I can't say that - my fascination with railroads only strengthened after I hired out on Santa Fe in 1964, and continued unabated even through the "persecution" years of "improved work rules", etc.
I loved knowing the intricacies of locomotives and train handling and learning how to get over the road in spite of the odds. I even had an expert airbrake instructor ask me once how I overcame "dynamiter"s, cars that cause an entire train to go into emergency when the engineer reduces trainline air to set the brakes. I think of all the locomotives I ran, the old ex-IC "Paducah Rebuilds" on Chicago Central were among some of my favorites. The locomotives of that era were built (and rebuilt) apparently by someone with a basic understanding of what locomotives do, and how to get maximum efficiency, not only from them, but those who worked with them. >From the GP-7's and GP-9's, though, a steady decline in quality of components >design, and, yes, even attitudes took solid root and continues to this day. As >much as I enjoyed my job, I am certainly glad I am not working out there >today. So many of the old-timers had to be "driven off with a club" when their >time to retire arrived. Today, most railroaders cannot wait for the day to >arrive. Sometimes, though, I think dissatisfaction or dissallusionment with model railroad arises from the way we approach the hobby - not as a means of relaxation and enjoyment but as an eternal quest to replicate what we read and see others doing. Having been down this path myself, I think I know a little about that of which I speak. I finally had to realize that I was never going to keep up with the cutting edge techniques of the "big boys" in the hobby and decide which aspects of the hobby were important to me. SHABBONA is built on that concept, and it never gets tiring or boring, but,is, in fact a never-ending source of new ideas and concepts that I can apply within my limitations. Sure, it may never reach an ultimate state of perceived perfection, but the trains are running (the ultimate goal) and they DO stay on the track. If it never appears in the pages of Model Railroader, that's not my problem or why I [finally] built it. boB Nicholson _____________________________________________ --- In [email protected], "scale S only" <scalesonly@...> wrote: > I suspect that were I a REAL railroader, model trains would not hold > much fascination, either... > > Have fun! > Bill Winans > ---------------------- > > I'm in deep trouble on my model railroading. ... I think it makes a > difference when you do it for a living... > Andre Ming > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
