# What is the Biggest Bar that prevents you from Pursuing this Hobby?



## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

What prevents you, if anything, from participating in this wonderful hobby of ours? Is it lack of space? The wife's refusal to let you convert the garage, spare room or basement? Her opposition to you spending too much money or time with your trains? Having the time yourself to devote?
For me my biggest problem is a very basic one, something that most of you over there don't even contemplate. Here the ECG (Electricity Company of Ghana), but also known as Electricity Come & Go, ration us so maybe we don't have any for 24 hrs, so no trains! No soldering etc.


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

Cycleops said:


> What prevents you, if anything, from participating in this wonderful hobby of ours? Is it lack of space? The wife's refusal to let you convert the garage, spare room or basement? Her opposition to you spending too much money or time with your trains? Having the time yourself to devote?
> For me my biggest problem is a very basic one, something that most of you over there don't even contemplate. Here the ECG (Electricity Company of Ghana), but also known as Electricity Come & Go, ration us so maybe we don't have any for 24 hrs, so no trains! No soldering etc.


Wow! Now that would be a screamin' bummer!!
We're pretty spoiled here in North America (yes, I'm including Canada) and are rarely without power. I even bought a whole-house generator last year to guarantee no blackouts.
Otherwise, I'm extremely fortunate to have plenty of room, a totally cooperative wife, and enough time and money to enjoy the hobby. 
I'm blessed for sure!
Bob


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I guess mine would be, Having the time yourself to devote?



Since 2007, Ghana has become an electricity exporter and since 2011 an exporter of crude oil, and natural gas,[6] and a generator of electricity by thermal energy, hydropower, solar energy and renewable energies since 2012.[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Ghana

They can export it but turn off the public's electricity?:dunno:

Do you have natural gas to your home?
Do what raleets said get a generator for those times when they cut you off?
Natural gas, propane or even a diesel generator will do for those times?


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## johnfl68 (Feb 1, 2015)

Solar power? Use the sun to charge batteries to have power when you don't get it from ECG?


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

The Hydrogen House.

Be the second to build one?

Where is the first you ask?
Only in New Jersey. 

http://hydrogenhouseproject.org/


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

Well, I am pretty heavily into the hobby, so nothing is barring me from participating as much as I do. Factors that limit my enjoyment of the hobby are, or may become:

- Time. Right now i work two to two and a half days a week. I'd prefer not in order to have more time for my trains, but . . . 

- Money may become an issue. Right now, because i am working, I don't really think about adhering to my train budget: if I want it, I just buy it. When I stop working and am really retired, I may have to change that: I will have more time but less money. Not necessarily a bad thing, really. I think I would enjoy it more. 

-Distance - I would enjoy the hobby even more if so many of the other model train enthusiasts I like to get together with and be enthusastic together weren't so dang far away from me.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Lee, one of the reasons I do upgrades and repairs is to make the train addiction self-sustaining. Being already retired, I have to consider the costs now.

I am lucky to live in the "sweet spot" of East Coast railroading, lots of model train activity right around me.


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## Prewar Pappy (Jul 26, 2015)

*No Electricity? There Are Alternatives*

Cycleops,
For Goodness Sakes....Don't give up.

There are so many different makes of prewar and postwar clockwork.:thumbsup:

Right now I'm fighting four children still trying to run my life. I guess they're wanting to get even with me. They should stop and think about who paid for their college.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

The bar my wife hits me with when I overspend my hobby budget is pretty big.... 

Seriously, though, the biggest problem I have is time. In addition to a full time job, I'm also a boy scout leader and have some other hobbies. I'm also splitting my model railroading time between working on my own layout and helping my youngest son with his.

I actually am in the process of installing a rooftop solar power system (11.75kW). The battery technology to operate off the grid isn't quite there yet (Tesla is working on it, ECD 2016), and the inverters require the grid's waveform to properly regulate the AC power, so the current systems shut off when the grid drops power. Still, in a couple of years, what you suggest for Cycleops should be possible. OTOH, Cycleops, some of these portable systems I've seen for camping or RV use would probably be enough to power your layout. Maybe see what you can find.


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

TIME AND MONEY

I never seem to have both at the same time


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Sorry here that Cycleops, I an see that Bering a bummer. There are also hand held soldering irons thatv run on butane. So if you got no power you could fix some your others stuff. 
Time is my biggest problem, never enough read big eds tag line


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Another vote for time here, or more correctly, lack of time......the money part is not really a problem, as I'm getting picky in my old age, and I don't have to buy everything that comes out....


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## Patrick1544 (Apr 27, 2013)

Being retired, it's money for me. Sometimes other issues have to take priority when you're on a fixed income.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Biggest Bar?

Seems to me that the number of seats in a bar has not much to do with
how much of your train money you spend on booze. The
the detriment is in the tippeling. :rippedhand: 

Don


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Well, down here Don you can do both, run trains and have a tipple. With the local Club or Star beer at around $1.50 a bottle you can afford to indulge yourself!


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## 400E Blue Comet (Jul 11, 2014)

The rareness and $$$! Things never turn up for the Blue Comet, T Gauge, and TT Scale. There is technically a store nearby me for T, but it's an online store and the train sets are too expensive.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Money, space and lack of energy. It's easier to sit and play trains here on the MTF than to get up, go to the basement and actually accomplish something. I guess I lack the drive of a true train modeler. I am limited to a 4x8 space, so don't have a lot I can accomplish in it. I know, it's all in my mind, because many do a lot in that space. And the money...I don't drink, smoke or gamble, but am on a fixed income, and it always seems to find too many ways to outgo!!!


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## PhillipL (May 5, 2012)

I am facing three issues, the first is space, unfortunately, my home does not have a basement and the garage is used for the car so I am confined to a small bedroom with a 4' x 6' board. The second issue is money, I trying to save like crazy for retirement (I cannot even consider DCC) and lastly time, I belong to a church group which takes a good amount of time. I am lucky if I can spare two hours a week for my trains


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## Prewar Pappy (Jul 26, 2015)

*Something To Make You Sick*



400E Blue Comet said:


> The rareness and $$$! Things never turn up for the Blue Comet, T Gauge, and TT Scale. There is technically a store nearby me for T, but it's an online store and the train sets are too expensive.


Years ago when I was flying I was gone from home for extended periods. At that time I collected TT Scale. I came home from one deployment to find my wife had sold everything. I had so many brand new unopened sets. I can hardly remember. That was 50+ years ago. I had flashbacks when I read your post. A ex-wife in a ex-life


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## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

Hobby budget, time and the season. I have two hobbies. Fall - early spring it is the trains. When the weather gets nice if I am not working I like to go places with my family. Bought a older Monte Carlo for these trips. Keeping that running takes the hobby budget for 50% of the year.


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## ad356 (Sep 8, 2015)

Prewar Pappy said:


> Years ago when I was flying I was gone from home for extended periods. At that time I collected TT Scale. I came home from one deployment to find my wife had sold everything. I had so many brand new unopened sets. I can hardly remember. That was 50+ years ago. I had flashbacks when I read your post. A ex-wife in a ex-life


she probably sold everything at a loss too, as often happens with valuables when sold by people that dont have a clue what said valuables are worth. my wife would never do that to me, that's one of the reasons why she's still my wife after 11 years... and she doesnt discourage me doing things that i like. she end told me NOT to sell my trains a while back when i was hard up for cash..... methinks she's a keeper


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## BobS (Jun 18, 2015)

Although I enjoy all things related to trains, the THING that keeps me away from running trains is THESE DARN FORUMS! I am addicted to reading and posting on them. Even my wife says she has become jealous of my "green machine" (a Macbook Pro with a green plastic cover). She has threatened to hide it or otherwise remove it from my reach. I haven't quite figured out what she meant by that, but I believe it may include some type of restraint devices.


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## ChessieSystem (Sep 17, 2015)

See I'm the wife that pulled my husband into the hobby  got him hooked when I bought him his own steam engine (Chesapeake and Ohio of course. Maybe it's really mine?). 

But money is a big factor right now. And we are also moving before next spring so I can't spend too much money before the big move!


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## Ricky Tanner (Sep 19, 2015)

Time,I travel on my job and work 70,80,90 hours a week. I take breaks and check the "bay" and the RR forums. Money's not an issue.


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## Florida RR (Oct 8, 2015)

One word - space. I live in a one bedroom apartment, and it's a small one at that.

Solution - an N scale coffee table layout inside a glass top coffee table that a cabinetmaker is building for me.

-Florida RR-


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## California RailFan508 (Jul 2, 2013)

A couple things on my end are holding me back from getting more involved in pursuing this wonderful hobby. The biggest three things are the *lack of space, not being very good at wiring/electronics, and not very much room in the budget for model railroading (especially when purchasing locomotives)*. 

I currently live in a old mobile home that does not have much free space to set trains up and since my passion is for O Scale trains, they end up needing a lot of space to set up a decent layout with big enough turns for my larger steam locomotives. Most of my fleet and rolling stock that I own can run on O-36 or tighter radiuses, but I need O-54 or larger for my *2001 Lionel TMCC #5452 NYC Dreyfuss Hudson*. I have a bunch of O-60 Fastrack curves boxed away in a spare room, but I will most likely one day get O-72 or larger radius track for my bigger locomotives to run on.

As for the second part, I am trying to better my understanding/knowledge of wiring so I could properly wire any layout that I might start in the future. Hopefully by next Fall I will be able to wire without misunderstanding or messing things up. 

For the last part, I don't have a ton of cash on hand to properly invest in new locomotives, transformers, rolling stock, wiring, and all of the other things that come with having a O Scale layout. I work at a TV station but I don't make very much and after paying the bills, there is hardly any spare $$$ left over to invest in locomotives or other stuff. 

Whenever there is some $$$ that I have available to spend, I tend to hunt around on eBay for some good bargains first before snooping around the "For Sale or Trade" section of the OGR forums. If those fail me, I head down to my favorite hobby shop (*The Western Depot* in Yuba City) and see if there are any specials or marked down products. It took me five months of saving in order to invest in two *Atlas O TMCC Santa Fe F7* units (1 PWD A, 1 NONPWD A), and another three months for the *Dreyfuss Hudson* I got from the OGR forum.

*EDIT:* Looking at my forum signature, I really need to update it since it is out of date (plan-wise).


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Florida RR said:


> One word - space. I live in a one bedroom apartment, and it's a small one at that.
> 
> Solution - an N scale coffee table layout inside a glass top coffee table that a cabinetmaker is building for me.
> 
> -Florida RR-


Which goes to show you can always find space for a layout somewhere. There is now a thread elsewhere on here specifically for mini and micro layouts.


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

Time. We watch our twin grandsons., they turned 19 months old yesterday. The cost of daycare for twins goes way past obscene. The kid's will never be able to save for a house paying $1500 a month for daycare. 

The pay sucks but the best benefits I ever had!!!!!

Halloween


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## Joe Hohmann (Nov 5, 2015)

When we were raising 5 kids, I was VERY short of money, time, and space. Now that I have all of those, there is very little I actually "want". My wife and I spend mainly on travel overseas.


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## lears2005 (Feb 26, 2010)

Well if we all modeled like shaygetz the money part might not be the problem that man can take to pennies put them together and have a nice model


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