Does anybody else go through this??

[Anonymous]

I worked on my layout for about a year & a half while I "was" retired.
Then I started getting bored. I was only doing the layout about 8 hrs. a day, 6 & 7 days a week. People were amazed at how much I had accomplished. My metal sculptures were getting set off to the side.
I got so bored that I went back to work. Big Mistake.
Now, the only time I can work on the layout is Fri. & sat., my days off.
Which was yesterday & today. The time I had off for retirement I built an 18 by 18 ft. layout. Since I've been back to work, I've added on another 18 by 18 ft., plus a 4ft. by 6ft. bumpout. I call this add-on Phase 2. Now, I never get bored. When I think I'm getting bored I go down to the other end of the table & change something or rework a section. Today I laid about 75 ft. of track for a new siding on the old part of the layout. Yesterday I had to tare out an old section that was a dead item on the layout. Today I filled it up w/the siding.
This layout will probably take me at least 5 years to complete as long as I don't make any more big changes. I have a buddy that does all my wiring, which I hate to do. He's good at soldering, which I'm not.
I love scenery, buildings, laying track, building mountains & running my trains. I spend about 2 hrs. a day on the puter on the diff. train forums. I also do all my own photography in digital & always photograph all projects before & after. I have about 5 photo albums for visitors to look at & everything else is on my PC.
I also collect Hot Wheels, & have a roster of 60 H.O. Scale semi's
that I didn't pay more than $3.00 each. LOL
That's my outlook on being bored--Ain't!!

larry

[fec153]

Hawks05-ever been in a car accident? Whiplash will damage the nerves in the neck- numbers 4,5 and 6 discs. Had to give up baseball,fisfing and bowling. Quit the team carrying 192 average.
Phil

[jacon12]

I agree with just about everyone else on this, and it kind of amazes me that it is so widespread, this feeling of burnout or boredom. For over 40 years I've been into photography, from my 35mm days on into medium format and now, of course, digital. I had a nice wedding photography business for a while and did some product photography as well. From that I learned not to mix hobby and business, not if you want to keep on liking the hobby. Oh some people can mix the two and do it successfully, but most can't. I got to the point I wouldn't take a camera out of the case unless I was getting paid for it, and I rarely shot anything just for the joy of it. I think anything can get that way and you should just walk away from it awhile, work on something you really like. Model rr is very very new to me and I've been putting myself through a crash course, trying to learn as much as I can in as short a time as I can. You can burn out doing that too.. , especially when there is soooo much to learn it can get overwhelming.
Don't let the boredom ruin it for you. Do something else for a while.. :)
Jacon

[on30francisco]

Yes, this happens with me. On some days I will work intensely on the layout but on other days I will do other things and not even touch the layout. This is good because it gives me space to think about other projects.

[AggroJones]

When I get kinda "out of it", I watch some of my Allen Keller Great Model Railroads tapes. They hype me right back up.

[cmitcham]

that's me brothaslide, getting fatter and fatter.

when not railroading, i play computer games, or when warm, fish. at work, i sit at a computer all day. not very aerobic :(

my wife does make me take long walks with the dogs a few times a week.

calvin.

[BRAKIE]

No,I never get bored with the hobby..There is always something new to do or learn..

[vw-bug]

I know exactly what you are talking about. I go thru surges of enjoyment. Today I need to wire a loco for my uncle. I have had i for a few months but really just haven't had the urge to. It comes and goes, but usually I'm doing something.

[Hawks05]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CP5415

I don't have a lot of time to work on my layout now. Between home renovations, my daughter & work (UGH) there's no time left for me to work on it during normal hours. I usually have about 15-25 minutes during lunch ,I work really close to home [:D], to do what I can & it satisfies me.
When I did have time to work on it on a daily basis, I did find myself bored with it.
But that was 3 years ago.
Since then, as I said, during lunch I make time to work on it & have been able to at least complete the mainline & rip apart one yard 3 times now. At this rate, I should have it done by the time the Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.

Gordon

least you have time to fini***he layout because the Leafs won't be winning the cup any time soon.

j/k man. i think they have a good shot this year to win it.

[CP5415]

I don't have a lot of time to work on my layout now. Between home renovations, my daughter & work (UGH) there's no time left for me to work on it during normal hours. I usually have about 15-25 minutes during lunch ,I work really close to home [:D], to do what I can & it satisfies me.
When I did have time to work on it on a daily basis, I did find myself bored with it.
But that was 3 years ago.
Since then, as I said, during lunch I make time to work on it & have been able to at least complete the mainline & rip apart one yard 3 times now. At this rate, I should have it done by the time the Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.

Gordon

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by eastcoast

Gee, I don't know about boredom????????
Ask me what I do as an occupation, GATE GUARD!!!!!!!
BOREDOM TO ME IS 8 HOURS STARING AT A FENCE.
I AM HAPPY TO BE IN MY TRAINROOM JUST THINKING UP
THINGS AND BEING ABLE TO BE THERE TO ACTUALLY PUT MY
THOUGHT TO ACTION IF I WANT.
I love my trains. It will take me all my life to ever finish my world.

Sounds like exactly where I was at 15 years ago PLUS I was the fill in guy who worked for others on their days off so I had to change shifts every day or two. Worst job I ever had to the point where not wanting to end up in that situation ever again was my motivation to go back to school - and I hate school!

Anyway, I made use of my "free time" on the job by playing with a TI home computer I had rigged up in a small suitcase, R/C airplanes AND I was starting to get back into model railroading, too. You need something to keep the brain active, otherwise you'll go nuts! Hang in there.

[Anonymous]

i also paint warhammer stuff and make all kinds of diffrent stuff

[Anonymous]

I'm with most of the others, in aggreement that it's a wonderful hobby but shouldn't be your only focus. It's good to have some other interests. I'm lucky in that I have so many interests that I can set one down and enjoy another. Also trying to have some balance in life, like some time with God to recharge and refocus.

Perhaps you might consider having a small switch track layout that you could plug together with eztrack that would only take you an evening to construct yet you could operate it switching cars in a yard as a change of pace when your not wanting to always be modeling.

[Anonymous]

See Eric Brooman's comments on this very thing in his Utah Belt article in the December Model Railroader.

Ed

[brothaslide]

Yellowducky - It sounds like God got you back in balance - as he does for all of us.

Regards,

Sean

[yellowducky]

I got out of trains for a while; my wife said they were becoming the "other woman". Talk about being off-balance! Then I got more into Scouting (BSA) with my son as an excuse to be so involved. Now I lead a "Builders Club" at our church. B.C., I admit, is an excuse to keep at model railroading while doing other things. I'm trying to keep balance, but sometimes it's hard to do. Then in reply to "emeraldisle", you make a fine point. For me though, more derailed, rather than station stop time I feel.

[brothaslide]

In my opinion, a healthy balance in life is important. I spend time with my wife and kids, enjoy going on vacations with my family, I go to the gym, we are active in our church, I help out with a local marching band (www.lockesaints.com).

Not to be critical, but I have observed that there are a noticeable number of over weight people in this hobby - less time on trains and more time taking a walk, working out, etc. is important. Think of it this way; live longer, more time for trains. Again, this all goes back to a healthy balance.

[Anonymous]

Everyone will eventually go thru this, some people say "NO WAY", but it will happen and depending on how one will handle this, will determine if he or she returns to the hobby, full of new ideas. Some people will take a year or two off and work on something else, others have two or more hobbies and split their time among them. For me, it's WWII, Diecast Collecting, Shipmodelling (mainly WWII Types and Clippers), and collecting articles from MR, MRC,and any other RR Mags, and placing them in note books for future reference. Don't be overly concerned about this, believe me, it will pass. Go to a train show. You'll be surprised how fast the old boredom goes away, or split your time between a couple of hobbies.

[yellowducky]

[:)]Hey, I don't think I know what any of you are talking about. Me get bored? Never. Oh, did I forget to say I'm ADHD. Aaaaah, finalily something very positive about being ADHD!!! I don't think I can get bored. I think I got lonely once or twice in my childhood, but I don't remember bored. Obsessed with model trains, been there. Bored, don't think so. Yellowduck

[cp1057]

I think its very important for your hobby not to become like a job.

Every person's situation is different. Some people can stay focused on 1 thing indefinitely, while others need more variety. Model railroading is a great hobby because there are so many facets to it and sometimes switching from 1 activity within the hobby to another is enough to stay sharp.

That being said, I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with taking a break from it. My trains aren't going anywhere, not while they're unplugged anyway. It's good to have a number of interests. Like some of the other posters, I am interested in military history. Playing guitar is another favorite as is cycling.

Right now model railroading is on the front burner. I tore down my old layout and am feeling motivated to work on the new layout since I can't run any trains right now.

Charles
Hillsburgh On

[Anonymous]

sometimes I get bored after long hours at "work", so I simply stop working until I begin to miss it, which is a matter of a couple of days.

[Anonymous]

I keep running into this problem - I've still not finished the scenics for about 1/3 of my layout and I've still not sorted out the inter-board joints (It's a portable layout). Scenics just depress me as I can never get the scatter to stay on, no matter how much glue I use it falls off in piles!

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by JeremyB

Hi guys

I find that when I spend ALOT of time working on my railroad after a few days or weeks that I begin to get bored and not having that much fun, does anybody else go through this? for me i have to have balance between all my hobbies If I spend all my time on one it gets to feel more like a job and not like a hobby.

Hope to hear some feedback

Jeremy

Sounds like your overloading on your hobby. I only work on my stuff when the mood strikes me. If I dont work on it for a couple of days or a couple of weeks, I dont worry about it because I know its always there. I usually take about a week off after finishing a large project. That lets me clear my head until the next project enters my head, the I can focus on that project. But I never let myself think I "HAVE TO" work on my trains, thats not what there for.

Try working only about an hour a day on your trains or to doing one task, then go do something else. Give your head a chance to stay interested. If you limit your time, then you can think about what to do when you come back to it, and you dont burn out by working alot on it and burning out.

[eastcoast]

Gee, I don't know about boredom????????
Ask me what I do as an occupation, GATE GUARD!!!!!!!
BOREDOM TO ME IS 8 HOURS STARING AT A FENCE.
I AM HAPPY TO BE IN MY TRAINROOM JUST THINKING UP
THINGS AND BEING ABLE TO BE THERE TO ACTUALLY PUT MY
THOUGHT TO ACTION IF I WANT.
I love my trains. It will take me all my life to ever finish my world.

[Jetrock]

Model railroading is just one of quite a few things I spend time on--so often I don't get as much time to model as I'd like. I get burned out on other interests as well--but, generally, when I get burned out I move on to another activity and before long I'll get back into whatever I was burned out on. I've spent a lot of time model railroading lately because this summer I played a lot of live shows--but now, after a break, I kind of want to start playing shows again. Of course, since winter is model railroad show season, and the weather encourages staying in, maybe I'll do both...

[ErnieC]

Don't think I've ever seen this discussed in the hobby press! How about some editorial comments on boredom? What works for me is variety, don't do the same thing all the time. Also break down big jobs into small units. Finally, get your friends to do the things you don't enjoy for you!

[Hawks05]

in the summer i play baseball so i'll be doing that a lot and i'll be working this summer hopefully so i probably won't have a lot of time to work on the MRR. during the winter though i bowl only on saturday mornings but i hurt my arm somehow so i don't know if i'll do that for awhile. so this winter will be MRR, work, and going to the b-ball games for my school.

[Anonymous]

Its absolutely natural to feel like this. Saturation in any one area does dull it, no matter how exciting it started out as being. The fact that you have other hobbies helps. I for one am also into WWII, sports, and computer gaming as well. The changes in season will usually help you to balance model railroading time with other interests as well. During summer and fall I for one usually spend less time working on the RR and more time with other pursuits. Winter and Spring are usually my big model railroading times. This is not to say that I don't do any work on the RR during summer, or do nothing but during the winter. It just is a reflection on the time and availability I have toward other interests.

[JeremyB]

Hi there CBQ_guy

actually I have other hobbies too such as WWII and Formula 1 racing which all compete for my time

Jeremy