After almost two years into my layout, and a lot of browsing on the forums I have come to the conclusion that what gives me the most satisfaction is taking common materials to build scenery and learning new skills. There are a few store bought houses on the layout, but most items are hand made, except of course for the track and rolling stock . Buying expensive buildings, bridges and things seems like a waste of money in a hobby that is, after all, just playing with toy trains.[:-^]
The exchange of ideas on this forum and others, has been a great help. I’ve built bridges, sheds, hard wired decoders, built up locos, and things, not always with the best success [%-)] but fun.[:)]
Hmmm should I delete this, or post it? What the heck maybe I’ll start a war between the buyers and builders. [:-,]
Time and money spent in hobby happiness is seldom wasted.* We each determine our approach to happiness in this hobby of building realistic train layouts and rolling stock. If a person’s goal is to find happiness, and that person determines how to do it, who are you and I to question him? As long as what a person does is not actually interfering with, or directly criticizing, what another person does, especially in a hobby, we should all be able to get along.
Also, as long as an opinion is offered, as quoted above, we can all take or leave it for what it is. For you, spending money on structures that are already assembled doesn’t seem like much fun, or maybe you feel the ‘waste’ is not much fun. That’s fine, and I commend you to your approach. I wouldn’t want others to spend their money the way I find fun, or we’d all have layouts that look like mine.
Old Army aphorism: Time spend on recce is seldom wasted.
The biggest irony here is that some of the most expensive structures in the hobby ARE kits.
I think most of us do a balance of both that suits our talents, time and budget. Only the two extremes will argue.
But it is a shame that basic skills do not seem to be as important to many as they where in the past. And, I think this is truely what us older, more experianced modelers miss in many who are newer to the hobby. We don’t expect everyone to build everything, but mounting Kadee couplers, or changing a pair of trucks or kit bashing what your railroad had rather than crying about how no manufacturer will make it, that’s the difference.
Few if any ever would expect everyone to build everything from kit or scratch, but, in HO at least, it has always been a hobby of “construction”.
I buy lots of “RTR” products of all kinds, but they seldom get left looking as they did when they came out of the box.
I also build kits, of every dificulty, and scratch build from time to time. I have been at this for 40 years now.
One more thought, yes they are toys, but they are, in my case anyway, scale model toys, as opposed to childlike toys, and as such are delicate, detailed, require careful handling, and represent a minimum number of compromises to make them operationaly functional.
The requirements of reasonably large curves/turnouts for large models and the attempt to selectively compress without loosing the sense of proportion, does also set different standards than those who would just “collect” and “operate” models or toys. Example - for ME, a Big Boy on 24" radius is just not acceptable.
First of all, I need to emphasize that I completely agree that everyone gets something different out of the hobby, and gets more or less enjoyment out of different aspects of it. We have no right to tell others how to enjoy it, merely to suggest things that we have found practical or enjoyable and hope that others can benefit from our experience.
That said, I think AC has hit on a good point here: Lawrence Kasden, in writing the screenplay for the movie “Silverado” has one of his characters say, “The world is what you make of it, friend. If it doesn’t fit, you make alterations.” That should be the catch phrase for this hobby. Personally, I’d rather get structures that fit my layout with a minimum of modification, but if I can’t find what I want, I have no problem building it or kitbashing it. Too many newcomers give up or settle for second best when they can’t find exactly what they want for sale somewhere. Sometimes, it’s a good thing to stretch your skills in a new direction.
It is a real balancing act. You spend X number of hours a week on this hobby and after two years you end up with a small diorama where everything right down to the whiskers on the engineer were done by you. Or you use ready made items and have an operating layout. “Time” is a modelers biggest asset. Build what you can, buy what you can’t. Do the best you can with the time you have.