Calling all Working age adults, parents and SINKS/DINKS

YoHo Jun 17, 2014

  1. YoHo

    YoHo TrainBoard Supporter

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    So, I may have to advertise this thread in the N-scale forum since those guys are Forum hermits, but:

    One of the things about the Model Railroad hobby is that
    1: due to demographics and lets be honest time, there are an awful lot of retirees involved and

    2: Even if we were to believe that they weren't the dominant group, their free time for hobbies mean they dominate conversation.


    Now don't get me wrong, I'm no ageist. In fact, I have many friends, personal friends, not family friends that are my parent's age, but sometimes, it is nice to talk with people your own age that have the same issues, concerns as you do.
    Also, I've found that retirees, especially retirees who caught the MR bug relatively late in life often have short term thinking (Not to be macabre, but they think, about what they can do before they die) For example, Our club layout really doesn't do what any of us want it to, but most of the guys who again are retired and not long term model railroaders just want to finish it as is, not alter it substantially, because they want it done before they die I guess. So there's a point of contention with those of us that are thinking longer term or want to do something more than run trains around the loop.

    With the model railroad club I joined, we've had a number of people join that were around my age, but inevitably life changes has forced them to move on for one reason or another. Job location change, no time for hobbies, etc etc etc.


    So, what I wanted to do is see who all on Trainboard is in the same boat.
    Work and Kids dominate our lives. I have to practically steal time for my hobbies and I have to negotiate with the wife as she steals time for hers.

    Lets commiserate, discuss what works, what doesn't. How we find time, how we don't.

    I put some ranting up there, just to give an idea of some of the "issues" I've had, but I don't want this to be a rant thread as that does a disservice to everyone.

    If this proves popular, maybe I'll make a group.
     
  2. retsignalmtr

    retsignalmtr TrainBoard Member

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    OK. Hi. I've been retired for 15 years. Joined my club 10 years ago, The Olde Newburgh Model RR Club. It's an HO and N club with permanent layouts in both scales and modular layouts also in both scales for shows. I have to travel an hour to get there. I'm working on several projects there and have suggested an expansion of our HO layout into a two level layout to begin to build it into a layout for operation. Right now it's in the talk about planning stage. Most of the members are older than I and seem to be happy the way it is and do very little to advance the project. Ideas are coming from new and younger members. Living in my town for 38 years and I have run into only one other modeler and he's in 3 rail O and not interested in a club.
    My own layout (N) hasn't been run in about two years. I'm to busy working on my house and building T-Trak modules. I have no family that needs my time but I cannot seem to get any thing done on it. I'm not looking for suggestions, nor am I looking for help as I know what I want it to be.
     
  3. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I do know folks who have parted ways with the hobby. Some due to health setbacks. For others it's family, work, time factors.

    My time gets chewed up, daily, with attending to TB and e-group functions. I seem to miss the modeling bench, many, many days, when I'd otherwise intended.
     
  4. jpwisc

    jpwisc TrainBoard Member

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    I am a 37 year old father of two (5 and 7). I currently commute 1300 miles to work and am currently getting my relocation in order.

    I was glad to get into the MN FreemoN club because it was guys my age, with kids and similar life demands. My previous club was run by retirees who didn't have the time demands the younger crowd does. It amazed me how the retirees would get offended that we couldn't run off long distances to shows every weekend.

    Gen X'ers and Millenials are far easier to work with as a group than Traditionalists and early boomers (no offense old guys, it's a generality, it doesn't apply to everyone). The younger group is willing to learn, adapt, work together toward a common goal and to have fun. The retirees all act like they need to be Alpha Dog. Our young FreemoN group never even had a President! I prefer to work with cool people who want to have fun, improve their modeling and build something good together.

    The young FreemoN group planned on attending 2 large shows a year. Any more than that was tough to get spousal backing on for all of us.

    I try to give my wife and girls dedicated blocks of time, so no one feels slighted later about missed opportunities. Go for bike rides on the nice days, model once the kids are sleeping.
     
  5. YoHo

    YoHo TrainBoard Supporter

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    I often get the impression that I'd find more young people if I joined a Freemo/FreemoN or regular modular club.

    Most often, given the realities of work and the economy, young people are less likely to be in a long term living space with space for a full layout.

    Alas, there is no Freemo club in Sacramento and the Bay Area club, of which Trainboard has a few members would be a hell of a commute. There is the Sac Modular, but they don't set up that often and they are equally old.

    At least with the club I'm in, I have 24/365 access to a functioning DCC layout in N and HO. It may not be all I want, but it is there all the time. I think if a Freemo group were to start up closer, or a branch of the Bay area group were to get together up here, I'd consider doing some modules.


    I am 39 and have a 2.5 year old and a 4 month old. (we got started late for Reasons) in the last 15 years, I've worked at 5 jobs, laid off from 2. 2 others just ended. I've lived in 3 states and 9 different places. Only owned one of em and if I had to do it over, would not have bought.

    Because of that, I've only had one layout in my life that I would consider to have been somewhat completed and that was a 2x8 N scale layout I built with my dad as a teenager. That lasted until college when in a fit of action I tried to add on an extension with a turn table, but I couldn't ever get the trackwork to be the same quality I had done before which caused me to abandon that layout before it's time.
    When I lived in a Townhome (that we owned) in Carlsbad Ca. I built a 6x15 Doughnut layout in our garage that got along reasonable substantially until my dad died which first just had me depressed and uninterested, then that caused financial ripples that had us leaving that place and I had to tear it down, because it wouldn't fit in the new garage. Then I got laid off and moved to Beaverton Or. Where I didn't have my own layout, but finally joined a Club. BMRC had a good mix of guys and was modular, but also had permanent space with 24/7 access. Then I lost that Job, so now I'm Sacramento at my current geriatric war....I mean club with a more seasoned membership. :)


    On the plus side, I did get a 4x8 layout for free from a gentlemen my age who himself got it for free. He was leaving the hobby so he could concentrate on his business and kids. So I have something in HO to run and test equipment on. And I've got a lot of free track and assorted stuff from the club in HO and N. We receive lots of donations and can't use it all. So I'm also toying with setting up an N-scale project.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 17, 2014
  6. J911

    J911 TrainBoard Member

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    I joined a club not long ago. Almost 30 and the youngest guy in the club! LOL my problem is not many of the old timers show up in the first place. I am full of energy 1 year married with my own home lay out. Will see how this pans out.

    Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
     
  7. Doug A.

    Doug A. TrainBoard Supporter

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    I'm 41, divorced, and my 9yo son lives a looong way away with his mom so I spend a lot of time and dollars on travel to see him and vice-versa. Good news with that is I often ride Amtrak so that's a bit of a win. My hobby time is extremely limited, and my current semi-nomadic lifestyle and lack of funds means no permanent layout and not one in the immediate future. I am working on a semi-portable dogbone n-scale layout built on foam, but I've hit a bit of a wall with it. And, I'm planning to return to school for my MBA in the fall so unless I can get it back in shape in the next 3 months even that is probably gonna just sit for awhile. I do have tons of modeling projects in the works though, and hope to keep whittling away at it.

    I have belonged to a club and they had somewhat similar attitudes as what you allude to. Overall, it was a positive experience though...I quit when I moved pretty far away but I would consider returning if I was closer again. I also operate regularly on 1 layout and semi-regularly on two others, so I get my fix...just not with my equipment. I think if I was starting today I would stick with the ops sessions and build FreeMoN modules with vignettes of what my hopefully-dream-layout will encompass. Kinda what I'm doing with the foam layout but the focus would be less on running trains and more on quality. This is what one of the "new guys" in our ops group is doing and it seems to be a solid idea. He advertises the concept of the wife being gone for a weekend and setting up all his Free-Mo-N modules in his house, which is really a solid idea that weirdly had never occurred to me. (the layout part, not the getting rid of the wife for the weekend part...I have no idea how he pulls that off....hehe)
     
  8. SD40E2

    SD40E2 TrainBoard Member

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    I'm 59,married and a railroader,I get a good amount of time for modelling projects when I am working yard jobs with more predictable hours.But when I bump onto road jobs it becomes harder because of unpredictable call times,and never knowing when we will get back on our return run or if we will even make it(lot of dying on hours-of-service here.)I am in the process of planning my switching layout that will fill my basement,and I do participate in a round-robin group of friends that I have found easier to deal with than clubs,no politics here.we try to get together three or four times a month,to run,or just shoot the breeze.I am lucky that my wife supports my hobby,even though she still doesn't quite understand the ins and outs of railroading,especially the middle of the night calls to work,and never knowing when i'm going out the door or coming in.Clubs can be a positive experience,though as a newbie especially can pick up ideas from different members depending on their experience and expertise.
     
  9. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Re: Clubs. I have avoided them most of my life. (I do not consider my NTrak time to have been a club. Very loose knit, of all ages, we had a great time.) I have found that it is pretty much a level field, when it comes to finding bums, turnoffs, arrogance, smart alecks, know-it-alls, etc. They come in ALL ages, at all times.
     
  10. Ironhorseman

    Ironhorseman April, 2018 Staff Member In Memoriam

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    I'm in my 77th year, and at one time I was a young member of the Roseville Roundhouse Club ... as were some of the current 'old-timer members'.
    I think one has to remember that we old 'wheezers' who are retired have more time and disposable income to invest in the hobby. We, or some of us, tend to get sort of, 'possessive' of our life achievements as time goes on. Change is difficult for almost everyone during life, and I can understand how the senior members of a club may balk at adding onto what they may see as perfect already.

    I agree with the concept that the hobby is never finished. It should be improved upon constantly, by, as Lynn Wescott once said ... "growing it". But I'm only one voice.

    I guess the point I'm trying to make here is ... Sometimes older folks just enjoy watching the trains go 'round-n-round' because they are tired of the constant mess of growing the pike. As I see it, the club is managed by elected officers from the membership. If the general membership wants to continue to build, management are bound to accomodate the majority. The danger of taking that position would be alienating the older members to a point you may lose them, thereby losing a very valuable resource.

    I was very impressed with the Roseville Roundhouse Club operation and could see there was still more in progress.

    Just remember, you young whipper-snappers ... one day you will join my ranks and may become what you now dis! Enjoy yourself ... it's later than you think! :teeth:
     
  11. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    Twenty years ago, our NTRAK club was rocking. We were kind of a splinter group that broke from the Houston N Crowd for various reasons, mostly location. It was easier to meet and work on project out here southwest of town than to always have to drive into Houston. We had twenty members with a very active core of about 10. Slowly the attrition took its toll as folks moved away, life got in the way and in one case a guy diapered for a few years and came back as a gal. She/he never even tried to get involved again, just dropped by at shows and such. We kept trying to recruit younger members but they never hung around long. We did not run them off and were very accommodating and open to their input. Don't know what the answer is.
    OK, this old fart will shut up now and let the young guys run the topic. ;)
     
  12. J911

    J911 TrainBoard Member

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    LOL! speechless.
     
  13. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Amen to that! Right on. The silliness of youthful immortality will be found to have suddenly gone!
     
  14. YoHo

    YoHo TrainBoard Supporter

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    I want to clarify here, I think our layout is pretty good and I don't begrudge those that just want to watch the trains run. There are plenty of young people in that same boat. In fact, I feel like I've done my club a disservice and that was not my intent.
    Having said that, The current layout was based on a 1950s 3railer plan modified by a guy who left the club when people didn't agree with his dictitorial ways with it and the only people fully satisfied with the design don't actually participate in any of the work to build or maintain it.

    This issue is that the people that do build and maintain it are split between a group (that happen to be older) who are both new to model railroading and are afraid to start over (want it complete before they die) and those of us that would like something a little more operationally sound or at least isn't quite so tin platy. If you go in and look at the railroad, you may not see these issues, but the way the track folds over itself is nothing short of irritating.

    But don't mistake my complaints there for broader complaint about the club or the people. I just don't think those guys have a vision beyond what's right in front of them and I suspect at least part of it is age combined with lack of experience. A rather surprising combination.

    As an example, some of us sit there and talk about Allen, Koester, Barrow, Operations concepts, MR concepts that have been in print and online for decades now. While the other group didn't even pick up an MR until the last 10 years, doesn't read backissues and rarely participates online. There's a disconnect there that Age is....not helping?

    But again, it sounds like a complaint...and I don't want to complain too much, I like the guys and would prefer a new layout, but am ok with what we have too.

    Being part of a club requires a mindset. You tend to need to be a bit of an extrovert and to be able to know what to expect and how to react to humans being humans. I've found a lot of people online who just won't interact with people in that way. Yet model train clubs are, in my experience no different in these ways than any other gathering of human beings. It is what it is, part of being human. Some deal with it better than others and if you're one that struggles to compartmentalize such things, then don't punish yourself that way (And I don't consider it a personal failing. Different strokes for different folks). I enjoy being part of a club partly by being fully aware that this WILL happen and that the only way to deal with it is to simply accept it and get out of the group the positive while rejecting the negative.
     
  15. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    "Organized" clubs I avoid. Loose knit gatherings, and folks getting together simply to have fun, without expectations or commitments being forced, I do occasionally attend. There's a loose knit group of HO/On30 modular type guys here, slowly growing this past year and they keep inviting me, knowing I am (N) T-Trak and HOn30 committed. But I know a couple of them and they are laid back, so I'll likely end up going to a get together, now and then. Possibly even help out, if they do a show. But if it starts drifting toward any formalities, I'll walk away. That was what was so good about our old N-Trak Group. Kept it simple, simple, simple. We had great fun, for many years, and are still friends, even though most went separate ways long ago.
     
  16. MarkInLA

    MarkInLA Permanently dispatched

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    You know, ,,,,I find this entire thread to not only have no use, as it is, HELLO, a hobby !! And I do find it absolutely offensive, ageist and sexist (that old> Shecky Green-like " the wife " reference ! ). My wife, girlfriend became that because she is and will always be my best friend who is equal to me, not an afterthought.) Age, weight, gender, color, religion and social standing (other than a convicted murder escapee) have not a single place in this forum or at a club, or at Grandpa's. A hobby is a thing of joy for all folks of all ages to enjoy during every moment, to give input or not give input to, have a wonderful time in (My new Bach HO modernized American/sound came today, a replacement for a nonreplicable Connie [that's 'Consolidation', a 2-8-0 Whyte wheel-arrangement-naming system to you younger members) before, during, and after meetings in which me, he, she pays dues to, to do just THAT. I, eventually, and when I fell like it, will send in my NCE throttle for a new speed wheel ). I will go or not go to meets at my pleasure and should never have to fear being judged by any other hobbyist, or onlooker concerning my age or other human quality. I, you, we love trains. That is all that should be necessary anytime, anywhere, to be included by any others who love trains. I'm 66 and contribute here and at several clubs I have, or have not belonged too ....I (maybe not the first to do it, but am the first as far as I know to suggest going to toothpicks instead of skewers) do not appreciate anyone saying " this is not meant to be ageism " when that is exactly what it is just by even bringing age up, period ! If this gets me tossed off the Tboard I will always know that I stood tall and approached this idiotic thread MY WAY, the equality for all way, the American way !!! And if this declaration does get deleted it will be my last item the group will have ever read. For it is a display of mine and your freedom of speech, a healthy document meant to create better understanding in the world, not an empty haphazardous rant !
    love,
    Mark Harris,
    Los Angeles, California
    2014

    PS I'm now going to ebay to order some HO structures if that is still OK to do at my age ......
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 19, 2014
  17. retsignalmtr

    retsignalmtr TrainBoard Member

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    One more question. What are SINKS and DINKS?
     
  18. YoHo

    YoHo TrainBoard Supporter

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    Single Income No Kids, Dual Income No Kids. Young married people.
     
  19. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    Mark, I think you misunderstand what the thread is about. It was only asking how younger folks deal with issues unique to them. "Lets commiserate, discuss what works, what doesn't. How we find time, how we don't." I do not see where it put any one down or is "offensive, ageist and sexist". I think you read too much into it.
     
  20. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    If we felt a topic was that far out in the brush, we'd look at it and possibly take some action. This just isn't...
     

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