Some of you may remember I am building a new section to my railroad. Everything had been going really well…almost too well…until yesterday when I ran into a problem with some trackwork. It basically involved three turnouts, spacing of tracks and the number of cars each yard siding would ultimately hold. I intentionally didn’t leave room for a large yard because the area I am modeling never had one. Anyway, to make a long story longer, I messed with it yesterday afternoon and again this morning and just couldn’t get what I wanted. So, finally I gave up, came upstairs and took a well deserved nap. The solution must have come to my sub-conscious because once I was vertical, I went back downstairs and immediately resolved the issue. The solution was as simple as moving a crossover and adding two short filler pieces of track. The moral of the story, if you get frustrated, step away for a time - the answer will eventually come and it may very well be a simple. overlooked solution.
That applies to many things in life. I have worked on farm machinery and used the same idea (including the nap). Always good to be reminded that going away for awhile can be more productive than sticking with it, in certain situations.
Have fun,
Richard
I had that happen on Saturday. Iwas hooking up my PTB 100 to program a decoder, and it just would not work. The led’s were telling me (I thought) there was a short. Frustrated I went and mowed the lawn. Then it hit me, it was not the short led, it was the low power led. I had the wires hooked up to the wrong power supply. Hook the wires to the correct ones and everything worked.
Paul
Been there, done that!
What really frustrates me is when I forge ahead with a project only to realize in hind site that I could have done it much better if I had only stopped to think!
AH - the learning curve! I try not to make my butt too sore as I go through it time and time again![(-D]
Dave
Perspective rarely comes when too close to the subject. Instead, as we gain experience, we learn to distance ourselves from the problem, even if temporarily. Those ancient people who took breaks once in a while…maybe they were on to something.
Crandell
Very good advice. Sometimes just taking a shower before hitting the sack is enough, sometimes you need to sleep on it.
One thing’s for sure, it’s best to analyze and figure out what is wrong, especially when it comes to electricity. No point in just randomly starting to yank wiring out.
I have always take a step back and left a project alone when it gets tedious, monotanous, or plagued with problems and frustrations.
Often, the solution{s} is so simple it is unbelievable.
It’s like anything else…when you get “stonewalled” or stymied, take a break!
[tup]
[8-|]
Harold,I been there,done that several times over the years and probably do it again…
I also found a railfaning works like a charm since it gives you time to relax and think.
Still nothing works like a nap to reboost the old brain power.
Hi!
Wow, looks like something we all agree on! Yes, I too have found that its often best to just “walk away” and think things out and/or cool down. While I considered my trains to be my “pacifier” when I was in the work world, now they are mostly just pure enjoyment.
As an aside, in the last few years I have run into a handful of mind wracking DCC problems, and before I went crazy, I posted the problem on the Forum, and you all never failed to help me fix it.
I can definitely identify with that!
My most recent, “Eureka!” moment involved finding an appropriate place for a bridge scene I wanted to include - a tall concrete arch on a curve. I kept trying to figure out how I could work it into a particular place in the track schematic.
Then I got REALLY distracted - writing a novel about a certain drop dead gorgeous blonde. While assembling the scene for her son’s accolade (Sir Cedric Daniel, Lord Belfrage, Knight Defender of the Realm!) it suddenly struck me that if I moved that scene to the other side of the peninsula it wold drop right in! I’ll have to adjust benchwork that hasn’t been built yet to accept the gorge it spans - but that’s the easy part.
As for the problem that got the OP’s tail in a knot - that’s the beauty of building specialwork from raw rail. (I just ordered another 99 foot bundle…)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)