" A LITTLE FRUSTRATED HERE !?!"

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi All,

I have been working on my layout now, about 3 1/2 years, and while some goals are being met, others are not, it seems frustrating to me that It seems I can’t get any help, I would ask people that I think would be able to help and either they live to far away, or I would get the " we’ll see" card, I wonder if I’m taking the wrong approach to this, I get help from my wife at times, but I would like help on the weekends, all of my friends are not model rail roaders like me so, they don’t share the passion I have, I guess you can say I’m a “lone Wolf”, I’am I taking this too seriously, or what can I do to combat this??? Just venting here>>>[banghead]

2

Most people get help from other club members. So join a club in your area.

But watch out who you invite to your home. I met some people online who offered to help me. And one guy was great. The other guy was more interested in critisizing my layout. One of those rivet counters.

Since then, I have decied I don’t need any help. I can do it all by my self.

3

One of the things you could do if you have a Facebook account is to go out and search for Facebook groups with interests specific to the scale you model. You will be surprised to find what’s out there. I am a member of both the American Flyer interest group, and the S-Scale modelrs group. That way you will be connecting with people who share interest in your specific area, not just model railroading in general. Some of them may even live in your area, or be aware of a model railroad group nearby. And if nothing else they can point you to other websites, tutorials, and publications that can help you with your issues.

4

You can also join NMRA, become part of a local NMRA RR mrr group asscociated with the NMRA, There you will hopefully find a better group of folks who are interested in MRR and they also have oppurtunities to learn from some master RRs

YGW

5

Go see some layouts at a club or train show. Look on Youtube for model train videos.

Read some books on trains and model trains then decide what kind of layout you want to make. There are a lot of factors in making a model RR that fits you and what you want. Go out and watch real trains operating in your area.

Most likely, you would want to model the trains in your area where you live.

Come to this forum and ask questions from experts and other struggling enthusiasts.

6

Well, I am a true loner and do everything my self. I don’t have the best results in different phases of the layout but overall I’m satisfied. In fact if some one else worked on it the layout it wouldn’t mean as much to me.

It’s my baby…100% of it…and as I said I’m a loner

Can’t find some one to help then suck it up and do it your self.

Bob

7

I get frustrated at times. Right now I can’t work on my layout because I’m waiting for two amputation sites on my left foot to heal. Until then I have to keep off it as much as possible. The layout is covered in clutter at this time. It’ll probably take a month just to get it cleaned up to a point that I can work on it again.

8

I kind of go along with Superbe, as I am pretty much a loner. At the moment the next projects are getting in a drop ceiling and get benchwork up. Neither of these require a modeler and I hope to get a son or someone else to lend a hand.

As for the modeling, since I’ve done my current layout alone, it’s mine. It might be nice to have some modeling help, but never having had it, maybe I wouldn’t be happy. I think just offering the oppertunity to others is all you should think about. If they want to help, good (I hope), if not, just keep plugging along enjoying what you are doing. As is mentioned above, sometimes the help isn’t very useful in one way or another.

There is another modeler in town that I go to shows with. We look at each others layouts, sometimes to help, sometimes just to see progress. He’s not particularly interested in helping me (thinks he’s not good enough), so I don’t push him. I give him help or advise if he asks for it, otherwise I let him play with his layout as he wants.

Do what you want with your layout and enjoy. If others don’t want to enjoy it with you, it’s their loss.

Have fun,

Richard

9

Let me see how diplomatically I can say this.

If the “Turntable Turmoil” thread is any indicator of your ability to interact with others, that may be part of the problem. Several of us tried to help you with your turntable wiring problem, but were left wondering how you solved your problem when you never really gave us any tangible feedback.

Rich

10

I can understand getting frustrated at times, I am also a ‘lone wolf’ in the model railroading community. I went to a local club a year ago and somehow didn’t seem to ‘fit in’ with the operatiion (in my mind). I do everything on my layout and only asked my wife to help with something a few times. I consider this forum to be my closest ‘buddy’ or railroad friend. Any problem I have I get answered within a day, and usually within hours. I may give the club another try as I really would like to have a live (face to face) conversation with someone that has the same interest and passion that I have. The only one that really showed an interest in my layout was my great grandson (4 years old) and he was PASSIONATE about trains.

-Bob

11

I am a lone wolf like Bob when it comes to model railroading. All I learned was learned reading books, magazines or participating to forums, mainly this one. When I need extra hands, my girlfriend is willing to help. She can also criticizes the way I am doing things and results. She doesn’t know much about model railroading but she has a keen eye for realism. She is all the help I need, except for all of you on this forum who kindly answered my questions.

Great thanks to all.

12

The NMRA has great regional and divisional local programs in many areas. Portland is pretty active, especially with the national NMRA Convention coming to town in 2015.

PNR 2nd Division (Portland area)

Pacific Northwest Region

13

I don’t understand what you are trying to do that is being held up by lack of help. No one works on my railroad but me. If you need answers or advise, inquire here. There are many people in here willing to share their years of experience.

14

I assume many people get involved in model railroading because of their interest in trains and for artistic aspects. My guess is most problems modelers have are with the unbreakable laws of physics, electrical issues or geometry: radii and grades. These issues are less of a concern for me because i’m an elec eng, but have problems at work to solve.

Before we had these forums, there were limited ways to get answers to our questions about what we read in books, magazines or specific to our layouts. The only alternative was to find other modelers and hopefully one who had some experience with your problem.

With these forums we have a media for asking questions and usually getting more advice than we need, and often not enough.

At work, I need help and need to ask questions. And i have learned that you rarely get a answer that directly solves the problem. The more useful advice helps you better understand the problem and/or helps you think about the problem from a different perspective. Understanding the problem, being able to describe the problem succinctly is usually 80% of the solution.

15

Greg, your reply is an excellent assessment of giving and receiving advice whether it relates to a model railroading issue or any other issue for that matter.

You ought to start a separate thread and repeat your reply verbatim as the initial post.

[Y][Y][Y]

Rich

16

There’s nothing wrong with having a little vent/rant if things are frustrating you. But I have to ask; How much enjoyment, and, or satisfaction have you had over the 3 ½ years??? If your answer is not much, well…?? but on the other hand…[tup]
BTW My model railway project time management is shocking,[sigh] and besides “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
Have Fun,

Cheers, the Bear.[:)]

17

None of us who interact online in our modern era are truly “lone wolves” any more! We may labor in solitude, but come together in electronic conversation far more frequently than we ever could have dreamt of 30 years ago. Neverthless, perhaps it is our physical solitude which makes some of us feel apart (well, we are living all over the map!). If that is the issue, then seek out a club or even just simply advertise your model railroad interests on Craig’s List in your local area- you may well find that there are fellow modelers within easy driving distance who would welcome a visit, a little lunch, etc. Exchange ideas in person- you will no longer feel frustrated, but energized!

For lone wolves such as myself, who do not belong to clubs, I do make it a point to always go to the local club’s quarterly swap meet and train show- I see vendors who know me by name after several years of trading with them and other fellow modelers where we recognize each other as a familiar face, if not by name. Just being in their company while perusing the aisles of train stuff is invigorating.

And, at the end of such a day, I always say to myself- “what a wonderful hobby we share and how much fun it is to be a model railroader!”

Cedarwoodron

18

Eventhough I host Operations Sessions every 2 weeks on my Layout - as far as building it I am mostly a loner!

I have had help early on with laying track and building framework

But now that 99% of that is done - I work alone!

WHY?

I can get things done much faster as I don’t have to be the GoFur and get tools and check how everyone is doing and is it being done to MY STANDARD!

I belong to a Club and the Club’s Standard at times is a stand still - as no one wants to do something and then have it tore up the next meeting because it didn’t meet the OTHERS ideas of what should have been done!

Most members ask me what I think as I have been a member the longest!

I usually try to let them explain what they have in mind and if it isn’t too far off the wall - go ahead with it just to see where it goes!

Most times we ALL learn something in the process in that we can or We DON"T want to try that again!

This is where most LONERS Lose - is the interaction with like minded Modelers and the exchange of ideas!

YES - We can say we want to be loners but in reality (as I have seen this too many times) they don’t want to show how little they know and are afraid that they will get laughed at because of the supposed lack of knoledge!

You can say all you want - but that is what it is as I have seen it all my working life the same story over and over!

Afraid to do anything because the thought of failure!

It isn’t failure - it is being UNDER INFORMED as to what it takes to do project!

I was a Shop Foreman for many years and if the workers didn’t know how to do something they came to me to figure it out!

Unfortunately - that was the reason I asigned the project to them in the first place - I didn’t know how to fix it myself!

So now I had to figure it out (actually we ALL worked on the problem until it was fixed). Teamwork!

BUT - I also learned right along with

19

What are some of the things that are frustrating? Is this your first layout? Maybe it is time to think of a do over. You have learned a lot since you started, maybe that is part of the problem. You have more experience and what you started with just does not fit your current thinking. I had a similar experience last year with part of my layout. I took it apart, and rebuilt it. I am much happier with it now and it works much better.

20

My layout is my work. I have gotten tons of advice from the people on this forum and several others, but the actual work is mine.

I once helped a fellow model railroader with a programming problem, (speed matched his locos). A lot of criticism of my layout, but not even a thank you when he left.

My grandsons love the trains, love running them and truly enjoy railfanning with me. But neither one shows and interest in contributing to the construction of the layout or any of the many chores associated with rolling stock or maintenance.

Its my layout. I enjoy running the trains, photographing them in action and maintaining the associated website to share my hobby with the world at large.

I don’t think you could ask for more than that.