I'm going to pull a "Tracklayer" and pose a question to you all. I've thought about this from time to time:
Since you first became involved with MRRing, what aspect(s) of the hobby did you discover a fascination with or fondness for that you never anticipated?
Well, since I'm still somewhat a novice, I guess I would have to say there have been two primary ones:
I'd also enjoy hearing from some of the rest of you, as well...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
That's cool, Simon! Along with you, I've also relished the joys of discovering scratch-building and kitbashing. For me, I guess that would be the outcropping of learning more and more about RRing history. For you it's tied into your family, which makes your layout all the more special.
I hope to someday scratch-build the RR depot in Marietta, OH, where my grandmother was a telegraph operator. The structure has long since been torn down. But my hope is that I might be able to obtain photos and/or plans of the depot from the Marietta Historical Society in order to make a replica of it for my layout.
tstage wrote: I'm going to pull a "Tracklayer" and pose a question to you all. I've thought about this from time to time:Since you first became involved with MRRing, what aspect(s) of the hobby did you discover a fascination with or fondness for that you never anticipated? Since I'm somewhat a novice, I guess I would have to say there have been two primary ones:Learning the history and practices of the prototype Looking at the world and it's surroundings with a "modeler's eye"Tom
Since I'm somewhat a novice, I guess I would have to say there have been two primary ones:
Tom:
Actually, your #1 turned into MY #1 when I started modeling Rio Grande steam. I don't want to tell you HOW many 'generic' locomotives I slapped Rio Grande decals on before I started realizing that the Rio Grande had very DISTINCTIVE locomotives (as did almost all railroads) and that simply lettering a Santa Fe 1950 2-8-0 with Rio Grande 1100 decals did NOT make the loco a Rio Grande Consolidation, LOL! I started consulting a lot of books. In fact, I consulted so many books (and still am) that for several years, the railroad got put on the back burner while I learned as much as I could about the various Rio Grande steamers, why the railroad bought them, where they used them on the system and why. It was a real education, and when I finally decided to build the Yuba River Sub, I had enough knowledge about the railroad to realize that--yes, if the Rio Grande had ever built a California extension, these are the types of locos they'd use for certain types of trains over this type of terrain.
I'm not modeling an actual PORTION of the Rio Grande, but at least I think I'm using their motive power right for what I'm modeling.
And I'm having a heck of a lot of fun doing it!
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
A recent use of a uncoupling magnet and couplers that actually work well in a yard type situation encourages me to really work out the rest of the yard and have more switching with a purposeful like activity. Not too much, I still like to see trains run.
Another discovery is the pre-exisiting attitude of "It aint ..." needs to be dumped. Someone somewhere would have or is doing it on the prototype.
I guess it's the History for me
I've learned about the Coal Mine Wars
Too bad it wasn't taught in school
TerryinTexas
See my Web Site Here
http://conewriversubdivision.yolasite.com/
Learning about the history of different railroads. I really enjoy reading about the small railroads like the Ma&Pa of course, but also the W&OD, the Chesapeake Beach, the WW&F, etc. It's one part I hadn't really anticipated.
Enjoy
Paul
Jerry SP FOREVER http://photobucket.com/albums/f317/GAPPLEG/
Have fun with your trains
I have a personal prayer that I composed many years ago. It goes like this:
Lord, I thank you for my ignorance, and for the joy and wonder I feel with each relevation you grant me, in Christ's name.
Amen.
This hobby has been the vessel of so much in the way of revelation, I don't know where to begin. I could start with carpentry and quickly move on to history, photography, scenery, nomenclature, soldering, molding, carving, painting, and simply enjoying watching the valve gear on my steamer models. Like so many of you, I see nature in a way I had never noticed prior to my interest in the hobby. Simply driving over a level crossing raises my blood pressure. I try to soak in the details. I have spend many long hours trudging over unused tracks to get to timber trestles to photograph them. What a joy that was.
It may be a bit schmaltzy to say this, you decide, but to me the greatest revelation has been you folks. The breadth of experience and talent, the knowledge of history, the personalities, and the good will were unkown to me until my joining date. You have been what I have come to appreciate most.
Thanks, Crandell. For all of us: "Schmaltzy"-ness acknowledged, accepted and approved.
In addition to what everyone has posted above, I have really enjoyed learning about and paying more attention to the way that modern railroads operate. I live in Chicagoland and now when I ride commuter rail I am glued to the window observing how yards are layed out, seeing what the switchers are moving around and checking out what kinds of frieghts are queued up waiting for their signal to get moving. When I cross over the mainline UP near my house I look to see what the signals are displaying and I have even made it out to Rochelle to do some railfanning.
Quote C&O fan
I'm with you on that one C&O fan. I live fairly close to the Mother Jones memorial and the tribute to the miners killed at the Virden Massacre. I would probably have never paid it the least bit of attention, but have since getting involved in MRR. In our own little way we have become social historians.
Crandell, you witness is to be commended. Amen
Peter
modelalaska wrote:For me I guess it is finding out I have a lot more patients then I ever thought possible.
Are you a psych doctor and MRR'ers are all nuts? Perhaps you are an ER doc and we are all so clumsy that you get many of us in the ER each week? No, then perhaps a rehab doc treating all the bad backs from crawling around under layouts?
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Tom, for me, it's kind of like your # 1 - a history lesson but it goes a bit further. In reading about "my" prototype I find myself branching off into other areas touched by the railroads - mostly the industries and the people who worked them. Not just the magnates, but the working class who got their hands dirty - in many cases risked life and limb to earn a living. I've heard and read some fascinating stories and in turn gained a tremendous respect for their efforts.
Jim,
Absolutely! Understanding the hows and whys of the way things were done and how it affected the lives of all those who benefitted from the railroads (employees and consumers alike) really opens up your view of life during a particular era - even how certain decisions and changes might have ultimately affected the industry and life as a whole years down the road.
Thanks for elaborating on that more, Jim. That's what I really had in mind when I mentioned history in my original post.