Brass lovers rejoice, there’s a prototype for everything!
In all things there are tradeoffs, and Model Railroading is no different, from 72-inch radius dreams in 24-inch radius spaces, big steam & diesel sound stuffed into tiny bodies, years of wind and weather out of paint and a little bit of chalk. At every turn modelers must work with the practical, everyday materials found in the real world in order to recreate their dreams in their model worlds. Naturally modelers gravitate to the jobs they like and over time get better at some things than at others.
My Questions This Week Are:
– What are the tradeoffs you can think of which exist on your model railroad? An example might be using over-sized Kadee couplers because of their strength and reliability. What other tradeoffs can you think of?
– What model railroading-related skills have you become good at? What skills not so much? What new skills are you currently learning?
– Do you work with other model railroaders to trade skills? What skills could you use-- whether your own or someone else’s borrowed-- to help fill out your layout?
As usual, I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions!
In addition to couplers, wheels are another operational trade off. The treads are wider and flanges deeper. Underbodies are modified to allow truck swing. But unless you’re prepared to use really wide curves these are necessary.
Most industrial buildings are undersized for the freight cars that serve them.
Towns are too close together.
Trains are too short.
Yards have fewer tracks.
In many respects most of us run an 1800’s railroad even if our setting in 1950’s. Short trains, lots of them including passenger trains, small on line industries, short hauls.
I develop my own skills as needed. One of the attractions of model railroading for me is that I get to do it all myself, my way. So I develop the design, wood working, metal working, soldering, wiring, modeling, etc. skills I need as I go. After 40 years in the hobby I’m not developing new skills so much as I’m improving my skills. Which is not too say that other approaches are wrong - for some folks a group effort, whether club or round robin, each person using contributing different skills works well.
Gidday, In my opinion model railroading is one BIG tradeoff.
Scale compression, scale miles, fast clocks, the compromise between robustness and detail on our locos and rolling stock just to name a few. Add to that there are those of us that not only model an era that may just be memories of our childhood, but also a country that we may not even get to visit except through books, magazines, films and the interweb.
In fact I would go so far say that though tradeoffs vary from individual to individual none of us would be model railroaders if we could not accept some form of compromise. The hobby certainly wouldn’t be enjoyable other wise.
As for skills I am learning all the time, while I have certain skills in my day job that are of value to modelling, and have learnt from fellow model railroaders by assisting on their layouts, one of the reasons I joined this forum was to see how others do it, including their trials and tribulations to achieve success. ( I’ve never been a big fan of trying to reinvent the wheel).
Like, do I watch a video with my wife, work on my master’s thesis, or post on Philosophy Friday. Some Fridays, I have watched the video, then do Philosophy Friday up late and go to bed an hour after my wife. When I saw the subject of tradeoff, I put off the Philosopohy nFriday to Saturday morning. It’s a tradeoff.
Big tradeoff, I tore down the old layout five years ago…
to make way for new better and better working one, but don’t have new one working yet. I wanted broader curves, more staging. Made many attempts to try to plan a walk-in layout in my available space…
– What are the tradeoffs you can think of which exist on your model railroad? An example might be using over-sized Kadee couplers because of their strength and reliability. What other tradeoffs can you think of?
OMG, I guess my list is a mile long! I use Kato Unitrack for ease of track laying instead of handlaying code 40 rail, which would give me a much more prototypical look. I also use Kato´s plug & play wiring on my layout, so I don´t have to heat up my soldering iron and burn my fingers. I have catenary poles installed, but I do not string the wires. I still run on DC, because I am too clumsy to install decoders in my locos. My structures are cheap plastic kits, which just snap together. All these things will make a true & serious model railroader grind his teeth.
It is not important to me, how I achieve my objectives, it is the overall result that counts.
Can´t be that wrong!
– What model railroading-related skills have you become good at? What skills not so much? What new skills are you currently learning?
I think I have developed an acceptable hand at creating “good” looking scenes. Electrics & electronics? Well, there is a lot of room for improvement! Still learning how to solder properly [swg]
– Do you work with other model railroaders to trade skills? What skills could you use-- whether your own or someone else’s borrowed-- to help fill out your layout?
A good friend of mine is an electrician by trade - guess who is doing my wiring? He is also good at carpentry … I am glad I can help him when it comes to doing the scenery on his layout.
In HO scale the threshold appears to be at about the 2" mark: Anything that in the 1:1 world is 2" or smaller is often over-sized on a model railroad. For example, grab irons look good if made from .020" wire, but that scales to almost 2". A real grab iron is about 3/4" in diameter, but making them out of .008" wire would be both difficult and too delicate.
I don’t mind that the details are compromised and that curve radii are too tight, or that my majestic mountain is only a scale 200’ tall. For me, model railroading is about representing a portion of the world, not recreating it. I go for the overall effect and accept that it is not dead-on realistic, but that it gives a good impression.
As far as skills, if there’s something I need to do, I find a resource to learn it. I don’t call on other modelers, except for lessons - it’s important to me that my layout be 100% my work. The skills that I’ve acquired via model railroading are mostly miniature construction skills. My painting skills still have a long way to go. I’m learning more about manipulating electricity to get the lighting effects that I want, and my wiring is getting better.
Most of the others that have posted prior to me have listed most of the trade-offs that all of us have to contend with. Couplers, wheels, buildings, curves, room size for our layouts, etc.
For me, money is a big trade off. Because I wasn’t making much in my early years, I learned to scratch build models. It still comes in handy today when I want something that costs a lot, isn’t made, or needs to fit a certain space.
Rolling stock is also a trade off for me. I am using a lot of Athearn blue box cars right now. And as of now, I have all the cars my layout can handle. So from this point forward, any cars I buy will be replacements, and as replacements, they will be better quality, meaning more detail.
One of the things that I think that I have become good at is scenery building. Since I have been in model railroading for more than 40 years, there isn’t much that I can’t do. I have always been good at soldering and wiring since it was a skill I was taught and learned for my career. I am presently learning how to air brush.
I am working with another modeler right now and trading skills. I am learning how to air brush from a professional air brush artist, and I am teaching him resin casting.
It’s a model, not a real train. Tradeoff number 1. But, I don’t think of tradeoffs and compromises as bad things at all. I couldn’t fit a real train in the room above my garage. It would smell bad, make too much noise, and be way too much work. Instead, I trade all of that for a model railroad and I come out way ahead.
I enjoy getting close to reality, though. I think I do a better job of it as I’ve learned modeling. I’m a scenery guy, and I’m happy to admit it. Tradeoff - better modeling takes more time. So, the layout doesn’t progress as fast as it otherwise might, but, well, who cares? There’s no deadline, no schedule to my modeling. There’s a great freedom in that.
I’ve learned a lot since I’ve returned to the hobby after 40 years off. I’ve learned patience, and my hands are steadier when I paint small details. I’ve learned that it’s OK to do things over if they don’t come out right the first time. I’ve learned that light and a magnifying lens are still a great investment, even with bifocals.
And I try to share my knowledge and pick up tips, mostly here. Weekend Photo Fun is my greatest source of inspiration, and my greatest challenge in the photos I present.
Since perfect isn’t practical, I chose to make practical perfect, or at least perfect enough for my purposes. So I live with over-size Kadees, fat-treaded wheels (and mostly plastic ones, too) and a lot of pre-owned rolling stock.
My towns are too close together, but I’d rather have them that way than eliminate all or all but one. My trains can be pretty long when I choose, although a dozen or so cars looks not too bad (and doesn’t always have its locos in one town and the caboose in another). Of course, with steep grades, most trains require more than one loco - a perfect situation for one who enjoys rebuilding locos [swg] Oh, yeah, I use those over-size Caboose Industries ground throws - I seldom notice them any more (and have run through a few improperly aligned ones because of that [:-^]) although they are noticeable in photos.
I’m not sure model railroading skills are any different from any other type of skills: if you need to learn something in order to accomplish something else, then you learn. (Or you hire someone else to do it. [banghead]) The latter choice is usually neither within my budget nor is it within my personality. Yeah, I did hire people who had the equipment to put in a basement for my trains, but I’m the one who put a house on top of it. And that’s the way I look at life - if you want to do it, then do it.
Of course, model railroa
What are the tradeoffs you can think of which exist on your model railroad? An example might be using over-sized Kadee couplers because of their strength and reliability. What other tradeoffs can you think of?
The hobby is full of tradeoffs so,one shouldn’t really think about these things and enjoy the hobby least we end up in a padded cell drolling at the mouth and mumbling to ourselves.
What model railroading-related skills have you become good at? What skills not so much? What new skills are you currently learning?
Do you work with other model railroaders to trade skills? What skills could you use-- whether your own or someone else’s borrowed-- to help fill out your layout?
No…I would rather learn on my own doing it my way and not learning another’s way.
I will help when asked or prompted but,I’ll never volunteer to do anything.
Suffice it to say I get by and for me that all that matters.
