How do you maintain your motivation to continue working on your MR, I know we have mags and the internet, I’d like to hear what others do to keep up the momentum.
Cheers
Mike…[:)]
PROJECTS! that does it for me.[;)] well, that or money permitting, buying an engine or car(i admit i’m an engine ahoalic[:-^]). example: i bought a bachmann spectrum FM H16-44 undecorated that i am in the process of painting and putting a soundtrax decoder in. its a challenge, and it helps keep me going.[;)][:D]
This has been discussed at great length in at least two major threads in the past seven months, so it should be of some comfort to you that others have scratched their heads and wondered where the zip went.
Cures run the gamut from stepping out of the train room for a few weeks or months, to tackling an unusually tough kit or model, to kitbashing something, to reading material that is germane to the funk you’re in, or even to spending some time developing a secondary interest. In fact, sometimes the funk comes from subconsciously fretting over other commitments that you know you must tackle sooner or later.
Still others try to keep their interests varied, even seasonal. Last spring, several mentioned that it was time to beat their yards and gardens into submission, and that they would return to their train rooms in the winter.
“Burn-out” was a term that popped up in several responses. Mouse just recently offered that he was feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything he could see having to do to get his layout looking presentable. The best cure for that is formidable and extensive research, and then to devise a concrete and realistic plan, including time-lines. This type of roadmap gives you a schedule of deliverables that is realistic, especially for those whose time and money are tight. You can see from the plan what will be needed at each stage, and how long it should take to accomplish it. Then, as progress begins to supply results, your mood improves, as does your motivation.
Good luck.
Thanks for your reply Crandell, I wasnt sure if this topic had been discussed previously but I had found myself wasting modeling time browsing mags and looking for items on the net, I agree we need to have other interests (distance makes the heart fonder???) to make the hobby more enjoyable.
I like to “zone out” on my MR or kit rather than spend a couple of hours in front of the TV…
One of those things that makes MR “The World’s Greatest Hobby” is the variety of activities that are involved in building a railroad. One day, I might be making hydrocal castings of rock walls. The next day, I’m installing couplers and trucks on an old freight car. After that, I’m under the layout doing some wiring, then on top for scenery. Track work, assembling and painting building kits, and we haven’t even gotten to running trains yet!
A trip to the LHS or a train show is also a rejuvenating experience. Just talking to my fellow modellers, and maybe picking up some small detail trinket, is enough to start another little project.
I don’t… [
]I leave the hobbie for years at a time and do other things, but I never sell off my trains while spending time with other hobbies. I have learned to sell off hobbies between interest it helps to finance what ever I’m into the time.
I’ll tell you what does it for me. Scratchbuilding something. I don’t know why, but it really gets me motivated. If I hit a lull doing something, I just pick out something I need, and build it.
Crandell is riight on the money. I made list of the projects that have to be done to get things moving and I made some pretty cool discoveries.
First of all, there is an order to which things must get done. Skip the crucial steps and no matter how much you do, you are not moving forward.
Second, Most of the projects don’t require an outflow of cash. If I stick to the projects at hand, I only need a few things here or there. It’s when I start think of everything that needs to be done in the next few years that I spend more than I should. And I don’t buy things I don’t need. I have quite a few items that loooked really good, but as the project progressed, it turned out that item really doesn’t fit like I thought.
Third, it’s not as overwhelming when you take one project at a time and you know what the project is that needs to be done.
I remeber reading an article of a modeller in MR who had this large layout he was building and he scheduled (had available) 7 hours a week to build, and had a completion date of 7 years, he spent alot of time in the planning stage, he mentioned getting most of the track layed was one of the first goals so he could at least run some gear and keep his motivation strong…
I have a varity of projects to do, so any one area doesn’t get to stale. I also have several friends for are model railroaders, that keep the interest up, as we push and prode each other to do things. Reading MR and following the Forum helps too. As do regular trips to the LHS to see what’s new and happening.
Nick
A photograph I want to make of a particular scene will get me going on finishing (or even starting) it. That leads to a project finally getting the attention it needs. Which, in turn, leads to working on the layout… Yes, I could do it with photoshop but that kind of defeats one of the purposes of the layout. Sometimes fulfilling a promise made to people I don’t even know will motivate a project (http://www.rolleiman.com/trains/clinic1.html). Maybe a new locomotive or two (gotta run them somewhere)… All kinds of ways but reading magazines isn’t one of them (for me)…
Jeff
[:)]
Sometimes I just step away from it for awhile. There’s nothing wrong with being interested in something else. I find that after a couple of months away, I am ready to go again. This seems to happen most often when I’ve gotten too wrapped up in meeting some goal - getting benchwork done, or laying track, or wiring. I get it done and the thing I want to do is something else besides model railroading. When I am not trying to meet a schedule and putter along doing whatever, then I don’t seem to have the problem. This works because I have an overall plan that everything will eventually be a part of, but allows me to enjoy doing what appeals to me at the moment.
Enjoy
Paul
The love of trains and model trains is all the motivation I need. I am probably too motivated… As soon as I need somthing else to motivate me it ceases being a hobby and becomes work.
I am very goal oriented, so I will set a particular goal/goals to meet within a week and strive to get 'em done. This week is drilling holes for grabs (yuk). If I have to force myself to any of this, I should probably find a new hobby, or anybody for that matter.
The passion within. I fell in love with trains as a kid. I get distracted, but the passion has never gone. All I have to do is notice that passion, feel it and look at a train. My trouble has always been keeping away enough to get other stuff do, though I did take a 25 year break, the passion was never more than a thought away.
I respect the guys with schedules, but they always dampened my love affair with the steam engine. When I get overwelmed I look at my stuff and decide what I really want to do, not what needs to be done, and I do it.
I usually like to knock a project off per week (Install a decoder, detail a freight car, build a kit etc) and it keeps me motivated.
Motivation is like dishes in the sink. You need to simply get em done before you go to bed.
Sometimes we hit a snag on a project or get burned out and return to it when we feel better. As stated before this subject was a good forum topic for discussion.
I have been working on a Walthers Lakeside shipping warehouse project for a little over a year now. If I can settle some issues I can move forward. but for now, the project sleeps on the shelf as I slowly make decisions related to that one project.
When it is time, back to workbench I go!
Noticed in the replies, almost all said the motivation is to start a scratchbuild or make a kit to get rolling, we did not hear from the crowd who’s motivation is to spend wads of money buying more “stuff” It seems there is as much satisfaction to MR"s in actually constructing something as there is for others who buy more expensive model railroading items for whatever reason. Try moving across the country for a motivational break, that helps.
I agree with the idea of making up a timeline for my MRR projects. But I just have to avoid worrying about “staying on schedule” when the inevitable unanticipated family commitments divert my attention - otherwise the hobby ceases to be fun and is more like a second job.
I didn’t go as far as to create a timetable, rather I created a project line or sequence. Writing down the squence of the project seemed to demonstrate the importance or each project and put the process in perspective.