ok i know what you are thinking when you seen me ask the question, but it is not for me it is for my dad. He thinks that it is boring because all you do is watch these things run on rails and deliver stuff. Well i like it because it is interesting to see what kinds of things that there are that are rolling by my house or on any train for the matter and he thinks it is boring tell some reasons why it is not because i can not convince him!
Tell him that he should stand next to a 10,000 ton train moving at 50 mph, and let him say that it is not awesome.
I think the reason we like trains is probably because humans are obsessed with size. The bigger, the faster, or the more powerful something is, the more we’re attracted to it. Trains encompass all three of these requirements.
Another reason we like trains is how they actually tie into the real world. You might think there is a real world and a train world, but think of all of the effects railroads have had. Railroads are a combination of culture, science, technology, geography, mathematics, economics, and politics.
Yet another reason: think of how much influence trains have had on your daily life. These things deliver all your goods, power your electricity, and even help to mobilize nations in times of war. You’re just taking pride in a national asset.
[#ditto]damn good point right there!
This hobby is so great to me because I was born and raised in the city of railroads (Chicago). Amtrak was my father, Metra and Northwesthern was my sisters and the CTA train lines was my big brother. Watching freights and metra move around most of the day was and still is the highlight of my life. For the most part it’s for the love of taking a piece of the real world and putting into the perespective of a small world and give it life by adding trains. When you see models, layouts, sceniery, etc. you can tell me that doesn’t take you there! some people see a layout design from there home town or a big city back in the days and they can say "hey, i use to eat there, shop there or live there. Model Railroading is the one of the greatest hobby there is.
the varity of different types of locomotives,the excitment of hearing the sound of an approaching train,the great railfans who put an extra effort by contributing stories or photographs which appear either in the magazines or the trains website that is why this hobby is so great.when i was a young lad my dad would take me to the nearest train tracks and togeher we would watch the trains roll past,my dad dosen’t think it is boring at all he enjoys trains as much as i do he used to ride all of the time when we lived in europe going to work.
leave us not forget…that this Nation was built by Railroads and those who ran them…and those of us here know this and appreciate it…for me personally this is the allure…the history of the Industry
I think the reason this hobby is so great is because we can re create the memories of the past,the way railroading was from the early 1900’s up to the present,so we can have our favorite railroad or railroads that might not exist today run on our layouts and we can imagine what they would look like today if they were still in operation.This is what makes this hobby so great. Steve Church Milwaukee Road Iowa Division
No disrespect to your dad, but I would venture to say that he is not a gearhead. I sometimes go out of my way just to listen to a passing train. I dont think its something you can easily put into words, but most of us comes from being a child growing up near the tracks.
hey man not to oppose you but my dad is actually very much a gearhead he has an absolutley awesome 1968 firebird and he and me and all of our friends all are musclecar gearheads but he just thinks that them things that run on rails are boring (in his words) YAY my 40th post!!!
[#ditto][tup]Very very true, before car were made and people on horses. The train went almost every damn where you could think of. There are still trains stops I have not heard of yet. Even when men and woman fought for this country in the wars of history. There was always a train envolved.
not taking anything from our fighting men and women…but WW2 was won by the American Steam Locomotive…it was almost as if the Iron Horse knew it was the last hoorah for steam…and went out in style
Hi - It’s not just those sights, sounds and feelings of a heavy train starting from a dead stop, or of a train racing past you that so many of you have mentioned, but it’s also the fact that you can take this hobby in so many directions that has always amazed me.
I certainly second the earlier statements about the great appreciation of history you can get from this hobby. You can take photos and collect them, as well as so many other things you can collect related to railroading or transportation (timetables, equipment data, etc.), so it gives you a sense of organization. It can teach you about geography and how the railroads coped with those impacts/limitations; or strength of materials if you get into the construction of the lines and how they changed (along with equipment designs) over time. There are countless examples of mechanical engineering or the other engineering disciplines in railroading that you can imerse yourself in to the extent you wish to.
You can study how railroads or rail transit lines influenced the development of one city or suburban area over another, so that leads you into social histories. There’s also the related area of industrial archeology in which the railroads are so intimately involved.
Art
That is very cool. (I love musclecars) Just tell him its something that you love just like going to a cruise-in or drag racing. I know for me its been in me since I was little just like with cars, airplanes, and ships.
I have know idea why I love trains. All I know is that as long as I can remember I loved them. Maybe it’s when you stand next to one when it goes by the rumble of the ground or just the size of them. It drives my wife nuts how I would pull the car over to watch one. Good thing is my 2 year old loves them too. Weather they are the Lionels I run in the basement or the full size giants we watch run by the house. They are like watching some prehistoric beast. And the guys running are always good enough to wave and blast the horn for the little guy. I would just like to say Thanks to them for making my little guys day.