Sharing knowledge

 I have to warn you, the footnotes contained within are, for the most part, scathing editorial’s.

Sharing information in model railroading appears to be a double edged sword. A lot of modelers refuse to share, or only want to charge you for it. In railfanning, “Foamers”, who I hate, guard information like it’s gold. “I know something you don’t know” is the currency of that realm. This might explain, or at least it’s one reason anyway, why I no longer railfan*. I’m also VERY unhappy with this concept of using this hobby, and other modelers as a revenue stream*.

You NEED to get around. You NEED to get out and see, in person what other modelers are doing. How do they organize their op session? What paperwork do they use? Take a look at their latest project. 

I went up to visit a guy and his group. We met for lunch and then went to his house. I noticed first hand his benchwork, something you’ll never see in a magazine. I was able to see a shelf bracket he’s using to support his lowest level. 300 pound rating and available from Amazon. So let’s see. For the cost of one lunch, a better than average sausage sandwich, and the gas to drive up, I found a shelf bracket that should, I think, solve my problem with the benchwork over my Little Rock yard.

Little Rock (or is it Littlerock) yard is the deepest benchwork on the layout, at 30”. Little Rock resides on the first level of my layout. The levels above it also come out from the wall 30”. My plan is to have all the benchwork line up adjacent the aisles. These upper levels will only be 12” deep leaving the 18” behind for staging concealed* yards.

Anyway these shelf brackets APPEAR to be a God send answer for this benchwork, solving a problem in one fell swoop. I can assure you I would not have discovered them through my own devices. I’m a “wood guy”. I’ve built with wood for over thirty years and I simply do not have the “Wiring” to seek solutions through another medium, IE., steel.

So in addition to meeting a group of modelers, who themselves, are actively seeing new operating layouts to play on. I was able to recruit them for my layout. But I also found an answer to my benchwork conundrum,  just a “mouse click” away, as it were, on Amazon.

-SO-

Get out. Go to other layouts. Learn how these other layout owners are doing things. Actively steal those ideas you want and make them yours. 

And unlike a certain segment of our hobby, freely share your information with other modelers.


*The biggest reason was work. I had to give up the life of the average foamer. You know those people. They’re under or unemployed, with the a junk car, trains in the fridge, no contact with the opposite sex. They struggle to make ends meet working their part time pizza delivery job, but that just bought a $3400 brass “City of Denver” train from Coachyard, which they take to their local club. It constantly derails or shorts out the layout. But they don’t mind, they’re not paying dues anyway. They can’t pay their share of the lunch tab, but they were at the opening day of the latest “Railfair”…

*How much would you expect to pay someone for installing a hardwired DCC decoder harness in your Stewart F-Unit? Let’s say you only wanted DIRECTIONAL CONTROL. No lighting or sound. AND you provide all parts, ALL parts. How much? Please, please, please, do not assume I think the person herein should do this job for free. I would not balk at $50 for labor, EACH, on this project.

-BUT-

How about $350 each? That’s the price one modeler “friend” quoted me. 

Now that price says several things to me. First, he’s really busy with his huge layout project and his time is limited. How about saying, “Paul, I just don’t have the time, I’m sorry but I can’t”,  as opposed to “$350”. The other think that price says to me is “I think you’re an idiot and I’m going to FUCK you out of the money you’re too stupid to keep”. Well a fool and his money are soon parted, I guess. I have not spoken to nor even seen this person since. He is a “Type” I’ll make an effort to avoid from now on.

Do I belabor the point?


* I use the term “concealed” as opposed to hidden. They are in fact “hidden staging”, but that term connotes a degree of inaccessibility. I think if I call them by another term it will magically make them easier to re-stage… anyway the middle level “concealed” staging yard will hide a coal branch and a interchange with a branch. These levels uppermost staging yard will be “East” staging, the east end of the layout.

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