Lately I have been experiencing a chronic lack of ambition when it comes to my Model Railroading. The desire to do something is there. The physical capabilities to do it is there. But. the drive to be all psyced and raring to go is not.
Today I went to my train room to work on some stuff. I sat down at my work bench. Took a look around. After about 5 minutes I said oh what ever and went and watched a Movie (Yes it was about trains).
I am wondering is, this something all modelers go through now and again. Or am I just what is left of my faculties completely.
MRing is like any other activity… sometimes you need to take a break from it. Nothing wrong with that at all.
Do something else until the bug bites you again, and then jump right in when you feel motivated. That’s how you enjoy a hobby during your off-time! [8D]
evry now and then i go across to masaic making and stamp collecting. but i always come back to railway modelling.
its nice to have a change now and then.
my railroading is pretty diverse and i think that helps to keep me interested. i have loco’s from 1825 right up to modern day. i think i would get very bored if i moldelled “bradford in the 1950’s”.
i suppose what i am trying to say is that you can do something different and stay with model railroading.
why not have a look at narrow gauge or even broad gauge. they are not all bed springs on wheels.
James, I often feel the same way as you. I sit down at my work bench, see all the failures sitting on it that have ground to a halt, and return upstairs.
Too much of a good thing is not always good for you. A hobby is something one does for enjoyment with their spare time. Maybe too much time is being spent on it? Turning it into a full time job can burn you out.
Time to take a break. Do something else for a change. Get outside and enjoy the summer.
Remember 6 or 8 months ago, when you had all this neat MR stuff you wanted to do, but there was also all the other stuff getting in the way? Y’know, stuff like mowing the lawn, cleaning the gutters, washing the dishes, eating? Well, now’s the time to do those things so your schedule will be free when you feel like workin’ on the railroad again. (Sure, try washing a month’s worth of dishes in advance.)
Too much of a good thing is potentially a bad thing
Anything we do has the potential of becoming boring. I garden in the summer and MR in the Winter. At times I may work on the Layout but only when I’m on the ship or if it’s raining. If you don’t want to burn out you have to diversify.
If thats all you think about and if thats the only hobby you have then of course you would become emotionally drained. I have tons of hobbies, I like to fish, hunt, ATV, drag race, go to car shows with my Trans Am, build model cars, play around with RC cars and slot cars and gardening. Add working and maintaining a house and I don’t have the time to become emotionally drained on just one hobby. I’m just happy I can find the time to even work or just enjoy one of my hobbies.
YES. If you’ve taken your current layout as far as you can, it may be time to think about a replacement. If your happy with the layout but stagnating on a project, place that one aside and move onto something else. Performing model railroad related tasks in short easy to accomplish steps also will you give the feeling of accomplishment and hopefully re-energize you. I. like most take several months at a time off from model railroading to do other things. I may run some trains now and again or do a small project that catches my fancy But every fall, It’s Train time.
IF I am physically or mentally exhausted, I have trouble getting up the engergy to work on trains. The harder or more challenging the project, the more psyched I have to be. Luckily there are projects that don;'t tke a lot of thought–like painting rocks or gluing down under brush. Sometimes, even that seems like too much.
The same thing happens to me. I get to the point that I won’t walk into the room just so I don’t have to see it! Thats when the support of my family comes in to play. They see i’m burnt out and start finding other things for me to do. My wife and I go Railfanning or just out for walks. I started working on the layout to recover from heart failure so there arent a lot of things I can do but shopping, going to the movies, etc … take my mind off the layout and a week or so later I slowly start up again. It can happen to anyone, too much of anything can frazzle you.
Yeah, it happens to the best of us. Recently I lost all ambition when it came to wiring a series of switch machines, so I switched tasks. After spending a whole day airbrushing concrete streets and painting body shells, I was refreshed enough to tackle the rest of the switch wiring and control panel fabrication.
Sometimes all you need is a little diversion…[:D]
I do not have the large layout in place yet, but have a two track plywood pacific with a doubble oval. I find it very relaxing just to sit and watch the trains go arround. The sound of the wheels is very therapeutic. I run them also when I am sitting at my workbench.
Do you have some MR friends? Invite them to assist with your layout.
Yeah,just like professional athletics we go into a modeling slump and like professional athletes we will recover… One thing I have found NOT FINISHING projects can lead to a slump as projects begin to backup on the work bench.I find it easier to avoid the slumps by running trains,finishing projects and adding mini scenes or here lately adding details on locomotives then ripping up the layout just for something to do or keep interest up.
When I find myself stalling out on my projects, I take a break. It may involve watching a movie, going to a sports event or simply walking down the Strip (or through The Fremont Street Experience) and enjoying the eye candy.
If I’m seriously bummed out, I take a short trip. Since I can do one day out, one day back trips to the Grand Canyon, Yosemite or the canyon country in Utah, that’s usually enough to get the creative gyros spinning again.
If all else fails, I hike the Railroad Trail in the Lake Mead National Recreational Area. By the time I get to the fence at the end of the fifth tunnel I’m ready to start laying track.
I try to keep several projects going at a time, including some no brainers that I can work on in 5 minute stretches. There are days when I walk into the train room 10 times, and work for 5 minutes half of them. It is amazing how much is done in a couple of weeks of “not” working on the railroad.