroad a challenge at times. Things like that can make aging come quicker, at least seemingly so. Your not alone...many of us here are with you and completely understand.
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
JAMES MOON At 72, almost 73, I am actually kind of amazed at what I can still do. I trenched a 50 ft drainage ditch by hand last week to save about a $1,000 the contractor was going to charge. Not as fast as I used to be but can still work at a steady pace. I am past working on sloped roofs and tall ladders, however. I do have degenerative disks in the top five vertibrae that three months of physical therapy taught me to live without pain. Getting under the bench is still doable but hurts a little. I bought a moveable bench light that clamps onto the side of the layout. Helps a lot with the vision thing as I am hand laying all my track. Haven't bought the Optivision device yet but plan on getting one this fall when I plan to get back into more car and kit building. Just finishing up on the third hand fabricated turnout. Should have it done this weekend. Life is good! Jim
At 72, almost 73, I am actually kind of amazed at what I can still do. I trenched a 50 ft drainage ditch by hand last week to save about a $1,000 the contractor was going to charge. Not as fast as I used to be but can still work at a steady pace. I am past working on sloped roofs and tall ladders, however.
I do have degenerative disks in the top five vertibrae that three months of physical therapy taught me to live without pain. Getting under the bench is still doable but hurts a little. I bought a moveable bench light that clamps onto the side of the layout. Helps a lot with the vision thing as I am hand laying all my track. Haven't bought the Optivision device yet but plan on getting one this fall when I plan to get back into more car and kit building. Just finishing up on the third hand fabricated turnout. Should have it done this weekend.
Life is good!
Jim
Your not alone. I have my things going on to. Imy eyes are not what they use to be. Also the back make things harder to do. But like a couple others have said, I wake up, so its
Will be a pretty good day. I just know what my limits are and do my best to stay with in them.
Sean, the unknown train travler,
I now have the basement back, after my wife passed away. Once some usable space is cleared, there will be about 15x22 available for a layout, that I hopefully will see to almost completion before I join her (just turned 70). The problem is, my biceps have mostly become unceps (moved to the underside of the arms), and my 6-pack turned into a 12-pack, then a case, and now, finally a keg. I think I still have my mind, at least most/some of it. So, we'll see what develops.
LION is 67 and that is getting old for a LION, I suppose. I just saw a video presentation on aging and senility. The brain has three layers one on top of the other, and while there are of course scientifc names for these parts, the video called them the "Reptilian Brain", The "Mamalian Brain" and the "Cognative Brain."
The Reptilian Brain reacts to things. Sensory inputs that provoke fight or fligh and other reflexive actions. The Mamalian Brain can be imprinted with learning. This was demonstrated by a cat in my mother's back yard. On day one it saw a chipmonk, and ran at it, perhaps thinking of a nice dinner for itself, But the chipmonk ran to a hole in the ground and got away. This happened again on the second day, and that is all it took for the cat to learn that the chipmonk was going to run to the hole. (The chipmonk had nothing to learn from the experience because it got away, right). On the third day the cat came, but did not run toward the chipmonk, but rather ran to the hole and caught the rodent before it got there. The cat learned.
But the cat did not learn enough to recite Shakespear. That requires the human mind.
So for us humans a input may come in to the middle brain, and if it cannot do the project without thinking, it kicks the issue up to the congnative brain for resolution. Problem is that our abilities dissapper in the inverse order in which they were learned. So if the cognitive brain cannot handle the issue, and in my experience it frequentyl cannot, it issue drops down to the reptilian brain for resolution. That results in a loud feral ROAR (usually laced with a few proscribed explitives) that tends to disturb the placid brothers within earshot.
Well, anyway, I have adapted my railroad to my capibilites and not to someone else's count of rivets.
In any event, I have solved the problem of going under the table. This layout was started 10 years ago, and I resolved that there would be no wires under the table. (sort of---there are always wires under there.) All of the wiring would hence forth be on the fascia, and later covered over with a finished fascia.
The finished fascia is held in place by powerful magnets glued to wooden stand-offs. It works real well. If in need accest to the wire I just lift off the fascia ant there is the wire. LIONS do use a lot of wire, eh? Well the layout is 14 miles long with 43 platform edges that require train stops, plus the working block signal system, and the whole thing is fully automated with over 300 relays.
And did I tell you, there is no wiring under the table, other than drops that are pulled out to the edge for connection on the fascia.
Although I am only 69 and have a few problems life is good. Beings I'm starting a new layout and although I would love to hand lay my track my hands and eyes will not allow me to do it. So I decided to use HO unitrack from Kato, the best out there.
Yes not the most realistic track but with some good scenery it will look pretty good. So for me the whole point is to have trains running and having fun now that I am retired.
Well I'm not quite as bad off as some of you - at least not yet. But I drop things and the arthritis in my hands makes it hard to do many tasks that used to be routine. I've started wearing my optivisor for some layout tasks. And I can't stand for as long as I used to.
But having out lived my father, both grandfathers, and one brother every day is a gift.
Enjoy
Paul
Considering for many things senior status starts at 55, I think half the people on this forum qualifies - I am over 55 (barely). So half the crowd in the hobby are likely seniors!
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Things Change(and so does our bodies). I am 65; have had both knees replaced(too much running on hard surfaces), and the 'aches & pains' are there. I have been replacing the ground throws in the staging at the club(on the 36" lower level). Getting up and down to mount the Bullfrog machines takes it's toll. About 4-5 mounted and I am ready to quit for the day. My hands seem to do OK with modeling, but I do seem to 'drop' things more often. And lots of light for us in the 'Optivisor Generation'!
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
I'm with you guys. Thank god for grand kids, they seem to fit under the layout better than I do.:-)
Terry
I know what you're saying. After a tussle with prostate cancer things were going well until I developed Meniere's disease and now I have bouts of severe vertigo that occur at unexpected times (like when I'm under the layout or in the middle of a painting project). Aging is not for the faint of heart.
Joe
You are definately not alone. After four joint replacements my time under the layout is all behind me. But I still wake up each morning so life is good.
It's not for weaklings
I get so frustrated when I can't fix something on the layout because I have trouble seeing it and my hands aren't steady enough to grasp the object or toolsAbout the only place i can still work is the work bench where the light is goodand I have the Magnifying glass and I can steady my hands on the table
The good news is The layout is completed only minor up grades and maintenance items
but forget about getting under the layout and working overhead while laying on my back
after 36 radiation treatments ruined my sense of balance and a stroke didn't help either there's a better chance of me winning theWWE Elimination Chamber Match
Is it just me or do others have the same problems ?
TerryinTexas
See my Web Site Here
http://conewriversubdivision.yolasite.com/