I was curios if any of the other members operate their layouts when they are off work sick or when they get off from a stressful day at work. I have been off work and have been playing with the set. What kinds of things do you like to do on the railroad when your sick or stress?
Indeed I do, it’s how I unwind after a stressful day. I turn the train on, crack a beer and enjoy myself.
Tut tut,you should’nt drink and drive-tho’ I must admit I do on my layout,I’m at the wiring/ballasting stage,you need a drink then.
Steve
Operating or just working on small projects is daily stress-relief time when writing a dissertation. It clears the mind and helps me think outside the box.
My mother lived with me. She had a broken shoulder and was recouperating at my home. Sometimes she would wake me up a 1 or 2AM for a drink of water. When I couldn’t get back to sleep I would go down and operate my layout for a while. Switching cars into a short train, delivering it to the industries, bringing back the empties, breaking it up in the yard, all at scale speed, would take an hour or more. Then i’d go back to bed and sleep like a log.
After a stressful day, I find it very relaxing to open a beer, put a train in a long loop and just sit and watch. I’ll hold a throttle and blow the whistle sometimes. And I’ll smile.
When I’m sick, I don’t have a beer but running the trains still feels good.
I was in logistics for 36 years and spent my days at the airport, docks and railyards. Coming home and doing switching was a lot like being at work and my brain needed a break from that kind of activity, even though I loved my job.
Sitting with a glass of wine in my captains chair with the NCE radio throttle was really relaxing after a long day. The fact I can get a couple of trains up and running roundy rounds without moving my butt is the best.
If I was too sick to go to work, I was too sick to run trains. I can honestly say I never took a sick day when I wasn’t really sick. I guess that’s easier to do when you look forward to going to work every day.[C):-)]
I don’t have a layout, but I am part of a modular club and a club with a layout. One of the great things about this hobby are the sub-hobbies; building, detailling, and repairing the car and locomotive fleet as an example, which are great stress relievers to me.
For me, the operating part is the “frosting on the cake.” When I feel the need to unwind I find it more relaxing to do some work at the bench. I never know from one day to the next what project I’ll want to tackle or if I just want to kick back and “operate” this diversity is one of the great aspects of this hobby.
Sometimes if I’m looking for something to keep my mind off of things I’ll build one of the dozens of car kits that I have accumulated or if I’m feeling really ambitious I’ll crack open the cellophane on a new structure kit (aah, the smell of virgin styrene [:D])!
Happy modeling, Ed
I will admit letting my trains snake around my layout is stress releaving.
When I’m sick I don’t do any modeling or operation.When I’m stress I head for the PS2 or PS3…When I model or operate I prefer to have a clear head free of worry or stress.
Be that as it may modeling and operation has help me get through trouble times like unemployment,recuperation from a major heart attack,the death of my wife etc…