What Are Your Other Hobbies?

[Metro Red Line]

Out of curiosity, aside from Model Railroading, what other non-train-related hobbies do you have? And do they compete for your MRR time (and money)?

[Anonymous]

used to fly sport kites ... now r/c choppers.

Rudy

[mlehman]

Some of my other hobbies are useful in model railroading, some not so.

Here they are in no particular order:
radio monitoring -- shortwave, VHF/UHF, CB, a little of everything, oh, and I founded a low-power FM station
woodworking
four-wheeling
camping
collecting Cold War militaria and ephermera, beer bottles, and books, not necessarily in that order
history -- used to be more of a hobby, now turning into a profession (if I ever live long enough to make it out of UIUC alive)
traveling
politics -- errr, let's not talk about that here

Oh, did I mention beer?

[selector]

Astronomy, classical music, choral singing, running, cycling, snowshoeing, gardening.  None currently competes for dollars except for a few dollars for the Choral Society membership and driving up to meet the snow.

[Metro Red Line]

Astronomy, classical music, choral singing, running, cycling, snowshoeing, gardening.  None currently competes for dollars except for a few dollars for the Choral Society membership and driving up to meet the snow.

You need a telescope for the astronomy right? Cycling, you need to keep your bike tuned, buy new tires periodically, right? Gardening, you need to buy plants, soil, fertilizer, etc, right? :)

[Metro Red Line]

My other hobbies include cycling, traveling (though I only really take a major trip every other year, I also collect souveniers and small flags of every country I visit), computers (I build and fix my own systems) and I consider myself an amateur sushi chef (just simple rolls, none of the fancy stuff yet).

When I was a kid, I also collected stamps and baseball cards.

But more than that I'm a singer/musician/songwriter with my own recording studio. I'm actually a semi-professional musician, I have my own band that performs around town and frequently get hired as a singer and/or musician for events, recording sessions, weddings, churches, etc. I play several instruments (mostly keyboards/piano, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, alto saxophone, ukulele, percussion - in that order). It's not a cheap hobby/lifestyle; musical equipment can cost thousands of dollars...A nice bass guitar can cost just as much if not more as an elaborate DCC system PLUS a loco with a decoder and sound!
Does it compete with Model Railroading? You bet it does. It explains my on-agan, off-again absences from the hobby. But aside from my hired music gigs, I have to admit that the trains are taking up more of my time (and money) at the moment.

Hopefully I can strike a balance...

[marknewton]

G'day, MRL.

Way back when I was much younger, I played bass in a couple of bands, but these days I can't stand the noise! :-) But I still love my music, and have someone new to share it with - our six-month old son Harry. We put him in his Jolly Jumper, put on a CD, and dance around with him until we're exhausted, or laughing too hard to continue - often it's both! At the moment we're listening to Patrizio Buanne, DEVO, Alison Krauss, Motor Ace, Something For Kate, and Throwing Muses.

Architecture from the late 19th to early 20th century has always fascinated me. One of my most memorable trips as a young bloke was to Barcelona, to see the work of the famed Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. To be honest, I was more impressed by Casa Batllo and Casa Mila than the Sagrada Familia. Hector Guimard and Charles Rennie Mackintosh are also favourites.

Apart from railway books and magazines, I enjoy reading whenever I can, usually at work. My favourite fiction author at the moment is William Gibson - I'm reading his anthology "Burning Chrome" and his novel "Idoru". I'm also very interested in 20th century history, having just finished "Tales of Sub-Lieutenant Ilyin", by F. F. Raskolnikov. This had some personal relevance, as one of my wife's distant relatives went to Russia and fought with the Bolsheviks in 1919.

A chance comment at a family gathering revealed that one of my great-uncles served in the Australian coast artillery during WW2. Since learning that, I've been researching the history of these units, and visiting the battery sites to photograph the surviving structures and artifacts...which is a good excuse for a trip to the seaside and a bit of swimming and bushwalking. And having a few cold ales - I don't mind a bit of home brew.

But I reckon my main interest these days apart from railway modelling is my son. :-)

All the best,

Mark.

[zxb1]

My other hobby is computers, fixing and building. Also coin collecting.

[Anonymous]

Besides my model railroading I collect:

Postage stamps (USA and Germany and Area; Two distinct collections of each. One Mint and the other postally used.)

Beer steins (Just lidded steins; not mugs or tankards.)

Obsolete bolt action military rifles.

Miltary distinguished unit insignia.

Then there's an interest in American and Medieval history, genealogy and membership in several lineage societies.

The financing doesn't conflict too much. I work on one collection for a while and, when I feel I need a break, I go to another.

[MisterBeasley]

I still do some cycling, though by no means enough.  The whole family does a lot of skiing, which will start to eat into my MR time in another month or so, assuming we don't have another spell of Global Warming and they can at least make snow, even if we don't get any for free.  I used to play guitar in a couple of bands, but that was back in college.  My daughter has just announced that she and her friends are forming a band.  She's playing my '65 Fender Jaguar.  I'm glad to see it getting used again, actually.

I like to cook, too.  Unfortunately, I'm caught between a daughter who still just wants spaghetti and a wife who wants health food, so most of the time I'm just doing "utility cooking" which is not very interesting.  Everyone approved of the pork chops with a sherry glaze sauce last night, though.

[Anonymous]

Ham radio, R/C planes and large model ships.

[Milwhiawatha]

Lets see I reckon cow tippin is a hobby, I reckon computer buildin and fixen, I draw alot, video games on an ole toaster with a dvd player installed with some fancy doo dads (ps2), DVD authoring, building my own large screen LCD tv with a watchman and giant magnifing glass. I reckon I have others but dont do them much anymore.

[soumodeler]

Camping/Backpacking, messing with computers, and working on my truck.

[Dave Vollmer]

My other two hobbies are currently dormant due to time/money constraints:

1.  Civil War reenacting (148th Pennsylvania Volunteers!)

2.  Flying (I have a private pilot's liscense).

Since the Air Force has me here at NC State working on my PhD, I have very little time.  Add two young kids and a train layout, and you can see why I've had to whittle down to just one hobby for now.  Notice which hobby won (model railroading, of course!).

[ezielinski]

High-power rocketry, computers, and XBox!

[steamage]

Live steam. Inch and a half scale was too expensive, but full scale steam equipment was easy to get. But then I needed a crane to move the stuff around, so got one of those! Then I needed a place to keep the steam stuff and crane, got a two bay steam locomotive engine house. So when the UP got the SP they got me too with all the steam stuff!

[pcarrell]

I'll give you a hint....

[rrebell]

Computer gaming and history ( mainly WWII, like to learn what they don't like to talk about, the things that don't make it into the history books ).

[on30francisco]

Besides model railroading I like going on long walks (san Francisco is a walker's paradise), music (classic jazz, rock, soul, dance), traveling, collecting obscure records (stuff not available on CD), reading, etc.

[Hawks05]

Well, I'm sporadic in my hobbies. I'll get in moods where I want to do one thing for awhile, and then another thing for awhile. Some of my hobbies include;

1. Guitar --> currently have an Alvarez acoustic, looking at getting a Telecaster. My dad has I believe 10 guitars, so it's in the family.

2. Collecting sports cards --> haven't bought any of these in awhile, but I got back into collecting last spring and did that for most of the summer. Collected mostly baseball autographs and started to collect football until I got back to school.

3. Running --> I'm always up for this. I try and run a few days a week to stay in semi-decent shape.

4. Baseball (sports in general) --> I've been active in sports my entire life. Baseball being my true passion. I'm decent at every other sport. Not the greatest, but I'm better than the average person.

5. Video games --> I can't stand the fake games like Final Fantasy and those stupid things. I'm big into NCAA Football and Madden. NCAA is the game of choice though. I love college sports.

6. Music --> I listen to music all the time. There is always music playing wherever I am.

7. Soon to be homework --> I switched my major to elementary education so homework will soon be a new hobby of mine.

8. Drinking --> A year underage, will be 21 in about 8 months. I'm a big fan of a ice coold beer every now and then. It's the college thing to do.

 

So those are my hobbies. I spend money on all of them in some way or another. I've drastically cut back on how much money I spend on video games, just buy about 3-4 games a year now. With the guitar, my dad has a lot of the tools that I would need, and he usually helps with all the up keep. Drinking is as most of you know costly. I try and only drink about 1-2 times a week if that even.

[Anonymous]

I am very much in to Civil War reenacting. Reenacting is my summer hobby. I am getting back in to model railroading after a number of years of not being able to build a railroad becasue of the lack of space and living in apartments. I also play World of Warcraft.

Dave I see you also are a reenactor. I am with the 2nd Maryland CSA in southern Michigan.

[leighant]

I have heard a claim that the hobby of Model Railroading takes in more possible activities than any other hobby- design, carpentry, art, etc.

I have one other hobby apart from model railroading, if you can call it a hobby, that I believe takes in even more activities and aspects than model railroading:

MOVIE MAKING.

Takes in:

writing and reading

historical research

architectural and site research/ touring/ sightseeing

visual design

painting

model building

construction

costume design and sewing

photography

acting

public speaking

stunt rigging and performance

pyrotechnics

directing

music research

music composition and arranging

music performance

computer graphics/ virtual model building and CGI animation

magic

Eastwood Theater in the town of Johnston on my East Texas N scale Santa Vaca and Santa Fe Rwy has a front marquee advertising Peril Trail a covered-wagon story I wanted to film when I was eleven-years old.  My dad built the wheels for a clunky covered-wagon I cobbled together, but I never figured out how to borrow a horse or two, which is kind of a requisite for a covered wagon and pioneers and Indians movie.

 

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/548/Moviehs.JPG

 

The Winners Moon billboard on the side of the theater has a stillframe from a 16mm film I made about middle-school age geniuses who win a trip to the moon as a science contest prize.  Not shown, on the far side of the theater is a billboard for my sexy version of Little Red Riding Hood in which I grew a devilish goatee to play the wolf.

[selector]

Astronomy, classical music, choral singing, running, cycling, snowshoeing, gardening.  None currently competes for dollars except for a few dollars for the Choral Society membership and driving up to meet the snow.

You need a telescope for the astronomy right? Cycling, you need to keep your bike tuned, buy new tires periodically, right? Gardening, you need to buy plants, soil, fertilizer, etc, right? :)

No, I don't .  I have had these things for some time, and only recently came to toy trains.  I do admit that I pay for a bike overhaul once every three to four years, and that would include new tires, but that expense palls compared to the other things that I do. I have gardened for some time, so I have the implements and take care of them, and I save seeds.  So, these pursuits no longer compete for my discretionary income with the exceptions that I stated in my post.

[perry1060]

I like to scratch build bird houses from 9-ply birch wood.

 

I also like to carve wood. This is one of my cottonwood carvings.

[soumodeler]

I'll give you a hint....

Photography? I see those MRs down there too!

[alfadawg01]

In no particular order of priority, I indulge in the following:  Travel (back to western Canada next spring), photography (trains, architecture, landscapes, flowers), and music (as both listener and performer....I currently play weekly in my church's worship band and have three synthesizers, an Ensoniq SD1, a Roland JV1080 and an Alesis Ion....I'm in the photo below, in the blue shirt on the riser to the far right)

[Wulfblat]

My other hobbies include astronomy, cooking, scuba diving, travel, and Taekwon-Do. I am new to model railroading, and so I currently spend more money on this hobby, but the others have been or, in the case of travel, continue to be just as expensive. I spend far more time in Taekwon-Do than in all the other hobbies combined (save perhaps cooking), but that's just the nature of the beast.

[Angel_of_Mercy]

Yu-gi-oh! TCG

artwork

research lot's and lots of research ( making a sermon is complacated)

[DavidH]

Hmmm.  My girlfriend is into hiking and skiing, so I guess those are now my interests too . . .  My own main interests aside from model railroading are travel and my high performance sports car.

David

[n2mopac]

Over the years I have had many. Most of them when by the wayside in favor of model railroading when I started in this hobby 10 yers ago. Ones that have been dropped or severely limited by railroading include stamp collecting, golf, bow hunting (deer and turkey), fishing, coin collecting, and severl other various collections. Ones that I still dabble in on a limited basis include deer hunting (firearm) and playing the trumpet.

Ron