As I write this, it’s 0300 hours local time, and I know I’m not going to get back to bed tonight. So I’m considering using the time to get a bit done on the railroad, and I was wondering if any of you have ever found any occasion to do some MRR work in the small hours?
I haven’t done it in the wee hours of the morning, but I do do it often in the wee hours of the night, around 11:00 at the latest.
Oh… most definitely working on the MRR in the wee hours of the night.
Last weekend, I couldn’t sleep tossing and turning thinking about…“where am I going to put the grade crossing at?”, so I got out of bed at 2am, got some coffee started, had a smoke, and thought, well might as well work on the new layout!
Fell asleep on the couch about 5am… oh I love sunday naps. LOL
That’s when I’m able to do the bulk of my MRR work, especially on weekends and holidays.
John
First train on my layout was run at about 2:30AM on a Sunday morning.
Kevin
Yes many times. I’m usually in bed around 11P and up with the Sun. But there are times that I can’t get to sleep or something wakes me up. Spending an hour on the RR is very relaxing and I go back to bed and sleep soundly the rest of the night. It’s easy cause the RR is in the bedroom next to mine.
I work second shift. I usually get home around midnight. I spend about a 2 hours watching the TV , reading e-mail and going on this forum. After that i’ll spend an hour working on the layout, then go to bed around 3AM. Weekend work on the layout is varies depending on the wife and her “do list”, weather and fishing.
When I built my first layout, it was in the garage in Phoenix, Arizona. It was too hot during the day to work on it.
I’ll second that emotion…in the summer, you’ll find me working on the patio layout in the late evening hours.
I thought they were known as the “wee” hours. … Another reason to use the 24-hour clock, because I don’t associate 1:00 in the afternoon (1300 hours in 24-time) as compared to 0100 hours (1:00 in the morning) to be a wee hour.
Mark
Guys, I think this is an age-related thingy. When I was in my 20s and 30s I would stay up all hours working on whatever interested me at the time. Now, at a little over age 65, anything past 9 pm is a little too late! [zzz]
Jarrell
since i retired a few years ago i have done the “selective compression” thing with my daily routine. generally sleeping from about 6 AM to 10 or 11 and then taking a 3 or 4 hour nap in the late afternoon or early evening.
that way i get 2 days out each 24 hour period. i do spend most of my time fiddeling with the trains but the downside is the bright fluorescent lights shining through the basement windows late at night. this has resulted in some of the local air heads asking what i was growing down there and if they could buy some.
i think my years on the railroad conditioned me to ignore the time of day. for those who are on shift work, i would offer the following suggestion. when you get off work, get your rest right away then when you get up you can enjoy yourself and be tired on the company’s time.
grizlump
Yes,I still do that as the wee hours is the quiet hours.I also like to operated in the wee hours under a floor lamp with a 100 watt bulb.
It is getting that way. I am building a new section into the RR and have had to solve a couple of issues - so i was in the basement last night at 1:00 AM with a tape measure rechecking grades and running trains on the other section. Looks like a repeat performance tonight…
Yes, I work nights so I build the GS&M at night. You should see the sneeky saw work at 2am 
Set every thing up with flash light in the back yard, Turn the ard Flood lights on, make the cuts. Then lights out and back into the train room.
E.G.Hall
I do everything late at night. When I’m not at sea, I don’t have to get up and go to work in the morning. I rarely go to bed before 2 am and 3 is not unheard of. That being said, I let my wife sleep a little. I get up at 6 and put my son on the school bus, then I usually go back to bed at 7 when she gets up. Usually sleep until around 9-10. Spend the rest of the day doing chores, laundry, fix the car, etc. An afternon nap is not unheard of. When my son comes home form school we do homework, cook dinner, etc. Be a family. 10pm until 2 am is usually my time. I either spend it watching TV, on the computer, or building something for the train. And usually somewhere in there 3-4 times a week, my fire dept pager goes off in the middle of the night so I’m out the door to fight a fire or respond to a wreck. I actually go to work to rest. I work on a tug 6 hrs on and 6 hrs off for 14 days. Coast Guard says I have to rest and sleep minimum 12 hours a day. I’m lucky if I get 8. But I have an awesome job, I get a 2 week vacation every month.
I am happily retired and find going to bed after collecting the morning paper from the driveway is my normal ‘last thing I do before going to bed’ routine. Between midnight and oh 5 to 7 AM is when the work gets done on my SOL RR (that’s Southern Ore & Lumber). Its an odd schedule but it works for me and the Mrs. She watches all her shows on the Tivo thingy while I watch glue or paint dry and we are never harassed by phone solicicitors or pollsters. The all night grocer is never crowded when I shop- I get to park right on the front row. Its totally unsocialable but at my age who cares? I’m up and running daily by 2PM unless its a lousy (rainy, cold etc.) day then I just roll over and sleep a little longer. Life is good so why worry about a clock telling me when to do what. I worked for over 50 years by the clock but I sure don’t pay attention to it now.
As I write this, it is close to midnight and I am working on some new HO spine cars made by Athearn. I will probably read a book and finally go to sleep. I don’t get much MRRing done during the school year since I am a senior in college. I will be installing some sound decoders during spring break.
MRRing in the wee hours for me is normal on the weekends.
Definitely it seems like during the day light hours no matter what I’m working model railroad or out in the shop there’s nothing but constant interruptions and of course “The Field Marshall” aka the wife has along honey do listshe keeps adding on to during the day. My only draw back is when working on the layout I have to limit what I do. No using power tools or hammering etc. As I have a little guy sleeping up stairs and more hten once mom has caught us down here playing with trains.
A philosophy I lived by. I accomplished a lot more in life once I decided to follow it.[tup]
Brent