Are there any happy hobbyists left out there besides me?

Oh heck, HVAC and water heaters are over rated. Chuck 'em out and replace with trains.

Ed

I'm sure most are happy as a clam, even those throwing peanuts from the gallery.

Pitchers & Catchers report in 16 hours. A lot of us have been able to take advantage of the Lionel MLB rtr set blows outs during the past year. I didn't even mind paying a premium price for the Made in USA equipment boxcar to place in front of the passenger cars.

What a great bonus to discover the 2/8/4 Berkshire will operate on O27 track. I run mine on O31 now, but on Thursday it may take over the O27 loop at the top of our display for the duration of the Season. Happy! Happy! Happy!

I am happy here, and will be even happier after Fridays cataract surgery when I can seen better.  I have notice over the last few months things have been getting harder to see with the left eye, even with bi-focals sometimes double vision.  Had an eye exam end of January and the doctor told me I have 2 cataracts in the left eye and that he could take care of them with no problem.  I told him do it, so Friday is the day.  He said at 53 I am a little on the young side for cataracts, but he is beginning to see more and more late 40 and 50 year olds more and more.  He said they do tend to run in the family which I said my dad, his 2 brothers and sister all had them, and my mother just had surgery last year at 78.  Not worried only going to be in the hospital 3 or 4 hours.  Its not like back in the late 70's when my dad had his done and was in the hospital for 2 or 3 days.   

Indeed!

My mother had the same surgery on a out patient basis at 87 and it didn't require hospitalization..It worked so well that she ditched her eye glasses..so you have definitely have something to look forward to.

Absolutely, another thing to be happy about, as the Gnats' spring training facility is just four miles down the road from me.

Well after last night trying to wire lamp posts and finally giving up and storming out of the train room.... sigh..... yeah I'm still happy I guess.   

Nice! But not for long. Nats and Astros just announced a joint venture to move to West Palm to a new park to be built. I think it'll be in 2017.  

West Palm is close to Ft Lauderdalr where I travel to a lot I may be able to see them during the winter

I'm pretty happy. My 3D printer finally arrived and I've been tinkering with it. Already have some items to print for the layout.

55 Gal drums, Pallets, Picnic tables, Horse eating, Horses pulling a wagon. And lots of people (some need size adjusted but that is easy.

Only non happy about the Temp in the barn. Waaay too cold to work in there.

That will wait for spring. I still have the small layout in the Den to run on.

Russell,

Hope you post some pictures of the stuff you make with your new printer!

I like the idea of printing people.  That way you can get what you want and not be stuck with assortment in the manufactured packs.  Do you think that printing people will be price competitive (just for the plastic spooling) with buying them already made?

Jim

There are times I feel I am part of a old Bella Lagosi movie.

Then as stated above " Pictures & Catchers report in 16 hours,"

its all good.  Living 9 miles from Legends Field, not so bad

for a die hard Yankee Fan.

Add in the trains, how could a guy not be happy.

Many thanks,

Billy C 

I fall into the rivet-counting category.  I run predominantly scale equipment.  I like those trains to be as prototypically accurate as possible.  I check things like matching road numbers, detail features, etc. per the prototype.  I badger the manufacturers to get things as right as possible and point out discrepancies of both catalog images as well as released items.  I also cringe at non-prototypical abominations like the Daylight scale cab forward.

There's a number of non-rivet counters or just pure toy train operators who seem to think that because of what I outlined above that I couldn't possibly be enjoying the hobby; well I can tell you they couldn't be more wrong with that assumption.  I am enjoying the hobby and having fun with it.

I also collect & operate traditionally sized trains from the postwar era, General Mills, LTI, and LLC, mostly postwar.  I make a clear distinction between the traditionally sized and scale trains I have, and my expectations are adjusted accordingly.  I don't expect prototypical accuracy with the majority of postwar equipment and do expect a lot of whimsy and artistic licensing.  The opposite is true with the scale trains, where whimsical and fantasy paint schemes are regarded with disdain.  But yes, I do enjoy this hobby very much.

John, what are your thoughts of the newer MTH Locomotives and rolling stock?

One of my difficulties with accurate scale models is many things cannot be scaled.  Curves, switches, time, train length, distance, etc., cannot be scaled.  A mile of track in 48:1 O scale is 109.375 feet long.  Not too many guys have space for even a mile of track.  

I appreciate the scale equipment that is being offered these days.  But I don't have any of it yet.  It does look very nice.  I recently bought some 072 track and the trains look much better on this track than on O-31, but it takes a lot of space for an 072 layout, and it is not prototypical at all.  That is OK because I am a toy train operator, not a model railroader.  I enjoy making complex layouts with many switches which are not prototypical at all.  However, I really enjoy a train running around a complex layout.  I make the layouts so that the train operates all the switches and I just get to watch.  The last large floor layout I had occupied two bedrooms, and had 50 022 switches.  It took the train 20 minutes to get around the entire layout.  The next floor layout I make should be much larger than this one.  I enjoyed playing trains when I was a kid and this hasn't changed.  I have never had a "permanent" layout.  I am not sure I want one.  The floor is a good place for a layout as things don't fall off of the floor.

Happy! Happy! Happy!

I've noticed there have been some pretty good deals out there in Choo Choo Land this past month. Actually can't help but notice because some guy named Mario keeps telling me about them. I've taken advantage of many of these deals and I know others have too. In the past month I've acquired two brand new trains and some rolling stock.

I'm so happy I've even been inspired (thanks Red Green) to design a DIY multi train/manufacter remote for LionChief & RailKing.

I'm happy.  You gotta problem with dat?

You may need a few rolls of this...

For the most part I'm happy. I have my share of trials and frustrations, but generally I don't air them on the forum, unless I'm seeking help.

I don't get all worked up over the catalogs, what's in them, what's not in them or the prices. Speaking of which, I just paced my 2015 Lionel order with Charlie Ro. List was $2220, early buy brought it down to $1604.

That certainly makes me happy.

I can't wait to see how he's gonna wash the trains, and clean the wheels.

I am truly enjoying our hobby.  The relaxation, satisfaction, and pure enjoyment I get from working on and running trains is amazing.  

My daughter enjoys the hobby and we spend time together with trains.  My wife is supportive and loves to see the trains running.

What's not to like?

Jon

The primary times I'm not happy with the hobby is when I'm knee-deep in one project on my layout, realizing this just leads to twenty more. For every thing I set out to do, it always seems to exponentially lead to so much more.

I've had an holy nightmare getting blue points under my turnouts, heavily damaging one in the process (after they've all been soldered into place of course) to a degree that I'm not 100% sure I can fix it.

I'm moving along with my layout's progress, making much more headway than one would expect for something that was only a pile of lumber and boxes of rolling stock in late July of last year. I have no scenery but they layout is very close to finally being able to run trains on it, as the fascia is done and I only need to get 6 blue points mounted under the turnouts (one which will be a nightmare as the points are directly over a 2" gap between two vertical 1X4s, I'm not sure I will be able to mount it there at all yet).

The guy who's helped me through a lot keeps reminding it's supposed to be fun. I always reply, "Really? That hasn't happened yet," as for me, the fun part will be actually running reliable trains.

So, 'happy' is measured in other things. But to be honest, model trains have yet to provide much happiness, but I fdully expect that to change once I can grab a throttle and run from one end of the layout and back as I always intended...

Frankly, I can't understand the people who tear down their layout and start over, again and again, as soon as they're finished. I'm okay with tinkering here and there and changing stuff every now and then, but I really can't stand starting from scratch like this...

I'm very happy with the hobby.I've got more trains than I'll ever need.I'm on a long term temporary assignment out of state for the next 2-3 years so about all I do now is visit the forum, buy goodies online and try to attend a selected meet over a weekend if able.I plan on completing my 30 X 60 train room in 2-3 years to finally run these 400+ locomotives and 2000+ freight and passenger cars I've been buying the last 15 years.

YES!

The monthly Visa statement? That's all I can think of not to like, everything else is good! I don't like my gas, electric or cable bills either, so it's nothing personal.

Wish I had more money and a few stores in the area.  Other than that I'm as happy as a puppy with a frisbie.

Yeah, I think most of us could say that. I used the money from sales of all my gear from getting out of cowboy action shooting to finance the layout build. My problem is lack of hobby shops. The nearest is about 50 miles north of me. ALL the local ones (except a RC car/plane place which is of no help to me) have gone belly up in the past 10 years.

RTR12,

I'm not taking it personal, but as I posted in another thread,

Since When Does Dollars Spent = Enjoyment Experienced?

My ANNUAL train budget is around $500.  We don't have to spend more, and get wonderful experiences without using VISA, M/C, or stressing about the latest >$2000 train.  If one day we choose to spend in that category, fine.   For others who choose to spend big, I appreciate that those big spenders help to support the hobby and make more used trains affordable for us.

By specializing in fantasy character based trains (Looney Toons) some of the candy themed trains (Hershey) and some Disney for my daughter (Little Mermaid Aquarium Car) we have loads of fun.  Costs are reasonable because IMAGINATION is free.

Thanks and enjoy your trains!

Jon

Sorry, I didn't mean you, I think you took my comment wrong. I meant the Visa bill was 'what was not to like' and that it wasn't anything specifically personal against the Visa bill, as I don't like any of the other bills either. Not sure I have ever heard anyone say they enjoyed paying bills? However, I am happy and also very grateful that I can pay my bills and have some left over to enjoy the hobby with my grandson during my retirement.

The written word doesn't always come across correctly, especially sometimes when I am writing it...

I am having a great time modifying a layout to run a toy train that I could not afford and bragging to my friends about how great a hobby this is. I can run 5 or 6 trains at one time but chose not to have 2 trains on the same loop, experience tells me I will have to get one or both off the floor...

Brent

rtr12,

I tend to keep my train budget low.  I rarely buy something new.  I really enjoy buying stuff that needs repair or restoration, and bring it up to good standards.  For example, I recently bought 105 sections of 072 track.  Most of it was somewhat corroded, and in particular, the pins and insides of the rails were corroded.  I developed methods of measuring the resistance of the installed pins and cleaning the corrosion out of the ends of the rails.  

I have bought many engines and cars that needed a little work, and I really enjoy making something work again.  Do I like this hobby?  You bet I do.

There is nothing about this hobby that would ever get me riled up. Maybe because I don't have much to spend on it I don't get caught up in the frenzy of $2000 locomotives or care about shipping schedules. I think many on here need to step away from the remotes sometimes and take a deep breath.

I spent an hour tonight swapping out a ZW circuit breaker while running on my puny layout a #57 switcher, then switched to a Railking Daylight pulling freight, then running a postwar gang car for laughs...and the best part was my 21 year old daughter and her friends coming into the garage to watch for half of that hour.

Roman

As they say good minds think alike.  I agree with you 200%.  It definitely doesn't take a big budget to participate and have fun in this hobby.  There still is a ton of good buys on new and old stock to be had.  I love picking older stock that needs a little help and then bringing them back into service.

I got a big laugh from both your statements about running your gang car and your daughter and friends enjoying the layout.

Whenever little kids come over to see the layout I end up the visit by putting 2 gang cars on a loop and letting them "tap" into each other and then reverse.  The kids go wild over that one. Total investment in both gang cars was $75 with replacement parts.

A while back some of the neighborhood teenage girls were hanging out with their friend who lives  across the street.  She mentioned about the train layout and next thing you know they were watching the show and snapping pictures and doing the facebook thing.  They thought it was really cool.  Who would have thought a model train layout would capture the attention of 4 teenage girls for a 1/2 hour or so. Just goes to show you are never too old to play with trains.

Ed

I couldn't be happier with my return to model railroading. I have worked up a plan for a very doable layout in O27 and have been accumulating the equipment to build up a pretty good fleet of locos and cars. All of my stuff, with the exception of Lionel's Pullman Expansion Pack, is postwar and was purchased used at train shows or ebay.

It's great to be back in the hobby...

Looking over this forum the last few days I would say there are very few happy people out there.  If they ain't complaining, they ain't happy.