ATLANTIC CENTRAL Now that's a tough one (until recentl) Taking a cruise or buying things for the layout. For now there is no decision to be made as I cannot cruise. As for the OP it mig be hard in the current situation but step back a bit take a few days off and then decide. mbinsewi John-NYBW As I said earlier, I have too much time and moneyinvested in it to simply walk away from it. I could never get back the time and only small fraction of the money. As I said in the OP, if I thought I could get back a tenth of the money I have invested in it, I would get out. Really???? I think you should find something different, as a hobby. Evidently, model railroading, as John Wayne once said in a movie, "doesn't fit your biscuit". "time and money" have nothing to do with a hobby. If you look at it as "time and money", than you better get out. Mike. I was going to comment on the time and money thing as well. I think of every dollar spend on model trains as no different than money spend on vacations or eating out. No way to get that money back either....... Given a choice between a cruise or a model train layout, I will pick the model train layout every time.........in fact, I have. Time, we have a limited amount of it, figure out what you really want and use it wisely........ A good friend of mine has a great saying, "In this life you can have ANYTHING you want, you just can't have EVERYTHING you want. Choose wisely." Sheldon
Now that's a tough one (until recentl) Taking a cruise or buying things for the layout. For now there is no decision to be made as I cannot cruise.
As for the OP it mig be hard in the current situation but step back a bit take a few days off and then decide.
mbinsewi John-NYBW As I said earlier, I have too much time and moneyinvested in it to simply walk away from it. I could never get back the time and only small fraction of the money. As I said in the OP, if I thought I could get back a tenth of the money I have invested in it, I would get out. Really???? I think you should find something different, as a hobby. Evidently, model railroading, as John Wayne once said in a movie, "doesn't fit your biscuit". "time and money" have nothing to do with a hobby. If you look at it as "time and money", than you better get out. Mike.
John-NYBW As I said earlier, I have too much time and moneyinvested in it to simply walk away from it. I could never get back the time and only small fraction of the money. As I said in the OP, if I thought I could get back a tenth of the money I have invested in it, I would get out.
Really???? I think you should find something different, as a hobby. Evidently, model railroading, as John Wayne once said in a movie, "doesn't fit your biscuit".
"time and money" have nothing to do with a hobby. If you look at it as "time and money", than you better get out.
Mike.
I was going to comment on the time and money thing as well.
I think of every dollar spend on model trains as no different than money spend on vacations or eating out. No way to get that money back either.......
Given a choice between a cruise or a model train layout, I will pick the model train layout every time.........in fact, I have.
Time, we have a limited amount of it, figure out what you really want and use it wisely........
A good friend of mine has a great saying, "In this life you can have ANYTHING you want, you just can't have EVERYTHING you want. Choose wisely."
Sheldon
Joe Staten Island West
John-NYBWSomething is always breaking and in need of a fix, whether it is the locos, rolling stock, turnouts, scenery, structures, etc.
Mike
Kevin,
Your one-at-a-time lettering is excellent
I have trouble keeping commercial sets straight
Nice work!
Cheers, Ed
DoughlessNothing is difficult once it is learned, and level interest drives the desire to learn.
Assembling a Quadrajet Carburetor is difficult even when mastered.
It is impossible until it is mastered.
John-NYBWLike John Allen, I am having doubts about whether this has been a worthwhile endeavor.
You mean spending $60,000.00 to remodel a house just to lower its market value, then spend all disretionary funds on a giant cantankerous electric toy that occupies 25% of the floor space might not be a worthwhile endeavor?
I have these doubts every day.
John-NYBWIt seems to me setting individual letters is a rather tedious way of lettering a piece of equipment. Far easier to create a single decal to do that.
Applying decals one letter at a time is easy and quite relaxing. I can do two freight cars while a Star Wars movie is on my screen in front of me.
One letter at a time gives you complete freedom in your design.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
ATLANTIC CENTRALI have never even been on a real golf course, nor have I ever had any desire to be....
I played a little golf in high school and college. Never enough to be any good. It feels good to hit a great drive or a great put. Unfortunately I rarely put all that together on the same hole.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
John-NYBW ATLANTIC CENTRAL richhotrain John, my advice to you is to stop writing all of this negativity. No one enjoys reading it, and you are just making yourself more miserable. You don't like the hobby, you don't enjoy the hobby, so why stay in it? I don't see things getting any better for you. Do yourself a favor and find a different hobby where you can excel. Rich golf? I do play golf and reasonably well. I have a high single digit handicap. Golf too can be frustrating but with golf the good outweighs the bad. I can't say that about model railroading.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL richhotrain John, my advice to you is to stop writing all of this negativity. No one enjoys reading it, and you are just making yourself more miserable. You don't like the hobby, you don't enjoy the hobby, so why stay in it? I don't see things getting any better for you. Do yourself a favor and find a different hobby where you can excel. Rich golf?
richhotrain John, my advice to you is to stop writing all of this negativity. No one enjoys reading it, and you are just making yourself more miserable. You don't like the hobby, you don't enjoy the hobby, so why stay in it? I don't see things getting any better for you. Do yourself a favor and find a different hobby where you can excel. Rich
John, my advice to you is to stop writing all of this negativity. No one enjoys reading it, and you are just making yourself more miserable. You don't like the hobby, you don't enjoy the hobby, so why stay in it? I don't see things getting any better for you. Do yourself a favor and find a different hobby where you can excel.
Rich
golf?
I do play golf and reasonably well. I have a high single digit handicap. Golf too can be frustrating but with golf the good outweighs the bad. I can't say that about model railroading.
I have never even been on a real golf course, nor have I ever had any desire to be........
In the beginning of this thread you lamented that it might have been cheaper to just buy custom decals, and I posted that custom decals was something I always did with a checkbook.
So I looked it up, because I'm a neurotic record keeper.
In the last 20 years I have purchased 255 "Superintendent" decal sets from RailGraphics, as well as data sets, custom passenger car names and the custom stripes you see on my models.
A Superintendent set included roadnames, numbers and harolds in two sizes as well as slogans, reporting marks and car end reporting marks and numbers.
Each set will generally letter two pieces of equipment, so that is enough decals for about 500 locos or pieces of rolling stock.
My total cost, spread over 20 years and 4 orders, was $658.00, or about $1.32 per car. What a bargin, it's a shame RailGraphics is gone, but I stocked up three years ago when announced he was closing up shop.
No messing with ink, or computers, or printers or more complex processes do to a lack of white printing. Just good old fashioned screen printed decals that look great and work great.
richhotrainGeez, man, stop it already. I am fast coming to the conclusion that you enjoy playing this role as an incessant naysayer.
Rich: Perhaps you might offer to send him some cheese to go along with his whine.
John-NYBW Doughless I get your overall gist and sympathize, maybe not in the exact same manner. I was just using the decaling as an example. I have expectations that things will work as planned, meaning, like they did previously. That when a feature is added, the reliability of existing features aren't sacrificed or eliminated. I think the design of the nozzle encourages the use of the entire contents at once, not piecemeal as you like over time. Making it better in one way made it worse in an area that probably matters more. I don't expect that things will always go according to plan. It seems in this hobby something is always going wrong. We are constantly putting out fires. Part of that goes to the overall quality of merchandise in this hobby. I have no qualms about saying that 75% of it is junk. There are a few companies who can be counted on to consistently put out quality products but there are too many to whom quality control seems like a foreign concept. How often do we have to fix something that is new right out of the box in order to get it to work right. Often we buy products that we aren't ready to use because we know if we don't, it might be out of production when do get around to needing it. By then it's too late to return it for refund. Just one example is the doodlebug which Walthers put out a number of years ago and which I think has been discontinued since I don't see it on their website.. It was quite a bit shorter than others on the market and I thought it would be perfect for the branchline I had in the planning stages but hadn't even laid the first foot of track for. I've finally gotten around to starting work on that branchline and discovered the Walthers doodlebug was junk. It uses a belt drive motor and the belt keeps slipping which makes it start and stop in a herky jerky movement. It's obviously a poor design that was never adequately tested. What am I supposed to do with it now? That is not a unique experience. It happens far too often in this hobby.
Doughless I get your overall gist and sympathize, maybe not in the exact same manner. I was just using the decaling as an example. I have expectations that things will work as planned, meaning, like they did previously. That when a feature is added, the reliability of existing features aren't sacrificed or eliminated. I think the design of the nozzle encourages the use of the entire contents at once, not piecemeal as you like over time. Making it better in one way made it worse in an area that probably matters more.
I get your overall gist and sympathize, maybe not in the exact same manner. I was just using the decaling as an example.
I have expectations that things will work as planned, meaning, like they did previously. That when a feature is added, the reliability of existing features aren't sacrificed or eliminated.
I think the design of the nozzle encourages the use of the entire contents at once, not piecemeal as you like over time. Making it better in one way made it worse in an area that probably matters more.
I don't expect that things will always go according to plan. It seems in this hobby something is always going wrong. We are constantly putting out fires. Part of that goes to the overall quality of merchandise in this hobby. I have no qualms about saying that 75% of it is junk. There are a few companies who can be counted on to consistently put out quality products but there are too many to whom quality control seems like a foreign concept. How often do we have to fix something that is new right out of the box in order to get it to work right. Often we buy products that we aren't ready to use because we know if we don't, it might be out of production when do get around to needing it. By then it's too late to return it for refund. Just one example is the doodlebug which Walthers put out a number of years ago and which I think has been discontinued since I don't see it on their website.. It was quite a bit shorter than others on the market and I thought it would be perfect for the branchline I had in the planning stages but hadn't even laid the first foot of track for. I've finally gotten around to starting work on that branchline and discovered the Walthers doodlebug was junk. It uses a belt drive motor and the belt keeps slipping which makes it start and stop in a herky jerky movement. It's obviously a poor design that was never adequately tested. What am I supposed to do with it now? That is not a unique experience. It happens far too often in this hobby.
I agree with the sentiment totally, and I don't bury my head in the sand as to the reality of the situation. But I would stop short of calling stuff mostly junk. Its probably only junk in one critical aspect that goes unmentioned, LOL.
Your doodlbug example is a pretty good one. Modern designed locos, even wierd ones, don't have belt drives, or at least shouldn't and the expectation would be that it would have some sort of normal motor. I bet neither the producer mentioned it, or anybody else who bought it mentioned it out of simple embarrasment. Glad you admit that you bought something from your expectations of a modern model, but didn't account for the unexpected deviation.
My entrance into the DCC world was late do to the shortcomings of its early days. In addition to the wonderfully advertised power of DCC and independent control of trains, lost in the early days was the fact that if you actually executed the plan, the layout would buzz like a swarm of cicads until they invented the "silent" decoder. Nobody ever seemed to disclose that noisy step backwards, simply talking about the wonderfulness of the narrow part of the technology that happened to be the singular advancement forward.
Onto sound. QSI was smoothly silent, wonderful sounding horn, but bad sounding prime movers. Tsunami had a wonderful prime mover sound, but chunky slow speed motor control and a terrible muffled horn. Along came LokSound, which solved the slow speed and sound problems of the other two, problem but went back to the days of carrying an annoying cicada sound covered over only by maximum volume.
For whatever reason, each producer chose to cut back on some important aspect of having a dcc/sound decoder be complete, or they were simply creating an expectation of features the technology could not deliver.
After 20 years, Soundtraxx now finally comes out with the T2 that solves all of the sound shortcomings, is truly silent, and has a simple CV 215 to 10 -15 setting that provides for uncomplicated slow speed smooth creep.
Athearn finally decides to put modern LEDs into the locos for the first time, along with the wonderful T2 decoder. After 20 years of the technology, somebody finally produces a DCC/sound loco that has no major shortcomings. It becomes a matter of personal preference over pesky specific details. Of course, this complete loco with complete modern features all the way around comes at about 50% more of the street price of other company's products. Well worth it, IMO.
Gotta love the prototypical underbellies of modern 50 foot rolling stock that can't negotiate a 24 inch radius curve. Only some versions of some models. An obvious shortcoming of a design that defies expectations of the buyer. One advanced feature stealthly eliminates another expected feature that has been a near certainty.
We can probably keep this up for days....
- Douglas
John-NYBW I do play golf and reasonably well. I have a high single digit handicap. Golf too can be frustrating but with golf the good outweighs the bad. I can't say that about model railroading.
Alton Junction
Golf is a good example. I was playing golf about 1-2 times a week year round. Wasn't very good at it and found myself frustrated way more times than not. Finally realized that golf wasn't for me. Stopped playing, started a layout and now enjoy the layout and have probably saved multiple thousands of dollars. This was in 2006, havent regretted the move for a minute. Different strokes for different folks. These guys complaining should just make a decision on what makes them happy, if it is not MR then find something else. I have no complaint about overall quality of products. Best time ever as far as choices and availability.
Actually, golf provides a good analogy to the goings on in this thread.
If I sat in the clubhouse every day and whined and moaned how I hate golf and how bad it sucks, I would be thrown out of the club by the other members.
If I played so bad that I could not break 100, if I lost 5 or 6 golf balls per round, if I thought that my expensive golf clubs were not made very well, I wouldn't continue to play golf on the theory that I had too much time and money sunk into the game to quit now.
Or, alternatively, I would make myself even more miserable by buying another new set of clubs and another 6 dozen golf balls and spending another 4 hours a day shooting 110 per round.
As a model railroader, you need to be a glutton for punishment and pain. If you are not, better stay out of the hobby.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
John-NYBW Part of that goes to the overall quality of merchandise in this hobby. I have no qualms about saying that 75% of it is junk. There are a few companies who can be counted on to consistently put out quality products but there are too many to whom quality control seems like a foreign concept. How often do we have to fix something that is new right out of the box in order to get it to work right. Often we buy products that we aren't ready to use because we know if we don't, it might be out of production when do get around to needing it. By then it's too late to return it for refund.
Part of that goes to the overall quality of merchandise in this hobby. I have no qualms about saying that 75% of it is junk. There are a few companies who can be counted on to consistently put out quality products but there are too many to whom quality control seems like a foreign concept. How often do we have to fix something that is new right out of the box in order to get it to work right. Often we buy products that we aren't ready to use because we know if we don't, it might be out of production when do get around to needing it. By then it's too late to return it for refund.
How much more are you willing to pay for better products?
Sometimes the design or execution of a product is flawed.
Other times, it is things beyond the manufacturers control, our curves, our turnouts, our power supplies, our other equipment, or our application of the product in ways the manufacturer did not see the product being used, are the real problem.
And sometimes it is just user error, or unreasonable user expectations.
75% is junk, ok, I asked you for specific examples in a different thread, and offered to take such a conversation private, you did not respond.
Since my 50 year expeiance says that 75% or more is not junk, and as someone who spent a decade selling this "junk", I would like to understand your expectations that have not been met.
John-NYBW draw the analogy to a running a marathon. If you were a couple miles from the finish line but you were hurting like crazy would you quit or press on. You might be thinking it was a big mistake to even have attempted it but if you quit before the finish line, all the training and all the suffering you have put yourself through up to that point would have been for nothing. So it is with me and model railroading. If I were to give up now, everything I have put into this hobby for the last 20 years would have been for nothing. If I had it to do all over again, I certainly would not have started this layout but I don't have that option available to me. I've come this far and I intend to finish it.
To use your analogy, John...I don't think I would enjoy running next you in a race.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
John-NYBWI typed this up over the weekend but apparently forgot to hit SUBMIT because I don't see it.
It's visible on this thread, post timestamped 11:44am on Sunday.
Why spend another minute (or another post) on the hobby if you're not enjoying it?
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
John-NYBW Doughless John-NYBW snjroy The club is a good idea. In all cases, it sounds like you like operating, so why not focus on that. Buy RTR stuff on sale or used. Stop messing around with decals (I loathe that aspect of the hobby too!). Buy diesel locomotives. Take a break from model railroading... as for the money, you can always sell what you don't use, but that to me sounds like a lot of effort for little gain. Bigones are bigones, that's how I see it. Simon It would be rather hard to create a plausible fictional railroad without lettering the locos and rolling stock for that railroad. Agreed, but what are custom decals? Here's an image my favorite decals for applying my RRs name on my locos. All I need is a small tupperware of water, some microset, and blue painters tape to set a line. And for painting the loco shell, all that's needed is a tennis ball container of 90% alcohol to strip whatever road name my used loco came painted in, a can of Krylon Satin Black, a bent coat hanger to hold the loco away from my hand, and a sunny day. Take out the number boards first, reuse, and number the loco accordingly. It seems to me setting individual letters is a rather tedious way of lettering a piece of equipment. Far easier to create a single decal to do that. If you are going to print your own decals, the work is involved in sizing and color matching them to the background if you are decaling white lettering. That is a trial and error process but once you get it right, you can print as many decals as you need. Some people seem to have gotten the idea I have run into trouble decaling. Not at all. The problem is my printer died. The printer is not directly related to model railroading but is just and example of the myriad of things that can go wrong in this hobby and frequently do. Kind of like spray cans of paint clogging up before the can is even half empty. It isn't so much the expense of having to buy the new can but the delay that it causes to the progress you are trying to make.
Doughless John-NYBW snjroy The club is a good idea. In all cases, it sounds like you like operating, so why not focus on that. Buy RTR stuff on sale or used. Stop messing around with decals (I loathe that aspect of the hobby too!). Buy diesel locomotives. Take a break from model railroading... as for the money, you can always sell what you don't use, but that to me sounds like a lot of effort for little gain. Bigones are bigones, that's how I see it. Simon It would be rather hard to create a plausible fictional railroad without lettering the locos and rolling stock for that railroad. Agreed, but what are custom decals? Here's an image my favorite decals for applying my RRs name on my locos. All I need is a small tupperware of water, some microset, and blue painters tape to set a line. And for painting the loco shell, all that's needed is a tennis ball container of 90% alcohol to strip whatever road name my used loco came painted in, a can of Krylon Satin Black, a bent coat hanger to hold the loco away from my hand, and a sunny day. Take out the number boards first, reuse, and number the loco accordingly.
John-NYBW snjroy The club is a good idea. In all cases, it sounds like you like operating, so why not focus on that. Buy RTR stuff on sale or used. Stop messing around with decals (I loathe that aspect of the hobby too!). Buy diesel locomotives. Take a break from model railroading... as for the money, you can always sell what you don't use, but that to me sounds like a lot of effort for little gain. Bigones are bigones, that's how I see it. Simon It would be rather hard to create a plausible fictional railroad without lettering the locos and rolling stock for that railroad.
snjroy The club is a good idea. In all cases, it sounds like you like operating, so why not focus on that. Buy RTR stuff on sale or used. Stop messing around with decals (I loathe that aspect of the hobby too!). Buy diesel locomotives. Take a break from model railroading... as for the money, you can always sell what you don't use, but that to me sounds like a lot of effort for little gain. Bigones are bigones, that's how I see it. Simon
The club is a good idea. In all cases, it sounds like you like operating, so why not focus on that. Buy RTR stuff on sale or used. Stop messing around with decals (I loathe that aspect of the hobby too!). Buy diesel locomotives. Take a break from model railroading... as for the money, you can always sell what you don't use, but that to me sounds like a lot of effort for little gain. Bigones are bigones, that's how I see it.
Simon
It would be rather hard to create a plausible fictional railroad without lettering the locos and rolling stock for that railroad.
Agreed, but what are custom decals?
Here's an image my favorite decals for applying my RRs name on my locos. All I need is a small tupperware of water, some microset, and blue painters tape to set a line.
And for painting the loco shell, all that's needed is a tennis ball container of 90% alcohol to strip whatever road name my used loco came painted in, a can of Krylon Satin Black, a bent coat hanger to hold the loco away from my hand, and a sunny day.
Take out the number boards first, reuse, and number the loco accordingly.
It seems to me setting individual letters is a rather tedious way of lettering a piece of equipment. Far easier to create a single decal to do that. If you are going to print your own decals, the work is involved in sizing and color matching them to the background if you are decaling white lettering. That is a trial and error process but once you get it right, you can print as many decals as you need.
Some people seem to have gotten the idea I have run into trouble decaling. Not at all. The problem is my printer died. The printer is not directly related to model railroading but is just and example of the myriad of things that can go wrong in this hobby and frequently do. Kind of like spray cans of paint clogging up before the can is even half empty. It isn't so much the expense of having to buy the new can but the delay that it causes to the progress you are trying to make.
I typed this up over the weekend but apparently forgot to hit SUBMIT because I don't see it. Some have suggested I should consider finding another hobby. I draw the analogy to a running a marathon. If you were a couple miles from the finish line but you were hurting like crazy would you quit or press on. You might be thinking it was a big mistake to even have attempted it but if you quit before the finish line, all the training and all the suffering you have put yourself through up to that point would have been for nothing. So it is with me and model railroading. If I were to give up now, everything I have put into this hobby for the last 20 years would have been for nothing. If I had it to do all over again, I certainly would not have started this layout but I don't have that option available to me. I've come this far and I intend to finish it.
I remember reading the book Linn Westcott wrote about John Allen's Gorre and Daphetid Railroad which went to press shortly after Linn's death. I don't have the book in front of me because it is boxed away somewhere but John Allen expressed misgivings in a letter to a fellow modeler about whether the project had been a worthwhile endeavor. He still had one large bridge to build before the railroad he had envisioned would be complete. Until that bridge got finished, he had to run the railroad in reverse of what he had planned. Trains started their journey from Great Divide by backing onto the mainline and heading in the opposite direction of what he planned. At the time his health was starting to fail him and he expressed the hope he could finish that bridge so that he could at least spend a couple years operating the layout as he had planned from the start. Sadly, John Allen passed away before completing his dream. Like John Allen, I am having doubts about whether this has been a worthwhile endeavor. I hope I have more than a couple years left but who knows? I've come this far and I'm going to complete what I started. Complete as opposed to finish because a model railroad is never finished. I define complete as having all the track laid and operational and every section of the layout having at least some layer for scenery. I never dreamed it would take me this long and it is due to the constant setbacks, some of my own doing and some not. A couple years ago I thought I was nearing the completion stage but now it seems as far away as ever because Murphy keeps showing up. If I knew from the beginning what I know now, I would have never started this layout but if I were to quit now, I would be throwing away everything I have put into it up until now.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL Douglas, There are people in this world who equate time consuming with level of difficulty. And there are those who see them as two different ideas. I do lots of things that are time consuming, requiring patience and care, or just plan large volumes of work. Restoring a 4000 sq ft Victorian house is time consuming, and expensive, but for me it is not difficult. I see building a layout the same way.... Sheldon
Douglas,
There are people in this world who equate time consuming with level of difficulty.
And there are those who see them as two different ideas.
I do lots of things that are time consuming, requiring patience and care, or just plan large volumes of work. Restoring a 4000 sq ft Victorian house is time consuming, and expensive, but for me it is not difficult.
I see building a layout the same way....
Nothing is difficult once it is learned, and level interest drives the desire to learn. Interest in many things, or interest in a narrow but deep beam, can both take a lot of time to execute.
I guess I sympathize with the OP to a degree. Trying to do things as well as possible in this hobby often comes with the need to overcome things that shouldn't needed to be overcome.
For example, I was a DC holdout. I could never understand the appeal of buzzing 2 function and 4 function locomotives during the first 15 years of the technology. The desire to run trains more realistically came with a trade off of accepting an annoying noise that wasn't previously there. Why bother delving into the technology when the one step forward in solving one problem comes with going one step backward with somehting else you never even fathomed would be a problem.
Then time has to be spent solving that problem that wasn't there in the first place.
My advice would be to cut down the number of areas needing to be pursued realistically, and the OP would have more time. Including the time to solve problems that weren't envisioned.
As a wise person once said, I used to be well rounded until I discovered what really mattered to me.
Alot are lone wolves because there are not alot of optins.
With so many suggesting the same thing, I don't have more to contribute except the value of finding a club or mentor. Who ever mentioned that being a lone wolf is not a great option in this hobby? Correct that this hobby requires money, time, and energy. What hobby doesn't? Walking away recharges the batteries.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL Doughless I'm a firm believer that the pursuit of technology within hobbies is a subhobby itself. Some like that aspect, and some think the time spent detracts from the hobby. I say go with DC, or at least avoid onboard sound and have silent DCC. Run one train at a time. Stick with Athearn BB rolling stock, Accurail kits or RTR, Atlas Trainman, or even the new Walthers Mainline products are really nicely done. Don't have a lot of blocks. Don't have spaghetti bowls of track, filled with reversing loops. Keep it simple, and you'll discover that the model railroad products are very reliable and durable. Get too proto specific with details, too complex with operations, pursue realism to the nth degree in every aspect of the hobby and you'll probably have a lot less time available for running trains. The same could be said for life in general, IMO. And if that kind of modeling satisfies you, great, have fun. I keep a lot of stuff simple and old school too, other aspects I need to be more advanced. We each find our own balance. Sheldon
Doughless I'm a firm believer that the pursuit of technology within hobbies is a subhobby itself. Some like that aspect, and some think the time spent detracts from the hobby. I say go with DC, or at least avoid onboard sound and have silent DCC. Run one train at a time. Stick with Athearn BB rolling stock, Accurail kits or RTR, Atlas Trainman, or even the new Walthers Mainline products are really nicely done. Don't have a lot of blocks. Don't have spaghetti bowls of track, filled with reversing loops. Keep it simple, and you'll discover that the model railroad products are very reliable and durable. Get too proto specific with details, too complex with operations, pursue realism to the nth degree in every aspect of the hobby and you'll probably have a lot less time available for running trains. The same could be said for life in general, IMO.
I'm a firm believer that the pursuit of technology within hobbies is a subhobby itself. Some like that aspect, and some think the time spent detracts from the hobby.
I say go with DC, or at least avoid onboard sound and have silent DCC. Run one train at a time. Stick with Athearn BB rolling stock, Accurail kits or RTR, Atlas Trainman, or even the new Walthers Mainline products are really nicely done.
Don't have a lot of blocks. Don't have spaghetti bowls of track, filled with reversing loops.
Keep it simple, and you'll discover that the model railroad products are very reliable and durable.
Get too proto specific with details, too complex with operations, pursue realism to the nth degree in every aspect of the hobby and you'll probably have a lot less time available for running trains.
The same could be said for life in general, IMO.
And if that kind of modeling satisfies you, great, have fun.
I keep a lot of stuff simple and old school too, other aspects I need to be more advanced.
We each find our own balance.
Sure. Staging tracks are pretty reliable. So are power routing turnouts for parking trains on passing sidings. So are many other things beyind the basics, and the more time someone devotes to developing the skills, things become more reliable too, in a way.
Considering all of the trains we have a choice of modeling, the amount of locos and rolling stock that have run in their as-built form and paint is probably pretty low, and many railroads took whatever was available and even removed details they didn't need. Large class IIs look this way. There may not be a common look to anything, except a few letters or a name.
Maybe that wasn't as prevelant during the specific steam era, where railroading was king and each railroad bought everything new from the factories to their railroad specific specifications.
I'm not very picky. I like all trains of all eras and would welcome almost any kind of layout as long as it was realistic. 1910 logging to transisition, transistion to merger, and merger to today. I choose to model what is more easier to accomplish; well, at least that's a big part of it.
If it gets to be to time consuming, getting in over one's head so to speak; find something else to model. I guess if a person has only one thing to model and nothing else, that's a complication...or a restriction....that can create frustration also, IMO.
Doughless John-NYBW drgwcs Seems like the current problem is more technology than Model Railroading. I have had more than one printer go rogue. Take a breather and step away for a couple of days. Sometimes working on a different area helps and it makes things more enjoyable. I prepped about ten pieces for decaling and got about halfway through. (The ones with individual letters were getting to me......) Set them aside and worked on more trackwork. I had the same thing building a lot of structures for the club- I had to take a break from building them- I commented I was getting "structural fatigue." As for getting things out of our "investment" we probably never will. I am a "bargain shopper" and as such maybe I come out better. We have to look at it as entertainment- right now it does not seem to be so entertaining but give it a few days and it will seem easier. My gripe with model railroading is that it is too much work and not enough play and part of that reason is because things are always going wrong, even things that aren't directly related to the hobby such as my printer. I really enjoy running my trains and conducting operating sessions but at most that constitutes about 2% of the time I spend on this hobby. The rest is spent building and maintaining the the various components of the layout. I don't enjoy doing any of these tasks. Some I dislike more than others but unlike a lot of people, I do not enjoy the process. If I could afford it, I would have paid somebody to build my layout for me. Every bit of it. I'd also gladly pay somebody to handle the maintenance of it. I'm not someone who enjoys the journey. I want to get to the destination and that's not happening. I'm a firm believer that the pursuit of technology within hobbies is a subhobby itself. Some like that aspect and some think the time spent detracts from the hobby. I say go with DC, or at least avoid onboard sound and have silent DCC. Run one train at a time. Stick with Athearn BB rolling stock, Accurail kits or RTR, Atlas Trainman, or even the new Walthers Mainline products are really nicely done. Don't have a lot of blocks. Don't have spaghetti bowls of track, filled with reversing loops. Keep it simple, and you'll discover that the model railroad products are very reliable and durable. Get too proto specific with details, too complex with operations, pursue realism to the nth degree in every aspect of the hobby and you'll probably have a lot less time available for running trains. The same could be said for life in general, IMO.
John-NYBW drgwcs Seems like the current problem is more technology than Model Railroading. I have had more than one printer go rogue. Take a breather and step away for a couple of days. Sometimes working on a different area helps and it makes things more enjoyable. I prepped about ten pieces for decaling and got about halfway through. (The ones with individual letters were getting to me......) Set them aside and worked on more trackwork. I had the same thing building a lot of structures for the club- I had to take a break from building them- I commented I was getting "structural fatigue." As for getting things out of our "investment" we probably never will. I am a "bargain shopper" and as such maybe I come out better. We have to look at it as entertainment- right now it does not seem to be so entertaining but give it a few days and it will seem easier. My gripe with model railroading is that it is too much work and not enough play and part of that reason is because things are always going wrong, even things that aren't directly related to the hobby such as my printer. I really enjoy running my trains and conducting operating sessions but at most that constitutes about 2% of the time I spend on this hobby. The rest is spent building and maintaining the the various components of the layout. I don't enjoy doing any of these tasks. Some I dislike more than others but unlike a lot of people, I do not enjoy the process. If I could afford it, I would have paid somebody to build my layout for me. Every bit of it. I'd also gladly pay somebody to handle the maintenance of it. I'm not someone who enjoys the journey. I want to get to the destination and that's not happening.
drgwcs Seems like the current problem is more technology than Model Railroading. I have had more than one printer go rogue. Take a breather and step away for a couple of days. Sometimes working on a different area helps and it makes things more enjoyable. I prepped about ten pieces for decaling and got about halfway through. (The ones with individual letters were getting to me......) Set them aside and worked on more trackwork. I had the same thing building a lot of structures for the club- I had to take a break from building them- I commented I was getting "structural fatigue." As for getting things out of our "investment" we probably never will. I am a "bargain shopper" and as such maybe I come out better. We have to look at it as entertainment- right now it does not seem to be so entertaining but give it a few days and it will seem easier.
Seems like the current problem is more technology than Model Railroading. I have had more than one printer go rogue. Take a breather and step away for a couple of days. Sometimes working on a different area helps and it makes things more enjoyable. I prepped about ten pieces for decaling and got about halfway through. (The ones with individual letters were getting to me......) Set them aside and worked on more trackwork. I had the same thing building a lot of structures for the club- I had to take a break from building them- I commented I was getting "structural fatigue." As for getting things out of our "investment" we probably never will. I am a "bargain shopper" and as such maybe I come out better. We have to look at it as entertainment- right now it does not seem to be so entertaining but give it a few days and it will seem easier.
My gripe with model railroading is that it is too much work and not enough play and part of that reason is because things are always going wrong, even things that aren't directly related to the hobby such as my printer. I really enjoy running my trains and conducting operating sessions but at most that constitutes about 2% of the time I spend on this hobby. The rest is spent building and maintaining the the various components of the layout. I don't enjoy doing any of these tasks. Some I dislike more than others but unlike a lot of people, I do not enjoy the process. If I could afford it, I would have paid somebody to build my layout for me. Every bit of it. I'd also gladly pay somebody to handle the maintenance of it. I'm not someone who enjoys the journey. I want to get to the destination and that's not happening.
I'm a firm believer that the pursuit of technology within hobbies is a subhobby itself. Some like that aspect and some think the time spent detracts from the hobby.
rrebell Yep, that is what I am saying, have talked to people who were talking about doing it but they never did. Accually I have met few that even did a lot of decaling, done very little myself. Maybe that is a west coast thing, people have more options here, you can surf in the morning and ski in the evening out here so model railroading is not as big out here than when I was on the east coast.
Yep, that is what I am saying, have talked to people who were talking about doing it but they never did. Accually I have met few that even did a lot of decaling, done very little myself. Maybe that is a west coast thing, people have more options here, you can surf in the morning and ski in the evening out here so model railroading is not as big out here than when I was on the east coast.
Maybe the west coast just attracts a different kind of person in the first place..........
There is plenty to do here all year round d rather than build trains, but some people choose to build trains as their primary hobby activity.
I have no interest in surfing, and lost interest in sking once I mastered it reasonably well.