RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted December 15, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 15, 2019 When you are in there on your own, set a train running around the loop. It helps me. 2 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedGemAlchemist Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 6 minutes ago, Nearholmer said: It’s not partly the simple fact that you are a natural team-worker, is it? What was/is your natural style/place in paying work - team, or lone-wolf? I ask because I can get next to nothing done if in a group, to contribute to a team effort, I have to take a piece of work, seclude myself, do it, and then bring it back. So, I’m wondering if you might be the opposite, as many people are. I second this. I work much better with others, as good as my solo work may be. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin S-C Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 I think I am happy working alone or with others, sometimes I can be quite happy on my own for days doing projects of my own, whether domestic or hobby. I think its a motivational issue with the actual railway project at the moment. There's been all kinds of stumbling blocks to do with the building itself (ventilation, lighting, heating), the temperature/damp issues, issues with the DCC Concepts products, issues with DCC sound decoders and loco performance, all sorts of things. I expect every model project has its bumps and its just that I've embarked on one bigger than most, at least outside of a club environment. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Nick C Posted December 16, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 16, 2019 Might it be worth trying to find a piece that you can take away from the shed and work on elsewhere, like a building or a stand-alone chunk of scenery like the bit that @chuffinghell built for Warren Branch? That might help to avoid the 'where do I start' feeling? 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CameronL Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 (edited) On 15/12/2019 at 14:47, Martin S-C said: There's been all kinds of stumbling blocks to do with the building itself (ventilation, lighting, heating), the temperature/damp issues, issues with the DCC Concepts products, issues with DCC sound decoders and loco performance, all sorts of things. Hi Martin. Sorry to hear you've had the mid-project glums. Having been involved in a project or two, both in my home life and professionally, I can sympathise. You start a project with a wonderful mental picture of how it's going to end, and even if you're the best project manager in the world you don't foresee all the pitfalls. As the great Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu said: "No plan of battle survives contact with the enemy". As soon as you try to put your plan in motion all sorts of unforeseen issues come out to play. You get to the point where you start thinking "What's the next thing that can go wrong?" So how do you cope with this? Let me say that you're in a great position to do exactly that, because you've already achieved so much. Look at the list above and don't say "stumbling blocks", say "challenges overcome". The railway room is ready, the baseboards are built, the track is laid, the DCC is sorted … I could go on. Don't make a "To do" list. That will only make you feel worse. Make a "Done" list. (You'll have quite a long one by now). Be as detailed as you want to - it just makes the list longer. Every time you make progress add a line to it. Then print it off and pin it up in your railway room. Every time you walk in there look at it and think "What can I do to make it longer?" It's very motivational to be able to add a line to it, and if you keep your old versions you will see how it grows with time. This way every time you make any progress, no matter how small, you can celebrate it, which keeps you thinking that you are making progress. Overcoming the major issues just becomes a bigger celebration. And set yourself some milestones - maybe completing one station or landscaping one area if the layout , or finishing the plan for the signalling. Whatever, if you decide it's a success when you achieve something that isn't a finished layout (does such a thing actually exist?) it's another reason for a celebration You can even keep a list of achievements for the days when you can't face the railway room. Simply list all the stock you've got ready (built, painted, weathered) to run on the NMGSR and watch it grow. (Please post some pictures when you do - I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that seeing such craftsmanship is an inspiration and the comments you get will give you a boost). Trust me - it works. In the past I've had to speak at seminars on how to keep a positive state of mind in the face of a difficult project, and this is a sure-fire winner. Regards Cam Edited December 17, 2019 by CameronL Added a bit 7 3 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 Well said. A thing I always used to repeat to my team when I was running large projects was the deeply un-original phrase “eye on the prize”, which is another good motivator. In short, just keep thinking how b***y good this railway is going to be when it’s ready to play trains on! 4 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwardian Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 It's looking good, Martin. You may step away if you need to, while you get that black dog back on the leash, but you've made an extremely solid start to a really great project and it'll still be there, with all its glorious potential, when you next feel like it. Be kind to yourself about this project and in all things. 5 1 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mikkel Posted December 19, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 19, 2019 (edited) Hi Martin, I think Edwardian has a very good point. As humans and modellers we can't keep going at maximum happines or energy all the time. What has been achieved so far by you and Neil is in itself unusual and worth celebrating. Looking at your recent photos I was particularly taken by the photo below. Those wagons at the back by the window look really far away - not because of some modeller's trick but because they actually are far away (relatively speaking). Being able to achieve such views and that depth to the scene on a home based layout is quite a feat. Raise a glass to yourself On 14/12/2019 at 14:58, Martin S-C said: Edited December 19, 2019 by Mikkel 2 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Corbs Posted December 19, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 19, 2019 What Cam has said about lists is very interesting. I've just finished a great book for makers, and there's a whole section on 'to do' lists. Some people loathe them, as did the author until he found the joy of checkboxes, because the act of ticking something off was great, but he didn't like obscuring the thing by crossing it out, but with a checkbox, you get that nice feeling whilst also being able to review what you've done. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin S-C Posted December 19, 2019 Author Share Posted December 19, 2019 Thank you to everyone for the awesome and very supportive comments. This is why I love RMWeb. Where else can you get useful therapy and toy trains in the same place? I think what ails me isn't to do with the model railway project specifically but life in general and that's why its so hard to break the cycle. The apathy has affected (infected?) all areas of my interests and relationships. I have a wargames campaign project on the go as well where I am the umpire for about 8 players and that has stalled because my interest in it has collapsed. I possibly need a chat with my doc. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted December 19, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 19, 2019 I’m sure I speak for the majority when I say if you need to chat we’re only a PM away 4 4 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedGemAlchemist Posted December 19, 2019 Share Posted December 19, 2019 Indeed. You have friends, Martin. You helped me through rough patches of my own, so I will do what I can to help you 3 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted December 20, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 20, 2019 Hope you’re feel a little better today matey Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin S-C Posted December 23, 2019 Author Share Posted December 23, 2019 I would like to send my very sincere thank yous and best wishes for the season to everyone who has contributed here. Your comments have been very much appreciated. I am however going to be taking a break from RMWeb. Negativity from the admins when raising the issue of poor site response times has been the last straw. I'll come back in the spring, or when I'm feeling able to deal with life generally, if that happens to be sooner. My love and respects to you all. Take care. 1 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted December 23, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 23, 2019 Sorry to hear you feel you need to take a break but I do understand Just know that we're here for you if you need us matey 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted December 23, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 23, 2019 Here in New Zealand I had the RMweb forums drop out and not be available for anything up to an hour at a time lately so there is something strange going on with RMweb's servers. Martin, do what you need to do and take a break. A few months ago now I took a complete break from railway modelling and disappeared for a while because I needed to clear my head and shoot a few black dogs that had been bothering me. Remember there are more than a few folk on the forum who care about you so don't make yourself a complete stranger. We'll be here waiting for your return. 2 5 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted December 23, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 23, 2019 6 hours ago, Martin S-C said: poor site response times 1 hour ago, Annie said: RMweb forums drop out and not be available for anything up to an hour Yesterday afternoon (middle of the night for those on GMT) there was no access at all for about two hours. My computer told me that the problem was with the link between Cloudfare (whatever that is) and the host, not between my computer and Cloudfare, so I did something else and came back later. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrispearce Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 just joined the forum and have read through this thread. Wow. What a brilliant idea! Will watch this one! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schooner Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 (edited) On 23/12/2019 at 14:33, Martin S-C said: I'll come back in the spring ...just sayin'... I hope all is well with you Martin, and that you're safe and sound during the current upheavals. I stopped by because I've just re-discovered the Excel (Random) Freight Train Generator, developed for Nether Madder and Green Soudley, on my hard drive and wanted to say what an inspiration your layout continues to be. Your presence on this forum is certainly missed, but it is a great credit to what you had already accomplished that this remains one of the standout projects on RMWeb. This thread is a veritable mine of valuable information and it's a pleasure to revisit it. I'm looking forward to the next update, whenever and whatever that may be All the best, Schooner EDIT: Ah-ha, found it! @CameronL, thank you for a great tool. One day I'll get to grips with it in anger...! Edited March 24, 2020 by Schooner 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin S-C Posted March 25, 2020 Author Share Posted March 25, 2020 Thank you Schooner. I am still here, very well, virus-free but just taking a break from railway modelling for a bit. The layouts electrics and track are still about 90% done but Neil is missing a few small electrickery gizmos from DCC Concepts and of course nothing is coming out of China right now. In any case we'd agreed to halt things until the warm weather came around because we'd then tackle the scenery and things like Celotex and such need to be sawn and sanded outside. Then the virus came along and Neil isn't working at all. So we are taking a bit of a longer break than we planned. I am wargaming instead, my other hobby. I shall definitely be back later in the year though. 11 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 Best wishes Martin, Kevin 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Martin S-C Posted December 9, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 9, 2020 Hello to anyone still out there after such a long time. I am still here, alive and kicking and feeling a bit more like a human with interests again. It has been a terrible year of course though I think I should put that in perspective and consider my year has been better than most. I am still well, as is my elderly friend Sheila and my daughter Megan. No virus and no other major issues. My mental health has been up and down like a Bishop's cassock as the politically improper saying goes but is currently on the up slope as my interest in wargaming, model railways and a few other subjects is rising which is amazing considering how I was feeling last time I posted here. I have to confess to not having even switched the power on on the layout since probably February when Neil was last here. We encountered a very annoying feature of the reversing triangle gizmo on that day that appeared to affect the polarity switching software of the DCC Concepts point motors so that was a depressing discovery. Neil took the reversing module away and then lockdown hit. In the last month or so I have written down a list of things which began as thoughts about the state of the railway but morphed into a list of things I really would like to have in a model and which this one doesn't deliver and I realised that a big part of my low mood was my reluctance to admit that I had made several big mistakes with the design. I have learned a lot, mostly in what not to do and going back over this thread I do find many of you warning me of exactly those things early on, which in my blind lust for progress I ignored. I feel suitably humbled. But I must face the facts and the reality and accept that I have built (or had built for me) a model railway that just isn't going to work. I have been playing about in AnyRail and come up with another design which is ... well, its entirely different. Its just a case of sitting down with Neil and discussing the wholesale dismantling of the NM&GSR and rebuilding it into a very different form ... but one that will satisfy me more and be more future proof as regards my physical suppleness (or lack of it as the years pass). The new plan has a continuous double track run and in my mind might represent part of a company such as the M&SWJ or the M&GN where these were doubled, that kind of railway, that sort of level of financial (in)stability. There is a single main terminus and I have heavily based that on a mirror image of Hunstanton because that terminus is just so interesting in terms of its platform layout and intense seasonal traffic. The colliery will remain because collieries and I go together like two things that go together extremely well, as Blackadder might say. There will also be a single track branch line from the terminus going around 2.5 walls of the room to end at a BLT, because, well, BLTs and I go together like... you get the idea. Whereas the NM&GSR v1.0 had 7 stations, a colliery and a fiddle yard (9 operator positions for full efficiency), v2.0 has just 2 stations, a colliery and passing loops which may or may not be fiddled. They may just store up to 12 trains to be run in sequence. As I will be operating solo for a lot of the time the unwieldy number of operator positions in v1.0 was a big problem and it struck me that in effect I was really just playing trains on a half-dozen small layouts bolted together, sending a train to station X, shunting it there and driving it on to station Y, shunting it there and so on. There was also the mid-room duck-under which was over four feet wide and which I now view with some distaste. The doorway lifting flap although technically brilliant (thanks Alan & Neil) has proven to be a massive pain in the regions we don't speak of on family forums. The garage still has moisture change issues and the flap is continuously "breathing" so that no matter how much we plane off it's end, it swells to always stick tight in the space available. So NM&GSR v2.0 has no lifting flap and no duck-under, or at least not one you need to negotiate to run the major part of the layout. The new plan now incorporates an upright walk-in and a large principal operating well 3 feet 3 ins wide and 13 ft long. The way the storage loops are curved round means there is a 15" wide duck-under to get at the BLT operating position but I can live with such a small duck-under to a position that isn't a primary operating space. Operation will consist of two trains leaving the terminus and circulating around the main line so I get my "watching trains and sipping (insert beverage of choice)" itch scratched. These two can be left to run while I shunt the colliery or the main terminus goods yard or work away at getting locos off and onto the right ends of passenger rakes in the platforms. The branch can be operated from the main terminus if I use a push-pull set or a rail car of some sort and the once a day freight and Saturdays only cattle market trains will be the only times I'll need to get under the storage loop board to actually shunt that station. The rest of the time everything else is within reach of basically a single central seat on wheels. Neil is going to phone me on Friday and I'll be breaking the news to him then. Depending on how he takes the news he may or may not subsequently be a suspect in my untimely death. 3 25 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schooner Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 27 minutes ago, Martin S-C said: I have been playing about in AnyRail and come up with another design Well come on then, let's see it! Nine-tenths wonderful news Martin - it's good to hear from you and I'm glad it's largely positive. It must have been a difficult process to work through, but I wish you joy of the revised plan. I won't be alone in looking forward to more as and when you have more to share All the best, Schooner ps. It might not have been right in the end, but NM&GS was hugely inspirational and a large part of why my idle daydreaming of returning to modelling became full of intent and more concrete. For this I'm very grateful. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 Hello! will read properly later, but just to say it’s good to see you back. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted December 9, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 9, 2020 Welcome back 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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