We see the mantra “It’s my layout; I can run what I want!” trotted out quite frequently here. It got me to wondering…
Does anybody run what they don’t want?
I have an old LifeLike beater that I don’t want but run because my son likes Conrail blue.
My son loves my N&W J class loco, even though I model mid-coast Maine in the 1930’s.
Bachmann GP50’s that I got for a Christmas present
Yup, past gifts from daughters – BN 3-car Husky Stack set and Mantua “Special First Edition” Seattle Seahawks NFL reefer in team colors – running behind their favorite loco, a PFM Climax, just don’t feel right…
I allowed a friend to run his U boats once. Just that one time. He was happy but I still have a need to go to counsling as to why I allowed such bad engines on “My” line decades ago. =)
I think maybe it was a duty to crack that throttle and see the whole thing rattle into motion. I think I did it to get him off the sectional track on the carpet situation because I was running on a bit of plywood and cork at the time.
My brother never did run “My” engines very much because it was truly “HIS” layout Sibling competition combined with whose engine was better made for a bit of tension at times.
I have some Bachmann steamers that I’m not particularly fond of but I run them once in a while anyway.
For my prototype, I have to run at least two icky diesels, in an otherwise pristine steam realm…
SURE NO ARGUEMENT, BUT Isn’t that simply A LAME COP OUT?
‘Get off my back’. IT’S MINE - sort of a juvenile ‘Don’t tell me what to do’ (I can do what I want) - shoot my dog, beat my wife, etc.
or “It’s my BEER. I’ll drink it warm…” OK with me.
Though the statement may very well be true, you won’t ever see me actually say such a childish thing here on the forum like I’ve seen others do… It may very well be my layout and my property, but I follow strict, specific rules, as in, the layout itself and trains are all serious copies of the “real world” in every respect, not clownish things out of my wild imagination like some I’ve seen. You won’t ever see me run steam locos and mixed era rolling stock when the layout is set up for modern trains, or diesels when the layout is set up for the steam era with the wrong caboose or something. As for the question. No, I don’t run things on my layout that I dislike, and if someone happens to give me an item for Christmas, my birthday or otherwise that I don’t feel right about-which does occur from time to time, I accept it gratefully, then sale it on ebay or trade it to one of my model railroading buddies for something I prefer ASAP!.. Tracklayer
The “It’s my layout” chant seems to be voiced most often when there is some perception of persecution by the evil rivet counters.
As someone who tries to follow prototype practice (to a degree; as far as Pennsy modelers tend to go, I’m pretty mild!) sure, there are some things I like but wouldn’t probably run on my layout, but then choosing a prototype doesn’t somehow force me to do something I don’t want to do. Prototype modelers have not necessarily tossed creativity to the wind and shackled themselves to the dungeon wall.
I freelanced for a long time, but my current prototype-based layout is probably the most plausible, coherent layout I’ve built, because it stays within a certain set of real-life constraints. Even the best freelanced layouts out there (V&O, AM, Utah Belt, etc.) all voluntarily impose a fairly rigid set of guidelines (era, locale, roster, etc.) which make them so plausible.
Again, “It’s my layout; I can run what I want.” It seems to imply that others are somehow running what they don’t want because they’ve set certain rules for themselves… So, I figured I’d ask if that were really the case!
I have a John Deere train set that my wife owns that runs around the layout every once in awhile. I don’t like it but it keeps her happy, lol.
My sister gave me this one. I only put it on the layout when she comes over.
Yeah, the colors are really like that. But it’s not as bad as the “Toys ‘R’ Us” car with bright orange trim.
(sung to Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party”)
It’s my hobby, and I’ll play if I want to
Play if I want to, play if I want to
You should play too, and that is my view
Just for fun!
Lynda
Well …I am following a specific prototype, too, but even there, there comes a time when you find yourself saying “I do it this way because I want to.” Let me give examples. Ask someone what era they model and they are likely to state it in terms of 5 or 10 years: “I model 1950 - 1955” or “I model the 1970s.” But what that really means is that you model 1955 or 1979 and allow some inaccuracies and anachronisms. Some darn (am I allowed to say that here?) expert is going to point out that THIS locomotive could never have run with THAT freight car or if THAT automobile is on the layout then that locomotive cannot possibly have been painted THAT way, or some such (getting right down to street signs, automobile license plate colors, whether a tree was there or not). In theory true prototype modeling gets you down to a specific year, or month or even day. Even hour I suppose. That is not the same as making an excuse for running a Toys R Us boxcar behind the General and an F unit or whatever but accuracy is in the eye of the beholder, and while we might say we never rely on the “it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to” excuse, in the right circumstances we might need to.
Example I model the Chicago & North Western in the 1960 and a good buddy, who has written Morning Sun books and is a nationally recognized expert on all things passenger train, is constantly reminding me that my Rivarossi CNW coaches are not at all realistic. My response is that I am modeling a town where the passenger trains were never seen at speeds less than 75 mph and the cars were a blur of green and
My 6-year-old son pulls a 14-car freight train behind his Amtrak liveried P-42 and three Amcoaches.
I have this LL docksider which I loathe. I have to use it for my dockside scene. I do have a cast metal one with wonderful details from the 60’s. But it needs more work to be reliable.
Curses upon you, Dave Vollmer! I saw the title of this thread and immediately an old Leslie Gore song started going through my head and now I can’t get rid of it. May the great blue bird of paradise drop a nasty surprise on top of your next birthday cake. [swg]
"It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to,
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to.
You would cry too, if it happened to you…"
Only now, it’s:
"It’s my layout and I’ll run what I want to
Run what I want to, run what I want to
You can kiss my [censored] if I’ll listen to you…"
Andre - teenager of the early to mid 60’s, auld phart of the 21st century.
I knew there was a reason I liked you (see my version above).
Andre
I have two bachmann GP50’s in “N” scale and they run and pull great,I only wish bachmann would put more roads out with diffrent numbers on them,saves re-painting them.[2c]
JIM