…have command control, $1000+ locomotives, and model hi-rail?
In one word:
Noooooooooooo!!!
(I saw this topic at our sister MR forum under the title, “Are you a serious modeler only if you buy brass and use DCC.”)
Dave Vergun
Substituting “wealthy” for “serious” in your query might be more to the point. [;)]
One could take it to another extreme too, that you’re not a serious model railroader if there’s anything on your layout that you didn’t build yourself.
It’s a hobby. There are lots of ways of doing it. So do what makes you happy.
A lot of model railroaders in Appalachia whose trailer layouts are powered by waterwheels cannot afford those expensive locomotives. Some cannot even afford water wheels and their barefoot wives must pedal a bike attached to a dynometer to get the trains powered up.
Gads - once you add the 3rd rail, oversized couplers and HUGE wheels and flanges - it kind of takes the serious out of it, doesn’t it?
I know that I am getting picky though [personal choice and no slam intended] about those wheels…
I love my loco but the wheel on the front pilot is starting to bother me. DOH! My feeling is that they are too thick. Large scale has big flanges but not that big.
I just have to live with it. I would rather buy trains than buy and swap out wheels.
There was a time when you were not considered a “serious” model railroader unless you scratchbuilt everything!
(with tongue planted firmly in cheek . . . )
Cast your own locomotive shells
Wrap the copper wire to create your own motor cores
Chop down trees, and mill your own lumber for benchwork
create your own formula for glue and paint as you scratchbuild each structure
Form your own rail, cut your own ties, quarry your own ballast . . .
At some point, you can take any hobby a little TOO seriously!
I only do this hobby for fun, so I guess I’m not serious.
You are a serious model railroader only if…
- Your son/daughter says they need an Atlas for their homework assignment so you give them one of your billboard reefers.
- You wonder why they don’t make an aftershave that smells like burnt oil and ozone.
- You would have no trouble with a Jeopardy column whose answers were: TMCC, DCS, CTC Lockon, ZW, and Z4000.
- You think your kids will someday study MTH vs. Lionel in school
- You are introduced to someone named Ross Williams and you immediately start talking trains.
- You hear that the winning lottery ticket numbers are 7,8,10, 33, 42, and 45 and you wonder why they mixed an accessory in with all those Standard Gauge engines.
- You replace your doorbell chimes with a train whistle and you don’t understand why the rest of the family objects.
- You only need a single whiff of model train smoke to correctly identify the manufacturer, scent, and year of production of the fluid.
- You spend a lot of time trying to find a way to register your car in Pennsylvania so you can have one of those spiffy railroad license plates.
- The cover for your car’s trailer hitch is shaped like a knuckle coupler.
Grrrrreat responses guys!!![:)]
I was a HO rivet counter for over a decade, but then decided to have fun! Work’s serious, bills are seroius, life’s serious…
…my hobby is going to be EXACTLY what I want it to be - FUN and RELAXING!!![:D][8D] I even have my own railroad, so I can take creative license with every aspect of my railroad.
If I ever get the damn thing near done, I’d love for you to see it!
You are a serious model railroader only if you don’t realise it’s nice hobby which doesn’t require seriousness…
You forgot to mine the ore and smelt it. Shssh everyone’s trying to take shortcuts these days. No wonder the hobby’s going to the dogs.
[:D][:D]
Enjoy
Paul
…wear an eng’eers cap and bib overalls when running the layout.
…allow no talking during operations - only whistle and hand signals, telegraph signals, and train order flimsies.
…wrap up an operating session by calculating payroll, equipment depreciation, and material expenses for the evening…