MRR, likes and dislikes

ezdays

ezdays

Out AZ way
Feb 3, 2003
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0
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Arizona
bigbluetrains.com
Just looking through some recent threads it hit me that not everybody likes all aspects of modeling. It would be interesting to find out what your specific likes and dislikes are. So.... why not ask these two questions,

announce1What parts of model railroading do you like to do the best? :thumb:

announce1What parts of model railroading do you dislike the most, maybe even to the point that you avoid doing it? :curse:

If you have more than one aspect of either and can't make up your mind which tops your lists, just list them all.

Like everyone else, I have my particular likes and dislikes. I'll list them in a bit once I figure out which ones I think are important enough to list...:D :D
 
What I like most (apart from operating trains)? Difficult to say. I have to choose three themes, but all of them contribute hopefully to a realistic layout:
- Building up landscape and detailing it
- Building structures and weathering them
- Detailing and weathering rolling stock

What I like least? That's easier to say:
- Carpenter-work: Building the rough framework for the layout
- Cutting and installing the roadbed
When it comes to handle heavier tools, obviously I have two left hands and both of them full of thumbs! :oops: :( (It's only good that at last all that stuff is hidden somewhere under the visible layout! :D :D :D )

Ron
 
My Likes:

Watching the trains running without mishaps :eek:

The satisfaction that you get when a model (building, kitbash etc) is completed and put in place on the layout

Designing an electrical circuit and actully having it work correctly on the first try :D

Tinkering with engines and rolling stock -- Is there some sort of un-written rule that nothing can remain in "out of the box" condition? :D :D

Finding things I can use on the layout at flea markets or other sales

The Guage :D :D :D

Dislikes:

Being that the layout is 8' deep, I have to climb up on top of it to do any work in the back of one side... :( It was a lot shorter and an easier climb 14 years ago, when I designed it :( but now for some reason :D it's taller & more difficult to navigate around the scenery :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Our Cats chasing each other, up onto, and through the layout :(

Trying to think of what to buld next - once I "get" the idea, designing is usually easy.. :D
 
For me its prototypical operation after getting the layout built.I enjoy painting structures and adding details to the layout.I like the newer RTR cars and engines.I enjoy designing a prototypical layout in track design..I still prefer the industrial switching layouts

What I don't like is building the layout because I don't like Carpenter work..I no longer like to build car kits like I did before either not even the simple shake the box kits...I loath time saver design industrial switching layouts since here is much better designs for switching layouts.


So/so..I don't mind basic wiring using Atlas controllers and selectors-I loath wiring a DPDT switch.
 
Here's my lists:

First the likes. I like most of all:
  • Making scenery and can't wait to get to that point on my layout.:thumb::thumb:
  • Building, painting and weathering structures.:thumb:
  • Buying new things for my layout, especially if I don't really need them.:rolleyes:
  • Getting something to work that didn't work in the first placeaussie
  • Wiring and electronics
Now the dislikes in order:
  • Laying track and getting it right. Just way too much fussing around.:curse:
  • Writing the checks for the things I bought that I really didn't need.:cry:
  • Cleaning up my mess to try to find the tool or part that I lost, and not finding it until I don't need it anymore.:D
  • Going to a "swap meet" and finding absolutely nothing there in N scale worth spending money on.hamr
And a few things I have no desire to do, not that I don't like to or they're not worthwhile, I just don't want to:
  • Run operating sessions
  • Join a MRR club
Everthing else that's not on my list is somewhere in between.
 
LIKES
thumbsup.gif

Operations.
Coming home from work and finding that your MRR order came.
Having a friend over (who can't have a layout), and watching him
really enjoy my layout.
Another friend, brings his 2 young sons over and watching them,
wide-eyed and totally focused on the layout.
Just about every other aspect except . . . . . .

DISLIKES
curse.gif

When you move, dismantling a layout, then rebuilding it.
Cleaning up after construction.
Mail-ordering a new loco, then when it comes, finding out it is used,
then trying to straighten out the problem.
Dishonest dealers and sellers.
Covering a hillside with trees, weeds, grass.
Driving 75 minutes to a train show and it is way over-crowded and leaving
empty-handed.
 
LIKES :thumb:
- Homework. Doing research and history.
- Having a wife who appreciates my hobby.
- Getting packages in the mail.

DISLIKES :curse:
- Finding a suitable layout design.
- Being limited to budget and space constraints.
- Knowing that no matter how hard I work on something, it'll never be good enough to meet my expectations.
 
What I like most.
Laying track, and tinkering with it till everything runs smooth.
Painting and decaling locos and rolling stock
Scenery and trying to get it to look right.
Running Trains.

Dislikes
Bench work (I am in no way a carpenter)
Ballasting track
Getting digital photos to turn out like Tom's and Stuarts. :D
 
I like it all, but not all at the same time. So when something starts to become tedious, I set it aside and go to something else. If something absolutely has to be finished in order for another job to start, I'm usually so engrossed in that job that I don't allow it to become tedious.

Wayne
 
What I like first, second and third is running the trains and watching them run.
I like designing things (structures, layouts) a lot more than actually building them.
I like using some technique or design that I thought of on my own.
I like the satisfaction of the finished structure more than actually building it, but I enjoy the building more as a necessary evil, but resent the time involved since it detours me from actually running the trains - my ultimate goal.
I like testing things, rolling stock, locomotives, building techniques.
I tolerate wiring, but do not care for the time spent doing it.
I don't like weathering - other than to get rid of the plastic shine, or to highlight details. But I LOVE the way my hoppers came out with the weathering!
I don't like to be a slave to prototype, authenticity, or rivet counting, but I will strive for realism and accuracy when it suits me.
I have Geeps running because they were running in the 1950's, but I don't care if the are 38's or 40's as long as they look similar, one shoebox is as good as another, and I will NOT cut them up to change the number of fans on the top or access doors on the side or tool boxes or fuel caps underneath. I feel sorry for the modelers who would really love to run a particular engine, but it was no longer in use on their prototype railroad after September, and they are modeling October, so they cannot use it.
I am designing a railroad for enjoyment and for me to run, not a railroad that will run me.
 
Things I like,

Kitbashing and or scratchbuilding the buildings on my layout.

Kitbashing ,painting and decaling freightcars ,trucks and trailers.

Kitbashing ,painting and decaling my locomotives.

Building scenery.

Things I don't like,

Building benchwork.

Laying track.

Wiring.
 
:) Likes:
Benchwork and carpentry
Scenery
Research
Train Shows
Friends that I have made in the hobby

:curse: Dislikes:
Laying track. That's why I switched to Unitrack:D
Coming up with a layout design that I can be satisfied with. I enjoy looking at other people's track plans, but have a hard time coming up with my own.
 
What I like:
Scratchbashing.
Painting and decaling rolling stock and locos.
Weathering
Scenery work.
Better-Half buying stuff for the layout.

What I dis-like.
Better-Half saying"That was a nice looking train car...Why did you make it look dirty?"
 
I think I like about everything, except the cost :) Some things I get tired of, but I always like the end result :) My favorites are scratch/kitbashing, and sharing with others. My absolute favorite? Watching my nephews get excited when I set up a train for them!!! :) The grand canyon railway had Thomas come to visit a few times, and my brother and I set up a small layout and ran a thomas model on it. The kids came by, and their eyes would light up and they would scream. It was awesome.

kevin
 
Likes:)

-Scenery
-Kitbashing
-Taking on old, broken structure, or RR car, or locomotive, and restoring it, or giving it a new lease on life, sometimes different from it;'s orginal purpose!
-Building, detailing, painting,weathering, and adding interiors to structures
-Buying a loco and having it look like the prototype, and run without a hitch.
-Buying a new R-T-R Athearn or Roundhouse car and marveling at the quality -of the paintjob! :eek:
-Running Trains often enough that I really don't need to clean track that often.:D
-Taking photos of my accomplishments! :D
-Spending hours researching the prototype, and havig it show through on my layout! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
-Operating my layout with friends! :D
-Switching :)
-Detailing Scenery to look close to what you'd really find outside! :thumb:
-Enjoying the great Hobby, and Running my trains when I want, well atleast some of the time...:D

Dislikes:curse:

-:curse: :curse: :curse: Laying, aligning, ballasting, cleaning and maintaining TRACK!:curse: :curse: :curse:
-Splitting a switch while operating!:curse:
-Tripping on boxes and falling on my face while walking around my layout! :curse:
-Tripping over the cord on my power pack, and ripping ALL of the wires out of it! :curse:

=CLUB WOES=
-Having somebody at the train club telling me that "It's not prototype!"
-People who take a club and operate it like a corrupt political office!
-Forgetting to switch back a switch, and causing someone elses $1000 BLI CZ hit your lowly $50 switcher, head on no less! :curse:


Having my parent say "You don't need another damn engine!"
sigh, well that's it!
 
I like kit-bashing and scratch-building locomotives and rebuilding and collecting vintage model and toy trains.

What I don't like,
The direction the manufacturers have taken OUR hobby in the past 10 years. Lousy customer service (no replacement parts).
$400 Throw away trains.
Miniature railroading instead of model railroading.
The venders at shows that think they can get rich selling junk at retail prices, who have no interest in the hobby other than making a buck.
Poorly moderated MR forums that give the newcomers to the hobby the impression that all modelrailroaders are a bunch of opinionated whiners.
 
There's not too many things that I don't like. After running trains, I mostly like scenery and detailing scenery and buildings. I'm not a rivet-counter so I don't do too much to rolling stock except weathering (including graffiti), which I enjoy a lot. Painting LPB's during cold snaps is a great pastime. Construction and wiring don't bother me although it is more difficult these days, older age! I dislike cleaning track which is a necessay evil on my layout even when I run trains daily, since I live on a gravel road with a non-climate controlled trainroom attached to my barn. Hope to build a whole new building for the layout in 2007. Then my least favorite, moving the layout!
 
Humm, I kinda like a little bit of everything. I'll try anything. How much I like a certain aspect of MRRing depends on what mood I'm in. I prefer the mechanics and the scenery of a layout and don't care for operations as much as some, but realize it's needed to create overall realism and therefore do my best at keeping it protypical (without getting stupid).

If I had to say I dislike something about MRRing it would have to be not having the proper tools to do the job at hand, but that's not the LO's fault, just me forgetting them/it. I don't like painting unless everything is with-in reach and ready to go (after that, I can get paint all over myself and not care).

As for clubs, I've tried them, but it's not what I'm into. I'm a loner, which gives me alot more freedom.
 
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