I wish....

I was on one of the fishing board I follow and they had a thread titles I wish, It was very interesting to see the replies. I think it would be very interesting and beneficial to all of us to see where this goes. Post thing that you wish someone had told you about the hobby, or thing that you would have done different knowing whatever. We have all been working on our projects and have come to that situation where if someone had advised us about a particular thing it would have been very helpful.

I will start it off....

Referring to my previous layout.. If someone would have told me how bad sound and vibration exponentially multiplies on wood and rail I would have better insulated my roadbed to get a prototypical sounding railroad... I could go on and on on lessons I have learned over the years..

Brooks

 

OK, I'll bite. In the last century, a friend who flys r/c aircraft asked me why nobody used r/c in their trains. That made me think "why not?"...and so I found some nice r/c car equipment and put it in my On30 locomotives and have never looked back at track power since. To me, that has been the thing that has made this hobby more enjoyable. No wiring, track or wheel cleaning, electrical problems, or any other problems that plague model railroaders. It all started with a simple question.

W C Greene

 

ummmm, hmmm I would've gotten into DCC at the start, would I still be a BN modeler and would my screen name here have been a BN one? interesting.I have to think about it now.

 

I wish someone would have told me about the dangers of relying on a manufacture supported train forum. That such a forum can appear to be the technical support for a manufacture that basically has none. That relevant and appropriate posts (even complete threads) can be disappeared with no explanation for the manufacture’s benefit. That searches on the forum can make the manufacture’s products appear to be more reliable and trouble free.
TrainBoard is a great forum to be on!!!
Bob

 

Those thoughts are interesting, the last layout was Dcc but that process started well into the build, this new will be dcc and organized from the start.

 

I wish...
-I didn't get so caught up as a youth trying to use exactly the same products the MR mentioned in their how-to's. Improvising would have allowed me to do more and let me be less afraid of screwing things up.
-I knew how much easier Xuron rail clippers made installing flextrack, and how much easier solder flux made wiring feeders. Oh, and how much easier it is to drill micro-holes in plastic using a pin vise.
-I had been more conservative in my purchases early on. I've bought and sold three times over what I currently own. Didn't lose much in the way of money, but it was a major time waste better spent modeling.
-I wish I had more time to enjoy this great hobby.

 

Instead of creating a completely free-lanced layout with it's own road name, I would pick a railroad prototype and perhaps free-lance the location and scenery. I've lost my enthusiasm for applying decals and I have many more freight cars to go.

George V.

 

Man some of the things we learn. My first layout I wanted to much and then it seemed like I spread myself to thin. This time a more focused approach.

 

When I first got back into N Scale in 2004 I had not bought so much and spent way too much money. I wish I had known about the "Got To Have It Attitude" that hooks you into this bad decision(s).

!0 years later and I still not have a working layout.

Did this also happen to you too?

See ya
Ron

 

I wish...

That years ago, when Dad and I were building, I gave up on designing the sucker sooner and started actually building a layout with my Dad. Empty modules and Bachmann track was easier to salvage out of a house with no Estate when he passed away, but it would've been nice to have something scenic that was "ours".

 

Something I started about halfway through my old layout. Better records, for example if I did a custom paint job on something I had a spiral notebook and I would write down what I used for reference at a later date. Of course it might not be exact but it did come in handy later having a starting point and matching things up.

 

On about 80% of my engines that no longer fit my era, I actually more than doubled their purchase price on three-day "buy it now"s on eBay which amounted to thousands of dollars when the selling price for a $650 engine became $1500+...and I had 5 of 'em. Buying brass engines was expensive when I did it, but sure made up for it when I decided to only have engines that fit in my ten year "era".

Some of what I sold:


My main regret is I wish I had bought all of the Soundtraxx TSU-4664N sound decoders I needed to replace the MRC POS decoders in my Challengers and Big Boys. Now, they're gone and verrrrry difficult to find. Guess I'll just hardwire the Soundtraxx TSU-750 Heavy Steam decoder into the tenders rather than persist in being frustrated.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

 

I Wish:
- I had photos of my layouts two layouts from high school years.
* 1st) Was a slightly modified version of Lynn H. Westcotts plan #14. It was destroyed by 'Cat Zilla'. It was a 'U' shaped point to point layout on a 2'x4'x sheet of plywood. Interestingly enough I found the original piece when moving into my current home. I could identify it by the trail left by the cork roadbed. It means I stored that sheet of plywood for 30+ years at my parents or my place and that it has been moved at least 5 times. I cannot bring myself to part with it. Argggg! Sigh.
* 2nd) Was an extended oval that incorporated the above plan and a helix built with 1X4's. I still remember my fathers amazement at the success. He asked me:
> 'Where did I get the idea for the helix"
To this day I am quite certain I 'invented' it myself. BTW: The MRC 2-8-8-2 could not get itself up the incline but backed by a Minitrix unit the pare could pull at least 12 cars up that whatever it was incline. At the other end of the oval it was all down hill and I had to seriously throttle back my 'Pulse Power' something or other.
Yep, really wish I had photos.
Sigh.

 

This. I do wish that I kept my HO back in my early teens. It wouldve been a great display to have around in my home.

Another thing to wish about is being dedicated to one's hobby or several hobbies. I have several hobbies and I dont have time for each one of em.

 

When I switched to G scale, I knew I had to make many concessions. With G scale its almost a given that you go for quality over quantity. Space constraints demanded tight curves on an indoor layout. So I can not run diesels. These days I find myself missing simple things like GP38 and SD40's . I'm lucky to have a vary nice layout but its stuck in the steam error with tight curves.

I also miss going into a hobby shop and getting a kit of what ever for a few bucks and finishing it in 2 or 3 days. While I love having all the details you can add in G scale and having interiors in many of my buildings, spending a month or more on each one.. well.. sometimes that is a bit daunting. " Measure, mark board, cut board, sand, Glue board in place then repeat thousands of times ".

Shows have become kind of a bummer to. You just don't find cool little treasures in G scale. You often find big treasures with BIG PRICE TAGS!

But with all that said. I only clean my tracks 1 every six months. Cleaning locomotive wheels involves a Q-tip, some goo-be-gone. Turn up the throttle and hold loco, apply wet end of Q-tip to driving wheel, then use dry end of Q-tip to remove crud. Then there is running, whoo what a defiance from the smaller scales. Nice smooth operation. Finaly when I'm 75 it will all look like HO anyway.