Are You Just Practicing? A Philosophical Question.

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

[philosophical mode] Is your current railroad just a practice session or the real thing? Are there “stages” of model railroading?

I look at some of the more famous model railroads and think, wow, that must be graduation. Can that be attained? Will the practice pay off? My optimistic side says maybe. [:D]

I’ve got this retirement plan in mind (thanks Rexhea ). That’s a way off, I just turned 40, but I think what we’ve done so far is just a fancy practice session for the “real thing”. I’m imagining the Rio Grande coming to life in a very realistic way.

Where are you in all this? Are you happy where you are, or do you look forward to graduation too? I don’t see any reason a modeler can’t enjoy a 4x8 from now on. That said, why is the drive so compelling to build the “ultimate” model railroad empire?

Right now, I’m training LGM for the build I forsee coming. Heck, when he’s 30, I’ll need his energy to crawl around on the floor building the benchwork.[:D] [/philosophical mode]

2

I guess my Rock Ridge and Train City is practice. IT was started as a Hogwarts layout but became the Rock Ridge when I built Tater Mountain. At that point it was going to be come perminant and move to my home offoce, but I found that there’s just no way it will fit. I’m going to finish it because the hard part is mostly done or will be easily transfereed to the future Rock Ridge. But finishing it is a combination exercise in completion and a learning experieince because I have learned from each phase so far.

3

I just started in the hobby this year and at first I was gang busters for getting every thing done. I’ve done my benchwork and am in the process of finalizing a track plan. Now, if I get it done fine, if I don’t thats fine too. It was getting to be more like a job than a pleasant, fun thing. That had to stop. Either it was going to be fun or I was going to get out of it. I worked for decades before retiring, I wasn’t going to ‘work’ at this. Maybe one day I’ll get’er half finished.
Jarrell

4

In my opinion, no matter how many layouts you build, you are always in somewhat of a practice mode or learning mode. It seems no matter how long you’ve been building, something new comes along or products we are used to vanish or change and a “better way” imerges and we have to learn all over again. Fifty some years of modeling and I’m still learning and practicing. Ken

5

Am I just practicing?

I would have to say no. Everything I am attempting to build, I am trying to build so that It can be later moved and expanded or edited as space permits. I am wanting to build the “Great Model Railroad by James Mitich” and I have been consistantly fustrated in my efforts. But I keep plugging away and buying supplies. I have a feeling that when I am finally ready to start. All I have to do is go buy wood and I am off to the races. I won’t be needing a hobby shop until well into the construction process. I am at the point where I am liable to start stock poling wood and Tee Nuts and all that.Because I have reached my needed level locomotives, I need some more freight cars I anticipate but thats easily handled. Lately I doing things like stock poling detail parts. decals. Building kits. Decoders. LEDs and the such. I have a feeling that when I finally get to build my dream layout. I will be able to just pick up a piece of wood and just work and work and work, until oneday I realise that my wife and kids have left and I now have a big empty house all to my self. But with a model railroad.

I am ashamed at my abysmal lack of progress toward even having a functioning section completed. Some times I doubt if I am a rightful member of the model railroad fraturnaty.

James

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Mine is definately the “real thing” not a practice session… In fact every layout I have ever built was “the real thing” albiet terrible “real thing”… LOL If I ever get it completed, I intend to start tearing out each area that didn’t turn out as well as I wanted and make a better “real thing”. But, most definately The Real Thing (in 1/87 scale, don’t you know).

7

I consider it more developing techniques than practicing. I started with a 4x8 to develop techniques to do Central California scenery. Originally the layout was to be expendable now it will be incorporated into the layout. When it was On30 it was to be an end of a branchline. Now it will be the end of a peninsula in my 1870’s OO/HO empire layout.

Click image to enlarge

This layout is my first real scenery and the ideas I have developed will make the larger layout construction go more quickly. I am chronicling my adventure at:

http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/

It has been fun and thank you if you visit
Harold

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my layout is gonna be for real as soon as i get waybills made for my rolling stock…I try to prototype model but with the limited space a lot of freelance gets in the picture…but…who knows the difference…we’re having fun right?..chuck

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I’m Always practicing and Always building THE layout… Trouble is, I get half way done and decide I want to do something else… Fighting that urge right now…

Jeff

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I freely admit that the 4x8 I’m building now is just practice. The 4X13 dogbone, that’s for “real”.

11

Practice, Practice, Practice.

That’s where I’m at right now. At least I’m practicing something different than I practiced as a kid. When I was a kid, my Dad and I practiced building 4 x 8’s of various types of benchwork, starting scenery - just some white plaster - than finding one reason or another to rip the whole thing down - i.e., divorce (bummer), let’s build it in the attic… wait, no, let’s rip it up and build it downstairs… wait, I don’t want this layout here anymore, my drums need to go there… etc., etc.

Enter teenage years, girls, college, more girls, wife, (then stumbles into GMR a couple years ago - back into thinking about the hobby…) then we move and remodel the house, then I start my own company, then we have a baby…

BUT, I’ve been thinking hard and planning for a good 2 years now. I’ve been quite “mentally involved” in MRR’ing for the past couple years. And with my experience from when I was a kid, I think I have a decent idea of what I want.

For a good year or so, I couldn’t even pick a scale!!! (HO or N, with a constant itch for O - sheeeesh!). Was even teased by G, until I saw a (not-toy-looking) loco at the hobby shop and nearly had a heart attack at age 30 due to the price.

So, yes, I’ve been practicing - been practicing layout design and some handlaying track and turnouts.

I’m pretty sure my next thing to practice will be some serious track and turnout building - I believe I’m going to build a timesaver-ish layout with a loop tacked on to connect the ends just to have something to run on, and to get a lot of practice building turnouts.

Then, I’ll move onto the “real layout”, an 8 x 10 L-shaped layout, with a loop of track connecting the two ends of the L for continuous running.

I’ve seen so many layouts that are overly ambitious, and I know some serious cash has gone into them.

I play the drums, and as a drummer, before a performance comes up, I like to know I c

12

This isn’t philosophy what so ever![:D] and i know philosophy

well my is definitly practice since in a year and a half i will be off to grad school. For what you might ask. Will nothing other than a masters degree in philosophy. then after that a PHD prrogram in philosophy. Which after all this i might be able to build a more permenant layout. But that will probabl yanother 5-10 years. So this is practic for me, but more so FUN!!
Andrew

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Ssssshhh. It sounds good. [;)]

14

Always “practicing,” always learning, and always enjoying.

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Sorry I just had to give you a hard time, [;)] I’ll be starting a new branch hof philosophy call the philosophy of railroads[:D]

It does sound good. there’s two response’s I get when I tell people what i’m studying, “wow you must be smart” or “I guess I’ll be ordering a big mac from you somday”.[banghead][D)]

16

I’m sort of like a bit of all of you. I got into a mad dash like JaRRel and darned near crashed and burned. I believe I did a creditable job of my first layout, and make some real boners. Who builds an 8X12 layout without a single passing track? Huh? [V]

Anyway, this was very much a learning effort, and one on which I practised. I’ll still be practising when next I attempt #2, but I will hopefully have demonstrated some advancement and some discerning.

Sheesh!

Looking forward to it all, though. [:D] I do have a history of improvement.

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When you cant find anything else you want to do or change you are either done or have done to much. It hasn’t happened yet. ENJOY [(-D]