Fun Vs. Fanaticism

A word about my hobby philosophy. First of all, it is a hobby, a pastime. Just that, and no more. It is only one of many things I enjoy. I'm blessed with a wonderful wife; after 36 years of marriage, we're having more fun than ever, and we thoroughly enjoy doing things together. We spend a lot of time with our daughters, sons-in-law, and granddaughters, and we take a number of senior citizens' continuing education classes at the local college. At train shows I have encountered those for whom this hobby is their whole life, and I've seen this in people with other hobbies or interests. That's fine for them, I'm sure, but not for me.

Guess that's why my layout progress is a little unevern, but what the heck...there's no schedule! However, that being said, track construction is going well and should, for this phase of the layout, be finished soon. By "this phase" I mean the "left" and central part of the layout. My plan is to completely finish this portion, including scenery, before moving on to the "right" section which will include the port area. I like running trains, but I also really like working on scenery and structures, and this approach will allow that to happen sooner.

As track is laid I test it with both of my locomotives and make any necessary adjustments which, so far, have been fairly minor. The 0-6-0 is the more demanding of the two engines.

I've also unpacked my turntable, which served well on my Idaho layout. It is manually operated by means of an under-the-table control wheel, based on an article in an early-1950's Model Railroader. I'll provide the exact edition in a future post, since I'm writing this while away from the train room. The turntable style itself is based on an even earlier Model Railroader article. Anyway, I will soon be working on installing it.

It's also time to think about installing a backdrop, but I'm holding off until the December Model Railroader, which will have an article on that subject. I pretty well know what I want, but I think I'll hold off and see if there are any new ideas in that article.