upjake,
Are you using turnouts with insulated frogs? I’m in HO and my frogs are powered. It’s a little bit of extra wiring on my part but I experience NO stalling problems, whatsoever. [:)]
Tom
upjake,
Are you using turnouts with insulated frogs? I’m in HO and my frogs are powered. It’s a little bit of extra wiring on my part but I experience NO stalling problems, whatsoever. [:)]
Tom
Frank
Interesting question. I think I found everything related to construction rewarding - especially when it turned out good, worked and looked great. I also find it rewarding when my grandson also enjoys ‘playing trains’ with me. My 4x8 DC layout is somewhat complex what with turntable, loco storage tracks, sidings and two main lines, that my grandson has no problem building/running trains and manning the controls.
My initial objective was to simply load as much track on the 4x8 as I could - with a few modifications I now have just over 70 feet of track - fairly congested but workable. My biggest frustration was to do with controlling my eagerness to build the layout before learning enough to know the better ways of doing things. For example, I now know not to use short radius turns - just doesn’t work that well.
I am now looking forward to perhaps doing another board next winter using what I have learned from the first board. I think my biggest frustration will come from trying to find/make room for the 2nd board which will be integrated with the 1st one.
Greatest reward: watching my custom painted lcomotives roll through the scenery I built with my own hands.
Greatest aggravation: wiring and electrical work. It can get real annoying real quick crawling under your layout, and then trouble-shooting bugs can be a real pain, especially if you’ve been at it for several hours already.
Rewarding - Having a wife that understands when I’m in the trainhouse I’m in another world and temporarily shunting life’s responsibilities.
Frustrating - Realizing I walked into the trainhouse without an adult beverage.
Hello everybody,
thank you for taking the time and writing all the great responses. [:)] It certainly shows that all of us have our rewarding moments and some that are not that great. It is certainly easy to associate with what people have writen here and many aspects have been experienced personally as well. That, I guess comes with actually participating in the hobby.
Thank you everybody.
Frank
The most rewarding aspect ofr me is in the planning. I like to model what I see around me, and to do so accurately requires that I read and research…and that I enjoy alot. The most frustrating aspect of the hobby is my lack of patience…if I only had more of it I would have a smaller better built layout than the one I have now. Maybe I should model the Penn Central where my slap dash trackwork might actually look prototypical.
Rewarding-LOTS of money to buy things and no derailments.
Frustrating-NO money to buy things and lots of derailments…
The most rewarding for me is scratchbuilding a new structure. Creating something from a bunch of raw materials.
The most frustrating is lack of room for a reasonably realistic railroad to put the structures on. Even though I’m modeling a small town on a branch, even that’s hard to fit in 2x8 feet.
The most frustrating? Trying to dedicate time to creating great scenery. I’d much rather tinker with engines, rebuild a car, play with track problems, or build another kit. Scenery takes so long to complete…[V]
The most rewarding? Seeing & hearing a smooth running/sounding/looking engine rumbling along well laid track, towing a set of well maintianed cars, rocking through the beautiful mountains of pink styrofoam.
The Most Rewarding
Without a doubt, of all the things that I enjoy about the Hobby, right here is the most rewarding. I have my Nephews hooked, it looks as if they are going to get as much enjoyment from the Hobby as I have. They tell me often, without any prompting how much they like their trains. At Christmas and on Birthdays, it is always the Gift from Uncle Doug that they want to open first, they may not know exactly what it is inside that colorful paper, but the have a pretty good idea, that it isn’t socks or a sweater[:D].
The most frustrating would be not having the Time, or space, for now to build the layout, that I have built so many times in my head.
Doug
For me it’s kinda like Golf… I enjoy being in the out of doors so when I am playing badly, I am still having a good time, even if things are not going quite right. Building a kit, installing a decoder, laying track - It might not be going as well as I like but it’s still fun! And just like Golf, when you hit that one drive that looks like the pro’s do it, when I hand lay a switch and everything runs over it with no problems, or finish some scenery and it looks like I imagined it should, somehow I forget about all the duffs and makes you want to come back for more!
My most rewaring experience: When I started the layout I had no concerns with bench work or laying track and I knew I could muddel through with the wiring. My biggest doubts were with scernery. I have next to no artistic ability but after I got started and saw what a difference it made to the layout I am now more interested in that than running trains.
Biggest disapointment: Growing up I had a Lionel layout on plywood sections resting on the floor. When my son reached train age we put those sections on legs and added to them. So when I started with HO I thought I would have twice the space for track and structures as I had with the 3 rail O. A reply to one of my first questions on the Forum set me straight and IT WAS A SHOCK.
Bob
Rewarding - being able to watch a train roll by and it looks almost as if I’m trackside watching the real thing.
Frustrating - ballasting. I hate ballasting. Hate it. But I’ll either learn to endure it or figure out a way to avoid it…
Most frustrating is whenever I sit down at the workbench to advance one of my myriad unfinished projects, the attention-starved cat sits down on the desktop directly in front of me (over and among lots of little parts scattered about) and doesn’t go away. When I’m applying decals, she thinks that the water in my little dish tastes better than the water in her bowl.
Also frustrating is the realization that I’m needing the magnifier lamp just about all the time now to see what I’m doing [sigh]
Most rewarding is watching the fruits of my labors - trains I’ve customized in some way rolling through and around scenery and structures that I’ve made, and seeing it all fit together.
Jim
The thing I find most rewarding is the way the hobby has trained me to be more carefully observant of the 1:1 world. The most frustrating part of it is finding a source for steam locomotive drive wheels. I want to scratch-build a steam locomotive, or two, or three, but I need a source for wheels and also a source for the little shoulder screws I need for rods and valve gear. Sometimes I have some luck on ebay, but it’s pretty hit and miss. Second most frustrating are the age related issues - essential tremors make my hands shake and sometimes my bifocals just don’t cut it.
I’m not sure frustrating is the right word. The most difficult part of the hobby for me is to get started modifying something. Doesn’t matter whether it’s painting a locomotive or changing a structure kit or shortening a turnout. The combination of fear of wrecking something I paid for combined with procrastination is deadly to my progress.
The biggest reward is watching trains operate over my handlaid track and through my rudimentary scenery without spilling a scale size drink.
Fred W
Well, for me there’s lots of rewards and some frustrations. Chief among the rewards are interreacting with the members of my MRR club, conducting a relatively smooth operating session, troubleshooting a malfunction on my layout and having it come right again and taking a big brass steamer that someone has given up on and sold off cheaply and restoring it to smooth operation. My greatest frustrations are having a bad operating session with lots of derailments, engines that are balky and mysterious electrical failures. Normally I shun complicated new technology like DCC and sound equipped engines but recently I have bought or been given some of the newest MTH and BLI locomotives. It’s REALLY frustrating when they develop malfunctions like conking out or sitting on the track going through all of their sound routines and then refusing to start rolling. I can’t repair these engines myself and have to eat a $12.00 postage charge every time I send them back to the manufacturer, which happens more frequently than it should!
most rewarding: Getting stuff done. For example, getting my 3 ft diaroma done, finishing my snowplow motorizing project, finishing my 200 ton crane.
Most frustrating: Not having enough money to stay at it with any dillagance!! At this rate I might have one loco painted and one building built by the time I die. blahhh
Rewarding, completing a project.
Frustrating, not being able to get materials, funds, or info needed to finish a project. (I’m frustrated now since I’m low on funds and need more dullcote)
DERAILMENTS AND INTERMITTENT ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS. DERAILMENTS ARE SOMETIMES MY FAULT AND OTHERS ARE THE CARS. (NOT ENOUGH WEIGHT IN THE VERY LIGHT CARS) OTHER THAN THAT NO PROBLEMS.
ERNIE