A Good Idea

I have heard or read other people express this idea also. Never did the math though.

I did this yesterday and laid out a road idea so I could see if it was a good location and it took just about 10 min.

So did you get your loco put back together?

Jack

SW1200 Back Together!

Hey Jack!  Yeah, I “borrowed” the mounting screws from the other engine. Here is the one in the video next to the shell I’m working on. 
 

And the really McCoy:

Still looking for some handrail stanchions. 

Great!

Neil,

I have been trying 15 minutes a day for a month now (obviously some stalling on that due to the holidays), but the same concept. These short chunks of time have helped tremendously, with the goal to add 91.25 hours of modeling over the course of the year. 

I first saw the idea listening to a podcast featuring Bob Fallowfield who was explaining how he completed his layout in such a short amount of time. I've been trying some variation of consistency ever since, most recently the 15 minute a day challenge. 

I hope you are surprised how often you work beyond the 10 minute mark AND how much progress occurs over a few days, week, month etc. Looking forward to following along. 

John

What’s He Up To?

Neil,

My first thought was “What’s He Up To?”  I’ve watch the 3 videos and I can’t figure out yet. You featured an HO diesel at the first.  As I recall,  I’ve never seen you run anything but steam in ON30 and outside G. Then you are building a 2x3 module. I can’t recall you doing modules but you have discussed TOMA. Granted I forget a lot so I may be missing something. The sure thing is, you are teaching and ishowing others how to start building. You are doing an excellent job at that. I’m hooked to see where you are going. I keep thinking there has got to be remote control DCC, battery on board, or Hawaii narrow gauge coming up soon.  Wherever you are up to, I find it very interesting. 

I'm all in!

Great idea Neil........you might want to show us some of the process of making the video, editing and placing on MRH or youtube. This luddite would really appreciate some tips on that too.

Good idea, one that most don't do...

A few minutes each day really adds up.

When I was building my own layout, I made a point on doing something every single day if I was at home that day to do it. It was amazing how fast things changed once I decided to do that. A friend of mine quipped that I'd made more progress in two years than many make in 20.

There are 3 years exactly between these shots:

Subscribed

Looks interesting! Thanks for sharing your process!

Great idea

A few minutes per days adds up.   Entertaining too,  I was wondering if you were going to find a splinter when you were spreading glue with your finger.  .....DaveB

15 minutes a day....

When people look at the Splitrock Mining Company layout and ask me how long it took to create it, I always answer 15 minutes. Their puzzled looks turn to smiles when I say 15 minutes a day! Great plan Neil, looking forward to your progress reports. 

Another 10 minutes - Planning

I realized that some of this is like stepping into the middle of a project so it seemed appropriate to spend a few minutes to go back a step. It took me far more than 10 minutes to get this far but the video is only three minutes. Thanks for watching and all the encouragement!

Replies!

Jack - I forgot to mention that this is S Scale. I like the 3/16" scale on a lot of levels and there are very few products available so I end up thinking out of the box to create things. 

John - 10 - 15 minutes a day really add up, just check out MMR Thomas Gasior's layout. (Thanks Tom

Steve - "What's Neil Doing Today" might be a better title. HA! The weather hasn't been great for the garden line and I found that my father has an interest in this railroad so off down yet another rabbit hole. Over the last few days  I spent a few minutes drawing up a Hayes Wheelstop based on the manufacturer's drawings and photos so uploaded it to Shapeways and they should be here soon. 

Rich - Honestly I don't do much but set my iPhone on a tripod and go. I used MoveMaker on the phone to add the voice over, music, and photos, as well as other images. It's easy enough that even I can do it. The one thing I'd like to improve is the sound quality. My AirPods are ok but not great.

Lee - You are one of those inspirations, as is Tom, that I have followed and that keep me motivated. I normally go in fits and starts but doing a short video has made doing this like a diary.

Dave - I've had my share of splinters! Thanks for watching. You're S scale layout is one of the reasons I wanted to try this scale.

Matt - The YouTube Channel really needs a separate name but, for now, "NeilEr" it is. Glad you found it. (NeilEr, btw, is what my family calls me and is short for Neil Erickson, of course.) Thanks for following. Keep on railroading!

Nice

This is a very good idea for a series of videos. Makes me wonder why nobody seems to have done this in the past.

Very well done, too!

I'm honored, Neil. Really I am.

Wizard of Hawaii

Neil,

You really are the "Wizard of Hawaii." Your "Planning Video" and your "Replies" comment explained "What's Neil Up To" very well. It will be very interesting to follow your "jump" from your Hawaii based Pine Spur in On30 series to your new S scale modules series based on your Dad's interest.  Only a Wizard can do that as smoothly as you are doing. Your series will be a great help to ALL model railroaders, young & old, beginner & experienced. Best Wishes and Good Luck !!

Working Video

Appreciate your daily videos Neil. A bit of humor, When you went in to fast forward??? time lapse I think it's called. Alvin the chip monk snuck in and over rode your comments. Always wondered what happened to that critter.

I was thinking about how to apply this 10 min per day to kits. Depending on the kit I would aim for 1 step per day. Could add more depending on how long a step takes.

I tried to comment at your you tube site and it wouldn't take the comment.

Jack

No lack of topics to discuss!

It's been dark and raining out so I went into the train room to get started on some wiring. Alvin may slip in to this one as well. Much of wiring is repetition so I fast-forwarded some and simply deleted other sections. 

Oh, I like this!

(Joe, take note!)

A clear objective... organized subject... organized commentary and collected replies.  And stepping back because people want that is worth a special mention!

Thanks, Neil!  Stay dry!

(What I like about the hobby:  it's  not my scale, but theres Still something to learn)

Kits

Jack:

I usually do just a few things on kits as my tendency to rush often messes up glue joints or paint. Maybe it's a little attention deficit!

Did everyone put in their 10 minutes today?

 I think I actually got in about 70 minutes so I'm 6 days in the bank :> ) .....DaveB

10 minutes or more

Dave;

I generally do projects in 10 minute bites and not just per day. This has motivated me with the inspiration need to plan keep moving so a goal of just 10 minutes a day has been working so far!

Last night I started my module buss wiring. 

Working For Me

Found last night that what I planned to do took all of 5 min. Ok so what was the next step. Took me 10 min of studying the directions to figure that out. All total put in about 45 min.

So far today I have put in about 10 min of how do I go about adding in a bench work section about 2-3" wide to fit behind the door? Decided that doesn't count as time spent and will see how much I can get done after dinner.

Jack

time well spent?

WRONG WRONG WRONG, Jack (but in a good way)!

Anything you do today is something you don't have to do tomorrow (and one step closer to something you'll have more fun with in the future).

That's the whole point of, "A little every day"!

Lead in...

The silent lead in makes me check my speakers... you definitely need some ukelele music going on there. 

Lee

In my case just thinking about it can lead to thinking about the next step or more possibilities and then before I know it a month has gone by or even more. So I can figure it out in my imagination , but I better get off my butt or get on it depending and do the thing I been thinking about.

did that make sense????

Jack

TOMA applied to time management and videos

Its like you took the TOMA approach to you videos.     hhmm   Does reading all these great posts here count towards my 10 minutes?    

Sometimes 10 minutes is good.  I go downstairs, paint something and then wait til tomorrow to to do anything else.  It helps keep accidental finger prints in my paint.