Question....
Anyone know of any kind of degree being offered in model railroading or courses being taught on the university or college level? This question was asked of me, and I could not come up with an answer.
Could be interesting and possibly viable especially in production and management areas.
HZ
I am fairly certain that Wayne has a PhD in model railroading. That's why they call him doctorwayne.
Rich
Alton Junction
I don't know if any include model railroading, but some schools offer degrees in Leisure and/or Recreation.
Enjoy
Paul
There is a guy in another form who goes by Professor Klozir or something - maybe he has a Phd in model railroading?
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Yeah, tell me what kind of degree you want, send me $3500.00 and I will mail you a diploma. (frame is extra)
Charlie
The Boy Scouts still have a Railroading Merit Badge, that includes study of the prototype as well as designing and building a layout.
Howard,I have a PHD in modeling from the University of Experience.. In fact I was the Valedictorian. My major was "Lessons Learned the hard way 101" and my minor was "Why did I do that? 102".
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I have a Third Degree, several in fact. Better half gives them to me when I come back from the train show.
Howard Zane Question.... Anyone know of any kind of degree being offered in model railroading or courses being taught on the university or college level? This question was asked of me, and I could not come up with an answer. Could be interesting and possibly viable especially in production and management areas. HZ
Probably not. Several universities/colleges have model railroad clubs, but thats probably the extent of it. The best advice would to be go to the manufacturer's websites and find out what degree's are desired. Also speaking Mandarin might be a good skill to have.
I guess it would all depend on what type of work one would want to do after graduation, but any number of Liberal Arts schools would offer classes to steer you in any direction. Let's say you want to work at Model Railroader magazine....maybe get a journalism degree. Some places have courses that incorporate design, like layout and design, into the program. Computer drafting and design could possibly get you into a manufacturing position, but with the imaging and replication processes these days I think those jobs may be disappearing.
If one is just looking to go into massive amounts of debt, be unemployable, and build a model railroad, then any Liberal Arts school will do. All you have to do is take the required clesses they offer and then take which ever other courses you think would benefit you in your endeavours.
Robert H. Shilling II
I bet one of those phony diploma mills will offer an "online" course for "distant learners" if they can be sure of getting the government loan money for the tuition. You could minor in vending machine restocking or perhaps automotive cleaning and detailing. Then work for minimum wage while trying to pay off the student loan.
maxman I have a Third Degree, several in fact. Better half gives them to me when I come back from the train show.
My method to avoid the Third Degree is to take my wife with me to train shows and buy her lunch. She makes sure I don't miss any tables etc.
riogrande5761 maxman I have a Third Degree, several in fact. Better half gives them to me when I come back from the train show. My method to avoid the Third Degree is to take my wife with me to train shows and buy her lunch. She makes sure I don't miss any tables etc.
slammin The Boy Scouts still have a Railroading Merit Badge, that includes study of the prototype as well as designing and building a layout.
I have the Railroading merit badge and also the Model Building merit badge. They do take a certain amount of knowledge and experience to earn and might look good on a resume to certain employers.
I am currently working on the NMRA Master of Model Railroading certificate. While not accredited it will look very nice on a resume.
Didn't Wayne Wesolowski (who is a college teacher) attempt something along those lines? But I am not sure it was for credit.
One could imagine the model train business being used as a "case study" in an MBA course, and engineering classes could certainly take up aspects of the hobby. But for actual modeling what "school" would take it on -- the art school? General education? Note in Jim Hediger's farewell editorial in MR he says he taught "shop" classes in high schools. Not sure what part of an education degree teaches how to do that, but one could imagine model railroading being used there. I recall a high school shop class years ago built most of a live steam locomotive during a semester.
Dave Nelson
There are a number of courses of study leading to degrees that are very useful in model railroading, and in the 1:1 scale world:
I think you get the drift.
Note that none of these are friendly to the mathematically challenged, or those who abhor heavy academic work. On the other hand, the results are priceless.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Bachelor's degree : http://www.modelrailroadinguniversity.com/bachelors.html
South Penn
IRONROOSTERI don't know if any include model railroading, but some schools offer degrees in Leisure and/or Recreation. Enjoy Paul
That's mainly planning activities for resorts, cruise ships, nursing homes, and such. Except for maybe the nursing home, I doubt there's much modeling going on.
I learned to walk into the house backwards. Then if she catches me I say I was just leaving.
Back in the early '90's I helped run a Model Railroad program at our church camp in Prospect, Pennsylvania. We had several hours every day and put together a small layout, kids each assembled an Athern bluebox car, assembled and painted a simple kit (probably Tyco), learned basic skills of gluing, airbrushing, etc. They took their models home with them. I think eventually this camp program went away because model rocketry camp was more of a draw - smoke and fire and things that go "boom" make for more fun.
Luckily I don't think we ever had any one complain about glue fumes and paint fumes, so we got lucky. I know I had fun! Not exactly university level but still something good.
maxman riogrande5761 maxman I have a Third Degree, several in fact. Better half gives them to me when I come back from the train show. My method to avoid the Third Degree is to take my wife with me to train shows and buy her lunch. She makes sure I don't miss any tables etc. I learned to walk into the house backwards. Then if she catches me I say I was just leaving.
I would throw my hat in through the door if it came flying back out I would go railfanning.
Getting a degree is an interesting idea, but I much prefer to learn at my own pace; no need to make this hobby into another job.
Great idea about taking the wife to the train shows to avoid collateral damage and keep track of money. I often take my young kids (>5) to watch their eyes light up at the trains. Also, they provide legitimate justification for things.
The thing about a degree, speaking from experience (Bachelor of Science & Mastor of Science) is that it requires a curriculum generally of 120 units or credit hours of course work (bachelors degree), all completed and graded to the satisfaction of a credentialed institution usually taking a minimum of 4 years, averaging 15 credit hours per semester.
Hopefully that would shed some light on it - it isn't something to be taken lightly - it requires a lot of time, committment and money - usually something a person isn't willing to invest unless it is going to "pay off" with a job career that will allow us to be full-time gainfully employed for many years, with benefits, advancement and a salary that will grant us a good standard of living.
In light of the above, well, how many people could make a living at model railroading? What makes the most sense is to get a bachelors and possibly a masters in business and couple that with a good knowledge of the hobby industry so you could hopefully make a living at it. Possible career tracks:
- working to produce model trains profitably with a manufacturer (existing or start your own company - aka Scale Trains etc.). or be a cottege industry making a living at some product level in the hobby.
- be a professional model railroad builder - a few do that already - see the ads in MR magazine. Personally I don't know how the pay is or return - it must work for some as long as there are well heeled customers.
Other than being able to make a living, the usual purpose of an accredited degree, I'm not sure what the purpose of a college degree in model railroading would be of value for? The traditional investment in time and money doesn't make it something most would find worth it, unless you are independantly wealthy - then sure, you could spend your time doing whatever you wanted since money is of no concern.
As for prestige, I suppose a few MMR's must enjoy posting it after their name or what have you. It's a relatively small pond, the model Railroading hobby world, and out side of that world people view us as a bunch of nerds - look at the how train enthusiasts are portrayed in movies or the media - as a joke or with curiosity at best. But you could be a big fish in that pond if thats important? Heck, with YouTube, there are now people with a decent video cam, some editing skills, now publicizing "how to" video's and posting them on model train forums - maybe thats a big deal. With YouTube, regular folks can get their "15 minutes" of fame. =P
Jim,Good points about units of credit hours. Even with a degree or MMR many would still not know the difference between a ALCO RS11 and a RS-36 or a PS boxcar from a FMC boxcar..
IMHO to have a Masters degree in Model Railroading would take hundreds of credit hours and still one may find their selves still lacking knowledge.
The problem with such an idea is accreditation. There are no credentialed faculty available to teach model railroading (in an academic sense). I doubt that there is any scholarly research or published papers on model railroading (there wasn't 10 years ago when I was working on my mba, I looked).
BRAKIEI would throw my hat in through the door if it came flying back out I would go railfanning.
I hope it would not be a "Brass Hat".
BRAKIE Jim,Good points about units of credit hours. Even with a degree or MMR many would still not know the difference between a ALCO RS11 and a RS-36 or a PS boxcar from a FMC boxcar..
Those things could easily be taught. In my minerology class I had to memorize all kinds or rock names such as hornblend, feldspars (and the subcategories) etc. and the chemical formulas for many major rocks. All those things could be taught but what application would there be in terms of a job or making money? Thats the thing about hobbies, be it trains, or TV shows or Movies, there are endless lists of minutea and trivia that could string to the moon and back, but how do you make money with it? Or to quote Han Solo - good against remotes is one thing, good against a living, thats something else! My bit of useless trivia!
Actually its the other way around. It's at the Bachelors Degree level you learn tons about everything - then at the Masters Degree level, you concentrate more on a specific subject. Then at the Phd level, you put most of your time on something very very specific. It's opposite of how many people think it is! My graduate professor tried to tempt me to staying on for a Phd but I wanted to get out and start earning some money so I declined and stopped at the masters level. Good thing as I'm in IT now and not earth science! =P It pays the bills better.
I added model railroading to a computer programming course that had academic credit. Our team had to find a company and write a usable program for that company. A formal presentation was made before instructors and a representative from that company using a mockup of the real program which had yet to be written.
At that time, I was selling trains and had a tax permit. Our team was permitted to use my company as it was legitimate. The sample item we used to show how the inventory program worked was Kadee #5's. The company representative attending the presentation was my wife. The mockup we used was done on dBase and it actually worked and was really used in my business for several years.
Ken Vandevoort