Well - I am an old fogey and actually glad I found this hobby.
Before my "intro" to MR my only hobby was "power tools" and making stuff.
I think this hobby is all consuming - if you give it a chance. I spend hours keeping my PRR passenger cars lighted - as they want to make the lights go out at every turn. Maybe it's not a hobby now more like a JOB - arrgh!
Never mind I love it just the same.
Chris.
Loco Guy - is a state of mind - not an affinity to locomotives.
Sit back and enjoy your track...
Mainly model railroading. I'm also into target shooting. Living out in the country, not many friends and i don't like inlaws so they know to stay away. I like my time far away from the urban world with my wife and Labrador Retreivers.
Trains are my indoor winter hobby. In spring and summer I play adult baseball and umpire youth baseball and go fishing in the north woods. In fall I do golf and football. In winter I ice fish, snow shoe and XC ski. Plus work at the law office and the chores on my farm.
To get more experience painting, I took a break from the railroad and put together this truck model. I discovered another hobby within a hobby. I also enjoy reading and computer programming.
I decided to go back to college so hobby time has decreased to a couple hours every few months. I will be back.
T e d
I have 3 more hospitals band to add to the collection, after my latest 4 day stay at the place where you never get to sleep!!
Model railroading is not my only hobby-though it's probably my only "indoor" hobby. Since I work on a computer during the work week, all I want to do on the weekends is get outside.
It's only a 90 minute drive to the top of Donner Pass, so when I can I like to drive from the Sacramento area up to the Sierra crest and do some railfanning/rail photography as well as general outdoor photography. Here is a portfolio of railroading over Donner Pass that I put together a while back:
http://www.blurb.com/b/4715599-steel-rails-over-donner-pass
I guess you can add books to the list.....
I'm now a bit old to still do overnight backpacking, but I do try to dayhike up in the Sierras, and other areas around Yosemite. I also follow Formula 1 racing, and now that the 2016 season has started, that's another diversion.
You know, after all that-sometimes I'm surprised I get anything done with my model trains....
Jeff
Woodworking, amateur radio, flyfishing, geocaching . . . the list goes on. When our kids were little my hobbies were limited to work and family. Now I'm making up for lost time.
Not my only, but the main one I enjoy. I also enjoy older garden tractors, older farm tractors and RC cars. Mike
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
I brew beer, which I like trying to give them train themed names. I also enjoy sailing and usually do an offshore trip or two a year- in May I will be creating on a boat from Antigua to Grenada.
I collect railroad related kerosene lamps, railroad telegraph keys and sounders. In my younger years I liked to stand on top of mountains here in BC, can't do that any more, too old. I like to take pictures, lots of them.
The other Mel
Hi every one. I enjoy golf and make daily weather observations, since I used to do that for a living, along with weather forecasting.
Mike
My fiancee tells me I have a "hoarding" problem. This relates to my hobbies. I enjoy buying books, however, I don't read many of them. I have good intentions, but my life has been consumed by my profession for a few years, and now, preparing to get married. I love history (Civil War, WWI, WWII, and Irish history). I have a small collection of WWI and WWII post cards. I also love to travel and teach abroad. Sadly, a wedding, purchasing a house, and starting my master's degree has put traveling on hold for awhile. While traveling, I love taking pictures, especially of street signs, empty lanes/alleyways, and as grime as it is headstones/cemeteries. I am also a big sports fan. I have been into collecting sports memorabilia since I was about 6 years old. A few years ago, I focused my sports card collection on a few players, the Green Bay Packers, and cards with a certain serial number. Sadly, this is on the back burner for awhile, too. I also follow several sports teams and play fantasy football and fantasy EPL soccer. Model railroading is mainly a dream at the moment. It's going to take a lot to convince my fiancee to build even a small layout. I need to consolidate and sell a lot of what I have. I know my future is not going to get any less busy in the next few years. Might as well find one or two hobbies that I can focus on when time allows.
Indoor hobbies aside from model trains would be table top sports games and sports video games. Also enjoy reading. And lately have been painting miniature hockey players for my table top hockey game.
outodoor hobbies would be bike riding, playing baseball and of course being Canadian playing hockey.
Other hobbies/interests - when I have time:
Hi Fi speaker design and construction - designed, built and marketed some years ago - still listen with my own designs
Music - collecting/listening - 1700 plus vinyl records
Gravely garden tractors
Firearms/shooting
History
Architectural History
Classic Cars - restored a few in years past - might do another one day.
But Model Trains remains my number one hobby interest from the standpoint of continuous activity and investment of time and money.
Of course my "other hobby" is my work - restoring old houses. My father suggested that I like whatever I chose to do for a living - I do.
Sheldon
One thing I failed to mention in my original reply because I've never thought of it as a hobby so much as a special interest but I'm a real buff when it comes to all things related to the JFK assassination. It might seem morbid to some, but it is a fascinating subject with lots of interesting side stories. And for the record, I am not a conspiracy theorist. I am convinced Oswald did it and I've seen no credible evidence he had even a single accomplice. I'm not looking to start an argument because I'm already involved in an online discussion group and I spend way too much of my time arguing with people there.
ricktrains4824 Nice topic! Other than model railroading, I enjoy railfaning, photography, fishing, reading, games (board, cards, video, playing baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, bowling with friends) and I play drums. I will also watch NASCAR, Indycar, baseball and football on TV when not busy. (Watch more NASCAR and football than the others, but must see Indy 500 for Indycar, and always catch Daytona 500 for NASCAR. Watch Indians baseball, Packers football, when I can, and always catch World Series, and superbowl.)
Nice topic!
Other than model railroading, I enjoy railfaning, photography, fishing, reading, games (board, cards, video, playing baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, bowling with friends) and I play drums.
I will also watch NASCAR, Indycar, baseball and football on TV when not busy. (Watch more NASCAR and football than the others, but must see Indy 500 for Indycar, and always catch Daytona 500 for NASCAR. Watch Indians baseball, Packers football, when I can, and always catch World Series, and superbowl.)
The Indy500 was on my bucket list and I crossed it off a few years ago. I'm glad I did it once but wouldn't do it twice. It was actually quite boring because you see so little of the race from a fixed location. I was near the top of the lower level and all I could see was turn 4 and the top of the home stretch. Very little passing. Just watching the cars go round and round. On the last lap there was a wreck involving the cars not too far behind the leader but I missed that because I was focused on the lead car as he headed for the checkered flag which of course I could barely see because it was so far away.
I feel the same way about the Kentucky Derby. I'm glad I did it once, but not twice. It was the year Big Brown won and he made his move at the top of the stretch right in front of me but I ended up watching the stretch run on the Jumbotron.
These big venue events are best seen from your easy chair in front of a big screen TV. I would include golf tournaments in that as well. You just don't get to see much when you're there. It's nice to do it once to soak in the atmosphere, but I want to see as much of a contest as I can and you just can't do it from a fixed location.
Seventy four years old with Macular Degeneration in left eye cannot do close up work any more and I wear trifocals. Little trouble doing fine work anymore.
Ride bicycle on rail trails in my area. Sun Electrolite ebike. 36 volt PWM motor with lithium battery for help on hills. I can switch it off. Some arthritis in both knees. About forty mile of rail trails.
My little city still has the train station that is now a bagel shop. City nearby has a Union Station that served three railroads at one time. Now a restaurant. Amtrak still comes by but a little station nearby. Enjoy riding and seeing all the places the railroad use to serve.
Still dating and dancing. Dance four nights a week.
Workout at Snap Fitness.
Planning going to the Lake Placid railroad where they have two seat and four set rail bikes for tourist. Six mile and sixteen mile rides. Saw the two seat at a train show.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Wow, ok, um...not in any particular order, there's golf, fishing (not so much), hunting, bike riding, back packing/hiking, X-box, guitars, some gardening, the chicken coop (3 hens a laying), historical reenacting Rev War, MR. Like others, I look at MR as mainy a winter activity.
Where to begin....... I'm 71 and have had wayyy too many interests over the years. Model trains (HO & Lionel) have been the mainstay, and today Im also in to stamp/coin collecting, mechanics, woodworking, yardwork, firearms (yes, I have a license to carry), reading, crossword puzzles, and "doing lunch" with my other half.
Historically, I was also a motorcycle and bike enthusiast, took a lot of long car trips, enjoyed being a baseball/football/NASCAR fan, etc.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Golf and photography. If I am bored, it's my own fault.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
My thanks to the OP. I think this is a great topic. Besides my mrr layout, I do quite a bit of woodcarving (see my website at jimcarves.weebly.com)and I like to play chess (over the internet on Gameknot.com and in person when I can find someone who will play). I still do some occasional fishing but not like I used to in my younger days. I can get into a first person shooter PC game (prefer WWII genre) once in awhile. I have been retired for 11 years and still don't seem to have enough time to do the things I want to do.
wdcrvr
Trains can really take over if you aren't careful. Last summer was the first in 20+ we didn't get the kayaks into the water. Photography and freelance writing are side businesses that seem more like hobbies. Did a few seasons of SCCA sports car racing but that's a sport that makes model railroading look cheap.
Carnegie Falls work on the layout after they go to bed when I should be cleaning the house or doing laundry.
Sometimes it pays to hire a housekeeper.
Here, I clean the "lunch room" each morning, and on Sunday I do the dishes. Others clean other things, and we have a central laundry. Laundry is picked up once a week, you you need lots of socks and underwear to make it through the week.
Get the kids to help you. They will be happy to.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Indoors, I play strategy games on the computer, including flight simulator with the pedals and flight yoke and all.
I'm still skiing black diamond trails, riding both road and mountain bikes and playing competitive ice hockey.
Lately, I've been picking up my guitar occasionally, too, trying to recapture the lost glory(?) of playing in a dorm band so many years ago.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Well, I railfan sometimes. I play videogames a lot, I write, and draw, and plot to take over the world
Only parent of two young kids so hobby time is limited. Photography is one, but that's also my second job so I don't pick the camera up "for fun" very often. I play Ultimate (Frisbee) because I can do that during lunch at work. Little bit of drawing/art. I like outdoor stuff like fishing, hiking, kayaking, etc. I finally have a solo backpacking trip planned this summer in the Sierra Nevadas that I'm really excited about. I actually picked up model railroading as a hobby because the kids made it more difficult to do the outdoor stuff. Sure, we can go for a walk in the woods, but I haven't been able to do a 12 mile hike since my first kid was small enough to fit in a backpack. I work on the layout after they go to bed when I should be cleaning the house or doing laundry.
LION's Hobby is Railroading, always passenger trains. LIONS have no need for freight. Passengers, afterall are tasty.
First trains were American Flyer and about '59 dad talked me into switching to HO. In 9th grade, I sold the trains and bought a printing press. In the late '60s I bought more trains while I was in Japan complements the USN Navy and the Vietnam war.
Eventually I sold the printing presses and moved back in with my parents for a few years until I joined the monastery. After making my profession, I asked the Abbot if I could set up my model trains. Him, perhaps remembering model trains on a 4x8 layout gave permission. Apparently he had never encountered a raving Model Builder. No sooner had he given permission, I had two ping pong tables end to end in the old basement room.
That basement room was to be remodled, and so I snagged myself a unused classroom above the Library. Today, the route of the Broadway LION boasts of 10 subway trains and 14 miles of track.
Oh... Other Hobbies....
Well I dearly miss hnad set lead type on a platten press, but that technology has gone the way of the dodo bird.
Well some darn fool invented a Personal Computer, and I was hooked. And now one of my jobs is Network Administrator with five servers and 30 workstations.
Still Typesetting on a computer is still a lot of fun. LION likes doing that. Him is also a Registered Nurse, and is in charge of the infirmary. Him also sells wine in his spare time. I wonder how I ever get up there to play with the trains.
Oh well, life is interesting. And I don't have to spend any money. 'Cause I don't have any.