Have you ever asked yourself why you love trains? I mean the word love may be a bit over the top. Or the wrong description for how I feel about trains in general. I usually save such adoration for my family. I'm sure you've heard car buffs talk about the love for their cars. So it seems acceptable. They even name them. Aiiyiiyii. So do I. I've thought about this for years. Why do I like trains? Are they cute? Trains? No they don't fit in with the Teddy Bear set. You could say, No not really. Are they pretty? Hardly. Rugged that's what they are. The epitome of ugly? Hold on Rick. How about those good looking Streamliners and those streamlined Steam Engines, aka Locomotives? Weren't they pretty. Okay you got me. Yep, I couldn't wait to get over to Gilroy, Ca. to see the Southern Pacific Daylight come through. That was until they took those amazing GS4's off the point. My fascination with trains comes from watching my family of railroader's who worked for Santa Fe. Allom me to introduce them. Granddad and Great Grandad worked for Santa Fe out of Barstow, California. Great Granddad was a former Moffat Man. A great uncle was a Conductor for the Santa Fe. Dad was a REA agent out of Mojave, California. Me? Did you ask about me? Not at all as important as they were. But, I did a short stint as an agent for Union Pacific out of Dayton, Ohio. Short lived but very interesting. I used to stand track-side at the Barstow Train Station watching the passenger trains come in, crews switching the passenger and freight yards. Watching how they made up trains. Puzzling over some of the things the railroad did. Betting at some-point in your life you have too. The one thing I couldn't get enough of was the language of these Professional Railroaders. It was amazing to listen to them talk about the railroad. Then there was those Suits who never did a lick of real railroad work but had the audacity, to tell them how to run a railroad. My Grandad took an hour away from football. Did I say Football. Yep, Football. Not the kick the ball around the field girly stuff. Real football. To show me various yard switching moves and how they negotiated the Shove. Then he picked up one of my HO Tyco F7's saying, this isn't right. There should be handrails on the front so the fireman can get up to the windows to clean them. My first introduction to realism. And, it didn't come from a Model Railroader. I soon learned that Rail-fans, so called Model Railroaders weren't always right about their assessments of the railroads. Kind of oblivious is the word that comes to mind. Miss-use of railroad linguistics, slang, terminology stands out like a sore thumb. Now don't get me wrong. I happen to be one of those Rail-fan types. As I too spent much of my younger years growing up looking from the outside, into the inside of Railroading. One thing is/was for certain my railroads in O, S, HO and N scale had to be as authentic as possible. No three rail for me. None of this running around in a circle or loopity loops. A train had to have a working purpose. Switching moves and more switching moves. Locals out working the industrial spurs, through Freights blasting down the main. Those grand passenger trains clogging up the mains and demanding the right of way. Arrogant operators. After all they were the First Class trains of the day. Until Amtrash took over. Oh well, it is what it is. I could go on but you might take it as a put down to what most of us do in the hobby. No don't go there. If it wasn't for the Toy Train Enthusiast we wouldn't have Model Railroading, as we know it today. Yes, there is a difference between the two but I will leave you to figure it out. You know what i mean. My thoughts for now and yes I have more. Have fun.
I think my interest in trains began as a toddler watching an older brother's Lionel. My parents got me a wooden train and some books, and I was hooked for life. My interest in real trains is as strong as the models.
I started by watching the real trains coming into the Farmer's Co-Op and the paper mill in our little town. Those are all long gone. But after serving in the army, I got into the 'toys'.
I was told a long time ago I needed a "Gentle" hobby because my life was anything gentle in those early years of adulthood. I thought having a dog was enough, a really cool Siberian named Randy! But it seemed that that was not enough. One day walking around San Diego, I happened upon a hobby shop that sold trains. The folks there were so kind that they even let Randy come in with me. I told the folks I was told I needed a hobby not related to my work. Since we had Lionel trains as kids, and I was rather space deprived, they told me to look at N Scale. This was around 1995, and there were the Atlas GP's manufactured by Kato and lots of MicroTrain's cars, I refused to use Rapido on anything. They were nice enough to change the locomotive couplers to MT's. So my empire in trains started as a hobby to balance my life, N Scale worked because I lived on a Cal 39 sailboat and anything bigger would be too cumbersome. They ran a simple oval using Kato UniTrak on the dining table and could be taken down easily and re-setup. I still have all those original cars and locomotives plus many generations of their children. It turned out that trains help me deal with the stresses of my career. Unfortunately, it turned into a slight addiction that still affects me to this day. And that is OK.
The healthiest addiction a man could have. Okay, I heard that and Ladies. It doesn't get any better then this.
I think that most of us are "toy" train enthusiasts because we are train enthusiasts and don't work as train engineers or live at the rail yard. Model railroads (or simply toy trains - they are all "models" at some level) are just the way we can enjoy trains in our own homes (or on the road if you're Rod Stewart).
I couldn't agree more with you. You make it the way you want to work it. Me I'm wanting to recreate some of the memories I have of the 50's thru the 60's. Knowing how the big boys ran the trains. I want to copy that. You are free to do what you want.
As a kid growing up in Phoenix AZ. my brothers and I would pack a lunch on Saturdays and ride our bikes 4 miles from the west side...down Thomas Rd. to the tracks that paralleled 'Grand Avenue' at 27th Ave.. We would sit on the embankments and watch the trains slowly coming out of Mobest Yard. To a little kid (11-12 years old) those smoke belching behemoths and the guys who would wave out the windows at us kids where every kids heroes !!! I guess those big trains just stuck with me. I ended up driving big rigs for a living and watched kids stare in awe and wave at the BIG trucks as they went by. That and of course immersing myself into a tiny 1:160 world is a great get away from reality for hours on end.
I have never questioned my fascination from the time I heard the trains up in St. Paul near my relatives' house. I was about 3 and the trains were moving down in one of the depressions below street level. We were standing in front of their house and I was captivated by the sound. My older brothers and cousins took me over to where they were (a couple blocks away?) and I had no fear at all. That was the beginning. Doug
My current HO layout has no immediate plans for any switching other than a siding or reverse loop. Round and round she goes, yup, that's what I want. For me, this is all about modeling stuff, adding realistic buildings and weathering cars is my goal for keeping me happy in the hobby.
I have been a train fanatic literally since BEFORE I can remember. I grew up in a very small town (think in terms of hundreds population, not thousands) on the C&NW double track mainline from Chicago to Omaha. The small school was overloaded (before they built the new high school in the mid-sixties) and they rented some space on main street to hold kindergarten. My mom had to drive my older sister down there, which meant crossing the tracks. She told me that I used to make her park by the tracks after dropping my sister off so that I could see a train or two. She read the newspaper. I had a great Mom. I absolutely don't remember any of that. I was probably three at the time. I had a Marx windup from that era, and got my first Lionel scout set at five. By nine, we had classic (well used) Lionel O gauge. Two sets of ATSF 2343's from 1950 - 1952 Lionel "outfits" (isn't that what they were called?). Not long after, my father passed and I reached puberty, so trains took a back seat for a while. That said, it's in the genes and I've never known a railfan who has had those genes die.
I too, cannot remember when I didn't like trains. Had one of those old Tyco HO switchers when I was little, had some Athearn stuff and a small layout when a bit older. Got back into modelling in the 80s when I discovered N scale. Had a hiatus due to family life and then just was able to get back into N scale a couple of years ago. Yeah, I worked a dangerous job and now that I am retired I am enjoying playing with trains!
Hi Rick, You ask a very hard question to answer, why do we like trains and specifically model trains? My first answer is, I really don't know why? HUH? Let me explain, what is it about trains, model or prototype that attract us? I had an uncle that was only 1 year older than me. In the summer months I'd spend two weeks at my grandparent home and my uncle and I would have all kinds of fun, playing baseball, street hockey, you name it. There home was right along side the former P&WV and at that point in time it was the N&W Connellsville division. Anytime I heard a train, I'd run to the end of the property and watch the entire train go past, my uncle could care less, for him it was just a train. He also had a Lionel Santa Fe F3 Train set that only came out at Christmas time, he had no desire to play with it throughout the year. My HO scale trainset was setup in the basement 12 months a year. So why was I interested in trains and my uncle was not? First was it the fascination that one person was controlling this massive machine? yes and there was also fascination of people driving the big rigs, which was another hobby I had when I was a teenager. I think I built every 1/24 scale big rig model that AMT and ERTL offered. I even started doing custom kit bashing to model specific trucks, but I'm getting off subject. I think another fascination with railroading was, where did that railroad line go and what were they hauling in those cars. How do those locomotives work and what do all the members of the train crew do? But that does not really answer the deeper question, why are we wired to like trains, but not everyone else in the world. Putting it another way, out of 331 million people in the US, only approx. 250,000 to 500,000 are model railroaders. Yes there are some people who come and go because they are looking for a past time hobby, but quickly tire of trains and have not real tie to railroading. But I'm guessing the majority of us here on this forum have been in this hobby from a young age. I received my first train set at age 6 and 56 years later the fascination continues. So what is it that attracts us to model railroading, while many of our friends enjoy restoring old cars, going fishing or hunting, woodworking or the various other hobbies? Also I can't say it was because my father was a model railroader, he was not. My Dad's hobby was R/C airplanes. I use to watch him fly his airplanes and even built a few balsa wood model airplane kits, but didn't have the desire to fly any of them. So back to the beginning, what is it about this hobby that attracts us to it?
Hi Rich S., and of course everyone else tuned in here. The attraction we have to trains is a difficult thing to define. No doubt! To categorize who is where and what does that mean to the hobby is almost a lost cause. I ought to know. I've tried to look at what makes the toy train world go round. And a-round, and a-round, dizzingly a-round in circles. It appears to be different for each one of us. I've had several friends visit my layout and most of them said "Rick, who cares about XY&Z?" So and so doesn't, I don't so why should you care. That would be the shorter version of what I've heard. Well...expletives I can't use here... it matters to me. With a reminder that I built my layout to please me. Last time I checked that's one of the things we enjoy about the hobby. It's your world in miniature and you can create it anyway you want. Let's not forget and to be proud of it. Heck, it might even get published. Wouldn't that smack the old ego where it feels good. We invited a fellow over to a operations night. He came in and looked at the point to point layout and started shaking his head in the no/no pattern. He asked me how is this fun? My response look around and see if there's anyone else not having fun. He didn't get it. Yes, there was one fella that would hang out with us but I don't think he ever caught on. As he didn't participate. We had a crew switching a yard on the lower level while another crew was preparing the crack passenger train for it's run up the hill and then back again. While the rest of us had to scatter and clear the main. We can't delay the High Priority passenger train. Two hours later we were winding down and he had already left with a harrumph, harrumph, harrumph. He went home to run his Lionel trains in circles and sit back with a favorite alcoholic elixir. His way to relax and escape reality. If for a moment. It is what it is. I love what it means to me and wouldn't have it any-other way.
My grandfather's career with the Texas & Pacific RR, culminating as head of Signal Engineering, followed by a voluntary stint in the Army during WWII as Captain in a ROB in India, was railroads. I was always fascinated by his stories about railroads and their technology (however primitive by today's standards that might have been.) I like to be able to run trains continuously, but also to switch industries, build-up and tear down trains, etc. I like mountainous terrain, with grades and tunnels too. I don't want to dedicate a whole room to a layout, so I focus on a hollow core door-sized layout in N scale. It's probably got too much track on it for some folks taste, but I like it. The steeper than prototypical grades provide challenges running with the shorter trains suitable for a small layout. I also like technology (retired Electrical Engineer), so DCC & JMRI are a big part of the attraction too.
My paternal great grandfather was an agent for the Milwaukee Road and my maternal grandfather was a section gang foreman for the Chicago Great Western. Sadly, I never knew them as they both passed before I was born. Either one of them would have had a loyal companion for any trips they had to make. Doug
American Flyer S gauge layout, when I was kneehigh to a tall grasshopper [THANKS DAD] A train ride on #4501, on her maiden voyage [THANKS Southern Railway] sealed my fate. Never looked back. PROUD NMRA Member since the 1970's. MODEL RAILROADING IS FUN.
Hi Rick, I was a member of a local model railroad club years ago and we had one member who came to the club every Thursday work night, drank a few beers, watched us work and then went home. He was a full dues paying member of the club, but never helped in the building or operation of the club layout. I think he was actually looking for a social club, but our train club was closer to this home than the Croatian club in the next town. We also had another full dues paying member of that club who loved wood working and it was the same story, once all the bench work was completed, he just sat and watched us lay the track, build scenery, etc. and had no desire to join in, but remained a full dues paying member of the club. I think there are model railroaders probably many on this forum who are in this hobby because of what I call a Sub Set hobby that is associated with model railroading. Some folks enjoy the electronics aspect of the hobby, some folks enjoy the wood working aspect of the hobby, with many of them never getting a layout beyond the Plywood Pacific stage. There are also many artists in this hobby who enjoy scenery and creating scenes that are near exact models of their prototype locations. I knew one such guy who has built several layouts and each scene on the layout was recognizable, but sadly once the layout was 95% finished, he lost interest, removed the layout and started a new layout. For me I enjoy operations, switching ops to be exact, but on my layout I don't get too carried away with paper work. Some folks do and there is nothing wrong with that, but I don't want to bring my work home, so I'm more laid back. But like your closing statement, Rule #1 always applies, what works for you in the hobby is the important part. Hobbies are meant to be a relaxing and enjoyable past time, don't build a layout, diorama, etc. that you think I'll enjoy, build one you'll enjoy. Another great part of this hobby is the comradery, we've never met in person, but I enjoy being able to stop by our internet club house and see what's going on in the hobby we all share. So who knows why we like model trains and yes not everyone will get our hobby, but we're enjoying it so let the good time roll
