Do you guys feel you get more than just a Loco out of your builds?

[shild]

Oh yeah Pontiacguy, Lawnmowers, bicycles, tires, expensive chandellers. They all get put right in the dumpster. Someone like me can come along and be able to save all the bulbs from the chandeller because I constantly go through them. But if I take much more than that, my landlord will eventually have a problem with me being a hoarder!

[Pontiacguy1]

Oh yeah Pontiacguy, Lawnmowers, bicycles, tires, expensive chandellers. They all get put right in the dumpster.

I am sure that this scenario happens sometimes, and there are definitely those locomotives and other equipment that has simply 'dissapeared' when the builder/owner died. Most likley they are sitting in someone's shed, basement, shop, or barn, and probably have been for a while.

However, I have to disagree with you that most people throw everything out. Around here, most people would be willing to fight over that stuff, and a lot of people have the attitude "if it's old, it's gold" when they look at anything more than 30 years old. They may try to sell it, but I don't see people just throwing out items that obviously have value. I am sure that it does happen, but if your kids or grandkids have memories of playing trains with you, they won't let it get thrown out.

My Main Point: Hobbies where you build/make stuff > hobbies where you don't
That's my opinion on it.

[Bill Shields]

giggle...somebody has set up a soapbox and lit a fire underneath

[Mike Walsh]

To the OP.... I think the problem is you are looking for respect from all the wrong people.

For me, I started out wanting to work on trains when I was a teenager. Started out on a 12" gauge railroad, punching flues, polishing the rods, learning how it all works. In fact, I screwed up several taps because I had no idea what I was doing... "these make threads, let's go"... Tap drill? Who knew... The retired tool and die maker on site tried to explain, but I was just trying to thread a part so I could put screws in it... After that, I just kept helping out where I could.

From there, I wound up at a college in New York trying to get a degree in Electrical Engineering (I don't even know how I landed in that path), struggled... With help from counselor at college, I landed in a machining program within the college. Got my Associates' in machining, learning manual and CNC machining. While I was taking machining classes, I also took classes simultaneously for a Manufacturing Engineering degree... Of which I would probably have struggled a little more in had I not taken my machining courses. In fact, while taking all of these classes, I continued to volunteer at the 12" gauge railroad in St. Louis whenever I made it back home, and volunteered at a full size railroad museum learning more and more about railroading.

Then I graduated and wound up at a few stepping stone jobs, while doing the railroad thing for fun.

Now I work as a foundry engineer at an international auto maker near St. Louis, MO and have been employed for seven years here. I have repeatedly relied on the education that I gained throughout my educational career. In fact, I have fallen back on basics that I have learned while working on railroads - both large and small. I tell myself that were it not for the educational path that I chose (and ultimately failed at), then re-stabilized myself in my new educational paths, I would not be here. Today, I work closely with production lines, maintenance team members, and I am often asked to plan and execute projects because I have proven my ability.

Meanwhile, I have not been able to volunteer as much as I'd like at the local 12" gauge railroad, but I do also volunteer on full size steam from time to time when the opportunity arises.

So long story short, while I didn't build an engine from the ground up early on, I got involved with trains. I used the knowledge that I gained from trains, as well as the motivation working on trains to gain more knowledge to help me grow my skill set. And where I am now I am OK with. I have several of my own projects in my shop, but I have found that I enjoy helping build/repair others' trains than build my own. Hopefully I get to build my own sometime soon. This knowledge also gave me opportunities in a professional setting, and I capitalized on that.

Just enjoy the hobby, don't let others get you down. If you're getting razzed by colleagues, ignore them. They'll eventually figure out that it's not as fun to rag on you about it and leave you alone. Maybe they'll eventually show interest/ask for more information. I stopped inviting colleagues to the railroad I volunteer at, and now they're coming to me "did you know about XYZ railroad out in ABC town? My family and I went and it was a blast!" "yeah, that's the one I told you about a while back... You went the one day I wasn't there"... "oh wow, you work on those?!" and then the conversation continues, kind of like car guys talk cars, or tractor guys talk tractors... ETC.

Enjoy the hobby. And maybe keep your ears peeled and you'll find a new job that gets you around folks that are more like minded (mechanically inclined, weird hobbies, etc).

Have fun.

[FKreider]

For anyone who ponders the value of our great hobby I would highly suggest giving the book Trustee from the Toolroom (Nevil Shute, 1960) a read (audiobook is also available if you spend a lot of time driving for work, etc.).

This fiction adventure novel is about an odd little British journalist who earns a meager living building model engineering projects and writing about them in a niche magazine called the Miniature Mechanic. The main character is said to be modeled after the famous L.B.S.C. although I believe Shute never said or confirmed this.

[JoeKahan]

Some people sit around watching other folks doing things, while some would rather be the ones doing things. Google this: "A Story of Value" Abdullah Bashar Sarker

Joe

[B&OBob]

The main character is said to be modeled after the famous L.B.S.C. although I believe Shute never said or confirmed this.

Shute actually credited Edgar T. Westbury as his example for the Trustee. That is confirmed by his story, which emphasizes Westbury-type small steam and I.C. engines, rather than miniature locomotives. Either way, however, that detail does not detract from enjoyment of Shute's epic.

B&OBob