Guest Max Stafford Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Thanks to all of you for the good advice. Last night I just put all the whys and wherefores aside and did something I really wanted to, in this case starting my Caley Jumbo kit. Three hours' work got me a rolling chassis, with which I'm rather pleased. This isn't a particularly labour or time intensive kit, but the end product will be a type I've been keen to have on the roster for many years. A 'win - win' all round, I think! Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Great stuff mate! I decided to take my own advice last night, and with the 'aid' of a tin or two I cleared out a black-bagful of detritus that was just getting in the way. A good hard stare freed up a host more eBay lots as well. As a result I can see the garage floor, have found a load of key reference books and research notes, bunch of cds, some really useful ironmongery and YES I have finally had the balls to ditch things like half-finished whitemetal bus kits, random useless Tri-ang 'spares,' empty boxes for which there are no rolling stock and so on. This simple thing has enabled me to regroup my locos for W/B etc into discrete boxes AND cucially I'm now actually looking forward to three or four essential sub-projects. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
musky Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 I'm just the same. I had to really force myself to do a bit of modelling, but I felt so much better when I had. I also think its that time of the year what wirh SAD and christmas it all gets a bit much. Roll on spring Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 An email I was reading yesterday contained the following quote. " You are not duty bound to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it." Attributed to Rabbi Hillel. This was from another Rabbi in reference to a research project that is turning into a seemingly endless task. To put it simply you do what you can. Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Max Stafford Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Thanks Bernard. I do love your signature. It is relevant indeed to our times! :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Dave #1 get those two commisions out of the way, and then put up a big sign saying "closed!". #2 - think about what it is you want to have trackwise - and get someone to draw up a plan #3 Keep the layout, at least in the initial stages, small and manageable, and possibly capable of extension later - even a shunting plank which can be used for testing #4 Kits and paint jobs are fine, but get A loco and SOME stock actually running even if it is in bare metal/plastic, and play! #5 Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is a layout - Basement Empires look great - but most are almost built by a small "Club" of mates who come around every week - most solo efforts are much smaller. #6 It Is a HOBBY - keep smiling even when you feel like gritting your teeth! Best Jack Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueeighties Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Sorry to drag this topic back up, I stumbled across it today. I know the thread was started a while ago, Dave, are you now back on the modelling scene? Last night, I sat and asked myself a number of questions about this hobby. For the last few months I have been building (or rather trying), my own points. I have found it quite difficult, and last night after almost completing one, I came up against yet another problem, and I thought right, thats it, this is just is not for me. Everything trackbuilding related was just thrown into bags and chucked into the loft. It came very close to going into the bin. Its opened a whole bag of further questions. I keep finding myself constantly frustrated with my efforts. I started off with a design for a depot layout in the garage, with a view to having somewhere to display and play with my sound equipped locos. 12' long board, not that big a scale project. I Actually purchased the boards from a manufacturer, as I couldn't find the time to build them, and doubted my abilities. Last Winter, which admittedly was a bit extreme, the boards warped. Nightmare. Boards returned, garage wrote off. Bit of a problem as that was the only space available. Then decided to get some work done in the loft, which created a much bigger space. Tried a new technique (for me) of baseboard construction, and discovered I could actually build something reasonably flat, solid, and to a standard I was happy with. Actually felt good about this. I planned a large roundy roundy, and was really happy with the plan, and felt like I could stick to it and make decent progress. Then I had the decision to make about track. I have always had an interest in this area, had dabbled previously, but couldnt get anything working properly. So, It took me ages, but I actually produced a working point. But, I got so frustrated and annoyed at various points along the way. It was the same with the baseboards. So, I have started asking myself, just what the hell do I want out of this hobby? I think, the problem is, I want to be able to build a large layout to fine standards, but this is just simply unachievable. I'm a one man band, and don't have any friends with a modelling interest who could maybe help. Every time I produce a plan, I want to introduce nice sweeping curves, an interesting bridge here etc, but I ALWAYS end up producing the standard 4 by 2 flat top modular baseboard. I have no creative ideas, everything just ends up straight and flat. And then because of my track building frustrations, I have to accept that I can only build a layout with the accepted standard of Peco Streamline. It looks toylike to me. I just wonder whether I can actually use the term modeller against my name. I think 'chequebook armchair modeller' seems to be more appropriate. I am very good at buying boxes, and scratching the surface and trying a couple of other areas, but thats it. I am now of the feeling, that I would be better off binning the whole lot, and finding something else as a hobby. I love railways, but the modelling side of it just never works for me. I'm thoroughly cheesed off with the whole thing. Sorry for the venting on here I am also begining to wonder if I have some form of depression, the way I feel about all of this. Rant finished and over with. Regards Lee. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennine MC Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 And then because of my track building frustrations, I have to accept that I can only build a layout with the accepted standard of Peco Streamline. It looks toylike to me. Have a look at Leith Baltic Street, which certainly doesnt look toylike. Or consider paying somebody to make your pointwork - though you'll still have to have the practical skills to maintain it if anything breaks is use As Paul says, if anything else in your life is troublesome, sort that first. As Dave's OP shows, even experienced modellers can sometimes become disillusioned with their work - at times like that, you need some sort of positive achievement, so look back on one you already have, or do whatever you're good at. If that has to be modelling, then consider other activities within the hobby that you might not have tried. Worst case scenario though is that some folk just arent cut out for this hobby - I've encountered one or two but only you, or perhaps a trusted friend who also has some ability in the field, can decide that. I hope that isnt the case, but be prepared to consider it rather than screw yourself up about it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Lee, lets go right back to square one and start from basics - As you are a "one-man-band" build a small layout - perhaps on a 6' x 1' shelf - and progress from there - on the old forum there are loads of layouts http://www.rmweb.co....hp?f=66&t=24472 has 34 pages of them! - This will help build your skills, by doing small achievable projects - I'd love to have a large layout, but I have to accept my limitations - lack of space, money, my age, and abilities - these limit me in my ambitions, and I know that I am attracted to different layouts and a small one means that relatively little is invested and if it doesn't continue to inspire me it can go to the tip - but in the meantime it has kept me active. I really don't want to end up sitting in a chair staring at the idiot-box. Have a dig in either where I suggested above or on Carls site or become a member of the small layout design group on Yahoo http://groups.yahoo....-layout-design/ but stop feeling sorry for yourself and BUILD something! Say "I CAN and I WILL" - ratther than "I'm not happy with it" - it may not be perfect, but the next one will be better because you know what you did wrong last time. May be start by building a controller from Bertie-dogs post, and then a get and detail a loco, followed by a small layout Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belsay Lad Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 (Firstly an apology as I might have commited a major faux pas in that until yesterday I hadn't realised that there was a 'new members' link so despite having joined many months ago I haven't introduced myself to the site and it's existing members.) I too found myself in a similar position to Dave (the OP) a few years ago. A full time job which was becoming more and more stressful, coming home at night totally 'cream crackered' with no energy to do more than cook a meal (and mostly that was courtesy of the well known masterchef team of Pierce Sache & Mike Ro'Wave!), then fall into bed. Weekends were taken up with never-ending domestic chores such a washing/ironing, housework & gardening. Model railways were well down the list of things to do and even when I was on holiday I just couldn't be bothered. I still visited local exhibitions but couldn't find the spark to actually do anything constructive. In late 2009 my 'caring' employer decided to have a cull of staff and. as I would qualify for early retirement I decided to jump ship, finally reaching the shore in March 2010. Plenty time for modelling I thought. However, even then I would look at the partially built layout, boxes of locos/rolling stock etc, and decide to go and do something else! Fast forward to June this year:- I visited the Perth Model Railway Show with my partner and as we left she said, 'You obviously enjoyed that, so when are you going to actually build a layout!' (fortunately she shares an interest in my hobbies). After a futher conversation we have decided that weekends are my modelling time although this isn't to say I have to do it nor that I can't do modelling during the week. So far in three weeks the baseboards have been built for a small layout in N Gauge (7 feet by 1 foot 4 inches) based on a concept of a semi-dockland industrial sidings layout in my home town of Edinburgh (this was before Leith Baltic Street came to my notice via this thread!) and a track plan roughed out for 'Coburg Street'. Photos have also been taken in the Leith area of typical bonded warehouses and local landmarks such as the church on Commercial Road and the ex railway station buildings. The layout will not be an accurate model of any specific location but will hopefully be a representation of a believeable might-have-been. If I can achieve even a fraction of the atmosphere of Leith Baltic Street I will be a happy bunny. However, the main reason for this post is that sometimes you need somebody to give you the proverbial kick up the **** to actually get you started, thanks Pat! The only downside is that I have found you can spend hours on RMWeb as there is a treasure trove of info just a mouse click away! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I realised some time ago that the only way to produce a huge finescale layout on your own required the use of only two tools. A chequebook and pen! For us mere mortals reality soon sets in. I would suggest that you look again at what you believe are failures. We are product of the modern age that tells us that if at first you don't succeed it is because you didn't buy the latest whizzy thing and so are a failure. What should have happended is that you, like me, learn from your mistakes. Why did the boards warp, why are projects not coming out right? What would you do next time? Don't know? Then ask...but who? I would urge you to get involved with a local model railway club. Or join a society EMGS S4 and go to local area group meetings. Here you can ask questions and learn from others. This has to be one of the best parts of the hobby. Also when you go to shows, talk to the demonstrators. That is why they are there, to be asked questions. You will probably find that these are members of the local club/ area group and you can find out how friendly there are. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 My biggest problem is being lazy. I'm in a similar predicament to Dave, with lots of kits to build, loads of loco's to detail and renumber and no home layout at the moment. If it wasn't for the exhibition layout (Harford Street) which I'm building with friends, none of my stock would turn a wheel. My trouble is I can't be bothered to finish things. I'll knock up some Parkside kits then the thought of spraying, gloss varnish, transfers, gloss varnish then matt varnish plus weathering puts me off. I think the secret is not to think in terms of time, but just tackle things a stage at a time, bit by bit, and don't look at all the work required to complete the task in one go. Even allowing the odd hour is better than allowing no time at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tractionman Posted July 19, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 19, 2011 Like most who've commented it seems, I too started with grand plans, using my converted loft to set up a large roundy-roundy, but work (children and career!) soon put the brakes on that idea so I too downsized... Having a left-over 4' by 1' plank from my son's pinned down rack (a 'layout' which I knocked up in an afternoon and which we use to play trains... happy days), lately I have spent small amounts of money on odds and sods such as brick sheets, inspection pits, as well as ready to plant stuff like Bachmann's new single road shed, and bit by bit progress is being made, and in a perverse sort of way I like the slowness as everything else in life is all so pressured. I took a few evenings painting and weathering my brick retaining walls, a nice and relaxing job, and not bad results, but they're still in a box waiting to be placed on my 'plank', which sits before me now on my dining room table, looking a bit desolate with just the cork laid and the track positioned but not yet ballasted or painted - a promised day or two off work ('me time'), when the kids are in school/nursery, and another phase in construction will take place - and I look forward to that, which for me is part of the pleasure. all the best, Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueeighties Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Hello again.Thank you to the previous poster for the recommendation about the 'small layout' thread on the old RMWEB site. I have had a look, and a few of the plans have really got me thinking. I am going to have a good think, a lot of research through books, and forget about track construction for a while. Not going to make anything else until a plan has been (reasonably) finalised and decided on. Regards, Lee Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waverley West Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Hi Dave, My advice would be as follows: Finish the projects for other people and don't take on any more for the time-being. You'll always have locos to renumber and weather, so forget about those for now. You'll always have loco and rolling stock kits to build too, so forget about those too. While you're finishing your projects for other people, you can be thinking about possible track plans. Then when you've finished those projects, you be ready to move on with your planning. I'm no great expert at time planning or motivation, but my tip would be to try and achieve something every day or as often as you can. That way your project will keep moving on and your motivation will increase. If I don't do at least some modelling, however little, every few days, I often find my motivation levels tailing off and my output stopping altogether. Getting it restarted is harder than keeping it going I find. Cheers, Dave PS Did you take your dog with you to Kingmoor on Saturday? If so, I think I saw you. I should have said hello! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 ...I'm generally too goosed to do during the course of a working week that can vary between 40 and 64 hours. ... So presumably there is a resulting flow of wonga in your direction? How about the option of trading some of the cash for the services of a layout builder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger440 Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 I too am in the lack of time camp. But, as blueeighties alludes to, he wont be happy with peco track? Aside from the options around this, is this not partly driven by the ever increasing standards we now see. In other words our expectations of the result and our own abilities rises ever higher, but that higher standard takes more time and skill??? And so our inability to achieve this can then demoralise us? I think i know what i mean!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueeighties Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Roger hi. I think you have hit the nail right on the head there. For me anyways. Maybes to get things back into. perspective, I should get a sheet of 6 by 4 chipboard, attach a circle of track to it, and watch an old Hornby 37 and 47 run around it. Was the bees knees when I was younger! Regards, Lee. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raffles Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 What a stunning idea. That'd work for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueeighties Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Me too actually. Standards didn't exist then. But my imagination convinced me it was just about the real thing! Regards, Lee. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Max Stafford Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Dave. You did indeed spot the mutt and me at Kingmoor! Now, I was interested to see this thread reappear as it allowed me to take stock of things as they stood. In retrospect, the impasse continued up to the beginning of spring with several layout ideas milling around, a deteriorating atmosphere at work and general routine all preventing any real forward movement. At the beginning of May, whilst on a day out in the border country following the former Waverley Route, I finally settled on modelling this area. I won't be venturing into the loft to work on the layout until the days shorten significantly because I don't like to squander a second of daylight! However, it's allowed me to clear out all the stock I don't need and allowed me to focus closely on the items I require. Modelling time recently has been spent preparing some signature trains and thinking about a suitable track plan. Next stage is to use my tablet to experiment with some plans and sketches of imagined scenes that might transmit themselves to a layout. I'm pleased with the new sense of purpose and direction although some important decisions remain to be made about the actual fabric of the layout. Actually building the board, planning and laying track, wiring and building construction are all as yet unlearned skills, but I'll tackle and master each one as I encounter it. Good luck to all of you struggling to get back on course at the moment. Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 To me, it is a matter of trying to get from where I am to where I want to be, remembering that this is JUST a hobby. If I feel like working on the railway, I work on it. Unless I've done something daft, like invite the club by, again... seriously, I try and get something done about weekly. There is a fair amount of pocketbook modeling that I do, because I don't think I have enough time to do everything that I would like. That means, that you have to be flexible as to make the standard you are setting out for, and not overshoot it. I want a _operational_ layout first, and a scenic'd one after. So, operational, it is. Scenicly complete? well, it is painted green, for the most part, rather than pink now. It needs enough work for the operational side, that the scenic side takes a back seat to the making operational portions. Long Marton is a long term project. V3 has been progressing for ~6 years now. V2 was 4 years before that, and V1 was scrapped 15 years ago. I'd like to make more progress than I do, but I spend time with my 2 sons, with Lego, with Live Steam, and, oh, like now, 6000 km away from the layout for months at a time. I'd say, keep plugging away at it, but understand that this is a hobby where progress can seem backwards at times! James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennine MC Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Next stage is to use my tablet to experiment with some plans and sketches of imagined scenes that might transmit themselves to a layout. . That's a good GP you've got there Dave, if he can give you something to help with layout design Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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