I am addicted to this hobby. I wake up in the morning and think about my progress on my Fine Scale Miniature kit, that I will be doing in the evening. While at work I constantly think about working on my railroad. I am always on trainboard getting inspiration from fellow modellers. I love to check out pictures of others work. This is just such a great hobby. There was a post about doing work over the holidays and what we might want to get done. Unfortunatley I didn't get a thing done as I did alot of house painting for my wife. I thought it would be easier to do it before the new furniture arrived. Now that she is happy I can concentrate on getting my train room prepped for my railroad. Thank you everyone for making this the Greatest Hobby!!!!
Smart move making the Wife happy.........train rewards are sure to follow!!! And your right about this hobby being the greatest.........and this greatness is heightened by the great group on this site!!
Chooch, you are not alone. I just accepted an offer for a new job that will require moving (one county westward) to keep the commute to a reasonable time. After calling my wife to tell her the good news and completing an hour of Snoopy dances in my current cubicle, the first thing I thought was: WOW! Now we can get a house with a BIG basement or outbuilding for a railroad! The rest of the features like bedrooms, kitchen, roof, garage, etc were secondary at that moment... Hello, my name is Mark....
Well, close. You buy a BIG basement, with an incidentally attached house, etc. Don't let anything else sidetrack you when house hunting! Boxcab E50
I bought a 3 bedroom townhouse. Bonus! It came with a kitchen, dining room, living room, and 2 1/2 baths. Even has a washer/dryer.
I had agreed to 1/4 of the basement for the train area for a 4x6 to see if I would like the hobby. I have now roughly planned the expansion (with consent) for much more. First, though, as a pre condition, new windows in the basement, new ceiling and completely new lighting. T'is but a small price to pay for MY obsession. Frankly, I don't have the nerve to broach the subject of a giant helix to go from the basement into the living room and expanding up to the next level. Although I really like my trains, I have no desire to live alone.
We don't in Texas either. That's why I'm having to move to Chicago. </font>[/QUOTE]Doug: I don't plan to move to an area that has basements. I've expanded as much as I can in my third garage. That's why I built the JJJ&E on multilevels. I really like South Florida. Where else can you find alligators, hurricanes and terrorists . Actually the weather is great for 9 months of the year.. BTW, I'll be in Plano for a few days at the end of April. Stay cool and run steam.....
No basements in SE Texas, either. And I'm okay with that. Price you pay for living as close to paradise as I can get right now with a reasonable commute to the office. We got alligators too! And much as I hate to say it, we are LOOOOONNNNG overdue for a hurricane in this area...
Well, close. You buy a BIG basement, with an incidentally attached house, etc. Don't let anything else sidetrack you when house hunting! Boxcab E50 </font>[/QUOTE]Boxcab, Thanks for helping me get my priorites straight! Almost fell for that "buying a house to put a railroad in" mentality rather than "buying a basement for a railroad and putting a house on it to keep the weather out" attitude!
Bob, I wasn't "planning" to move either. But my wife was so I figured I'd tag along. We have rattlesnakes, tornados, and assassins in Dallas. We do get alligators from time to time but they aren't standard fare. I was pretty happy with my 6x12 train room in the current house, but the extra room will just let me do basically what I did there but without the duckunder. Actually I have plans for a smaller 3 x 5 1/2 layout to get things rolling before I get too ambitious with the basement.
When my wife and I were looking for a house we needed a place for my mother to stay as her health was declining and she couldn't live alone. As luck would have it, the fifth house we saw had an addition that was like a two bedroom apartment complete with kitchen and bath. After her passing I was able to clear out the walls of the main area and ended up with a 23' x 23' area for the RR. Still have the kitchen & bath plus a work area. AC, heat & no bugs, spiders and other critters that are common in garages.
Hey, I guess someday when I grow up I'll get a townhouse like GreyOne. In the meantime I took a 2 bedroom APT. I took the smaller room ,& the trains got the BIG room. They're growing out of that room fast !!!!!!!!!
You were JUST barely spared last fall. Maybe that close call will please the hurricane gods for a while.
Ah, northern IL, no snakes, no alligators, just winters but I'm a New Englander so no worries there, and the house we bought has a finished basement and a two car garage. Once I had seen the garage and basement I told the realator it was sold. Didn't see the spare bedrooms until after I bought the house The only thing we have to worry about in Rockford are the stupid drivers!
NW Montana--windy, chilly, windy, winters can be rough; did I mention windy? The basements in much of GF are not something I would put a railroad into.. Too shady--crumbling foundations, leak like sieves, some houses in Great Falls actually LEAN!!
