The Birmingham News

[The Birmingham train spotter]

Hey all it's michael and I'm back after a long brake again, recently I've been hit with Exams and it's been really stressful. Due to the Exams I really haven't had the time for model railways and N Gauge at all, My passion seems to be dying out and I'm not sure what to do at this point in time

Edited June 16, 2022 by railsquid
Fix thread title

[miyakoji]

No harm in giving it a rest while you take care of other things.  I was a music student and I keep up with practicing, in fact I make it a challenge to myself to practice at least 45 minutes each night.  Well, I had a work trip last week and I missed two nights, breaking an 85 day streak.  When I got back to it on Wednesday night, even the warm up seemed more enjoyable than usual and I am thinking maybe I should skip one day a week, or maybe buy some new sheet music :).  Anyway, I wouldn't stress over it, if nothing is holding your interest right now, give it a break until something does.

[gavino200]

Michael. Don't worry, passions come and go like that. Just set things aside. The trains will call you back when the time is right. 

[cteno4]

Michael,

 

as gavin says don’t worry about it. At your stage of life many things are going on to take your time and attention and many brand new things are going to come into your life fast as well. I think many model railroaders that started young had a break at some points due to life stepping in. Many have come back to the hobby later when things were less crazy. Maybe just choose a small bit of the hobby yu enjoy but take little time, space and resources and use that to keep the embers of the hobby alive and give yourself a fun little break now and then. Always good to have a little hobby or two simmering on the side even when life is busy with big things. Right now a big (or even small) layout maybe too daunting and kill your hobby dreams, but having a loop of track to run some trains now and then or just making sure every month or so getting to the club fo run some trains for a couple of hours or doing a really detailed Ttrak module that you can peck at when you have a half hour to spare mah help your sanity with exams and school and life.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Tony Galiani]

@miyakoji wrote:  "I was a music student and I keep up with practicing, in fact I make it a challenge to myself to practice at least 45 minutes each night.  Well, I had a work trip last week and I missed two nights, breaking an 85 day streak."

 

Well, I am impressed - I wish I was that consistent - I practice everyday but getting a consistent amount of time is hard for me so some days quite a bit, some days not so much.  I do try to make up for that with some non-instrument practice but even that is tough some days.

 

Michael - I agree with Jeff and Gavino - the hobby should be fun so don't stress about it as that will surely take away any fun.  I am sure all of us have times when we are not motivated and times when we are - sort of the ebb and flow of life.

 

Ciao,

Tony

[chadbag]

Let's not talk about music practicing 🙂

 

In terms of hobbies -- hobbies are for enjoyment. If they are creating stress there is an issue.  I have a set of hobbies I kind of rotate through as I get time.  I may not touch trains for a few months and then get back into it heavily for a while.  I have some things I have not touched in a few years (wood working for example), that I have big plans for once we move to the new house.   I just realize that these things are for my enjoyment and distraction, and so if I neglect one, I don't worry about it.

[inobu]

On 3/26/2022 at 3:20 PM, The Birmingham train spotter said:

Hey all it's michael and I'm back after a long brake again, recently I've been hit with Exams and it's been really stressful. Due to the Exams I really haven't had the time for model railways and N Gauge at all, My passion seems to be dying out and I'm not sure what to do at this point in time

Michael,

Google "Just coming back to the hobby"....you will see that it's a common occurrence.

 

Model Railways are far from being a regular Hobby. It is a job equal to building a movie set. Because we are emulating the real world the boundaries are

just as endless itself. There is no ending to building a world.  Most hobbies have a starting build process, completion process and then the execution of the Hobby.

Ours is an ongoing one.......

 

Box it up and move on to something else.

 

It been sitting in the case 2014.

[chadbag]

4 hours ago, inobu said:

 

It been sitting in the case 2014.

 

I won't post a pick of the RC truck/car "kits" that I've had since like 1999 waiting for me.   Tech is all outdated and I'll evebtually need new electronics.  Interestingly I think mine is an RC10 family -- at least I had one or more RC10 family vehicles back then.

 

And all my drone parts and half-built R/C planes and gliders which will eventually be finished...

 

I guess my point in this post is to just agree with inobu and the others.   And specifically to emphasize what I said earlier:  For me a hobby should be enjoyable and if it gets to where it is not, where it is causing stress, then as inobu said "Box it up and move on to something else" for a while.

[miyakoji]

@Tony GalianiYeah consistency is difficult.  I came up with the 45 minute goal because sometimes it's easy to reach 60 minutes and sometimes 20 is a stretch.  45 seemed like a reasonable midpoint.  I track it with Loop Habit Tracker app which lets you schedule a reminder.

 

I agree @chadbag it's about enjoyment, but I find that I get some satisfaction out of not getting rusty.

[Kamome]

I had about a 25 year break from model railways and still have got no closer to building my own layout. Don't overthink it, Michael. If you get too stressed about a hobby, then it's not really serving it's purpose. 

 

I went through stages of 00 British modern image (now called Era 8)in the late 80s, early 90s, Warhammer 40,000, Tamiya Rally Cars, Tamiya RC cars, skateboarding, exams, mountain bikes, playstation,  girls, cars, more girls, xbox 360, cameras, gliding, travel, then rediscovered my love of railway modelling with Japanese n gauge😃, marriage🥺, kids😧, and then Japanese HO gauge and more N gauge😁.

 

You are just at the start of an exciting journey. There will be lots of interests that you haven't even thought of or contemplated yet and they will fill you with the same joy and energy that you got from railway modelling.  Then one day, you might decide, or not, that you want to go back to railway modelling.  It will always be there if and when you want to return. The technology will be better and the forum members will do their best to buy more trains to maintain or lower the prices of Japanese N gauge, right guys? 

 

If you choose to keep a small hand in, then you could always do some small dioramas as @cteno4suggested or visit some exhibitions to see if they give you some inspiration. 

Perhaps if you have a PC, you could get yourself a management game like Train/Transport Fever 1/2 or A-Train 9 that will let you build virtual Japanese networks. The latter only needs a relatively low spec PC but does allow you to play with large areas of real estate and build enormous train facilities, if you can excuse its dated graphics and rather convoluted timetabling mechanics.  Transport Fever 1/2 has a small but pretty good range of 3rd party mod trains to allow you to build Japanese networks. 

 

All the best and don't panic.

[Tony Galiani]

@miyakoji - My problem is that my music is all over the map which makes figuring out what to practice when the biggest challenge.  Last night rehearsal with a jazz orchestra, tomorrow rehearsal with an R&B band, then Monday filling in with a different jazz orchestra (for which I will walk in cold, open the book and have to play).  Then there is the combo I play in which ranges from jazz standards to Elvis to country to who knows what.  I find myself hopping from one practice regime to another depending on what is coming up.  It does keep me on my toes for sure.

Tony

[The Birmingham train spotter]

Hi guys, After a long thought I'm going to be away for a long time and I won't be using the forums, I've been very busy recently and I get barely Any brakes anymore, my love for Japan and it's railways is still Alive! I will return soon

Edited June 15, 2022 by disturbman

[cteno4]

That’s life! Most all of us have had ebbs and flows in our time for the hobby. Good thing is it’s a fun hobby that comes back well later.

 

Enjoy life!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[The Birmingham train spotter]

Hey all it's mike, Well I'm Back. Recently school has been a utter Nightmare as my GCSE exams hit, but I'm almost done with school and focusing on my life and my ideas to visit Japan. On model railway terms progress has been even slower but I'm back and ready. Whilst at my local model railway club i came across these two Gems, both where a paper model i believe but they might end up Being mine soon! Fingers crossed! Both where an HD300 and a Shinkansen 100, I'll have pictures soon!

[katoftw]

Hey I know you got stuff going on. But if you ain't going post for as little as only 6 days. You don't really need an exit/departure announcement.

[The Birmingham train spotter]

Yeah well, I wasn't sure when i was going to come back

[The Birmingham train spotter]

Here are the pictures: JR HD300 and the Shinkansen 100, I might end up having these

[disturbman]

They look good, but I don't think that HD300 is an HD300. All the details scream a four axle DE10; grill placements, window arrangements, etc. Also, afaik, the HD300 never wore that livery.

[The Birmingham train spotter]

@disturbmanthat's what I thought when i first saw it

[The Birmingham train spotter]

Hey guys it's Micheal Again

 

I've been busy but I've gotten a chance too come back too update my life. My life has gotten a little better and I've finished Secondary school. I'm looking for college now but at the moment I'm volunteering on the railways local too me. I'm working towards learning Japanese and studying the culture. As for Model trains they've taken a step back but i might return. Whilst at work, I saw the duchess of Sutherland in storage whilst on brake