When I first got into the model railroading hobby, I pretty much thought everyone was the same, and that most people just had roundy round layouts with side tracks that they could just turn off and on at will in order to run their various locos and rolling stock. Then one day I overheard a couple of guys talking at one of the hobby shops about all day operations and so forth, and I was like - what the hell are they talking about. I soon learned that some guys really get into it, and create an actual little world where everything is scheduled and timed, and that certain trains depart as others arrive, drop off cars and the whole nine yards… Amazing.
Well. I barely had the patients to build the layout I have, and am personally satisfied just to sit and watch my trains go around and around my layout, but I very much admire and respect the guys that go all out. They’re really gifted and talented.
Yes, more than one way of being in the hobby. Even among the most famous modelers there are radically different philosophies. I doubt Malcolm Furlow and Jim Hedinger would find a whole lot to agree on.
Personally, I like operations, especially shortlines because that is what I can do given my space limitations. However, if I had unlimited space and money I would build a nice empire where I could dispatch mainline freights, smaller drills and commuter passenger.
So was I. For about as long as it took me to build the first 4’ x 8’. After a few hours of watching things go around in circles, I started to have bigger ideas about making a model RR layout. Still couldn’t think of any reason to do much more than watch the train go around and around and back and forth. Well 30 years later… I am now doing everything with the idea of operations in mind. So… watch out Tracklayer, you might just change your mind! [:D] [:D] [:D] [:D] [:D] [:D] [:D]
I think you’re probably very right howmus. If ever I have the time, money and room, I may just go much bigger and better, but if I do, it’s going to be in HO…
I run a medium size yard for a living. Said yard is a major crew change point, serves numerous industries, an intermodal ramp, and has a car and locomotive shop.
At the end of the day, I prefer to just watch my trains run, so I concentrate more on scenery, buildings and collecting rolling stock.
As a kid, I wanted to see layouts where the train went into tunnels, and you couldn’t figure out which one they’d come out of. Now I have no interest in that whatsoever.
I was never happy with ovals…never. But, I like trains so much that, until this past Christmas, when I spend a lot more time setting up a village and snow for my Christmas On30 set, that I began to contemplate something more involved and permenent. Now that I am semi-retired, I can afford the time to play.
I kind of admire, and am intrigued by, the fellows who spend three hours at a time doing a series of timed manoevers with their trains, purposeful movements. For one, it should extend the useful life of a well-crafted layout. Also, it get severyone to meet, to swap tips and stories, and to expand in the hobby.
Yet, I am a solitary fellow who keeps to myself…except here, of course. Wife and dog, and Dad (seasonally), are lots for me. I don’t think I would fit into a more regimented approach to running my trains.
The way I see it model railroading has five distinct stages.
The Circle
The Cutoff
The Spur
The Runaround
The Real World
There isn’t a single person here that hasn’t done stage one. Add as many straights and curves as you want, but the complexity remains the same. A circle.
Stage two is only slightly more interesting. Add a pair of switches, and connect them together with track to form an alternate path. This may look like a passing siding or even a runaround, but it isn’t. A passing siding needs two trains, and a runaround needs spurs.
Stage three, is where things start to get interesting. A spur is a track that has a “dead end”. Suddenly, backing and uncoupling come into play. The concept of delivering cars to industries enters at this stage.
Stage four involves the concept of facing point spurs and how to deliver cars to those industries. The runaround is how the engine changes orientation from pulling to pushing cars. All of the stages thus far, can be done on a 4x8 in HO.
Finally, stage five. In the real world trains don’t go in circles, they go from point A to point B. This does not mean that there cannot be a loop, it just means that the fact that there is a loop is deliberately being hidden. This is also where the concepts of staging, fast clocks, schedules and waybills come into play.
So, by these criteria, where are you at?
No need to be embarrassed. It’s taken me 30 years, and lot’s of MR magazines, to get to stage 5.[;)]
I’m stage 5, without a doubt… but due to space limitations and my opreational desire for double ended staging, I ended up with not only a large loop (not that it will be run that way) but also with the World’s Largest Reverse Loop ™.
I read somewhere - maybe in MR? - where George Sellios was saying something about he’s the type of modeller that doesn’t have to have a layout to be satisfied - he’s all about the model building.
Like you said, different strokes for different folks…
Didn’t John Allen start off with a 4X6 or 4X8 that grew into a significant real world bridge line? Of course there was a little basement excavation along the way. It all starts with that circle … the next thing you know you have the cost of a new Lincoln or Cadillac sitting in the basement or attic. So little time so little money!
Enjoy them going round and round or off across the real world on a “mission”.
Will
I enjoy the combination of being able to run realistic switching operations in which freight cars are dropped off and picked up from various industries, and be able to run a freight and passenger trains continuosly to simulate a long distance run.
I can be limiting on a 4x8 type layout, however, even in a small room, an “around the wall” type layout offers potential for good running and local switching opportunities.
That’s me too. I do have two pairs of HO scale modules that I occasionally run with our local club, but most of the time they are boxed up and in a closet. I’m a model builder and have five shelves full of models I’ve done - shelves are one foot by 8 feet, with rolling stock six rows deep.
I do get to operate on a friend’s very large layout, but don’t get to wrapped up in the operations, I usually just chose a through train and run it from one end to the other. Spending a whole lot of time switching towns, waiting for long times for other trains to clear, etc., doesn’t interest me at all. I enjoy the socializing with the other modelers more than the operating.
Ultimately, there really is no right stage to be in. What is pleasing at one point will be boredom at another point. Even at “stage five” there are times that it is relaxing and enjoyable to sit and watch trains run around the layout in something like a circle. The main thing is to enjoy what you are doing and know that it will change…
Well I guess I am pretty normal then. When I started, one roundy roundy track wasn’t enough I had to have a double main roundy roundy. I put in some spurs but it was mainly just to watch the trains go around in opposite directions. Now five years and three layouts later I have an around the room with 60 peco switches, double main (still like that roundy roundy) and over 22 industry spurs. I have the track layed and am currently putting in the additional electronics for signalling, T/O control etc. I now am focusing on operations with carcards and waybills (all ready made up and waiting). As someone said earlier our tastes change with time. We are moving back to North Florida sometime in the near future so I have decided to forgo scenery until we get our new home and permanently settled.
Terry
Sometimes discussing the philosophy of why we are all interested in this hobby is as rewarding as actually trading tips and information. Another good subject from the Texas Tracklayer!!
It helps to know that others have similar “trains” of thought, and Big_Boy_4005 does a very good job of laying out steps that I believe a lot of us go through. I’ve been throught all five, and have circled back to about step 4 at this time. Building a 4 X 8 “test track” to experiment with all of the new scenery and operations ideas introduced in the last pile of years. Step 5 to return shortly.
I agree with AntonioFP45 about switching industries, and also enjoy building and breaking down trains in yards.
However, Howmus makes an excellent point about the enjoyment, and relaxation, of just kicking back and watching them run on occasion.
There are a bazillion railroad modelers with as many interests as there are people. The variety is what makes sharing thoughts on this forum so rewarding and relaxing for me!! [:P][:P][:O][:O][(-D][(-D]