Did you add trains to your existing hobbies or did it replace one?

I've shot with you, and had discussion with you on CAS. Thought I recognized you. At present "O" Trains is a return to this gauge after some 40 years. Being into HO and N previously. Its relaxing, and only takes up the time I give it with no schedules needed. It gives me pathways to make it more realistic, or throw a toylike feature into play. It opens dreams, and restores memories from the past.

Trains never replaced any hobbies, rather added to.

I was once heavily into photography, using vintage (1935-1955) 35mm cameras.  I enjoyed it very much, sold a lot of prints and even won a few awards.  But then almost overnight, film all but disappeared, and professional processing labs went with it. So that was the end of that.

I also enjoy shooting, mainly with WWII-era rifles.  There's nothing like a fine afternoon at the range, especially if you have a friend along.  Putting accurate holes in a small sheet of paper 100 or 200 yards away, freestanding, is a very satisfying experience.

But the hobby that's stuck with me the longest is model trains.  I've had trains in one scale or another since I got my first Lionel 2026 in 1951.  I detoured into HO (and HOn30), N and even 2-rail O scale now and then, but I've always come back to 3-rail 0.  I pretty much managed to get everything I'd ever wanted in PW trains, so now I'm into 3-rail scale.

Dale, you basically did what I was hoping to do (I'm too late to the show).  Buying pinballs that were in rough shape and bring them back to life.  Unfortunately these days prices are out of control.  You pay a lot of money for junk.  It would be a waste of time and money for me.  I know others who have done exactly what you did in that they got games practically for free.  That is awesome!  I guess the positive is that I won't lose money when I sell.

Originally Posted by Pine Creek Railroad:

Same here Dave, I'm in PA.  I grew up with a Lionel platform at Christmas time every year.  My Mom still has her Lionel Train Set that she received in the 50's for Christmas.  I'll have to find a picture of her platform from last year.

Lee, now I'm going to have to lookup Cowboy Action Shooting as I never heard of it.  Good luck with the cartoon and I'm glad you came back and are enjoying the hobby.

Jeff,  I did the drag racing thing for a very short time.  No failures at the track, but did end up with a blown engine.  I believe it was due to an incorrect tune.  Not cheap, not fun, glad I moved on. : )

I hear you there! Most of my interests hinge on:

• Good weather (not something you can count on in the Pacific Northwest)
• Scheduled events (most of which occurs in the summertime only)
• Other people

I'm not antisocial; far from it. But I was getting really tired of relaying on other people to have fun. Only chasing and photographing 1:1 scale trains was something I could do whenever I darned well wanted to (but again, it was weather dependent).

When I stumbled into the 'inner circle' of the local guys with mostly HO layouts and doing op sessions, I realized how much the hobby had changed since I walked away in the 90s. I then realized that running in a circle was, to me, not worth my time. Only when my wife said I could move some large stuff from my 'toy room' to another room did the awe-inspiring realization hit me that for the first time ever, I could have layout I could do my own op session on. It took a really long time to come up with a track plan I liked (a friend of mine made more progress in 24 hours than I had in 24 months but even his plan needed a lot of modifications).

It's an amazing and unfamiliar experience to be able to walk into the toy room anytime I want, flip a switch on my panel, and suddenly I'm hearing airpumps on my locomotives, all ready to go. I even have the car cards from my previous op session in place in their boxes along the fascia, so I could run my own op session at any point.

It's lacking scenery which will be starting very soon, but it's running.

Seriously, there are times I'll walk in the room, stand in the center, and just be awe of it all. It's not an amazing layout or anything, but I've wanted this for so long that I'd gotten to assuming I'd never have it.

I'm sure many of you have similar experiences, but it's a truly amazing feeling to see something I've dreamed of for over 30 years finally taking shape and being in a condition where I can run it...

Man, I freaking LOVE it!

Let's see...

In order of participation:

1. Model trains
2. Fishing
3. Plastic model planes
4. Boating
5. RC planes
6. RC boats
7. Motorcycles
8. Cars
9. Kayaking

Now as a 41 yr old married father of one I am pretty much down to:

1. Whatever the family wants
2. Whatever the family wants
3. Whatever the family wants
4. Trains
5. Kayaking/Fishing
6. RC planes (rarely)

Trains have always been a part of my life (My avatar is a painting of my Dad and me when I was 2), sometimes a big part, and sometimes a small part. As with a lot of people, trains took a back seat to other priorities / interests during the college / early career years, but then after about 35, the trains are back in the forefront. As Tom McComas said to Tom Snyder in one of his videos, "Trains come and go, but they always come back."

I have other interests too, and just recently made the decision to give up my 12+ year tropical fish hobby. Now that I have a train room and a layout under construction, I have to make priorities, and decided it was time for the fish tank to go.

We're also avid boaters. But, here in Maine, boating season is very short, so that doesn't take all that much time away from the trains.

Growing up, trains were a seasonal thing for me.  As an adult, it replaced my big serious hobby of comic book collecting when I decided to stop.  I've had all sorts of minor hobbies (coins, sci-fi, roleplaying games, video games, model cars, military models, movies, computers, target shooting) along the way that I still dabble in from time to time as the whim hits me, but none have come close to the comics or now the trains.

Andy

Trains has always been my number one hobby.  I did build some model cars 35 to 40 years ago, when I was living in a small apartment, but always knew I would get the trains back out.  I do like hiking and bicycling, but don't do it much any more, because my wife's poor health means she can't go with me.  I also enjoy reading on a variety of topics, fiction and non fiction.  However, trains has always been number one!

I've been a train nut since before kindergarten. Somewhere along the way I was into plastic 1/24 scale car kits, trap shooting, Cox .049 glow plug engines on home made prop driven cars and boats, bicycle repair, mini bike building, and lately airguns and trying to shoot sporting clays. But trains have been there right along pretty much all these years, first in HO, then On30, and now 3 rail O gauge.

A comforting thought wasn't it?

I tend to replace my hobbies in my life. When I went into something, I go full-on and saturate myself in the hobby, the history behind it, and if it's the case of modeling, like trains, then the histories of the real things they are based on.

My last hobby before trains was RC Planes, where I was really focused for about 23 years. Been there, did it all, from control line up to jets and heavy scale warbirds. All done now, though I kept a few in the garage that I won't get rid of. You can still see my 1/4 scale L-4 (basically a Piper Cub converted to observation use in WWII) hanging in there, but I'm pretty much done with it, for several reasons.

Finally got the space, time and money in the last few years to pursue model trains, and I spent the first year just deciding on scale, by trying out RTR sets. Obviously I went with O, and haven't looked back. It's quite enjoyable, challenging, and frustrating at times, like everything worth doing.

Welcome to the O-scale world. It really is a great hobby.

.

The boat didn't necessarily replace boating, but it sure has been competing for the dollars. Compounded with other issues, the boat has been sitting for a few years. Next month I plan to give it an "infusion".

Golf         Same or slightly more activity

Hunting    Always competing with work and family commitments 

Lionel / O gauge trains have always been a part, big part, of my life.  My brother and I shared a Kusan set when I was preschool, my Dad had a Lionel set from the '40s I tried to "fix" when I was 5 yrs with a screw driver and hammer....sigh....    But, received my first Lionel Christmas of "57 and have been adding to it ever since.  Still have first set, still runs great, Now have well over 2K pieces from all manufacturers.  If it is O gauge, I have an example of it.  Trains from all ages, all places in my collection.  But, I am an operator and have a large train room above our 3 car garage as a "gift" from my wonderful wife.  We actually met Christmas of 2003 on the Texas Eagle Amtrak on our way down to Houston.  I got on in Chicago, her in St. Louis...... then both on same train for return trip North.....call it Fate...Karma.... but we say God brought us together.  So, building the layout more since I retired March of 2014 from being gone way too long managing construction sites all over our great country.  Good to be home all the time and sharing the love of O gauge trains with my wife and my grown kids from Texas when they visit.  Always looking for the "more rare" or special engine/car to add to collection, more track to add to the ever changing track plan as it evolves.  But, the memories of my Dad and I running trains from 1956 until his passing in 1978 are the best.  The smile on his face when we added a new siding, ran a new engine, pulled a longer consist.....   These are the best ever of my many memories of a lifetime of running three rail trains.  Yes, tried the club aspect with friends made in Antioch, Illinois when working at Great Lakes Naval Base.  Enjoyed the building of modules, the commaradery (sic) and seeing the faces of children when we had runs in shopping centers, schools, etc.  It has always been for the children, the kids.  And we all know about the kid in us all.

I just kind of evolved into trains. In my mid 30s, I started messing around with model cars and diecast. I started thinking I would like a train around my Christmas tree, despite the fact that my family had never had one, and I never knew anyone that did. Next thing I know Matchbox sends me a catalog with all of their diecast cars for Christmas, and in the back was an HO train set. Once it got here, I knew there had to be something more. I saw an ad for a Greenberg Train and Doll show, so I drove down and checked it out. That was all she wrote. I was all in for HO modeling. My boys were born late in life, and with each came a new Lionel set, so I moved from HO to O so we could run their trains. I still have other hobbies, including my diecast collection, but the bulk of my time and cash goes to trains.

Trains were my first hobby ! Plastic models were second !

Then Girls came along !

Got back into O gauge trains at age 34!

I added Archery ! & computer sims !