I was shocked to learn recently that one of my model railroading buddies got burned out on the hobby and sold all of his stuff off and used the money to buy a boat and fishing gear… I couldn’t believe it. Just last year about this time he was really into it, and he and I were running around all over the place buying locos, rolling stock and other related items. Oh well. Like I told him. If he ever has the desire to run trains again he’s more than welcome to come over and run mine.
I have a lot of interests so when I get burned out on a hobby I simply put the stuff to the side and pick up another of my favs. When trains get to be a little too much I usually return to my boats. I have alot of R/C boats and most still need a detail here or to finish being built. By not selling my stuff I can always return after the burn out is over. Truth be told I just returned to trains after a few months of burnout and boat builting. Now the boats are on the shelf and the trains are center stage.
I’ve seen it happen a few times myself, when “instant model railroaders” lose interest and fade from the scene. They get into the hobby, go on a buying spree to get one of everything then find it doesn’t interest them. I assume the same happens in other hobbies too.
Been there, Done that and have the Tug Boat to prove it. Ya I lost interest with the Ship Models much to the dismay of shipmates and fellow modellers. As for the MR question. I have to admit it does concern me at times that I may just drop out of the hobby as I find my interests do wane from time to time but I think this is a risk we face if we become to imersed in anything we do.
When I moved to my present house 7 years ago, somebody mentioned that Richard had an ‘elaborate’ setup in his basement. I asked him to show it to me, which he did - it was a 5’x9’ tabletop with spaghetti trackwork and no scenery. He told me had hadn’t done anything for over a year, that his ‘true love’ was golf (!) Oh well, maybe someday…
Not trains, but I had a neighbor that switched hobbies every 6 months. He’d go on a buying spree and get real intense about every hobby. Then 6 months later he’d lose interest and just leave everything laying around and move on to the next one.
A springboard hobbyist is what my grandfather called people like that. They know not what they like, so they jump from one thing to another, as if on a springboard.
I haven’t (and won’t drop out) But I haven’t even stepped into my layout room in months. I seems I just don’t have the bug right now. I think of things I want to do though. So you could say I’m going through an armchair planning stage.[:)]
I’ve got lots of hobbies but I never get bored with any of them. Frustrated yes, but never bored. I think if you get bored then its time to move on and find a new hobby.
Some people only stay in a hobby for a short time while others continue in it for years.
Somewhat like marriage. Some people just can’t stick with a commitment while others last a life time.
Most likely the same people that have maintained a marriage over many years are the ones that started model railroading years ago and are still modeling.
I was intensely into MRR for the first two years, but have felt the intensity waning somewhat in recent weeks…natural. My first and great hobby is Astronomy, but I have let my subscription to Sky and Telescope lapse…two years now.
I think it is useful and generally healthy to have new interests from time-to-time. I would never consider selling off items in one hobby to fuel another though, because I am not the type to jump to a new interest every year or so. I like trains and stars too much, so I keep the equipment and return to it when the bug gets me. They are like tools in the garden shed, if you take care of them, they’ll serve you faithfully for many long years…and they’ll be right where you left 'em.
Normally I stick with things a long time but shifting life patterns and intersts cause me to back burner stuff sometimes, or burnout. We lived in kansas City for a number of years and for a variety of valid reasons ended up putting the interst in trains in the deep freeze for about 7 years as it ended up. Ended up heavily into vintage HO slot cars and started a large club, races on differnet home tracks every 2 weeks, made some good friends, collected, raced and tinkered with the cars, had a blast. even my wife developed a bunch of good friends from that club.
When I moved back to Colorado Life changed again (Kids got older so their needs and time demands changed, started skiing again, hiking, joined the fire department etc) and I found I no longer had the time or desire to keep building competitive cars or attend races down in the Denver area, the entwork of friends I used to have in the hobby was not the same in Colorado and I lost interest in collecting, so when I figured the value of the collection equalled the price of a new Mustang, the collection went up on ebay and my slotcar years ended.
Things change. My wife and I are considering building a layout when time becomes available some day, bringing back the days 3 decades ago when we enjoyed the EL, LV and D&H back east. Till then we ride the narrow gauge about once a year. We all had an absolute blast witht eh old Aurora Thunderjet slotcars for about 8 years but betwen life changes and burnout we had our fun, then moved on.
The only thing in my life older than my 47.5 year marriage is my 69.4 year model railroading hobby (measured from my first Lionel circle on the floor, age 5 months.)
There have been times when education, military service, the crass necessity of earning a living and (half a century ago) the pursuit of the opposite sex upstaged flanged wheels on steel rails. Through it all, my interest in trains and railroads remained imbedded between my ears. Most of the time it got as far as my fingertips (as proved by a sizeable collection of assembled kits, kitbashes and scratchbuilds.) Sometimes it reached my feet (layout construction and club memberships.) Now that I’m fully retired layout construction has center stage, but there are other actors (family, historical research, traveling) and the play’s a long way from being over!
I dropped out several times but came back to the hobby.
Trucking posed a challenge, I knew that I was committed when I attempted to run a small dockside on a peice of track off the truck power. The engine made it impossible to keep it on the track. This was before the days of luxury and computer controlled stuff.
Yes,I seen a lot of fly-by-nights come and go over the years and I seen them come and go on forums.Some became “overnight experts” buy the best equipment,tons of books,build a super nice layout and WHAM! Gone! Some burn out by fretting over the minor details and say"the hobby is no longer fun for me" and they quit.Some worry needlessly over their modeling because its not as good as modeler Tom,Dick or Jane.Who cares if it not? Model to please yourself by your standards…
Their excuses runs a wide range to include
“wifey dearest having a baby”
My thoughts…Hmm can’t do two things at once? Funny unknown thousands of modelers have kids how on earth do they do it? How about hunters and fishermen with kids? How do they continue to fish and hunt? The list is endless on hobbyist that has families.
Lost my job and can’t afford the hobby therefore I have to quit the hobby.
My thought? Really now? How so? You have tons of equipment already why worry about buying more until you find a new job??
I no longer have time for the hobby…
Love that one! Yet he/she will go and watch hours of TV or some other time consuming pursuit.
I just seen to many hairball excuses why one is quitting the hobby.If a person wishes to quit the hobby why make lame excuses that most can see through? Why not slip away silently into the night?