I had a person drop over to see what this Model Railroading was all about. He realy came to talk about his car and wanted some advice on his leather. Anyway, while he was talking to me a boy came over to see how I was doing. We went down to the layout and walked around and he looked and was stumped about DCC and what it was. I let him try it and of course he loved it. He was leaving and said “Gee, I can never afford all this kind of stuff” I asked him what he had. He told me a 4x6 in his basement and wanted to do more. I had some leftover things from building this so I gave him some turnouts, Atlas controller, selector and an MRC Prodigiy that I did not like or want. He and the person here was in shock. After the boy went home, very happy, the visitor asked me why I did that. I told him that if you just gave what you will never use to someone then they will make use of it. He asked why I did not EBAY the items. I said why? so somone can buy it, cull out what they wanted and then relist it for twice as much. Better off making sure that someone who needs it gets it.
I am not posting this for an ATTA-A-BOY i have plenty of AH-*&^% that would erase that anyway. All I am saying is if you have some stuff gathering dust and some child is trying to get into the hobby or wants to do more help them out it will not kill you.
The fact that a corporation will GIVE you a forum to talk about things is the SAME THING. I have a Yahoo group that is free to help people with their leather they may have. It is free and I am selling something, just like this forum BUT all the information they want is FREE just like this forum.
Right on. I have noticed a lot of this, though doing it through this forum has caused some problems, in that some parents don’t want thier children involved with internet people, even us, for good reason. Encouraging kids to get involved with clubs opens doors like this also, in that many clubs are filled with nice people and excess stuff.
A circle of O-27 track nearly brand spanking new. One N scale tank car. Ancient HO brass snap track, mostly 18" radius curved sections. Everything else might still be usefull in my future layout. What I need now is three different scale kids to give this stuff to!
Slick, real slick ! This is the type of stuff I never tire of hearing, it does not surprise me some people are generous, but as you can see it surprises the cra_ out of a lot of people who cannot imagine ever giving something away for no reward, so all you good guys out there, keep it up and keep bringing a lot of joy to to a lot of people. Just imagine how the wealthy people could contribute to others.
That is great. In fact that is how I got started… my father-in-law sent up al his HO and some N scale stuff. I latched on to the N scale and gave my friend the HO stuff. Now there are two more of us out there because on one person’s selfless act. Peter
Thats a great story and was well needed. With all the yackin and bashing going on a in a few of the threads, we need one like this.
Let the kids come over aqnd see the layout, hand off a few to the neighboors, give away a few old magazine copies… Spread the love man. I have handed away some stuff, or sold somethign super to cheap the kid at the swap meet with a promise and a wink he didnt tell anyone about “the deal”. Yeah, I might be loseing a few dollars, but I know I have my fair share of stuff handed to me. What goes around , comes around.
Ignore the BS pm! We hear so many times that the MRR hobby is in decline, but when someone shows how to help keep it going, we get those who say we are suckers or are out of touch with the real world. Keeping the hobby locked in the basement is what is responsible for the word not getting out. Helping out someone else with materials that are not needed is the best type of recycling I can think of.
I think it’s great. I’ll often give stuff away when I can, and I’ll occasionally sell stuff. I usually sell at a very reasonable price, hoping that it’s for somebody who intends to use it.
But there are also plenty of other ways to give - your time for one. Right now I have more of a plan than anything, and I’m working towards getting the layout built. But I’ve met a few folks on the forums here and I get to go play on their layouts. In addition to getting to run some trains and stuff, I’m learning a lot as well. I won’t necessarily do everything the same way, but that’s the whole purpose of the research - to see what I want to do and how. It’s also really helpful about learning what not to do (and saving money by not making mistakes that somebody else already has).
So don’t worry about the criticism - life’s too short anyway.
Thanks for starting this thread. Up untill I had read this one I was about to give up reading threads on this forum because of the bitching and complaining, making me think that the people involved in this HOBBY are a bunch of F… WHINERS and COMPLAINERS! It also makes me wonder when was the last time they had actually done something with their hobby. I thoght the whole idea about a hobby was to have fun. Thank you for your post and to all the others who have helped me in the past. Perhaps I’ll just avoid the negative posts and concentrate on the ones that will actually help me.
By explaining trhe craft process of the hobby, there are so many ways that master modelers create, that doesn’t cost a stone cold cent.
Dirt for roads, scenery base, making your own ground foam, using sand as ballast and then weathered or colored, buying consignment items from sales, swap meets or hobby shops, scratchbuilding of structures and more. The over cost of the hobby is buying items you really don’t need and they sit on shelves and in boxes. I was at an LHS recently and a guy bought a Bi-centenial Genesis SP engine at $100 and said he really didn’t need it, he just wanted it.
$100 could of purchased a lot of items for a layout if the purchases are planned. The trouble is getting new people to understand this. The World’s Greatest Hobby wants people to buy packaged merchandise and no way the regular joe can afford this or the student.