Like I suspect many of you, I watch way too many model railroad videos on YouTube. I am always impressed when I see a nicely done layout and the owner proudly states that he finished most of it in just a few years thanks to his friends and their help.
I have been working on my layout since 2017 and now have all the benchwork done (except for the stagging area), the track work is 90 percent done, most of the wiring is done, and I am now building structures and planning for the installation of my turntable and roundhouse. I still have to do the scenery and the control panels. I am making progress, slowly, but I am doing this all on my own.
I have no friends helping me. That is why this forum is so important to me. I post a question which I think is difficult, and I get back some amazing and helpful answers. I really appreciate all the help I have received. It is my hope to eventually be able to answer the questions of others as I become more experienced.
I should add that I did belong to a wonderful club, the South Oakland County Model Railroad Club, near Detroit. However, I now live in a different area and the nearby clubs do not impress me as much as the club I once belonged to. I was spoiled by a well-run and well-designed layout that inspires me to this day. I am still in contact with members of the club, but I cannot expect any of them to drive out to help me.
Just wanted to say thank you and express how valuable I find this forum. I assume others do as well. And yes, I also find great value in YouTube and Trains.com videos.
I second the motion (if there has been a motion) or I vote “aye” if the motion has already been seconded.
I will say that these Forums will be much the poorer if, as they have warned might happen from time to time, photo hosting issues prevent Dr. Wayne and others from contributing so many article length (and publication worthy) postings and examples of fine modeling, or even worse make prior postings devoid of content. Dr. Wayne in particular could have pocketed a nice amount of coin had he submitted his postings to MR or other magazines for publication instead of posting them for free for us.
The photo hosting issue has always been and remains the Kalmbach Forums’ biggest area of vulnerability.
Irritating but not fatal is the way the system deletes the identity of a posting person who has dropped their account. Sometimes one can guess who “anonymous” is but not always. Perhaps there are systems issues which mandate it but it somehow just seems a little petty and peevish to me. It can also complicate searching for an old posting that you know exists, and remember who posted it, but cannot recall the title of the posting.
September 30, 2007. I was a happy man getting started but knew it would be a slow process between work and all the hours at the Hockey rink with the kids through the week and all day Saturdays.
Here is where I am now 14 years later, I am not bothered by the slow progress and I am happy to be where I am. If not for the good people on this forum through my journey I would not have gotten this far. I always had quick answers to my questions that allowed me to get on with things I would get stumped on. I will never be in the same league as most here But I am having fun with little frustration because of the great people here.
It’s been an inspiration to me. Weekend Photo Fun shows me that us Lone Wolves in our individual basements and attics can learn to do great things. That one series of threads has pushed me to be a better modeler and not settle for “almost good enough.” I now know how good a job any of us can do if we take the time.
Also, it has helped over the years to know I’m not alone. The friendships with modelers around the world is encouraging.
I have always been a Lone Wolf and this Forum has been a great inspiration for me seeing pictures of other model railroader’s skills. It may have some technical problems now and then but never the less to me it is the best model railroad forum on the Internet.
I feel closer to many of you guys which helps me get through bummer days as I grow older. Its not fun getting old and without the Forum it would be much worse.[bow][bow][bow]
My first posts to this forum, some 18 or so years ago, concerned the MRC Controlmaster 20 power packs. Thanks to forum members honest evaluation, I bought two of them. And that was the beginning of my attachment to this forum.
To be very honest and open, if it wasn’t for this forum I never would have built the second layout (2008-2020) and successfully installed DCC.
There have been a lot of terrific people come and go over the years (and a few kooks as well), and its been a godsend having them to draw from.
Thank you to Kalmbach and the administrators for putting up with me!
Yup. As a “lone wolf” I work on my layout alone. As I think I mentioned in a recent thread, this is the only place I interact with fellow model RRers. WPF is always a nice little shot in the arm. So, for all the reasons others have stated I appreciate the hosts of this forum making it available too. Dan
I would still be trying to figure out how to lay cork in turnouts without the help of people on this forum. And I would be building a layout that would not be as satisfying to look at and operate as the one I’m now builidng. My thanks tae ye, lads!
I too have gained a great deal of knowledge from these forums, for which I am greatful. I also hope that some of the comments I have made to others questions have been helpful to them.
Currently I am at a bump in the road. My old layout is headed out the door and a new around the walls layout shall rise out of the dust. Ii should have dug in at the staart of the pandemic, but I didn’t. Hopefully when the walls are painted and the drop ceiling is in, I’ll get myself in gear and have a layout where I can run trains again.
These forums have provided me with a daily place to check up on the hobby and they keep reminding me of the fun (and challenges) I’m missing.
Keep posting your success and failures, questions and answers and remember we are like one family, each a little different, but all enjoying model trains on some level, be it a loop on the floor or a jewel that in photos can’t be distinguished from the prototype.
I visit the forums every day. Rarely is there a day when there is nothing to spark my interest.
I have asked too many questions to remember, and I have always received valuable and useful answers to those questions. I think these forums played as important a role as any member of my old club did when it came to building the new club layout. Likewise with my current under construction layout.
Having an avenue to get answers/validate what’s found elsewhere, and just being a community of support are three of many reasons to stay here. I appreciate all of you.
Throwing down this gauntlet: not having a forum post go un-answered. Even if the answer is merely that you don’t know, at least you give the OP the warm fuzzy that you took the time to read his/her post.
As a newcomer to this forum I am happy to offer the opinion that it has been a tremendous resource of information with the planning and construction of my new layout.
All the above thoughts on this forum I completely agree with.
Long Live the MRR Forum!
(if they could only make the posting of pictures easier)[;)]
I wonder how many lone-wolf model railroaders live nearby and we just never meet except online? There is a huge turnout at the train show in Lansing, MI, every year. There must be hundreds of railroaders in Ingham county with layouts near me. Once my layout is more advanced, I would love to have an open house to show it.
I know there must be many modelers in Washington State, judging from the two swap meets I’ve been to this year, but nobody I’ve met on this forum so far is close enough to visit regularly. I was invited by someone here to visit the Whatcom and Skagit club northaway about two hours (in zero traffic, which doesn’t often happen) and a friendly guy from a historical society forum lives about an hour and a half in the same direction, and he has invited me to stop by sometime. But I don’t know of anyone closer, like in the city here, and none of my friends are interested. But maybe the forum will turn up someone for me to knock elbows with in person someday.
What is important about this forum is the help you get when you have a problem you have not encountered before. Helped a few times when moving from DC to DCC or forgot some simple task that has to be done in an exact order.
I’d also like to use this thread to thank Kalmbach for hosting this forum. While I don’t have a layout yet, I will be starting something, in some form, right after the holidays, and am looking forward to applying things I have read about here over the last few years. And hey, JPD, I live in Holt!
