How Many Of Us Are "Lone Wolves"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00o7PlBQqow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00o7PlBQqow

OGR Forum is my train club.

I enjoy the camaraderie and info. of this Forum's members.

I tried to join a local club once, years ago, but they were running 2-rail 1:48, high priced

goodies and when I mentioned that I have 3-rail Lionel, most of the members scoffed at me, plus the membership dues were too dear for me, at the time.

So, I run my trains, my way and remain a 'Lone Wolf.'

Ralph

 

Also a lone wolf, enjoy building my layout, painting and decaling cars, building Intermountain and Red Caboose kits, kit bashing structures and also enjoy the electrical wiring and electronics of this hobby and reading O Gauge Magazine, Model Railroader, Trains and Classic Trains.

Lone Wolf here.  There is no one in my extended family who has any enthusiasm for

trains, nor any such friends.  You folks are it!

 

     Hoppy

The only "O" club around is a 2 railo scale layout in the basement of a church.

they are nice guys, very friendly and receptive to visitors, but I told them something didn't look right, they were missing a rail!

 

Rod

I like the poster who said, OGR Forum is my train club.

 

For me, and my spouse, we lead pretty crazy, busy lives, and we each have our hobby that lets us chill out, mine being trains, his being reading.

 

I enjoy the solitude of working on my layout, and running my trains solo.

That for me is therapy after a long, stressed out week at work.

 

Ken

 

 

I'm not a lone wolf, I run them with my cat. I think the forums are fantastic in almost every aspect. 

all by myself also don't know of any clubs in my area but not sure I would join one if there was I like to tinker. not a profectionist so if it works and looks good to me I am happy. I can't spend 1,000,000 hrs working on something to add to the layout. the rock structures I am doing today are about the extent of working on one thing for any length of time. so I bounce around to much for a club I think. next home made turntable time starting to get a few steamers and they look great on turntables. heck so much for rocks today steamer list is this. most are deals I pick up

santa fe 4-4-2 penn 4-4-2 chessie 2-8-4 just got a UP 2-8-4 brerkshire Jr. and the only MTH Penn 4-6-0 to think I was a diesel fan. go figure. anyone make a decent fastrack turntable with out conversion tracks ? If the wife finds out how much I have spent this month. she might have it all for sale in an estate sale after she kills me .

 

 

If you want your weekend six months of your life ruined, Google the following ....

 

"Aspergers Syndrome model trains"

Most of the time, I deal with people and deadlines. Trains are a welcome respite, where there are no deadlines and no people. I work at my own pace and answer only to myself. For perspective, I have this forum. 

I'm not sure I want to get involved in a formal club.  I would just like someone to see what I've spent years building and not ask how fast they go and if I ever crash them.

It is usually fairly easy to find train friends if you want them.  Here are a few ideas:

 

1. Wear train shirts, caps, or jackets and you might be surprised how many will ask "Oh, do you like model trains?"  Met one of my best train buddies at a garage sale because I was wearing a train T-shirt.

 

2. Visit your local hobby shop and talk to people.  I went to mine and the owner asked me if I had ever been over to one of my current friends houses.  They got together a couple Friday nights a month.  Met a lot of new friends there.

 

3. Meet people through this forum.

 

4. Talk to people at local train shows.

 

5. Once people at church know you like trains, you might find a lot of people with the same interest.  Same thing at work or at any other hobby event.

 

I live in a small Midwest town (17,000 population) and through these means I have met between 20 and 30 very good friends in this hobby.  It is a lot more fun sharing than trying to go it alone.

 

Try it, you'll like it.

 

Art

I love getting together with my train buddies and running trains. I have no interest at all in being in a club. I like working on my own layout and running what I want to run when I want to run it. I have been to some great club layouts "NJH" "BMH" but a club just not for me.

Great responses folks   Just about every comment is one I can relate to.

 

Yeah, I guess this forum is "my club" as well.  I've learned a lot from posts here and hopefully given back a bit too.

 

I work weekends at a local golf course and try to play golf twice a week (it's free, so I might as well take them up on it ).

 

My wife's health has been bad the last 2 years (diabetic issues and a heart attack) and I try not to leave her alone too much, so I think a club and all that comes with it is out for me, even if there was one nearby.

 

I recently ordered some Fusion Fiber from True-Scene Modeling, that may be my only purchase so far this year.  I really would like to get another engine (it's that addiction you see) but I figured I'd try to finish my scenery before I do anything else.

 

Keep the posts coming, still a lot to learn here.

 

The OGR Forum/Club is a good place to be

I think the " lone wolf" moniker may be a it dramatic, at least for me. Some people are joiners and some are not. I am in the latter camp.  Most of the guys I know are into golf, the gym , or hanging at the country club. 

My basement layout is a great escape from the workday and people who want something.

There are some clubs here in the Albany area that I am sure have some fine people in them, but it is just easier to run the trains in the basement than to deal with people in a club.

Fred

I lived in WPB, FL for a couple years when I was a kid. Went to Belvedere school in 1962 & 1963. Was in that school when they announced President Kennedy had been shot. The Kennedy's had a place in Palm Beach and that made it sort of a more personal tragedy there than it already was if that was possible. Don't remember the street the school was on, but I think we lived at 2405 Georgia (think I remember that address anyway?).

 

I am sure things have really changed since then, but it was a great place as I remember it back then. Probably won't happen but it would be fun to visit again someday. Doubt that I would remember anything even if I saw it though. Maybe I'll take a look at Google maps or Earth or whatever it is that shows the streets & stuff.

 

Sorry to get way out in left field here, but your post got me to thinking about WPB again. Now back to our regular scheduled programming...

I thought I was a lone wolf, but after 165 people took a tour of my basement today, I guess I'm not.

 

Clem

Blissfield Railroad Days' Events - Blissfield Main Street

I'm a lone wolf now.  Tried a round robin club for a while but it didn't work out.

.....

Dennis

I am definitely not a "joiner", never historically......at school, at the 3 o'clock bell, I

was on the bus or in the car and outta there! I belonged to "clubs" such as the

language clubs, and now to several hobby clubs (dropped some, just joined another),

but nationally, not at the local level.  With the new catalogs, and my thoughts about them: "What you want to sell, is not what I want to buy", (that applies to a lot of other products, as well as trains, in my long march to a different drummer) it would probably be that way with some kind of club layout...what they wanted to model, their theme, would not be of interest to me.  And, of course, there is the time factor..any time available should be spent on my layout.  I have no idea whether or not there is

an active O guage club with a layout nearby.  I do know there is an HO club fairly close.

More of a lone wolf. I do belong to a modular group in Std Gauge. Couple of shows a year that involve travel and 2 meeting a year at York. Very loose and mostly internet based. Explored a train club in O gauge and did not like it. 

A few posts back, I mentioned that none of my family or friends share my interest in

trains.  Not quite correct!  My 8 y.o. grandson is eagerly awaiting our new house so

he and 'Pop' can begin building our railroad.  So, not such a lone wolf here . . . . . .

 

     Hoppy

I am in LOTS, LCCA, & TTOS, but there are no local clubs near me. By nature I am a lone wolf.  I love to go into my train room in the basement and lose myself in my trains. I am still building my layout but I can run trains when I want. Some times I spend to much time running the trains and don't get any work done on the layout (so says my wife). I also live in NE Tennessee (Erwin) and the only club I know of is HO in Johnson City.

I only join clubs if they rent 18+ video tapes.

 

Apart from that, my layout is too small to have more than one train running (single main) but I do have a few on display in the house.

 

*Howls*

I don't belong to a club and my family and local friends are not interested in the hobby. Doesn't bother me at all.  I'm in the hobby for me and never really cared what others think of my interests.  I enjoy visiting with my train friends at various train shows and York and interacting with everyone on the forum. 

--Greg

Lone Wolf...yep that would be me.  I do my own thing, answer only to SWMBO, avoid anything that involves a commitment,  choose my friends very carefully and avoid crowds.  This forum is my main social outlet. What you see is what you get.......nothing phony here.  I have no need to impress anyone!

 

same here..only club around me is 32miles and there HO...No O gauge club around my area of celina ohio../north central ohio..

 

I like Groucho, refuse to belong to any club that would have me for a member.   No clubs close enough to me.

 

I guess you could call me a Lone Wolf. Several clubs in my area just no time like someone else on this forum I get up at 0330 to go to work and after a 10 hour day and 2 hour commute no time of energy for get together s during the week. Have a close fried that we get together and talk trains, but don't run them together. Like several others way more motive power and rolling stock then I could ever use or run. A lot on the shelf's and more still in the boxes. Once thought I would like one example of every piece of motive power the PRR used but now know better. House is not that big to store all of them.

Another lone wolf here.

 

Actually I am the leader of the pack. I just don't join groups that have meetings or get together to do things. I have too many of my own hobbies.

 

With all the information at our finger tips on the internet, there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything. I am actually thinking of getting rid of all the train magazines.

 

Steve

Methinks all the "lone wolves" (for I am one) should band together, becoming the wolves-of-the-three-rails.  Henceforth, we would no longer be loners, but united in a true lonesomeness of a brotherhood far removed from one another, and bound together through eternity in our common interest of the iron horses of our past and present.

I'm definitely a lone wolf in this hobby. The only other people I know in this hobby anymore are from this forum. My layout only operates for guests about 4 or so times a year, and I think it only ran for other train people twice.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm anti-social. The nearest O gauge club is 45+ minutes from here, and I don't have the time for it right now. Also, I'm not inviting complete strangers into my home to see my layout.

 

As for only one engine...I think I was about 6 or 7 when I surpassed that. Now, if I'm not past 30 I'd be surprised.

Like many others have posted, the OGR Forum has become my "Club". I am a Charter member of a regional modular club but far too old and lame to actively participate as a contributing member aside from $ and equipment donations. 

 

Anyway, I have drastically phased down in recent years by dismantling two larger layouts at different locations. My collection is being inventoried for the auctioneers to buy[or sell]. Hopefully my small unfinished attic layout,dormant since 2010, will survive and enable me to run a very short train or two.

I too am a lone wolf, but I find the forum really, really helpful and am thankful for all who offer advice and comments. I went to York this time, my second time. Everyone was friendly, but I didn't know anyone. I moved to area a year ago after retiring, and am still in the process of building layout. 

  I cant say I'm a lone wolf. A club tends to have too many personality conflicts. I built (or am building)my layout mostly on my own. That's not to say there was no help or no suggestions along he way. It's a great stress reliever to get 5 or 6 trains running, drink my coffee and just watch them go. There is something very satisfying about watching them pass by a scene you've created or visualizing a scene you're going to create. That being said, I very much enjoy having the guys over(many I've met through this forum)for a run night. There is great joy and satisfaction at least for me, in sharing my hobby with other train enthusiasts. Most of the time we just sit and BS while the trains run. I guess it's a two sided coin for me.

   

I to seem to be a lone wolf. My own son didnt even take to it. Im AFRAID our hobby will die with the baby boomers. I hope my hoobyshop will gain ground as the boombers retire with very little money. Golf will be out!

Lone wolf myself. Between 2 jobs I barely get time to work on rebuilding my layout so wouldn't have time for a club anyway. I'm on a tight budget so it's mostly starter sets and conventional running when it gets rebuilt. My best engine is an MTM Railking Pennsylvania 2-8-0 Steam. Still, it's a great hobby and takes away the day to day stress of work and finances. Working on building a 3 tier level layout that will run 3 trains and a trolley all with reversing loops and a incline all at same time on different tracks  in a 4'8" x 8'6" with 6' x 3'8" "L" extension with 36 or 31 curves.  Tight!

I'm delighted to see that I'm not alone in enjoying being alone in this hobby.  The train forum(s) are just the amount of contact I need. 

   Bob A.

 

 

I too fall into the "lone wolfpack".  There is a fantastic club here in Memphis, "Casey Jones" group.  And while I'd love to join and work with the, I just find that when I get home I like to crawl into my trainroom (which is now non-existant due to new wife as of April 12 and we are looking to sell and buy a new home with a BIGGER train room) and run/work on my own stuff at my own pace.  

 

I have a large collection by my own standards..... when I put it into storage I had probably over 150 cars, 16 locomotives, and tons of scenery.  

 

I do love to talk trains and see other's layouts though.   Maybe I need to make an effort to join a pack.    But then I consider you guys my pack even though we've never met.  Heck I just mentioned I wanted a wagon top caboose in a tread and Leapin Larry jumped in an volunteered to sell me one of his.... new in the box.... for a truely fair price!   Now that's what I call a pack mentality!  He even said if I was ever in TN to stop in and low and behold I AM ALREADY IN TN!  I didn't realize he was the guy who has pictures and posts of an incredible layout that I had admired before!   I've never go to another member's house to view a layout but I might have to see if I can score a real invite to his sometime!  And I get all the inspiration I need from guys like Lee Willis, Gunrunnerjohn, and SIRT.