Are your trains an escape?

diesel

New Member
you have a HOUSE dedicated to trains : |

wow here in NYC having a spare 10x13 bedroom is like having an extra galaxy to play with; which is where my layout is.
 

diesel

New Member
hey rhtastro, ya so I'm actually just now (finally) constructing the layout, our club is in a 65'x35' room in the basement of an apt building. Not ideal condidtions, but again NYC space is worth more than gold these days so we're very lucky; I won't complain. It's warm in the winter because of all the heating pipes : ) Take a look at our site:

www.empirevalleyrr.org

-oops; page expired, we'll get on that ASAP!
 

nkp174

Active Member
They are a wonderful escape from my life in academia. No technical journals to be read. No computer programs that I have to use. No cold University or EPA offices to sit in. Just me, some styrene, and a set of plans...with the occasional "wow" from the Mrs.

Currently I'm at home...I'd planned to go to the epa at 9am and then my university later...but I'm still working on breakfast. I'm going to probably allow myself 5-10min to finish the windows for my DSP&P waycar...I have all of the panes completed.
 

nkp174

Active Member
Yep. It took me 5 minutes because I just had to glue two panes into place...they others were already ready.
 

rhtastro

Member
nkp174, I retired from the academic life at UC quite a few years ago, and you know what? I don't miss it at all. However, I do run a large astronomy club locally, and keep up with things in the scientific world that way and through reading the journals. But I don't miss all the meetings and almost weekly ceremonies for this or that person's achievements, unless they were mine. But the "lab parties" were fun.
 

nkp174

Active Member
rhtastro, that sounds cool! I do not plan to be a lifer...I admire faculty that call it quits...partially...at a certain point to enjoy the other aspects of life...namely grandkids and trains...which are...hopefully...a very long time into the future for me!
 

Trainiac77

Member
Definitely an escape! And cheaper than a shrink! (well maybe some months when there aren't any sales going on at the hobby shop!) sign1
 

green_elite_cab

Keep It Moving!
They certainly are! thats why i started the hobby. I wanted something i had more control over, that i could succeed in. its also so frustrating sometimes that it makes me forget my other problems, and when i'm finished with said project, it certainly makes me feel proud.
 

rhtastro

Member
Green EC, hey thanks for all that, I mean starting the hobby and all. I wondered too along with nkp174. Funny, but, I heard that "Marklin" started it a long time ago. 19th century? Sort of. No matter, as far as time travel, I do that everytime I go out a billion light years with my telescope/CCD camera. Now you're saying that he goes out a billion light years? No, it's the scope that can "see" back a billion years in time. It's all about escape, I think. bob
 

nkp174

Active Member
Yep, rhtastro, if we ever could invent a warpdrive...and a very, very, impossibly powerful camera...we could solve definitively so many mysteries...was anyone beyond the fence on the Grassy Knoll, did someone poison Napoleon, and how the underpant gnomes get into our homes.

I suspect that model railroading was really started by Isambard Kingdom Brunel...because all other trains were toys relative to his Firefly and other 7'3" gauge trains. :)
 

DeckRoid

Member
My setup started when my wife decided I needed a hobby and parity on money spent on said hobby. (She is a knitter and we now have sheep and alpacas to support her habit... err... hobby)

We were at my folks' house a few months back and I went into the attic and retrieved my old Tyco set from 1977. I had a nice little layout for a few years, but then I put it aside when I got to high school and found girls.

Since then, I have put up a nice 8 x 12 bench and put a layout on it... two or three times I changed my mind... and I have been to a couple of swap meets around the Northwest.

I thought it would be a nice hobby, but I, too, am a stay at home dad with a 2 yo and a 6mo old. When the kids are down and the wife is knitting, I creep out to the garage and I will do a myriad of things: ballast a few feet, run my freight to market and back again, bust out the passenger line, or I try to figure out where my mountains are going to start and stop. I change my mind on the entrance and exit of the tunnels almost daily.

So, yes, indeed, this is an escape for me.

George
 

Printer

New Member
Escape? I'm hoping so. I've just recently been classed as "disabled". I can't tell you how much I HATE that word. My recent diagnosis of Emphysema and then the follow up heart attack have still got me cooling my heals. I go October 17 for my 6 month review by my Doctor at which time I'm hoping he'll give me a green light to at least putter. He already has forbidden me from working (that just about kills me). So I'm looking forward to escaping from my physical ailments and concerns to live a little in the model world.
 

chessie4155

Active Member
I escape into the real world to take a break from my world on the layout! lol, really, I ,eat, sleep ,sh, well live, for my layout..Being disabled, I have MD, it gives me a reason to get up and face the day..I can go to the basement and anything that may have been bothering me is gone as soon as I step off the last step..It's almost like a medication, I get so into what I'm doing ,I forget about all my aches and pains for a while. My wife loves it in that she knows where I am , I'm not in a bar, or out blowing money we dont have on gambling, drugs ,booze or what ever...I spend money we dont have on my trains! NOT! I'm on a strict budget and have had to pass many many times on things I would love to have for the layout..It is also fantastic for a Father and Son thing too..My Son and I have a blast running trains and adding detailing to the layout and I'm looking forward to showing my Grandson the wonderful world of Model Railroading..
This thread kinda reminds me of the AA meetings you see on TV...
Hello everyone, I am a Model Railroader!
sign1
 

diesel

New Member
My wife loves it in that she knows where I am , I'm not in a bar, or out blowing money we dont have on gambling, drugs ,booze or what ever...I spend money we dont have on my trains! NOT! I'm on a strict budget and have had to pass many many times on things I would love to have for the layout..It is also fantastic for a Father and Son thing too..My Son and I have a blast running trains and adding detailing to the layout and I'm looking forward to showing my Grandson the wonderful world of Model Railroading..
This thread kinda reminds me of the AA meetings you see on TV...
Hello everyone, I am a Model Railroader!
sign1

Just remember All, those 'other' things last only for the moment. I'm sure you all know how long a diesel or rolling stock last, and the family thing, what a bonus. $$$-? I think I will inspire my club to start doing some fundraisers, we won't be washing cars in bikinis but... (I've been watching too much David Letterman!)
 

rhtastro

Member
We have a lot of very nice and talented people in model railroading. It's been very enlightening to read all the comments on this thread.
 
Top