Promise yourself NOT to work on the layout ?

It might work, forbidden fruits are the sweetest

Bringing down your antenna's could help, my taking up the hobby was caused mostly by finally having a room available and having the new new house in a no-antenna building zone.

I found myself overwhelmed at many a time by all the work that needs to be done to turn an empty room into a model railroad empire, focusing on 1 part or job helps a lot.

Having said all that, it's a hobby, and having no dead-lines is a luxury after a working life filled with them !

cheers (es vy 73 de) Leo

Back to basics

Michael, whenever I get stuck at something, I've found that going back to the basics helps me.  In the case of our hobby, take some time to stop and review what you enjoy about it, and what got you really excited when you first got into model railroading, and focus on those things.  Ask yourself if your current layout feeds that enjoyment.

Perhaps your layout, regardless of size, is too big for the time or money that you want to devote to the hobby, and has become burdensome as a result?  That could be true even of a smallish layout, depending on what we care to put into our hobby.

I'd also reiterate Leo's advice about taking one step at a time.  If you decide that your layout design is perfect for you, then press on.  However, for stumbling blocks like your bridge, instead of looking at the entire structure, just resolve to do the best job you can practically do of modeling the one thing that's right in front of you.  Perhaps it's just one small component of one tower.  Make that the model you're focusing on, take it slow, and just enjoy the sense of accomplishment as you complete it.  I'm not talking about super-detailing necessarily, but just getting back to the simple enjoyment of modeling, without the expectations on yourself of the bigger structure you've "got to" get done.

Is there something you may

Is there something you may not like about your current layout? That has stopped me. Not knowing what to do with a key scene is another demotivator.

You seem to be stuck on that bridge. Are you afraid of messing it up? It not looking right?

Years ago I was building a

Michael, most of my hobby

Michael, most of my hobby progress is bursts of energy and enthusiasm separated by real life, and sometimes something like apathy towards working on the hobby. I am fortunate I don't have a huge empire to build, it would never get done! I have been working on a 10' square On30 layout for five years, and it's only about 60% done.

A lot of my train friends have other interests, you mentioned radio. That's good - not only does it more fully round you out as a person, but there's a lot of benefit you pick up from having multiple interests.

I suggest you relax, step away, and something will go 'boing' and you will get the urge to resume modeling one day before long.

I think we forget

It is a hobby, and as such, we aren't always going to feel like doing it.  That's not a bad thing as the last thing you want your hobby to become is a chore.  However, I think its true that when we get to those points, its because of something we aren't happy about or aren't sure we'll do well.  Its at these points when you just need to do it and see what happens.  

Talk about

Talk about PROCRASTINATION...

I've been in this house about 14 years, keep telling myself that I'm going to work in the TRAINROOM today, and get very little done! Oh, I've got some great ideas, but when I start to work on something, I'll need a part, or need something that I can't get right now, and PHSSSSSSSS! All of a sudden, I've got a FLAT TIRE, and can go no further! Then, it's several days before I get myself all worked up to go back in there to where I left off! THEN, I remember that I forgot to get the part that I needed in the first place!

The worst part is that I'm always home, since I was disabled a few years ago, so I don't have to stop everything and go back to work tomorrow!!

Kids and toys....

Ive had mental blocks, physical blocks, lack of time and the same "just dont feel like it" periods during my last 8 years of layout design and building. Life brings MANY things to take out time, for me its two kids, full time career, wife, family things, Leader of my sons Webelos group, Staff of numerous Scouting District events, Staff for the second time of Woodbadge Leader Training, etc etc etc... oh and Im also a HAM!

When I find myself feeling down I go to the layout room, I run a train, I watch it roll by and start remembering when I was a kid.... before long the kid in me starts wanting to do more to the layout.

Other times a railfan trip gets me back into the mood too. My kids enjoy being down there with me, they both have a section that is theirs, seeing them decorate it helps me not be so serious about my progress.

The other issue is to make sure the layout is what YOU want to build. If there is design issues that you dont like, fix it now, change it, make it what YOU want..... the happier you are with the design will also inspire efforts.

Then there are times when you do need a rest. Go catch a movie, take a hike or bike ride..... turn on the HF rig and listen to 20 meters and some old geezers talking about their medical issues..... a nap is always nice too.

Main thing is remember its a hobby, its where you go to relax. Build that bridge, get er done and work on something else. If it isnt what you want, then build something else.....

CQ DX! DE KK4EJ

Whats wrong with you?

Sounds like you do not like that bridge. Times like this are when it is especially nice to belong to a club. When I am faced with a project on my own modeling pursuits and I am hitting a wall I stop for a while and use my hobby time to go run trains. Sometimes just that very little bit of activity is enough to get you recharged.

Rob

Two thoughts

At work, I postpone when I don't really know how to do a new project.  It's outside my comfort zone.

To cure that in others, I recommend:

break done the macro-project into smaller steps.  Do what you know how to do and investigate or ask or simplify or bluff what you don't. 

Bluffing is harder in this hobby.  Besides, I don't always take my own advice.  You're better than that.  Prove it.

Nothing wrong

There's nothing wrong with you.

It’s a hobby.   Not a job.

According to google:

“A hobby is a regularly undertaken activity that is done for pleasure, typically, during one's leisure time”

Regularly for me means: seasonal.

Thanks ...

...for the comments guys. I actually felt a little better after just writing the blog post. I think I just needed to vent some frustration. I'm actually very happy with how the bridge is going so far. I don't know why I'm all of sudden stuck on the towers. Once I got going on the girders, things rolled along pretty smoothly. There are certainly other things I could be doing on the layout but the reason I've kind of focused and obsessed on the bridge is that I thought building it and the canyon scenery around it is exactly what would inspire me to get going on other things.

I've resolved that I'm going to do something on the towers everyday till their done. I may not be anything but a tiny little step but I want to get something done. For instance, one of the towers needs to be shortened so I may cut the excess off the bent pieces and then stop right there for the day.

 Overall I think I'm still happy with my  layouts design. There are things I might have done different now that I see the whole thing taking shape. But not to the extent of tearing it out and starting over again.

Michael

...it's just a hobby

I write from Italy. It's amazing how the problems could be the same for everybody of us. Some weeks ago I had in my hands a kit I started just in...1998 before going to naval academy. Opening the box I felt both the passed time and the fact the kit is just sitting there and waiting for you and your craftmanship...nothing more...models always wait for you and your mood!

Last week I was able to begin to build a shelf for a layout (the first since I enjoyed model trains when I was a teenager) I finished the shelves in just one day, now trains are sitting there. 

Alberto

Is it a lack of inspiration,

Is it a lack of inspiration, funds or simply time?

After breaking up my first small layout I had in 2006/07 I have had about 2 false starts at building a layout. Each costing money, time and adding to overall feeling of "can i really do this?".

Now I am building again, on the same shelf as the last attempt and feel that I am making progress. Surely taking my time but I have managed to think myself through previous errors and shortcomings.

My advice would to use the time not used building, to look at some good motivational examples. I have videos of Joe Fugate's, Bill Heiden's & Joe and Sharon Mainz layouts on my tablet that travels everywhere with me.

When stuck mentally, on an airport or timewise I kick off one of these and get again the feel what it is what I want to do.

Lance Mindheim's blog is also a motivator as are real train DVD's.

It might help you understand what you really want from the layout and allow you to break down problems to bite size chunks. I learned that I love switching in short sessions, lots of em, maybe 3 times 30 min a night.

When doing something, no matter high short, like repairing that boxcar, replacing wheelsets, weathering a few cars, will contribute to achieving some milestones and higher goals.

Keep it short, 30 min a day maybe, keep it focussed.

Model railroading is not just one hobby, its a bunch of them...

... including occasional bouts of procrastination.  Last time I "looked it up", procrastination seems linked to our DNA (somewhere in the Y chromosome according to my wife).  Without it our blood pressure would kill us instantly! 

Funds are an issue....

At present funds are tight and the only running of trains is just a loco with a home built DC throttle for testing purposes. I've had DCC on layouts before but I sold my last system with plans to eventually acquire a better one. The main thing is a dearth of rolling stock. I figure I'm going to need at least thirty , if not more, coal hoppers to run the layout and right now I have six. If I had a steady supplier of the Accurail USRA two bay hoppers with just data only on the sides, I'd just buy one every paycheck or so but unfortunately there are no LHS in the area and my main online supplier stays out of stock on them much of the time.

The thing is though that scenery is my favorite part of the hobby and I consider that the most inexpensive part of it too. All the years I worked in N scale I was able to look at a layout in the bare benchwork stage and easily visualize what type of scenery I wanted to build. I don't know if it's the switch to HO or what but I just can't seem to do that with this layout. It's a mountain coal hauler so of course I want mountains but I just can't visualize how the mountain ""range" is going to look. That's another thing that is frustrating me, it seems that creative ability to visualize what I want has gone away. And before anyone tells me to " model from a photograph", that's generally not the way I work. I do look and photos of both real and modeled scenery but my scenery has always stemmed from my " minds eye" and what looks right to me. It's an amalgamation of influences. I'm a very artistic person and scenery has always come easy for me but it seems I'm even having to force that.

Michael

Not in the Boat Alone

Michael,

You've been kind enough to reply to many of my posts, so I'd like to return the favor if possible. Besides, we're both Appalachain mountain modelers, and we've got to stick together, right buddy?

Funny you should mention the bridge you've just started working on. I've got the same bridge to build on a 24" radius curve. It's been sitting in the box on my shelf now for about a year. Still need to dig up the motivation to get started. Not there yet. Don't know why, just isn't. But that's ok! There's no time clock for me to punch. No boss that says I've got to have a certain job done by a certain time. I get to set the jobs as well as the timelines. Isn't that great? Of course it is. My guess is that's how we all started when we first got into the hobby. We didn't worry about things, we just let things roll. 

So what happens over time. Two things I think...

1) Building a model railroad, even a small one is not a sprint affair. It's more like a marathon. I was reminded of that the other day when someone asked when my my layout was going to be done, after having worked on it for a year and a half already. I just looked at them and said "Well it's never done, but maybe 5 years down the road it'll start to look like something." That shocked them, and they replied "I'd never be able to do that!" I think that says something for us as modelers. The fact that we even begin the railroad in the first place already puts us way beyond what many others would be willing to tackle.

Having actually run a number of marathons though, I can tell you, along the way there are plenty of times you just want to stop and quit. Keeping the mental toughness to keep going was one of the most difficult things about running a marathon, and that's only a race that last a number of hours! Not YEARS like a railroad! The fact that our minds sometimes just shut down and say "I don't want to keep going" is just due to the nature of the task. In a sense, it's natural. We just get tired. We need rest. Just as a runners body gets injured if they don't give it sufficient time to rest. I think we get "injured" as modelers when we just keep pushing ourselves, and don't listen when our minds says "I need a break from this thing!"

Which leads me to my 2nd point...

2) I have really come to appreciate MRH. Not only have I learned a lot about our hobby, but have enjoyed the comraderie of new friends, and the support people give you when you make a post. That's great. Wouldn't want to lose that for the world.

But I've also started to realize MRH is kind of like a two edged sword. It can also work against you. How? When you see the fantastic modeling others have done, and how much they seem to get done is what often appears so little time, it's easy to get frustrated. Frustrated with my limited abilities, and frustrated that my layout doesn't seem to get done as fast. (Probablly because I always end up doing things at least 2-3 times or more, before I finally get it right!) That works on you and can easily breed discontent with ourselves and our layouts.

When that starts to happen with me, and it has many times, that's when I step back and try to remember again who the boss of this railroad is. It's not others or MRH. It's me! (Well, my wife might disagree, but hopefully you get what I mean). We're not trying to race one another. We're not trying to be one another.  If I don't want to work on the layout today, no need to feel guilty. I've got that right and freedom. If I don't want to work on the layout for a month, it'll still be there when I feel like working on it again. If I want to stop working on it all together, no prob, I'll enjoy what I've got. If I want to tear it down and quit, I can do that too!

Sure we might set goals for ourselves, we might have pictures in our mind of what we would like to try and accomplish. That's all well and good. But you know what the real fun of the railroad is? It's not so much ending up at a destination, it's the process of getting to that destination - the struggle in figuring out problems, being challenged beyond our current limits and growing as an individual (as I'm going through right now with my backdrop issues which you recently tried to help me with). Sure, the destination is nice, especially getting to run that first train around a recently completed mainline. When I got to that point I spent at least a month just running a train around and around the loop a million times. But eventually I started to get tired of having reached that destination, and was ready to move forward. Didn't run a train after that for 5 months, but was eager to construct more, and did! I felt rested and ready to tackle new projects. Rest - construct - rest - construct. Just like training for a marathon. Run - rest - run - rest. In running the rest is just as important as the training. Why should it be any different when it comes to building our railroads? It's not really. So don't get down on yourself when you don't feel like moving ahead. It's just your minds way of saying "I need rest!" Give yourself the rest you need, and my guess is when your heart/mind says it's ready, which will be different for each one of us, you'll move forward again on the layout with eagerness and joy! 

Hope that helps, or at least gives you some more food for thought. Keep in touch! You're not in the boat alone!

Paul Krentz

N&W Pokey District, Sub 1 3/4

Me too

I can be the same way too. I think most modelers have busy times working on their layouts and times when they don't even want to turn the train room lights on. Right now I should be working on the layout but have little desire. It is nice to read these forums, there are others like me!  Like being a lone wolf with a huge layout.  Oh well, the sun will rise again tomorrow  and I will get busy on the layout again someday.

Brian

...

Time and place being what it is, sometimes the layout or even trains are simply not the most appropriate use of one's life.  It's an art, and art only works best when we feel like doing it.  If we don't feel the project, it isn't worth doing, because the results will begret our interest.

One leg at a time.....

Tower leg that is. It took me a couple of afternoons after work, just piddling around the layout room and working on it as I felt like it but I got one tower leg complete. I feel like the second one for this tower should go faster as I'm more familiar with the assembly process. The N scale versions of these kits are actually easier to do than their HO counterparts because there is not as much visible detail to deal with. The HO towers look really nice though.

Again I appreciate all the nice comments and I'm feeling better about things. The creative juices may finally be flowing again.

Michael