O Scale Trains Magazine Online

Round and Round
If I may, I’d like to take “friendly exception” to
some comments made by Hobo D. Hirailer in
his recent column, “Going Around and Around
and Around” (OST #25)
Hobo seems to feel that his HiRailer
friends like to run their trains just “for fun”
whereas some 2-Railers take their trains
“seriously”, using the adjective in a somewhat
condescending sense.
Okay, we “serious” 2-Railers can take a
ribbing as well as the next guy, and what
kind of dope wouldn’t agree that this, after
all, is just a hobby and it should be “fun”?
But the same could be said for any pursuit
in life! I tell my sons that if you have “fun”
in your career, you are likely to be better
at it, or at minimum will do better because
others will enjoy working with you. But
you also must be “good” at your job.
I believe Hobo is confusing types of
people with types of model railroading.
There are some people who are “fun”;
they make you laugh and they are almost
always “up”. Some of these people are
HiRailers and some are 2-Railers. Then
there are the “serious” types who perhaps
have certain other burdens to deal with
which prevent them from being “fun” and
“up” as much as even they would like.
Some of these people are Hi-Railers and
some are 2-Railers.
But there is another aspect to “seriousness.”
If “fun” is all you are looking for
from your hobby, then you are a dilettante.
There’s nothing wrong with being a dilettante,
like people who “fool around” with
the piano but aren’t really capable because
they don’t really know how to read music
or play subtle and sublime pieces because,
well, they are too difficult, too “serious”
and it’s not “fun” learning this stuff.
But for many “serious” 2-Railers, model
railroads are more than just a layout of
tracks to run trains on. They serve other
functions, the result of which of course
is “fun”, but “fun” is just the beginning,
there’s so much more to it. For some of us,
it’s the fulfillment of a long dream. To have
some kind of outlet, right in our home, for
our “love of trains”.
For some of us it’s the recreation of
long-gone scenes or trains we recall from
our childhood or our pasts, places and
times we wish we could revisit but now
can only be revisited in miniature.
For some of us it’s the challenge of figuring
out how to build that special model we
have a craving for; a model which perhaps
we can’t purchase anywhere and which
30 • O Scale Trains - July/Aug ’06
therefore must be made from scratch or in
some other fashion.
For some of us it’s the intricate game, or
dance, of operating our layouts as if they
served real industries and real commuters,
with timetables and operating rules.
For some of us it’s the “art” of model
railroading, creativity in 1:48.
There are undoubtedly many more;
everyone has his and her personal reason,
and “fun” is always taken for granted. If
“fun” is your primary or even only reason
for model railroading, well, more power
to you. But most of us want to get “good”
at our pursuit. Just as learning to be a better
pianist requires the investment of your
time and effort, to become a better model
railroader, your investment will have to be
made in a somewhat “serious” way.
Now, seriously, isn’t that fun?
Andy Romano, Crestline, Calif. (via email)
PS: Hobo also says “A lot of 2-Rail guys
do have layouts but they are very difficult
to see since they often exist only in their
minds.” I do not find this to be true either.
I am a serious 2-Rail guy, and Hobo is
welcome to visit my fun layout at [http://
trainutz.com/ironbound.shtml]
Scace responds: Andy, Hobo, et al:
Perhaps a second (or is it third) opinion,
for what it’s worth…
I think you both are hitting around a
note that needs to be hit just a little harder,
so I’ll smack it. The key word here, in my
most humble (yeah, right) opinion, is “satisfaction”.
Many find their comfort level on
the satisfaction scale in the “fun” regime,
as Hobo notes. Others find their satisfaction
level somewhere in those categories
that Andy cites such as prototypical operation,
reproducing a snapshot of history (my
personal favorite), or the satisfaction of
scratchbuilding something no-one else has
done to a level no-one else has achieved.
So Hobo, Andy, your not-so-humble
Editor, and all of us should remember a
couple things. First, our hobby has plenty
of diverse areas where one can find their
personal “satisfaction”. That’s why we
come to the trough. Second, and closely
related, is to avoid the trap that snaps
when we think that our “satisfaction”
choice should be the choice for all.
Let’s be careful out there.
Oops! We goofed.
Received OST #26 today and as normal,
a great issue. There is one error: On page
61 you state that the Model Railroad Handbook,
Fawcett, 1951 was the only time Joe
Fischer described his construction methods.
Not true, the Sept. and Oct. 1949 issues of
Model Railroader had a two part article,
basically the same as the one in the Fawcett
publication. I built a short combine to run
with my Lionel at that time. I still have the
original articles and the combine.
Charlie Flichman
Scace writes: Charlie, thanks to you,
and several other folks, for catching us up
on Joe’s article in MR. When we started
this project a year or so ago, we ran him
through the index that now appears on
[index.mrmag.com]. Joe only appeared listed
in the Handbook, and the 1949 article
wasn’t there (We’re careful about that sort
of thing!) so we missed it.
Please let us know whether you want
more resurrected articles from the past
(that have application for today’s O Scaler)
on occasion. I have another one in mind
already, and it isn’t in the MOAI (Mother of
all Indexes) either! The MR index is a wonderful
resource; something of this kind of
breadth is bound to have a couple holes in
it, so keep me honest!
O Scale Generations Comment
Brian Scace wrote some pointed comments
in Issue #26 “Observations” concerning,
mostly, command control. But the
message went a little further in comparing
the differences in his (and my) generation
of “doing it all” in building our railroad as
compared to the newer generation accepting
most everything already built. Well,
some building is required, of course, but
that is often just adding a few details to a
car, locomotive, or a structure rather than
starting the whole thing from scratch.
Brian mentions that the “newer railroaders
don’t have the time to spend
wiring receivers and speakers let alone
building kits and scratchbuilding.” True
enough, as that does describe our lives
today with technology as it is and fast
advancing to be even more complex. Time
is precious when one is supporting a family
and trying to get ahead in the job. But
then, wasn’t it the same when we were
younger even though the technology may
have been a lot less sophisticated? Family
and work was just as important then
as now. And time spent on building that
RR was allotted in small increments when
time allowed.
When I first started in becoming a
model railroader in the mid 50s as a
young hard charging sergeant of Marines,
married with a family, time and money
wasn’t always there to pursue that growing
interest in all things railroad. But it
was done, and mostly by scratchbuilding
as it was sure a lot cheaper than buying
it already made. MR, in every issue
back then, had scratchbuilding articles