I joke that it is NOT just “playing with trains”, that it “keeps me sane”…
Now that winter is here, and I rarely go out unless absolutely necessary, I find the thing that occupies me is the hobby.
Although I tore my layout down to tracks to expand it {I have yet to actually do so}, I still find myself constructing kits I have on hand and hadn’t yet built.
And I find myself “super detailing” and/or weathering those kits I have built already.
I can still watch trains go round 'n round for about 1 1/2-2 hours before getting bored of doing so. {on the under-the-table-top-tree layout or I can still plunk a train down on the yet to be torn up tracks}.
I HAVE to have something to keep my mind occupied, instead of filling the idle time with just watching TV or “something sinister”. LOL.
So, I want to know how your “hooby time” helps to maintain a sense of sanity for you.
I use the hobby as a diversion and as a reward or goal. I have lots on my plate and end up spending more time at the computer than other forms of relief because it is as close as the basement. However, I am continually telling myself I should get out to the loft and continue with the task (my choice of terms) of building the railroad. My ulterior motive is to run trains in a reasonably nicely scenicked railroad. I am about halfway there.
Eventually the pressure builds to the point where I go out and spend a few hours doing this n’ that. Now that Christmas is over, my fervent hope is that I can get on with building my layout.
For me its keeping things simple and not worrying to much.I already know my modeling took a nose dive since I have limited use of my once dominate right hand.I still enjoy the hobby.
When I really want to escape I play one of my Final Fantasy games on my PS1 or PS2 since I get “lost” in the game since I simply loathe mindless loop running…
There’s very little TV viewing-about 10-14 hours a week.I tend to watch more railroad videos when the urge to watch TV hits.
Easy: It keeps my mind occupied. I have this terrible habit of “painting scenarioes” in my mind about how things could go wrong, down to the very last detail. (My wife says I’m being a pessimist, but I say that I’m just preparing for the worst while hoping for the best…[:-^].) However when I’m concentrating on painting/decaling a model, installing a decoder, or preparing my layout for next week’s op session, I forget about all the things [over which I have no control] that I’m supposed to be worrying about. It puts me in a generally better mood.
I remember somebody once posted that if he didn’t have the Hobby, he’d be spending the same amount of money on psychiatrist bills![swg]
I’d agree with everything above, but there’s a new twist for me this year. My dad died in September so this is the first holiday season without him & since he’s the one who got me into the hobby, every time I work on something hobby related from model trains to model kits, or whatever, I end up reflecting back on my dad and the impact he had on me & my interest & to a certain extent, my skill level that I learned from him. That’s what it means to me this year.
What a nice sentiment, and that, as much as your dad’s influence in the hobby, is his lasting legacy…that you care so much about his contribution to your life that you reflect on it and value it. I’m not a betting man, but I’d put good money on you repeating his efforts, if not with your family and loved ones, then with others. A toast to fathers who have taken the time to be fathers with their children.
I am sorry that he had to be taken this year, and I am sorry for your sadness. I hope the hobby brightens your days as the months pass.
As an educator dealing with 14 to 18 yr old hormones on a daily basis in a classroom, the hobby is some of the best medicine around that can be had without a prescription- and legally! I see far too many of my colleagues who soak up the stress found in our profession, who then manifest physical symptoms that bring on stress-related health issues. In some cases, you can see them age in front of your eyes (almost) as they begin to trudge instead of stride, sigh instead of breathe, etc. I absolutely shut the door on my daily work when I contemplate a new project, mask a car for a paint job, research online for new information, or just read and contribute to the several forums I belong to. The model railroading hobby is the greatest- if only there were another half million of us to encourage more commercial activity and more creativeness! Happy New Year to all! Cedarwoodron
for me it is probably a psycho thing. for too many years the 12"=1’ trains dictated and controlled my life to some extent. now things are different. i dictate what the trains do and when they do it. if they throw craps, i don’t need to call Hulcher or the big hook. i don’t have to tuck my pants cuffs in. i can come to work late and leave early if i so choose. i can lay off for as many days as i please without having to beg the boss. i can drink on the job without fear of violating rule G. i don’t have to pass any physicals or attend any book of rules classes and if things are not exactly true to prototype, there is no real problem since two things i do not allow into my basement are car inspectors and FRA officials.
My layout is just passing the 20 year point. When I started it, I had a job I thought I’d probably retire from, but I did design the layout so that labor-intensive, complex sections like yards and towns could be extracted from it. In the meantime, union-busting took my job and I went back to school as a second career. I finished laying my main the semester I got my BA.
Graduate school saw a big slow-down at first. Once i got into dissertation research and, especially, writing, I began to use it intentionally as a stress reliever. Working with my hands often gets the mental gears turning. In any case, I need the mental health moments working on the layout provides. Some days it seems like more gets done on the layout than on my diss, but that’s the price of progress.[;)]
well, work drives me up the wall, onto the ceiling, back down the other wall, and I do this in loops. but model trains give me something to look forward to, especially when I order new ones. I enjoy, running, painting, and generally working on them, even looking at them.
Being unemployed for nearly 4 years now, I spend the better part of the day searching the Internet for job opportunities and sending out job applications. In those 4 years, I have sent out close to 2,000 applications, in most cases I don´t even get an answer! At the age of 56, I seem to have no chance on the job market, despite my high level of skills and experience of over 30 years in management positions.
The little model railroading I can do on my shoestring budget surely helps me to keep my sanity. Granted, it is far from what I would like to be doing in terms of size, but better little than nothing at all. Watching TV all day is just not my cup of tea.
I’m right there with you on this. My dad passed away in February of this year. It seems that whenever I go out to work on the layout, I think of him. He (well, Santa) got me started in this in 1972, and the hobby grew for both of us and was a joy for many years.
Back in the early mid '90s I was building my previous HO layout - which turned out to be a 3 year plus project. During that same time, I was dealing with more than the usual share of challenges and idiots at the workplace. Building that RR became my “pacifier” during that time. I could go in the layout room and just not have to deal with anyone else and my only concerns were around what I did.
Building that layout, and “Married with Children” reruns, kept my sanity pretty much intact …
My hobbies, Model Railroading/R/C airplanes have always had a calming affect on my body. This was something I finally noticed when I had some very bad problems at the company I owned. The hobby and talking with my wife where the best parts of my life back then and where the out for a lot of anger I had.
It seems that to most of us model railroading is a stress reliever. That certainly was the case for me. For the last 20 years of my career I had a highly stressful job, even though I enjoyed it very much. I’d come home and work on my layout in the evening and feel the stress of the day slip away. Now that I’m retired I don’t have the stress to relieve so less gets done on the layout. It should be that I have more time to spend on the hobby, but somehow it seems to be the other way around. Oh well, it’s still relaxing and soothing to go downstairs and do something on the layout.
Interesting question Galaxy. I actually was taking a stress management course probably 10+ years ago and that is what got me into model railroading. The instructor suggested I take up a hobby that I can focus on and block out the everyday stress that comes everyday to everyone. All my hobbies back then where as she said, violent or stress inducing. Back then all I did was golf, hunt, fish and drag race. I used to build model cars back then too but most of my time was spent on those 4. She suggested MRing.
I was up in Northern Ontario, fishing, having a couple beers while sitting in the boat with a buddy of mine, talking about the course I took and he laughed. Here we were on a lake, nobody around and he said how can this be stressful. I kinda agreed, lol. Then we heard a faint rumble. It started getting louder and louder and then a Ontario Northland freight train rumbled across a bridge we were close to. I thought that was the coolest thing, lol. That course I took and that freight train convinced me to try MRing as a stress relief and that is why I model the ONR.
I talked earlier of MR being my “pacifier”, especially during difficult times. That is very true - MOST of the time. During the course of building my latest layout and converting to DCC, MR definitely contributed towards my stress with some major challenges. BUT, the few times when things seemed hopeless, I just left the room, shut the door and did something else. Of course the problems were all eventually resolved (thanks is large part to you guys)…
All that being said, problems with the layout were kept in perspective. They were not affecting my health or livelihood and were isolated in the layout room. And that’s a good thing.
My stress management instructor touched on that very thing during one of the classes. The ability to just get up and leave during a stressful period can’t be done in real life but that is why hobbies are important. It teaches you that you can eventual work through the stress situation and how to do it which can be applied to everyday life. At least most of the time.
I never counted mine as a point of sanity. If anything, it was the opposite, drifting off into my own little world where things mattered 160 times more than their size suggested.