This is an observation.
Our weekly gather and build always turn to Prototype or not. The space of the tracks, the trackage itself the type of equipment and era.
This is a HOBBY and a MODEL RAILROAD. With the way that this is going with Signals, CTC, SOUND more details, fast clocks, worry about the TRAIN CREW (model not breathing ones) I almost feel like I should PAY the operators for a nights work [:D]
Are we losing touch with a FUN HOBBY and turning it into a PART TIME JOB (operating a railroad) or am I missing something?
Foot note:
Actual expenses to date for this thing are MORE than I paid for my Porsche! [%-)]
I think there’s room in the hobby for everyone… From the most nitpicking prototype-faithful superdetailing geek to the Thomas-the-Tank-Engine want-to-just-run-something-with-flanged-wheels-on-rails kid.
I’m somewhere in between the two extremes myself… [;)]
You alone have made the decision of how much to spend and how far to carry the Model Railroad… Maybe more accurately put, the model OF a railroad. The question is, Are you having any fun with it? If so, you’re going the right direction and you aren’t missing anything. If not, then you are going in the Wrong direction and you Are missing something… the fun.
sigh Here we go again… And everyone thinks rivet counters are bad??
I have fun counting rivets. I like holding a model up to a 60 year old slide and saying “this is a nearly exact, 1/87th replica”… My idea of fun is replicating acutal trains and cringing when I see -9’s pulling wood boxcars and highcubes together.
Got a problem with my idea of fun and a hobby? Tough. I don’t have a problem with yours unless you cram it down my throat…[:p][:p][:p]
(I tired and I’m cranky, and I’m wound up. Cut me some slack OK… No flames please![:D][:D][:D])
Thank you and good night.
David–
No flame from here, my friend. I don’t consider myself a ‘rivet-counter’ and I run my trains simply because I enjoy watching big steam thundering through my Sierra Nevadas. And since I model WWII, I can GUARANTEE you that there’s not a Hi-Cube to be seen among my wood and steel 40-footers. Just doesn’t look like what I remember, LOL!
I think it’s all in the over-view. I was brought up with the steam/early diesel era (though there’s not a diesel to be found on my RR, save for an occasional “Pioneer Zephyr”), and I hold to it not from ‘prototype’, but simply memory.
However, if a buddy of mine comes over with an armload of SD-70’s, I’m sure as heck not going to prohibit him from running them, as long as he brings over some Hi-cubes so that the train doesn’t look TOO weird!
Tom
[:P][:P]
We can nit-pick all we want but the end result is WE are playing with TOYS. And I don’t care how much you spend on your TOYS they are still toys be they trains or cars!
Now, don’t get me wrong, they are neat toys and I like them as much as the next person BUT when someone else tries to tell me that this car is wrong or that engine isn’t right now we are going to have a problem!
If they want to give me all of the right equipment then I will run it but if I have to fork out the ca***hen I am running it my way!
But the real problem here is you can have all of the right engines and cars BUT if the layout does not run smooth and the engines stall on each turnout or derail due to poor trackwork then I don’t care how much you have invested in your models then the layout is not much more than a static display that looks good.
The models have to run period! And I wish I could get that through a lot of modelers heads, especially if they ask me to come over and run their layout!
Off my soap-box for now!
BOB H – Clarion, PA
Who cares? This hobby has room for evveryone from caliper-wielding rivet-counters to Thomas the Tank Engine Christmas-tree loopers.
Do what want to do. Inform all detractors to tell their story walking.
George, I don’t know you personally, but have browsed you web site and followed along thru this forum as you have built your creation. You don’t seem to be someone to do anything by half measure and you certainly jumped in big into MRR. The scope of what you are attempting is remarkable for what I understand is your first venture into the hobby? I wonder if your post is asking the question of yourself more than the rest of us? You are accomplishing in a relatively short time, what some layouts take decades to accomplish. Perhaps it is the intensity of this progress that is making it feel more like a job?
One could argue that, if there’s room in this hobby for the Thomas the Tank Engine folks and the rivet-counters, then is Model Railroading really the right expression to cover both ends of the spectrum? Is it model railroading to haul an 89’ autorack behind a USRA 2-8-2 like I see at the local club sometimes? Or is that model “train-ing?” I would imagine some attempt at replicating the real railroad scene is a prerequisite to consider a collection of model trains to be a model railroad. To me, that would mean at least sticking to a region and era (or eras, if you have a full set of RR equipment and motor vehicles for each era you want to depict), as well as attempting similar-to-prototype consists. I don’t know that operation in the way MR crams it down our throats is a prerequisite for model railroad, but I would say some kind of believeable theme and consistancy is. Otherwise it’s just model trains IMHO.
Yep, it’s all just fun. Not sure I’d have as much fun if I were stressing over whether I could get the Broadway Limited to NewYork on time or if I was short a snapper crew at Altoona for the next westbound TrucTrain, but if that’s your deal, enjoy!
Dave
George,From my conversations with modelers from the surrounding counties and observations at local clubs,railfaning in local railfanning spots and knowing 250 plus(no kidding) modelers either by name (some) or sight(majority) I would say no the hobby is still fun regardless of what one reads on forums or in magazines.Of course that 250 plus includes 30-40 modeling extremist but,the majority are laid back modelers.
Remember only a handful of a forum members are active and they certainly are not the spokesmen for the hobby nor do they represent the modeling world.
Remember on a forum a modeler can model far better then he/she claims unless they post pictures to back their claim to fame we will never know.
Best to get out and visit clubs,talk to other modelers etc to get a real world view of the hobby.
Each of us has his or her own comfort zone on this. I’ve been building for about a year now, and I find that my standards have gotten higher as my skill level has improved. I’m not a strict-prototype builder at this point, and I would rather have a more-or-less “finished” layout than a few exquisite locos and cars running around the plywood prarie.
A year ago, though, my Atlas turntable was almost perfect. I planned to weather it a bit, and build a “stone” wall around the outside. Now, though, I will not be happy until I’ve sunk it into the ground and turned it into a true pit turntable.
By the way, this is all your fault, guys. Seeing the work of my fellow forum members is what’s pushing the envelope and driving me to always try a little bit harder. Thanks.
I’m no rivet counter, and I’m no toy train loop-de-looper on the carpet either, maybe somewhere in the middle. But I am a lot like David (who replied above) in one respect. I do what I like, and have fun doing it. He likes counting rivets. Super. I like running trains and enjoy the process of building my layout.
If you’re not having fun paying all that attention to detail, then pay less attention to detail and have more fun.
Trevor
That statement should be on a brass plate on every model railroad. With simulated rivets on the plate, of course, spaced every 0.385 cm.
I think there’s enough things to do in Model Railroading to keep us all happy. I don’t care if you’re a rivet-counter, or someone who has a loop of O-27 around the Christmas tree. If that’s you’re thing, hey…as long as you’re having fun…
I’m not a rivet counter. Sure, I try to get things as close as I can, but if it’s only a scale inch or so off, I’m not going to worry about it. For example, I’m kitbashing some ex-PRR PS124 sleeper cars from Rivarossi shells and Train Station Products core kits. They aren’t 100% correct, but as long as I get the window arrangements “close” and they look good, that’s fine for me. Even though the staggered windows aren’t quite right, they look close enough for me…and once the car is done, very few people will be able to tell [:D]
[#ditto] I think that’s the best way I’ve ever heard anyone put that!
That’s merely your opinion, Bob, not a fact. Others hold the opinion that they are models.
Much as I have a problem when someone tries to tell me my models are toys. Tolerance of the way others enjoy the hobby cuts both ways, no?
Cheers,
Mark.
Some people buy boats or airplanes. Those are toys. Some people buy race horses, or Formula 1 cars. Those are toys. Some people buy pro football teams. Those are toys, too. A friend of my wife’s refers to some of her male companions as “boy toys.”
My trains are models, and they also fit my definition of toys. I’ve got no problem with that, personally. I feel sorry for anyone who looks down on “playing with trains,” because they’ve somehow lost that part of themselves which accepts and appreciates the basic nature of playing.
I figure there are (at least) 3 levels of stuff going on:
- “Playing with trains” (anything goes)
- “Model Railroading” (attemping to be reasonably accurate, but willing to allow foobies for the sake of enjoyment)
- “Railroad modelers” (rivet counters, prototype police, operations fanatics… and some of the most outstanding layouts and models ever seen.)
Hmmm, the way I look at it is this. There are so many aspects to this hobby that no one person can be good at all of them. To try would drive you nuts. So I stick to what I can do and enjoy it fully. I like making just about anything out of wood. Cars to building to ladders etc. I also like making scenery. By the time I lay the track [each tie hand cut and laid of course, hey it’s wood lol] and run an engine my friends are ussually gnawing on something as it is not a priority to me. If it goes from one end to the other and doesn’t fall off of the track, hey that’s great. Now back to what’s really important to me. Long story short is this. If it stops being fun then stop what you are doing and go back to when you started and why you got into this in the first place. That’s how I have been able to enjoy this for over 40 years now. Doing what I enjoy. 
Afterall, where else can we honestly do that. Stephen
It’s ALL playing with trains. To stratify it with artificial distinctions is equivicational semantics and borderline elitism…