inspiration.....what drove you into model trains?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

This topic has most likely been aired before, but then again there are probably many new members on this group who have never read or participated in this discusion.

A new video is being produced about model railroading and the Piermont Division…(sorry no links as not to offend moderator), and this is part of the interview…what drew me into the hobby as well as others. Are these forces still prevelant today and what now is bringing newbies into model trains?

For me, it was my dad’s hobby and having two uncles who ran steam locos with me riding with them on many occasions during the 40’ and early 50’s. Then after college and in the military, I discovered the John Allen articles in several magazines and I was hooked…big time!! But for me it was the artistic possibilities. Had these articles been about the then state of the art electronics, I never would have purchased the magazines and would still be building and flying RC airplanes. Young folks today seem to have forsaken the hobby for smart phones, social media, and game systems…yet still these high tech electronic goodies are available and certainly part of model railroading today and then some. Should and could this be a driving force for model trains. During the 31 years I co-ran the Timonium show, I witnessed a decline in young folks, and major loss of dinosaurs such as myself.

Your thoughts would be apprecated…thanks.

HZ

2

Model railroading is kind of my escape from today and travel back to the glory days of the railroads. I’ve also had a love for detailed scale models. Model trains aren’t the only things I collect either. Scale airplanes are the other loves of my life.

It also gives me a way to plan the future for me (in a small way). And, with a wild mind, coming up with alternate trains (like the George Sponhaltz, or all of the C&P trains so far) tends to distract me if I don’t have anything to do. Seeing as my grandma’s cousin worked as a cook on the Daylight, and the Espee had a branch in my hometown (Union Pacific still has a line out here), I initially wanted to model it, and I still kinda do. But, my heart belongs to the California and Pacific. As the only railroad I’ll seriously model, it’ll be pretty important down the road, especially when I eventually join a railroad club. Santa Fe is also a railroad that want to model, but C&P comes first.

3

For me it was the Shaker Rapid Transit. I grew up a block away and my grandfather worked at the Terminal Tower. Occasionally Grandma and I would go shopping downtown or ride out to the West Side Market, rails all the way. But the cavernous space under the tower, which I eventually discovered was Cleveland Union Terminal, always amazed me.

Matter of fact a good portion of the downtown area is actually a bridge over the yard.

If that was all, I’d certainly be a trolley modeler, PCC flavor. But there was also the Goodtime cruise ship, viewing the heavy industry along the lakefront and especially the Cuyahoga River really cemented things for me. Whiskey Island being a favorite, the Huellet loaders were amazing machines.

As time went by I dabbled in plywood centrals, but after moving into my own home and doing some traveling I found a few other places I wanted to model, towns like Wellsville and Stubenville. As I researched the rails in those areas, I discovered that all my favorites were actually on the same railroad! The old Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

So now that I have a predrawn track plan I’m in process of building it, under Penn Central ownership. Specifically the CP mainline from Cleveland to Yellow Creek (Wellsville) and the Powhatan secondary from Yellow Creek to Omal, better known as Hannibal.

Fwiw I’m 43 years old but this started when I was quite young.

4

I was born a tinkerer! When I was 8 years old my Dad bought me a Lionel 027 2-6-2 for Christmas 1948. I think it was to give me something to do so I wouldn’t screw up his stuff.

I had an older cousin that helped us to build a around the wall layout in our basement. My Dad worked with us to build a 4’ x 8’ on one end and a 4’ x 4’ on the other end for return loop.

Because WWII was in full force track was impossible to get. My Dad had a friend at work make a die/stamp to make O gauge rails from tin cans. He soldered the rails together for us and used carpet tacks to anchor the rails to the wood. We spent many hours cutting the tin cans into strips to put in the die and give them a couple of good whacks with a hammer.

I ended up with a pretty good sized layout that served me for five years until we moved from Utah to Texas. In 1951 I found an article on John Allen’s Gore & Daphetid and I was hooked on HO model railroading, been there ever since. John Allen was my inspiration into real mod

5

I have told my story before, but here goes.

As a child, in the 1960’s, my father was a “holiday modeler”. That is he set up a Christmas Garden that was more of a scale model railroad than a train set. It was HO scale, it consisted of the typical “modeler” products of the day, including many “craftsman” type kits.

This layout was pretty large for a Christmas Garden, two 5x9 platforms, which filled half our living room every holiday season from Thanksgiving until well after the new year.

Two loops of TruScale wood roadbed track, Aristo Trolley Bus, cars, locos and structures from kits - not your typical RTR train set stuff.

When I turned 10, we moved into a house with a basement, and that Christmas the layout was set up in the basement - with multi level trackage, plaster mountains, hidden stagging tracks and more - truely a model railroad.

I was very interested and learned even more very quickly. I guess my father could tell I was ready, and in short order the new permanent layout in the basement was mine.

With some guidance from him, I begain adding new features, building kits, first Athearn blue box, later wood kits like Silver Streak, and before long even Mantua locomotives.

We had a local hobby shop, and by age 14 I was working there, repairing trains, selling trains, and learning even more from the owner.

Shortly after that, I became one of the few junior members accepted into the Severna Park Model Railroad Club (featured in MR many times) were I learned scenery and structures from Logan Holtgrewe, hand laid track and wiring from Sam Shepherd, and much more from all the great modelers there.

Later as an older teen and young adult I worked in another hobby shop, eventually managing the train department for several years.

I stayed an active member of the Severna Park group until I moved a little farther away, I have build several layouts and been active in several other groups in the 50 years si

6

The devil made me do it.

7

I’ve been crazy about trains since I got my first O gauge set for Christmas back in 1968 when I was five years old. Then in the mid 70s I got an HO Tyco set for Christmas which really boosted my interest. Shortly after that I discovered N scale which I’m still into today…

8

Well, I had some HO trains as a child - Fleischmann. I also built some models. But it wasn’t until I was an adult that I got into model trains.

When my wife was pregnant with our first child, I told her that when he (or she) was 1 year old there would be a train around the Christmas tree. Well she jumped the gun and bought me some Tyco trains the Christmas she was pregnant. The next day I noticed the Nov 71 Model Railroader on the PX newstand - magazines were a little late getting overseas. The next day they had the Dec 71 issue and the color layout drawing for the EBT hooked me.

From there it just grew. Eventually, I changed scales to O and then to S. Along the way I realized that what I liked about the EBT was that it was shortline, but not the narrow gauge part. After reading George Hilton’s book The Ma & Pa changed to the Maryland & Pennsylvania RR as a prototype to follow.

Paul

9

Anyone with countering forces? My first two wives became rather upset with my hobby as they thought model trains were competing for their time with me. Then my two kids…although now quite supportive thought I was a nut. With my help and two PFM Crown collectons… between the two kids came around 17 years of college…both now with several graduate degrees. My son now an architect thinks I should have mag-lev trains and glass skyscapers, and my daughter the shrink thinks I should put up the toy trains after Christmas. All six grand kids cannot understand why I’m not texting on a smart phone (note: I’m still trying to figure out my flip phone and I’m finally learning how to use my cassette player). My current wife, Sandy is quite supportive and my final artistic bit will be to carve/build a statue of her planting it on our front lawn. The inscription on the base will read…“she let her husband be himself.”

HZ

10

I collect pocket watches. That got me interested in model trains.

Robert

11

I was born with it!

I had other hobby interests but they don’t last long, just a few minutes at a time.

12

For me, and I hope I don’t step over a line here, it was kind of the Tom Sawyer area as I would describe it. This is where we all used to go hang out and do fun things when we were young.

Well where would you go if you were in my shoes back then? Besides the cubicles of streets, five blocks to the north of my house there was this wide open vast area.

This area consisted of two large woods, three large swamps, Pillow Land, and the Honda Trails where we rode our mini bikes or BMX bikes. Mini bikes were a little less fluent as the powers-that-be would usually stop our fun.

Throughout all of this area was all the railroad tracks. The three main freight express lines, the passenger line (it was crooked), the wooden trestle line, the big triangle cut off grade, and the siddings by the Chocolate Factory. Yes we had a chocolate factory.

All my friends were train nuts too because no matter what we were doing when a train came everything stopped and we all watched the train. I remember Timmy always yelling “Green Machine Green machine” and if we were in the woods or the high reeds in Pilliw Land we would run to the edge to get a view.

My family heard the stories of all this and our daily experiences. My Dad bought me a subscription to Model Railroader. My Grandfather bought me a Bachmann N scale Seaboard Coast bicentennial set and my hobby started and stemmed from there.

Thanks for listening

Track Fiddler

PS This was roughly 47 years ago.

13

I hail from a railroading family-both grandfathers,all my uncles,2 two aunts.my mother and my dad…My dad was also a model rail so I followed in his steps and in the family tradition I hired out on the PRR as a brakeman in '66.

One could say I was born into railroading since my family railroading dates back to my two great grandfathers…

14

All the other factors may be present but the bug does not stick. Seems pretty cut and dried to me. Conclusions, it’s genetic.

15

I got into it for the groupies, but stayed for the large financial returns.

16

I must be in the wrong branch of the hobby.

[(-D] [(-D] [(-D] [(-D]

Paul

17

Not sure what exactly it was that sparked my interest in the hobby. As a kid, I would enjoy watching the trains go through town or visiting railroad attractions while on family vacation. I think what got me into the modeling aspect was a family friend who invited my mom and I over to his layout when I was in high school. I started going to shows with him and have been hooked since. This started pin 2002 or so.

I took a break from the hobby while in college, picking up a few things here and there. After college, I still had an interest, but collecting sports memorabilia was now my main hobby (have always collected sports stuff). I’d still follow the forums here and there as well as look at a few other sites. Now, with a house of my own, the hobby has become all consuming.

With grad school finishing in December, I’ll have more time to dedicate to the 2’x8’ switching layout I’ll have. My wife is supportive in that it’s better than some hobbies, but wants to see some results of all the purchases lately. What I really enjoy at the moment is researching the area I plan to use as a basis for my layout as well as purchase items or the future.

My proto freelanced Minnesota & Southeastern will represent shortline from Mankato, MN to Winona, MN. The main area modeled will be Elysian, MN to Northfield, MN following the old Chicago Great Western as if the line was never abandoned by the CNW. The research aspect of the hobby is what has my attention right now. I enjoy looking at photos of the area I plan to model as well as plan for both the switching layout I’ll start this winter and future layout that’ll allow for more areas to be modeled. I also enjoy developing the historical backstory for my Minnesota & Southeastern Railroad story.

Ive learned a lot from these and other forums, following layout websites, and starting to participate in a regular operating session group that meets monthly. I’m 31 years old, and feel like a child

18

My parents had a bedroom size layout before I came along. After that the room was needed, so for the entirety of my childhoood, we always had a holiday time temporary layout that started as a simple look under the tree which there is a movie of 2 year old me operating. We moved when I was 3, and each year after, it grew each year until it filled all available space. I kept it going the first year after my Dad died, and after that I had a permanent 4x8 layout in my bedroom which was the biggest room in the house.

–Randy

19

Jim,Back in the day railroading was good money and above average living thus many families "went railroadin’ " for generations. In my generation only three of us went railroading while my other cousins went to various industrial or office jobs.

I believe generics may be a hit and miss because my son and youngest grandson has no interest in the hobby while my oldest grandson enjoys the hobby.

20

I drove myself into model trains with my own birth. When I was born, my brother stayed with our uncles, who had Lionel. That got my brother hooked, who then got me hooked when I got older.