As I approach retirement in a couple of years I wonder if anyone has ever walked away from the hobby? I have been in HO for 42 years now and have a very large collection of mostly plastic with some brass. Has anyone thought about when it is time to start unloading and parting with stuff? Curious what thoughts others might have in this area.
Hi, Norm
After looking at your profile, how did you ever have enough time for trains in the first place? [bow]
As someone who has been retired for one whole week, I am really starting to get back into the trains again. At this point, I don’t see myself walking away from them. I may rebuild but at this point I’m really enjoying the extra time I have for my various hobbies.
You don’t indicate how much time you spent on the trains but once you retire, you will have a lot of extra time. It sounds pretty obvious but some don’t realize just how much time they spend with work related activities.
Just my 2 cents
Tom
PS Let me be the first to congratulate you on your retirement! [:o)]
One of the saddest engagements I’ve kept was helping raze a 40 year old model railroad. This railroad had been featured in MRC just a couple years before. The owner just decided he wasn’t interested enough in trains anymore to put forth the effort to keep the layout maintained. He thought the space would be better used for a shop. Shop as in heavy duty metal working lathes etc.
He disposed of the equipment and structures by giving door prizes at the final operating session, swap meets, and finally via a private silent auction. There were a few left over things that went to ebay. The process took about a year once he decided to hang it up.
Personally, I’ve already disposed of most of the brass. The plastic is just soooo good these days. Figured I’d sell it before the prices dropped any further.
I presume you don’t have anyone in your estate you would want to leave it to.
Wow… that’s an interesting question. I would guess that most people hang it up due to declining health related issues, such as failing eyesight or the manual dexterity just isn’t up to dealing with small wheels, switches and the like.
I’m 62 and just got IN the hobby this year and sometimes I think I must be insane to do so, but so far I’ve enjoyed it though it can be frustrating at times.
The losing interest element is very real in anything though. I was in photography for about 45 years, still have tons of that equipment, but I lost a lot of interest in it.
JaRRell
I figure I’ll let my kids worry about it!
I’ve sold of a lot of my HO, but the TT is just too near to my heart to think about selling. I suppose if there was a catastrophic reason I’d have to sell it, but if not it’s all mine until the dirt hits the top of the pine box!
I just don;t see myself EVER giving up this hobby, in some format or other. Every time I’ve sort of left, I’ve come back. I just hope that by tthe time I retire, i will still be healthy enough to work on a layout.
–Randy
I never plan to hang it up but if my health gets to a point …well i dont want to think about it
Lots of people have walked away from the hobby. But not necessarily permanently. Just call it a break.
I hung it up once, Now seven years into retirement, I am back with a new passion. I wish I had boxed more and given less away. I did fun stuff in my sabatical from the Sublime to Redikulus, but it is good to be back.
I became interested in the hobby shortly after the death of my dear gradnfather when I was about 11-years old. With everything associated with highschool, I dropped the hobby. After my time in the military, I went to college to pursue a BS degree in Engineering. After a while the stress started to get to me and I choose to restart the hobby. Frankly this was a much better vice than the other tempatations that exist on a college campus. Frankly, I was quite blessed that my girlfriend, now my wife of several years, could appreciate my interest in the prototype and model railroads.
There have been times where I become less interested in one portion of the hobby but it always seems that there are other portions that gain my interest. Had it not been for my hobbies, I really don’t know how I would how gotten through college, my post college tour of duty in the United States Navy, or the intervening challenges. Sometimes it is just really nice to be able to turn to would off and focus on things that I can control.
There may be times in the future where my interesting in one portion of the hobby or another will fade, but I suspect that I will always be interested in the great machines that built this great nation.
Same here, I come and go from time to time but always come back. I don’t plan to ever give it up but like I said it may take the back burner for a while. The only problem is that everytime I start back up the hobby I spend more and more cus there is always more cool stuff to buy.
After being out of the hobby for nearly 40 years, I am back into it since I retired. I find it very satisfying, especially when the Northern Wisconsin winters set in. (I’ve never been into any winter sports, but I do love the Nothwoods in all seasons.)
The only reason I can see for abandoning the hobby would be health related, ie: eyesight, dexterity, etc. I still pursue my other interests; shooting, studying wildlife, reading and playing a theatre organ, but I must admit, during the winter it is trains. I don’t see myself leaving the hobby for a long, long time. (Good Lord willing, that is.)
If it were up to me, I’d never give it up. But if it came to pass that I was either physically or financially unable to do it, i guess I’d have to…what a horrible thought…
Matthew
I did not know that it was possible to “hang up” the hobby of model railroading. I know that it is possible for it to recess within the depth of the body, only to be revitalized by some sort of spark in the future. But actually to end model railroading? That’s crazy talk…I’ll never end my hobby. Hopefully, I can pass it on to my kids so I know my trains will have a good home in the future.[8D]
If you truly do want to unload your trains though, the best time I would think would be when you feel the need to. If they become something that is just taking up your space that you don’t interact with anymore, then you should make your life easier, and depart with them.
I recently did a spring clean (the wife told me I had too much gear sitting in boxes) and it was kind of refreshing, getting rid of the stuff collected that I thought I’d use some day…
Have you ever opened those stored boxes??? I spent alot of time just looking at what I forgot I had…
Why not keep the items that you would use or have some sentimental value???
O dear, there have been times I wish I could give up, it’s just too addictive! anyone else with that problem? I’ll be happy to take care of your stuff though! Danny
I am currently liquidating a collection for a friend who recently sold his house and moved into a condo… The condo is supposed to be a short term thing while he builds a new house but he says if he ever gets back into it, and I think that’s a Big If, he may switch scales, new technolgies will have come about, etc… He’s figuring on a 5-10 year break from it and with aging eyesight fears he won’t be able to see the detail of the HO anymore… So, he kept a few select pieces that hold other value for him and brought the rest to my house to be sold…
Until recently, I had put it down for about 5 years… Worked on it occasionally but mostly looked at all the cash I’ve invested… Oddly enough, selling my friends collection has resparked my interest. Don’t know why, but it did… But during that time, I seriously considered ‘hanging it up’… It happens…
Maybe for you, it’s just time for a downsize to make it all less overwhelming.
Jeff
My life-long passion has been Astronomy. I have a fair bit of cash invested in good binoculars and a telescope. I have subscribed to Sky and Telescope for years, been a secretary for the Winnipeg Chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and spent countless hours teaching, reading, and observing. Over the past five years, it has waned, and then I rekindled my love affair with toy trains…actually, I blame She because she got me a nice On30 Bachmann Christmas train set.
I used to play lots of badminton, and use to be a competitive runner (silver medallist at the Armed Forces Nationals). Hardly do any running any more. I do miss my daily commutes by bicycle.
Things change, and sometimes Ma Nature throws you a curve. The dialled-in person adjusts and adapts. Darts this month, extreme model railroading the next. Variety really is the spice of life.
Oh, and the one who dies with the most trains definitely wins…oh yeah.
I think we should all concider the ultimate “hang-up” and give some thought to what will happen to our treasures. I am not suggesting dumping every thing and getting out of the hobby completely, but rather what is needed for what we are doing now and the near future. Over the years I know I have collected a great many items that do not fit my current plans, so it probably time to “thin the herd” a bit. I also know that my wife has no interest or understanding of the value of the items that have found their way home. Finaly, my two grand children have to be indoctrinated into Grandpa’s addiction. Now is the time to be planning the future, not to be left to be dumped onto E-Bay as a huge estate sale with out some planning on my part. Less may be more to help focus on what my interests and needs are today, and what legacy can be passed along to the grand kids.
Will
When I was in Junior High School (now called Middle School) I sold my Lionel O-guage layout and bought HO’s. 45 years later, I’m still kicking myself for selling those, although as a hobby, I greatly prefer HO.
If you have a place to store them, box 'em up and put them away. 45 years from now [:D] you’ll be glad you did!
And for the short term, lock up the train room and don’t go in for a month. See if you miss it.