Last Sunday while railfaning I started talking to 2 other railfans and follow modelers about the hobby,railfaning and all round railroad ramblings.We discuss the following.
We talked about the hobby and where it will be in say the next 20 years.We had visions of greatly detailed layouts,ready built and detailed structures,a new control system,animation and smoking locomotives.In other words when your Alco S1 switcher starts to move black smoke will bellow from the stack.
The down side is the hobby will be smaller then it is today and we all agreed there will be 2 or 3 key manufacturers and 2 major wholesalers,Mom & Pop hobby shops will almost be extinct with the big box stores selling model trains along with other hobbies.The deep discount hobby shops we enjoy today on line will be force to raise their prices as the price of the hobby continues to spiral-here is where I disagree..Thanks to Atlas Trainman Series and Athearn costs will be held in check.I suspect Kato will introduce a low end line as well.
As far as railfaning we thought there will be 3 major rails-the U.P,BNSF and NSCSX(ugh NSCSX almost as bad as PC
)and railfanning as we know it today will be changed for ever just like in the years go by.
We discuss our modeling style and how it has changed over the years and I was surprise that all three of us modeled close enough/good enough but,within reason.We agreed that layouts should be well planned,fun to operate and detailed.After all with todays highly detailed engines and cars shouldn't our layouts compliment our models?
Which brings up my modeling.
I am just now getting back to detailing locomotives,something I haven't done since the early 90s.Guess what? Over the years I have forgotten how relaxing and fun detailing can be.
The odd part is how easy I find working on my models with my left hand and limited use of my right hand.
Of course I am adding details to my C&HV engines and the last few C&O engines I bought before my heart attack.
From the early 90s to about a month ago I modeled good enough close enough but,had that desire to do better but,resisted that urge least I fall into my old ways of being my own worst critic-a self destruct mode for me..
I have this deep desire to build a Bowser( Varney)2-8-0 "Old Lady".Why? Just to turn the clock back in time and to see if I still have the skills needed..
My next project is to build a highly detailed industrial switching layout in the coming months.Some of you may recall the bet my Brother-In-Law and I had about building a operating N Scale layout in 30 day.I paid up due to the fact I couldn't bring myself to rebuild the N Scale door layout I had in the 80s.This was due to the many memories of my late wife.It was just to sad for me to continue.
Also,I couldn't come up with a workable plan because each plan ended up based on my old layout.I still have the N Scale club tho'.
What's your thoughts on the hobby and railfaning in general?
We talked about the hobby and where it will be in say the next 20 years.We had visions of greatly detailed layouts,ready built and detailed structures,a new control system,animation and smoking locomotives.In other words when your Alco S1 switcher starts to move black smoke will bellow from the stack.
The down side is the hobby will be smaller then it is today and we all agreed there will be 2 or 3 key manufacturers and 2 major wholesalers,Mom & Pop hobby shops will almost be extinct with the big box stores selling model trains along with other hobbies.The deep discount hobby shops we enjoy today on line will be force to raise their prices as the price of the hobby continues to spiral-here is where I disagree..Thanks to Atlas Trainman Series and Athearn costs will be held in check.I suspect Kato will introduce a low end line as well.
As far as railfaning we thought there will be 3 major rails-the U.P,BNSF and NSCSX(ugh NSCSX almost as bad as PC
)and railfanning as we know it today will be changed for ever just like in the years go by.We discuss our modeling style and how it has changed over the years and I was surprise that all three of us modeled close enough/good enough but,within reason.We agreed that layouts should be well planned,fun to operate and detailed.After all with todays highly detailed engines and cars shouldn't our layouts compliment our models?
Which brings up my modeling.
I am just now getting back to detailing locomotives,something I haven't done since the early 90s.Guess what? Over the years I have forgotten how relaxing and fun detailing can be.
The odd part is how easy I find working on my models with my left hand and limited use of my right hand.
Of course I am adding details to my C&HV engines and the last few C&O engines I bought before my heart attack.
From the early 90s to about a month ago I modeled good enough close enough but,had that desire to do better but,resisted that urge least I fall into my old ways of being my own worst critic-a self destruct mode for me..
I have this deep desire to build a Bowser( Varney)2-8-0 "Old Lady".Why? Just to turn the clock back in time and to see if I still have the skills needed..
My next project is to build a highly detailed industrial switching layout in the coming months.Some of you may recall the bet my Brother-In-Law and I had about building a operating N Scale layout in 30 day.I paid up due to the fact I couldn't bring myself to rebuild the N Scale door layout I had in the 80s.This was due to the many memories of my late wife.It was just to sad for me to continue.
Also,I couldn't come up with a workable plan because each plan ended up based on my old layout.I still have the N Scale club tho'.
What's your thoughts on the hobby and railfaning in general?