This is the month for it.

This is the month for it. First thing I read in the issue and always good for laughs, discussion or both.

Had to be April Fool's . . .

. . . otherwise what point was Mr. Hanley trying to make? 

Love the picture

It added a nice touch to the column.

Paul

Mmmmmm........

DC Off Grid vs DCC on Grid with WiFi operation. Only in MRH.

Bernd

Happy April Fools Day

I loved the article.  What an April Fool I was as I read it thinking it was a serious story until I got to the loop of brass track on a couple of 4x8 sheets.  You got me.

Except ...

Except for the two 4x8 sheets it describes getting to my layout pretty well :- ) The friends name was the give away for me - all B-aloney!

​@Bernd - I am totally off-grid with DC, DCC, and BOB (often byob as well). We get plenty of cloudy days (it does rain in Hawaii) but have a diesel generator so modeling goes on, and on, and on ... ok I'm slow.

Good story though. I half expected a "Rails-to-Trails" layout. 

Neil E

Nice,

It almost got me to. Then i looked at the top of the page at the month....

Guess i fell for it

Guess i fell for it, I was just thinking how I know people like that! XD

The point ...

... Mr. Hanley is making (while taking the opportunity of the calendar period) and I am sure many got it, was that running trains (operations) is a key element of the hobby. This article, in a very subtle manner, is encouraging people to make ready access to their layout to share, since operations generally requires more than the participation of the layout owner. Also, good maintenance of the layout makes for "runability", providing opportunity for operations. (See the August 2013 Reverse Running column "Just run trains for fun")

What Month Is It ?

I'm glad the April Fools Day tradition is alive and well at MRH.

I enjoyed it,

Thanks for the chuckle,

Reclusive Layout

Bill

This article, in a very subtle manner, is encouraging people to make ready access to their layout to share,

You nailed it. Plus being April it gave me the opportunity to embellish it a bit and keeping everyone guessing for a while.

Reclusive Layout

Don, Just reading the post in this thread, I'm afraid most people missed the real point of this article, thinking it was a April Fools joke. I agree, it seems the vast majority of us have a Reclusive Layout. Sure we don't live out in the woods running our homes on solar power, but how many people invite co-workers and friends to their homes to operate trains on their layouts? I guess you could call this article "Food For Thought"

On a serious note, I have

On a serious note, I have read threads on hear that various folks have posted about the negative things in clubs or groups. Usually after their comments about how bad their experience was and how they will never go through that again they talk about being a lone wolf modeler and how they generally do not plan on having railroad friends over, some do but many do not. I thought of those discussions when reading this months spoof and thought maybe some of the lone wolves would read this and consider the fellowship aspect in the future.

Don did great

So subtle . . .

 . . . as to be nearly unnoticeable. Why not skip the long windup and get to the pitch?

No, it's really more fun being a lone wolf. The social aspects of the hobby have their benefits to a degree, but they really don't outweigh the benefits of being a lone wolf. Consider just a few:

No one breaks my stuff, because no one else touches my stuff. The only time I hear "Oops" is when I say it.

I can operate as I want, when I want, without having to wait for enough operators to show up.

I don't have to put up with rivet-counters and pedants being under my roof. So no dealing with the awkward questions of why Joe Blowhard didn't get invited back to a subsequent ops session.

Not having to educate people on how to read an employee timetable, or constantly reminding them to slow the train down.

I can actually enjoy the sound from the sound system without it having to compete over some non-pertinent background conversation.

But to each their own.

Reverse Running

But then it wouldn't be a Reverse Running (RR). 90% of RR is being showy and over-the-top while you make your counter-point. Think of the so-called "reality shows" where they go out of their way to create conflict and a "plot" where in reality, there is very little. Like these shows, RR tries to "trump it up" for more entertainment value.

We can agree . . .

 . . . to disagree, Joe. Had I been editing the piece, I'd have sent it back with a note: "Now that you've explained the peg to me, get me into the swing of things sooner. The payoff just isn't worth the read as it is."

A little truth in the reclusive part.

I have been invited to several layouts in the area and have seen wonderful hand laid track. Beautiful built structures, marvelous scenery and correct trains for their era and prototype. I usually ask ' when you going to host an operation session?

I am then met with a blank stare and short reply of, 'why would I do that?'. 

Thomas Gasior

...

Then I'm glad you're not the editor, Paul...because there is really no issue at all with this article, even if it takes what you think is too long to get there.  If you want Microwave Magazine Articles, I'm sure they're out there elsewhere.

Whether this was meant tongue in cheek or not, I've heard and seen and met far too many layouts and individuals to think this RR is a joke.  These layouts exist, their owners exist, and they are out there all over the place.  They're just not vocal about it, or they're vocal but nobody really goes and sees them in person much.  Hence, they're out there.

I guess being a lone wolf

I guess being a lone wolf allows you to do some of the things that make up  the hobby. As long as those are the things that make you happy you are doing great. It might be difficult to perform multiple train operations at the same time, have more than one person crews, etc. I read a great many things on here about folks that have a great time with others in the hobby. But if none of those things appeal to you then you have the best situation imaginable.

How important is the time table when only one train is on the line?

@Rob, @splitrock

There's one important aspect: creating or adapting an employee timetable fulfills my purposes and enjoyment. And that's what really matters. 

I don't really understand your issue with that, Thomas. Why should anyone feel compelled to build a model railroad -- large, medium or small -- with the aim of having an operating session requiring more than one person? 

Operating sessions are not the sine qua non of a well-designed and -built model railroad, despite what's been blah-blahed about in the hobby press the past 40 years. 

Rather, it's the sense of fulfillment the owner has because of the layout. If ops sessions are part of that sense of fulfillment, great. If not, if they enjoy their solitude and their layout by themselves running one train, that's great too.

The reclusive layout

Paul,  I get a different meaning from this article and that was, share our hobby with others. Yes there are many aspects to our hobby, from people who love to build super detailed structures, rolling stock and locomotives to people who love to create beautiful scenery. But I also know of one person who will always have a plywood pacific layout as his only interest is operation. He loves to simulator the movement of products from shipper to consignee and is not interested in scenery of any form, or weathering. Much of his layout has 40 year old Atlas brass code 100 track, some of it snap track. His layout does have all of the prototype paper work to support an operating session and 0-5-0'ing is strictly forbidden. NO operation is not for everyone, but the one thing all of the layouts I've seen have in common, they were all shared with me and others. I get a lot of inspiration from viewing layouts and seeing how other folks accomplished different tasks, scenery, etc. Your layout is a great inspiration and I thank you for sharing photos of it. But I can tell you I've heard of a reclusive layout first hand. One of my fellow hobbyist and I were headed to the local hobby shop, when he told me, he had heard one of the houses on the street where he lived, had a model railroad in the basement. It just seems too many of us hide our layouts away like a dirty little secret. Thanks to forums like this, we can now share our layouts via the internet, but how many more are not being shared. I completely understand not wanting to invite strangers into your home, I've heard the horror stories of things being stolen during an open house visit. But I also believe that without input, the average person will plateau and loose interest in the hobby, it's the sharing of ideas and layouts that keeps the creative juices flowing.     

What matters most to me

For me, operation is WHY I do the hobby. And my greatest enjoyment comes from the social aspects of the hobby ... Op sessions, railfanning in groups, going to meets, and taking in conventions. However, oddly enough, I enjoy building the layout and doing my modeling most as a solitary task. Having groups over to work on the layout turns into a management and oversight task, which feels too much like I'm at work managing my team.

The building and making models part of the hobby are a means to an end for me. It's bringing the layout alive in op sessions that I enjoy the most. And for that to be satisfying the layout needs to run very well so I can operate too and not just be troubleshooting others problems. It needs to RUN LIKE A DREAM, in other words, which maybe explains why I'm writing my new book series by that title ...

@Paul, I just wanted to

@Paul, I just wanted to mention this although it was not clear in my posts that I also enjoy the hobby as a solitary activity as well as with others. I can be found at the club house running a train by myself at some odd time when no one else is around. So I do understand the solitary appeal as well. For years in my case solitary was the only way as I did not know anyone else with a layout or a club in my area. That has changed and I have met some folks that have since become very good friends of mine in the process. My thoughts were more in the context of hope the folks that have had the bad experience in the past don't give up on the rest of us.