vac_basher Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 As I was drifting off to sleep the other night I was contemplating building a new diorama: a post-war blitz street scence with a tram line, but then I had this amazing thought: why are we obsessed with nostalgia? So I'd just like to share my thoughts on this and see what others oppinions are.... I'll say "our" but I'm speaking for myself obviously, our interests lay in old locomotives that have been superceaded by new technology.... Old coaches that were more noisey and uncomfortable (ok, the latter is debatable:lol:) than what we have avilable today. I'm obsessed with eras in which not everybody had a car; cell phones didn't exist; daytime television hadn't yet been invented; you couldn't get a standard burger or cup of coffee on virtually any street in the world; nor had the internet even been concieved yet..... I mean, I find it so incomprehensible that we've never had it so good, yet we have such a yearning for the past. Or maybe it's just me that's odd Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted January 13, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2012 The past is always appealing as it's a know quantity. Add into that the fact the positives are remembered more than the negatives and it's very understandable that people become obsessed with the past. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerces Fobe2 Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I am sure that for me that this thread will look even better tomorrow! XF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Railways of yore often had more complex operations with even small stations likely to see regular shunting, local goods as well as passenger services etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Trevellan Posted January 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 13, 2012 I am sure that for me that this thread will look even better tomorrow! I doubt it. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be... On a more serious note, it has been said before that we tend to model what we remember in our formative years. Not true of everyone, of course, but often so. On top of that, our interpretation of the past tends to be idealisitic. I for one always think in terms of warm summer days, with everybody in a good mood and everything working perfectly. It's also a form of escapism frrom the trials and tribulations of modern life, and why not? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerces Fobe2 Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I doubt it. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be... On a more serious note, it has been said before that we tend to model what we remember in our formative years. Not true of everyone, of course, but often so. On top of that, our interpretation of the past tends to be idealisitic. I for one always think in terms of warm summer days, with everybody in a good mood and everything working perfectly. It's also a form of escapism frrom the trials and tribulations of modern life, and why not? When we were young everything was new and exciting, however as we mature we tend to become more cynical so add these two aspects of life experience together and you have the bedrock of nostalgia! XF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebottle Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Generally speaking, what we think of as nostalgia is a longing for one's youth rather than for places and things. We were younger, stronger, healthier and full of naïve optimism for the future. Often, if we revisit old haunts we are disappointed by the experience; even if there is no great change to the surroundings, we have changed and so react differently to them. So, I make no apologies for preferring models depicting the world as I think I remember it, rather than it really was. I think, too, that obsession is too strong a word. I have, as I'm sure most of us do, strong interests in a wide range of activities. Perhaps I'm simply obsessed with enjoying as much of what life has to offer as possible? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I am afraid that models of today's railways I find boring - like the real thing. There is very little to look at. Yesterday's railways have interest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Nostalgia for the past is natural when the ghastly visions of the future we were presented with in the 1960s and 70s came true! We grew up a hardy lot well able to withstand life's knocks and it was worth it to have lived in the 1940s onwards. If you think it is good to travel behind a steam loco on a preserved line, we had over 20,000 to chose from! Throw in a heady mix of old street trams and prewar buses and it was a transport enthusiasts dream come true. Tell you what, I wouldnt be sat indoors on a computer if this was 1952 again! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerces Fobe2 Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Remember as much as we might not like it yesterdays gone! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R-BmfwM8-4 XF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebottle Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Tell you what, I wouldnt be sat indoors on a computer if this was 1952 again! I'd be happy to return to 1952, when Leith Central still echoed to the whistles of the last steam workings there; when the crowd at Easter Road roared in anticipation as Gordon Smith took the ball down the wing; when Clydesdales clip-clopped over the cobbles hauling brewers drays... that is, if I could re-inhabit my eight-year-old body rather than my present somewhat clapped-out one. Otherwise, as with all enjoyable holidays , I think I'd be glad to return to my centrally-heated house and, probably, tell fellow RM webbers that the past is a foreign country, I wouldn't like to live there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 13, 2012 Railways of yore often had more complex operations with even small stations likely to see regular shunting, local goods as well as passenger services etc. This is exactly how I see it from a railway viewpoint - today's railway has some interesting things going on but compared with even 30 years ago they are very much in the 'few and far between' category. Oddly coincidental was my thought, as my train ran - southbound - into Sheffield (Midland as was) earlier this week that had I been making the journey in the way that I did as a child and in my youth I would have been running into Sheffield Victoria and likely to see some electrics during the engine change and reversal prior to running south over the GC route as far as Woodford Halse. But that wasn't nostalgia - it was longing (to avoid the circuitous detour via Derby and the reversal in Birmingham New St before creeping round sharp curves to join a proper route ) . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 13, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2012 All the answers and more can be found in these two threads below. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/47945-lack-of-contemporary-layouts-on-the-exhibition-circuit/page__fromsearch__1 http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/49729-why-do-you-model-br-blue/page__fromsearch__1 Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Apart from six lousy years in a freezing council house, I lived in various houses that had a welcoming fire in the old cast iron range fireplace in the kitchen that was alway lit. We transferred a shovelful of fire to the front room at nights and weekends and the bedrooms when ill. Central heating only came my way in 1980 and double glazing in 1986. It would be interesting to go back and respond to the question, what am I nostalgic for from 2012 ? Bugger-all apart from me pills, pensions, modern pacemaker, the etching process, my Mondeo, big girls....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWales Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 You know what they say-Nostalgia ain't what it used to be! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 13, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2012 . We transferred a shovelful of fire to the front room at nights [in a Yorkshire accent] You were lucky to have a fire.............. Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debs. Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I doubt it. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be... Aye, just like return-tickets: they take you back, too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 why are we obsessed with nostalgia? Modern life is boring, repetitive, money oriented, state / corporation / media controlled, railways and all. Oh for the 1958 when I was 6, 1968 when I was 16, 1978 when I was 26. All different, but interesting era's, especially on the railways. Railways and many other things went boring from 1980 on. Brit15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted January 13, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2012 Simple answers from me.... The past seems to have a lot more character than the present. In addition, we can look back at the past and take time to see what happened. It is well documented. The present seems to hurtle by and - in austere times - is nowhere near as appealing. Maybe most importantly, from a railway perspective, the old trains and locos were genuinely interesting. They may have been slow and had bits falling off, but where's the "mojo" in a Eurostar? Finally, the past had variety. Most places now have uniformity. Boring, boring, boring! You can tell I'm over 50!! Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Well, let's face it, the modern world is rubbish. Economic meltdown, unimaginable wars, etc etc... Or maybe we like to look back and forget the older days had their share of those too.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium t-b-g Posted January 13, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2012 Some of you need to be careful! Writing things like that about modern railways can upset folk........ But that was another thread and it is all water under the bridge now. The strange thing with me is that I started to get involved with my dad's model railway activities at a very young age (I remember pushing Hornby Dublo carriages along a track aged about 3 in 1963). At the time, the carriages were in BR maroon and looked just like the ones out there on the real railway. It was, I suppose, modern image, bang up to date modelling! As the years have gone by, my modelling period has gone back, firstly to the 1930s then to pre WW1. Give it another 5 years and I will be modelling the Stockton & Darlington then horse drawn stage coaches. Is it really nostalgia if you model something that you are too young to have ever seen? Or can you be nostalgic for something you only know from photographs and books? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Railways of yore often had more complex operations with even small stations likely to see regular shunting, local goods as well as passenger services etc. But while this may be the case some station may only have been shunted twice a week, maybe even then only on an as-required basis. Remembering the positives again I think... The railway isn't necessarily simpler now, but more efficient with some lines enjoying a far more frequent service than they ever had in the past. The trains maybe all the same type, all day everyday but overall it can be far better for some people now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mikkel Posted January 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 13, 2012 why are we obsessed with nostalgia? It's all about the Alpine racket of cowbells: http://news.bbc.co.u...ine/8491338.stm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium t-b-g Posted January 13, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2012 Part of my nostalgia comes from a rather old fashioned word that is very much sniffed at nowadays, pride. I am proud of the history and heritage of the railways of the past. The pioneering spirit that led engineers to build seeming impossible lines across some very wild places. The chief engineers, from many companies, who were constantly striving to create a faster, more powerful or more economical locomotive, while at the same time creating machines of great beauty and elegance. I have recently had a rare opportunity to see some correspondence from the family archives of one of our leading CMEs. The affection and pride that shines through them brings the past to life. The chairman and CMEs of other railways writing to each other (even their wives!) clearly full of joy at the success that their competitor was having. There was a certain level of respect and dignity in the way people went about their lives, even though work was hard, long, often dangerous and poorly paid. Would I want to live then? Heck no! I would miss my computer, telly, car etc.etc. too much but I can't help but think we have lost something along the way. I would have loved to have seen a Jersey Lilly at Leicester Central or Valour storming out of Marylebone but I can do something about that in my railway room. So I live in the modern world but escape into the old one in 4mm to the foot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 even though work was hard, long, often dangerous and poorly paid. Nothing changes then! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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