What was your learining cure in this hobby? I started in Feb this year with cheap LL set. Fast forward board is bigger with around 300 feet of track. It works great for a while, then nothing will not stay on the rails?
I have up grade the axles, tuned the trucks, installed and un installed Kadee couplers, up graded the power, got better at laying rail, went to Athearns BB’s then PK’s.
Will run great for a week or so, then it all goes to heck and cannot keep stuff on the rails?
Last week or so it has been a MRR heck. Was pulling 42 cars with doubled headed PK’s E-6’s then a coupler let go. Not a biggie right. After that it has became a pain in the a-s on both main linees?
Fun is just about gone, all I can do from throwing stuff. Tonight running well and enjoying them.
Not about the trains. The car, the house, the job, the wife, yeah, but not the trains. Still, to each his own.
Do you have a plywood base and moisture problems, by any chance? That’s something that will subtly distort your trackwork, no matter how well you did it to begin with. Of course, I can thank the car (for the train room above the garage,) the house (for the heat and air conditioning,) the job (for paying for this stuff) and the wife (for putting up with it) for having a stable place to put my layout, so I don’t see this. I also use 2-inch foam for my layout base, which is more or less immune to thermal and humidity issues.
My learning curve is still there. There is no finite end to it. I’ve been in this hobby seriously since I was 8yrs old. In my 50’s now. What you have is a case of the burnouts. You’ve done a lot in a short period of time and now its beginning to take its toll on you. Time to walk away for a while. This can be as little as a few days to several weeks or months. You’ll know when you’re ready to return to it.
I am there currently. I repeated what I did with my first layout construction last year. I worked steadily, day after day, until it was done. This time, because I was challenging my skills with spline roadbed and new bench construction, plus teaching and gardening, it became too much and I simply down-tooled on the layout. It has been six weeks…I think…not sure any more…and I am thinking more about continuing the construction. Fact is that I still have four busy weeks ahead of me, and I feel better about letting the model trains languish. I know I will be keyed up once more when my mind says I can deal with them in a more focused way.
The other gentlemen are right, Ken. Do some building maintenance (painting should bring back a fondness for trains in a hurry [:D] ), rotate some tires using a hand-jack, take a four-hour walk on a seldom used train track, visit your dentist, go to an opera production (seriously, no matter how your experience goes, it will give you a whole nuther perspective on things! [:-^] ) or fix your bicyle and go for an overnight trip someplace with it…not on the tracks.
You know how I handle times like that? By fixing ONE thing at the time. JUST one. If you have your track fastened down with nails, that’s one thing it could be. A lot of people make the mistake of driving the nail in too far. Doing this will slightly decrease the gauge of the track. Sometimes, it’s enough to cause problems like you are describing. I use track nails, but here’s how I do it: I drill a pilot hole first. Then, I push the nail in with a nail set VERY carefully. If I see the tie become distorted, I get out the needle nose, and gently pull the nail up a little. I have several places like you describe on my layout now, too. It’s a learning curve for ALL of us. Remember this too: Prototypes derail everyday. It’s a fact of life. It’s part of the hobby. Might I make a suggestion? When you have a derailment, DON’T touch anything. Get the camera. Take pictures. Not only can you share them with us, which will be cool, but you might even spot the problem in one of your pictures. Many things show up on film that we don’t see actually looking at it. Just an idea.
Nothing helps me more than finding the nearest mainline, sitting by the tracks and having a few double-headed coal trains roar by. Sometimes just watching other trains, not your own, will help. I agree, a break sounds like it is in order. Just don’t do like I did on my last one and stay away 3 years. You can only do so much house and yard work … As for derailments, the last rash of them cost me tearing out part of a mountain and redoing trackwork. I didn’t want to do it but everyone here convinced me it was the right thing to do. The good news is that as part of it, I made some changes (got some new ideas) and wish I had incorporated them in the beginning. ANother thing which has helped me is adding the extras like layout lighting, DCC and sound. They add a whole new level of realism and excitement. One day I need to get that Locobuffer installed…
Hey Cuda Ken, I think you’re operating like I do when I develop a new interest or hobby and overdo things (buying or building lots of things in a very short time) I usually get bored/burned out just as quick from the rapid pace of activity. Slow down relax step away from the hobby go participate in another one of your interests, this is supposed to be fun not a race to keep up with everyone else or have the instant railroad empire. Go out to your garage give the Charger some attention (I have a 67 GTO that has been on indefinate hold over 15 years). See been there done that and have the scars to prove it. The forum and the people will still be here and will be just as happy to see you when you’re ready to go railroading again. Take it easy Cuda Ken.
Hi Cuda Ken. After many years of dreaming of having the time, space, money,freedom to enjoy this hobby. The one thing I told myself is that it is a HOBBY. I gave myself 25 to life for the construction of my own little world and that my friend takes time. A very wise man once told me if you can do 1 hr a week on your layout = 52 hours per year which is quite bit of time but still allows good progress at the same time. cheers womblenz
Aren’t you the guy that dropped the $12,000.00 engine in the dragster and had it come unglued after only 81 minutes of operation? or something like that?
I can’t believe that you are in sales; I tried my hand at sales three different times and each time I had to go back to work for wages because my commissions just weren’t feeding the bulldog. But I kept picking myself up off of the ground and giving it one more college try. I got a $3752.00 commission check one time - one weeks work - and it was six weeks before I saw another penny. I’ll bet you’ve had the same experience! I finally acknowledged that I was never going to be anything more than a mediocre salesman and I went on to other things - BUT I NEVER GAVE UP AFTER SIX MONTHS. Sales can be invigorating one minute and the most depressing experience in the world the next - sometimes it’s one “No” after another and then, wham, you get that magical string of “Yeses” and it makes it all worth while.
You want to know aggravation; become a computer programmer - I’ve written programs in my sleep, that’s how consuming it can become when you can’t figure out why your code is not working. And God only knows how many chapters of my novel have gone into the trash because my rhetoric just ain’t workin’. I finally burned myself out on computer programming but I’m NEVER giving up on my novel - It’ll get written and it’ll get published.
You’re not the first person to have troubles out on the line; I was operating our NTrak layout one time and it took me an hour and ten minutes before I got a train all the way around the loop without a derailment - and then it ran flawlessly for over two hours. I’ve spilled trains on curves, picked points and sent cars onto adjacent tracks causing a multi-train pile up; I over-lubricated a loke one time and no matter how much Brite-Boy(R) I used everytime a train hit one particular stretch of mainline it came to a halt with the loc
I have never stopped learning in this hobby even after 35 years. I don’t know the cause of your problems but one solution is a bigger scale. Larger scales are more forgiving of problems.
In any scale, you need to build sound benchwork and carefully lay and test roadbed and track. Even though I have laid a fair amount of track I always check and test it - if it isn’t 100%, I pull it up and redo it. The trackwork is critical, when you sight along it should have a smooth and flowing look to it; it should be level from side to side (super elevation should be used cautiously if at all); there should be no kinks or bumps, dips or humps. Run your fingers over the joints, if they are rough smooth them. Use easements for curves and grades. Make sure everything is in gauge, check everything with a standards gauge.
My current layout is S scale with code 100 track, my only derailment occurred with a car that has defective trucks. Otherwise I run forwards and backwards with no problems. All my cars are weighted to NMRA standards, have metal wheels, and KD couplers. Wheels are checked for gauge. Trucks roll freely or are worked on until they do.
I have seen 100+ car trains in N scale runnning smoothly at train shows, so it can be done.
A maintance free machine. A no maintance layout. Things that never break, oh what a dream. I think you maybe need to see a doctor man, a broken coupler shouldn’t cause such rage, esp in a hobby item. Hope you don’t have such rage when people act up. Fred
Ken - If you think getting everything about your layout operating smoothly and looking great over night, or in just a few months, is supposed to be the norm, my advice to you is to seek another, far simpler hobby. Most will admit that the learning curve in model railroading generally amounts to 10-30 years. And you’ve been at it how long…just six months? Hobbyists will typically keep learning and improving their skills throughout their complete tenure in the hobby. That’s why virtually all the guys with publishable layouts in the magazines are elderly and admit to having been in model railroading since they were kids!
The learning curve never stops - that’s what’s cool about this hobby. There’s always somethign new to learn and try. I started as a kid with cheap Tyco and Life Like and Bachmann. It got frustrating, expecially my last layout before college, which was in N scale. I had some nice rollign stock from Atlas (came with metal wheels unlike most of the others), and with my Atlas track it stayed on the rails just fine. But all I could get were the crappy Bachmann locos which ran like the junk they were. I finally got frustrated and gave up, just before those nice-runnign Atlas/Kato locos came on the market. A year or two later and I may never have gone back to HO. As it was, I left the hobby for good for at least 5-6 years, then was just an armchair modeler for 2-3 more years.
You are learnign a lot by these issues you have. One, based on your description of your layout, is that 42 cars is just too much. It’s cool to once in a while see how many cars you can pull - I once built a train on our old 4x8 that nearly coupled onto itself just to see which of my locos would pull it. But it’s too much train for the size layout, both from a realism level and for practical reasons. But now you know. Second, you’ve found that poor trackwork, and poor quality track components, lead to frustrating derailments. We’ve all been through that one. A few lucky ones get pulled intot he hobby by a friend who’s already been there, done that, and might avoid that step of the learning curve, which is good because it’s a big reason some people never stay in the hobby. You’ve taken steps int he right direction by replacing wheels and couplers - you just have to start working on the track. It’s not even necessarily because of your inexperience - some sectional track is just that bad that even when the joints are carefully put together, it has kinks which cause derailments. Of course, when you first go out and buy a train set, you have no way of knowing that. But then, the first tiem you ran your car, did you meet all your goa
you need to relax a bit, sometimes our expectations are greater tham end results. this time of year,give the trains and yourself a break, enjoy summer for a week or so, it’ll clear your head. myself,i haven’t touched a thing since may,just like the outside more. when you go back,get a nmra gauge,check track,then wheelsets and work to fix the problem. are trains too long? are lighter cars up front and heavier cars in back? is track on wood,in basement or attic where heat and humidity are causing shifts in trackwork? these are the learning curves you will experience throughout the hobby. self-gratification comes with learning to adust the problems, no one has built a layout in a few months, take your time and when you get too p*ssed off,walk away, it’s a hobby that should relax not stress,been there before.
I’ve felt that way…usually after my Athearn Baldwin S12 has stalled again. Most of my engines are Athearn BB items…which don’t give me trouble. For some reason, the S12 is the only one I have problems with. For some reason, the wheels (NWSL replacements) don’t stay clean, the truck bolster joints (i.e., the contact points) keep getting dirty, the sideframes fall off, etc. Yet, the track is totally clean! I’ve seriously thought about bashing the S12 to bits with a sledgeahmmer! Usually when those thoughts start, the S12 behaves itself and I walk away.
Ken, I’ve been ready to quit a few times. I walk away from it for a bit and come back to it when I can. This time of the year for me is the worst. I hardly ever set foot in the basement due to too many projects in the house or outside. I’ve never sold any of my stuff. I have some very very nice N Guage stuff my wife bought me after I came back from the Gulf in 1991. I dropped out of the hobby from 1995-1999, and then got back into HO scale. My son has requested the N Scale stuff and he may just get it. I look at some of the folks here and their layout and I am amazed at the detail and love they have for the Hobby. I then see the folks like tstage and his shots on his foam top layout with the Dow Corning clearly seen in the shots and it make my old 4x8 Homasote top layout seem acceptable to me. I like to RUN my trains. My mind does not wander off to make trees, sculpt mountains, and build bridges. I want to do that some day, and I plan to start by adding little modules to my lay out. With the internet and forums like this, I can dream, I can see what others have done and I can plan. I dream for a Challenger but know my layout is not worthy of such. I love my little diesel switchers in the yard because I know I’ve got that laid right and it’s in the middle of the layout. No chance one of them is coming off track and being damaged. I have to throw all my switches by hand, and that’s alright with me. I’ve fallen in love with intermodal containers and the 48 foot RTR wellcars by Athearn. Why? I have NO IDEA! But they look so nice being pulled by either my dual lashup GP40’s or the single dash8-40CW. I have another dash 8 coming later this year, so I’ll be adding another set of well cars too! LOL! How STUPID is that? I almost have enough to go all the way around my 4x8 main line! But the detail of the wellcars and the different colors of the containers really get me going! Plus it’s what my Grand Son and I see going through on the line through town. I guess what you need to fi
I’ve been in the hobby for almost 20 years, and have built 8 layouts. I still don’t know everything, and occationally run into problems I can’t solve and have me pulling my hair out. You don’t have to give up, but sometimes it’s a good idea to take a step back. The solution to your problem will usually present itself, when you stop thinking about it.
Don’t be afraid to fail. My first couple layouts were disasters. But I learned something, and started over again. Now, my layout is the envy of several of my friends.
Brass track gave way to nickel silver. Snap Switches to real No. 4 and 6 turnouts. Sectional track took a backseat to flex. I’m still learning new tricks on how to lay track better. The cheap train set stuff I started with is gone. Replaced by Athearn, Atlas, and Spectrum locomotives and Athearn, and MDC cars, which in turn are being replaced by Bowser, Branchline, and Accurail cars.
It’s a proven fact, you learn better by making mistakes, then if you get everything right the first time. The true definition of learning is not making the same mistake twice, but making new ones instead. [:P]
One problem i see with newbees is they get a lot of bad advice, not saying that any advice here is bad. One problem is there are so many ways of doing the same thing and depending on how true to life you want it, there are different standards. I for one would never use Atlas standard track { I use shinohara code 70 } but would never recomend that to a newbee, they’d give up after the first switch and restoring real wood kits for cars, ever shaved down z bracing to another size because the size you needed is no longer available. And also things change, wish we had foam in the 60’s.
I’ve seen others do the same, start in the hobby and be all gung-ho about everything, buying all sorts of stuff and going in about ten different directions at once. Their enthusiasm seems to be overwhelming, turning out models quickly, usually fairly crudely too. They are doing stuff so rapidly that they don’t seem to have the time to learn how to do anything right. Others can do better because of experience - you learn from your mistakes, seek out help from others, and move on.
Some time later we hear these guys are no longer in the hobby, they’ve burned out. I think of them as “flash in the pan” modelers, without any real long time interest in the hobby. I assume they thought they were interested in model railroading, but their interest wasn’t very deep.
Some get discouraged because they don’t take the time to assimilate the skills and facts about the hobby. I often wonder if they’d do the same if they took up other hobbies that also take time to master - say one of the martial arts? Would they quit in six months because they hadn’t received their black belt yet?
“Model railroading isn’t life or death” - it’s more important than that to serious modelers! [:D]