I’m finding myself slowly but surely getting overwhelmed by all this stuff. Between track laying, signalling, painting & decalling, new control boards, wiring, cleaning, tweeking, twidling, etc, etc, I feel I’m loosing ground. It’s like wow this is becoming more and more like a real vocation. Anyone else feel this way.
Though I say this I still very much enjoy it, some times too much as I let other things slip.
Fergie
Not yet.
I’m still in the laying track phase.
I haven’t got to the wiring part yet.
I have no plans to go DCC until much much later in life, probably not until the kids are done university which is about 25 years from now.
Gordon
I’m overwhelmed with the endless polls on this list.
Relax…One good thing about this hobby is you can model YOUR way and be quite happy.No rules saying you must keep up with the Smiths and Jones…So,model the way that pleases you and to blazes with what the so called “experts” say you must do.
I have used Atlas selectors and controllers for years.Why? Easy wiring.One wire to each block.Block wiring doesn’t get any simper then that.When I was using my DCC I was very basic…Hook two wires up to the track,program my locomotives address 'em and run 'em…Never fooled with the CV settings.[:D]
Of course there was that sad time in the hobby where I was so worried about modeling to please others that I begin to loose interest so,I returned to modeling to please myself. and been quite contended since.
i’m anxious! I answered yes and frustrated
My current layout’s outer loops is 70% grade, and the inside loop is sharp.
That was a key reason in starting over, plannning oujt, bulding something usable, but I still haven’t gotten started building!
I hope to start over thanksgiving, but who knows
I get frustrated at making a new track plan with elevations and arial cross overs. I’m not good at figureing it out on paper. I just can’t visualize elevations.[banghead]
The rest of the hobby I love.(except ballasting)
Yes! being a complete electronic idiot I get lost, do I DCC or DC, do I manual switch or motor. They say DCC is simpler so I lean that way, then I read something and I get confused again. Better just read more about DCC and stick with it. Yes it does take more than just me to change a light bulb.
I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, Fergie. I answered that I prioritize. I was at my worst about two weeks into layout construction, right after benchwork, which I had never done, and just into cutting and shaping foam to get topography. I continuously tested it by placing the track down to see if it was going to work…the topography and the track. When I though of all that I had to do, I went into survival mode, just as I did years ago when applying for officership in the Forces. Ya just put your head down and go.
What I found most helpful was stopping, at about the four week mark, and stepping back enough to plot out the next steps for the layout. I wrote a list of things that had to be done, in the order that seemed best. As I accomplished each task, I had the pleasure, and the derived motivation, to stoke off that task and commence the next. That concrete step kept me focused and kept the momentum for me.
It’s lonely in that train room when you are IT.
-Crandell
I think a key to avoiding being overwhelmed is to work on a managable sized layout. Or, at least, do one thing at a time.
For example, wait until all your track is running perfectly before starting scenery - then only scenic a very small portion of the layout at a time, etc.
Many people try to do too much too fast, and end up overwhelmed.
I’ve been getting back into this hobby for a couple year, and I’m STILL in the planning stages for a very small layout. Why? Time, of course. And also, I want to make sure I’m happy with what I’m doing as I go. I don’t want to rip out and start over a bunch of times (I already went that route with my Dad as a kid, and hardly got anywhere).
I’m determined to not do that this time darnit!!!
Not really no. I do catch my self thinking what will I ever do I’ll never fini***his…But is’nt that the whole idea?? I know that anything I Have for my self to accomplish can be put off till another time, perhaps 5 or 6 years like my last break from the hobby. The only schedual that you set is the one you set for your self. So, relax and enjoy yourself…
Oh yes indeed! Not just overwhelmed, but also frustrated. I am guilty of what has been mentioned by the previous posters.
Large layout.
Too many projects going at the same time.
Wanting to go to fast.
Trying to please the “big boys”.
No time management.
…And too many danged ideas roaming through my head.
I am aware of the cause and the cure. My problem is staying with the cure and controlling my excitement. When I get excited about something I am doing, the cure is thrown out the window.[:P][:I]
REX
REX
No. Its supposed to be “hobby” ya know. If I start to get overwhelmed, I let it go for a while and work on something else. I don’t worry too much about deadlines with the hobby. I get done, what I get done…
I model in On30 and also dabble in HO. Since I basically like all scales and gauges, I have the tendency to deviate from my chosen scales and sometimes have the desire to build models and structures in different scales and gauges. I would like to build a narrow gauge railroad in 3/8" scale using HO, On3, or O scale track because its an oddball size and the amount of detailing possible. I also like the scenic effects that N scale offers. I’ve always been attracted to oddball gauges and scales that use parts from the many common scales that are available. This is sometimes overwhelming and frustrating for me. I am not too worried about finishing anything because I’m in the hobby to have fun. What frustrates me is that there are so many good modeling possibilities out there in every scale, gauge, and prototype and only a finite amount of time to do it all.
Well, being in college, and a young guy, I just gave up one day, not caring about new releases, electronics, what I can, or more likely, what I can’t afford. I’ll just maybe stick to reworking a steam engine every so often, perhaps, buy another wood building and spend a month building it, whatever.
For the most part, it is a very relaxing and enjoyable hobby because it is self-paced and for the most part, self-satisfying. The only time that I get frustrated is when somebody insists that “their way” is the only way. This is even more frustrating when attending a national or regional meeting and some of the BIG NAMES assure me that their way is the only way. But … that’s less than 1% of the time … the remaining 99% of the time and I can admire the work of others and they teach me a world of new techniques and methods and, I hope that I can return the favor on occasion.
If you are starting a new layout from scratch, the decisions are overwhelming due to the wide variety of material and equipment available today. The suggestion has already been made, break the job down into smaller tasks, put them in logical order, then begin with the first one.
I work when I have inspiration, I have several projects going on at once and I work on the ones that I’m currently inspired about. I’m also restoring a mustang and have been busy with that.
I enjoy all that this hobby offers and have no problem with any of it.
One should not be overwhelmed by something that doesn’t really matter. Does it matter if that crossing doesn’t get laid? Does it matter if that new hopper car isn’t weathered? Does it matter if there is a better signalling system that isn’t installed on the layout? No, no, and no. So there is nothing here to get stressed out over.
I have piles of unstarted and unfinished projects. Some are more than 20 years old. I figure 5 years of retirement might be enough time to get them done if I don’t add anymore. But the important part is that I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. That is why it is a hobby. As soon as it matters it is a job, and then it can become overwhelming.
Rex / Selector: you guys nailed it! There are times I stand there and figure I’ve got a plan and stand there and then shoot it apart and walk away. Six months later I’m in the thick of it, doing it with no hesitation or what if. It annoys me to no end when I stand there and can’t get it in gear.
Fergie
Sometimes the size of my layout is overwhelming, because I know it’ll be years before I get it anywhere near completion. When I get to feeling overwhelmed, I plop down at the computer and log onto the forum![:)]