In the modeling dept I'm definately burnt! Haven't wanted to touch a project in two years. Had a small urge the other day but immediately after sliding the first decal into place I lost it. I'm almost thinking of selling off some stuff and paring down my collection but when I look at it, I don't want to get rid of it. Despite this, I've been heavily involved with railfanning, collecting railroad books, working on my train websites and any other aspect of the hobby besides actual modeling. Someday it'll come back. Until then, I've got all kinds of other hobbies to play with.
The way I see it, it's only natural to have your interest wax and wane..... BUT, one of the great things about our hobby is that there are many different facets and even if you don't feel like running trains, you can spend some time on another aspect. Don't be discouraged. This hobby is not a race but a journey and at the risk of sounding too profound, 'enjoy the journey'!
There have been times over the years that I couldn't seem to get myself motivated to do anything model railroading wise. Luckily they don't seem to last for more that a few months. I was on a scratchbuilding kick during the spring and early summer. I got one structure finished and another about 90% finished. The past month and a half though, I've had no interest in building, even though I really want to get that one structure (freight station) finished. Since then, I've been weathering rolling stock and running trains.
Thanks folks for all the advice and opinions. I now know that I'm not alone. It's nice to know I can vent my frustration and get sound advice. I was talking to my wife about it today and she told me that if I'm enjoying scratch building ships right now, then that's what I should be doing. She said the urge would come back. And the more I've thought about it, I never really left the hobby, I've just moved into another area of it, all be it a very different area. I think I'll stop fretting over it and enjoy what I'm doing for the time being. I just have to find shelf and dock space for all these darn ships.
Nope. Not so far anyway. Just picked up a frame and wheel set for a 1/8" gauge caboose (the kind you ride on), and two more N MRC sound decoders just arrived. The way I figure it, I've been playing trains pretty much continuous for 40 years!
I find it pretty hard to get burned out with model railroading, guess its because its such a diverse hobby, if I get sick of one thing I move onto something else, eg, scenery, building kits, weathering. Same cannot be said of my lifelong hobby of photography, have been very involved with digital for over seven years, at the moment I am sick of it, just longing for a 120 roll film, developing tank and enlarger, the way people go on about digital and frequent updating of cameras has brought this to a head for me, IMO the photography industry has been hijacked by the computer industry now its become a pain in the butt.
I know what you mean, Dave. I get pretty sick of that kind of talk, too--especially computers and techno stuff. Seems like one always needs to buy the latest, which then gets old and then you need to buy the latest-latest ad infinitum. Updates, add-ons... I'm not intimidated by it--just bored. I just love having the solid heft of my ancient Olympus in my hands, with its lenses in their leather cases. Never goes out of date.
Last time I got burnt out, I started building a radio controlled airplane. 3/4 done with that, I go back to the road. Now I have no time for anything again. Urge to build rising.... oh wait....never mind....just got called to go to work:tb-hissyfit:
Funny that I come across this thread as I'm in the midst of one! The last time I logged on to Trainboard was back in July. Before that I would be on it all the time. After rediscovering N-scale with my 2 year old son, we went at it full time for 3 years and created a portable layout (tracks laid but no scenary yet), attended every local train show and ordred a ton of stuff. Then all of a sudden this Summer, BAM! Complete stoppage! I went back to some of my other hobbies and took up flying R/C helicopters over the summer. Now I'm getting back to my airplanes. Of course the weather is getting cooler and windy so the R/C stuff will come to a halt at some time. The question is whether I will be bitten again this fall. Of course, a crappy job leaving you all stressed with no leisure time doesn't help in the matter. Luckily my now 6 year old son is still asking me when we can run trains on the layout (he has his own fleet of locos! ). I think he will be the one pushing me over the edge. Let's hope!
I did not burn out, but until two weeks ago, I was unable to do anything because of hiring someone to do my benchwork and then airing out the basement for well over a month after the MDF smell got out of hand. I am now laying track. When I tire of that, I will do a building or two. When I tire of that, I will do some scenery. When I tire of that, I will do some freight cars. When I tire of that, I will .... start the cylce again and run trains as much as I can. As smallbore said, It is a journey.
I hate to say this, Bill, but I'm getting burned out on my latest ship. Rigging a 1950s freighter with twelve posts, 24 winches, 18 or so booms--I've been at it for weeks! When the weather turns bad, I'll go back to the train room. You know, I just changed over from cooling to heating last weekend, as it was getting a little nippy here in the morning. So this week, we have a heat wave. Change back--no way, with three systems. So, as soon as it cools down again, back to the train room! Ships be dammed!
I have been in a rut lately. I do not have the time or space for a layout right now and running trains on some unitrack gets old after a while. I have been working on detailing and weathering my loco's but after putting the details on a few it gets boring. I also have 4 SD40-2's, 1 SD40, 4 GP40/-2s, 2 C30-7's and a few other that either need a full painting or just decals but that to can get old quick. Also lack of funds and a new baby does not help. kevin
Hmmm... zounds... zlike... zhou have MRADD... Model Railroading Attention Deficit Disorder. Buy two pieces of rolling stock or one locomotive for six days in a row and call me in a veek! Dr. Grandpa Joe Model Railroad Psychoanalyst (unlicenced)
Very funny! Because it's very appropriate . . . Back in the DC days, the purchase of a cheap loco would lead to a cleaning of the track, just to see how she'd run. It was still the same in the DCC days, until I stopped buying engines that I didn't need or, today, are outside the budget. Hmm, with the Red Sox in the playoffs, and the Patriots on TV so much, this might be an unproductive Fall. But then, I watched the beginning of the latest "House, MD" and was totally disillusioned by the premise (two teams competing for a fellowship), and the execution. More time for modeling!
After reading this for the past week or so I finally decided to add my 2 cents. I am in Model Railroading due to Hobby Burnout from another hobby. I have raced RC cars for 20+ years with a couple year break in the 90's. In the second round I made my living doing custom painting and vinyl decals for them. I have competed at the National level both times around and even have a few titles to my name. I have run or helped run quite a few tracks and currently am race director at our local track. I used to spend all my free time cleaning, working on and playing with setups on my cars. Now it seems like a chore to have to work on them. I still enjoy driving but the work required to get them race ready just doesn't seem worth it at times. My son came along and showed an interest in trains. That sparked an interest that I had back in high school. His intrest along with the much maligned release of the Bachmann 2-6-6-2 and it staring at me every day at the shop I worked at pushed me over the edge. 475 cars and 50 loco's later here I am. I am not worried about train burnout quite yet but I could see it creeping up on me easily. I have built 2 layouts for others, 1 small one for my son and am currently helping one of our customers on a room size HO layout. My problem is that I have only plans and one piece of benchwork of my own layout started. The nice thing about doing all these other layouts, I am getting plenty of practice for mine and I have had a chance to try many different techniques to see what I like the best. I think there are enough aspects of the hobby to keep me going for a while. The car racing had but one thing, work on the car, then race.....different tracks, different people but basically the same thing over and over again. As mentioned before, with trains, if I get tired of working on the layout, I can finish a loco project, if that becomes tiresome, build a structure or weather some cars. I just need to get to the point where I have all the options available by actually laying some track of my own.
