A proper workbench is coming!

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RocketMike

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I have other hobbies besides model rocketry. They are HO trains, RC planes and helis and ham radio. Most all of them except rocketry are not being pursued right now because of an extremely tight hobby budget. When I got back into rocketry the spare bedroom where my man cave is headquartered had my PC desk/ham radio station and the HO model railroad in it. There was no room for anything else because the model railroad was so big. After much consideration, I decided the dang railroad was just too freakin big. I don't have the money to spend on it and even if I did, I bit off more than I can chew and I don't have the time to even come near to finishing it ( a model railroad is never really finished) . So, I made the decision the other day to demolish the railroad after saving all the track and structures. I will start again with something much smaller, probably a "shelf layout" on one wall of the room. Meanwhile, I'm going to build myself a proper workbench. One that I can use to build model rockets, work on planes and helis when I have the money to get back into fooling with them and to also build stuff for the new smaller train layout. The room looks like a storm came through right now but I'm getting excited about the prospect of having the first proper workbench I've had in years. I am so happy to have finally made this decision. The model train layout was like an albatross hanging around my neck. Ever start a project and when you get a little ways in you realize it's too big and you will never finish but you go on for awhile because you're worried about the time and money you have invested and you're afraid to turn back? That was me with this train layout. I have felt so relieved and so much more relaxed the last few days after finally making the decision it had to come out.
 
I feel your pain - and relief! I have always loved model railroading - since I was a kid in the 1960s with a Lionel set. As an adult I've started (but never finished) a few layouts, in both N and HO scale. I think that my problem was that I was too picky about every little detail, to the point that I never finished anything. I finally decided that I would enjoy others' work and not devote my own time, money, and space that the hobby demands.

Rocketry has been a perfect replacement for model trains in my case. When a model is done, it's done. I can fly it (and repair it!) without obsessing about all the details. I can take time away from the hobby without feeling guilty. Rocketry is awesome!
 
Model rockets beat model trains any day! At least until they invent high power model trains that make 1000 newtons of thrust and go mach 1.
 
it's 100 time harder to make a reliable train layout than a rocket , I even build my turnouts myself as the one on the market are not reliable, this is an engine I finish to paint 2 days ago, I add over 100 details parts on it, including the hadrail to fit the CN prototype. This small HO engine have sound

View attachment 143209

and this is the last part I did on my 20 x 30 feet layout

View attachment 143210
 
Awesome loco and layout, Jerry! I still love and appreciate the hobby, even though I am pursuing other things. The detail on your layout is amazing.
 
Nice looking layout and loco. I still intend to build another layout, it will just be quite a bit smaller. I tend to let my dreams carry me away sometimes and the now under demolition layout was just too big a project. I plan to build the next one in a modular fashion. My wife and I hope to build a new house someday and I want something I can take out, preserve and use again. This layout had to be pretty much destroyed to come out.
 
Wow, 66! As an avid Nscaler, I can really appreciate your talents, but man! 20 X 30?? That is a ton of real estate. Very nicely done and your water is superb!

Rocket Mike- That is one of the hardest decisions you can ever make. After some gracious compliments on my very small layout, I spent a few years making things/scenes for other people. I ripped up a 10 x15 N scale after it soaked up the largest part of a small country's budget and turned down the wick a bit for a more manageable sized 6 x 4. Of course the rockets infested every place there was a flat space and every corner got decorated with half finished rockets. I have to do what you are doing to make everything work and (sob!) the trains are going until this flying season is done next year. It's for the best! Stiff upper lip, mate!
 
Wow, 66! As an avid Nscaler,

I just start a modular N layout , not Ntrak, more like Freemo, sorry for the rant but it's quite few treads I see peoples laughing about train., the best one was the other day “ if rocket is too hard for you just run trains on a table…. “

But I said to everyone around here that Rocket is far more enjoyable than trains.......
 
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