Have A Good Time!

Model railroading is a friendly hobby. Although you probably do not think of that aspect of it at the begin- ning, you will eventually find that one of its greatest rewards is the friends it brings, the enjoyment of doing interesting things with others. A model railroad enthusiast once had an elaborate pike in his basement. His friends at the office never saw him during the evenings or week-ends, and he rarely attended meetings of his club. He was too busy with his model railroad. He enjoyed himself immensely—but alone.

His next-door neighbor, with whom he had been mod- erately friendly but not on warmly intimate terms, came one evening to borrow a tool. He stayed to watch the other man work on his model trains, was fascinated to observe the many operations they went through. When he left, he found that he had forgotten to borrow the tool. He came to watch again and finally bought his own train set, set it up in his basement. The first man gave friendly advice and helped him figure out his first layout. In time the second man was an expert, too, and had just as elaborate a layout as the first.

Although the two layouts were for the same gauge of trains, they were quite different. Each one had attractive features that the other lacked. Thus each man was almost as interested in his neighbor's trains as in his own. They found themselves, more and more, working their trains together in one basement or the other.

Then one of them had a bright idea. Why not hook the two systems together? It took a good deal of work, but they went at it with enthusiasm. There was no fence or wall between the two houses, and both were built on the same flat land. Basement windows of both houses were rather low. In each basement a certain amount of track was relaid on grades leading up to facing windows. The double tracks traversed the yards between the two base- ment windows, and were covered with a low wooden tunnel whose roof lifted at certain points so the men could get at the tracks if necessary. The families of the two men did not object because they made the tunnel attractive-even put shingles on the little roof to match the houses.

Now the two men had one huge railroad system. They wired it and made control panels so that trains could be run over all lines of the system from either basement.

They rigged up a small intercommunication system so they could talk to each other from basement to basement.

Friends heard about the arrangement and began to drop in during the evening and on week-ends to watch the fascinating layout.

Some of them began to take up model railroading themselves, but they had little available space in their own homes. The natural solution, of course, was a model railroad club. The combined pikes of two neighbors became the club's layout. Each new member contributed rolling stock, accessories, buildings, al- though each person retained actual ownership of anything he put into the common pool of materials. All members shared the work of new construction, repairs, as well as operations. Members voted on changes and additions to be made and the majority ruled.

The first man was still a model railroad enthusiast, but he was having more fun from his hobby than ever before. And his budget was not nearly so strained, because many of the things he wanted were contributed to the layout by other members. And the other members had all found a new source of interest and pleasure which they had not known before. The wife of one of them was dubious at first, because it took so much of her husband's time and it seemed "childish" for him to occupy himself that way. But when she found out that his work on the trains had taught him to fix electric switches, build a new shelf in the kitchen, and paint the rose arbor, she knew that model railroading was worth while for her as well as for him.

Clubs have a great many advantages. Above all they make possible, through a pooling of resources and effort, much larger and more interesting layouts than any one member could have by himself. There are drawbacks, of course. An individual's pike and trains are no longer en- tirely his own; he must abide by the decision of majorities as to changes and additions, even if he does not agree. There are frictions of different kinds, but this is true when any group of individuals assembles and plays or works together. The potentialities of a large pike would, for most people, outweigh the difficulties of a club. And learning to work with people toward a common end can be an instructive experience.

You might investigate and learn if there is a model railroad club in your town, visit it, and see if you think you would like to join. Or you might consider starting a club of your own, among fellow railroad enthusiasts. In some places—notably Rochester, N. Y., and Bridgeport, Conn., —railroad clubs have become civic projects of great value to teen-agers.

There are many tangential interests in model railroad-ing that attract large followings. One of the most popular is photography. People who are proud of their pikes-even of the one small scenicked corner—want to have pictures of them. They soon see the difference between ordi- nary pictures and really good pictures, and begin to study lighting and camera angles.

Others become interested in "period" railroading. They like to reproduce trains of a certain era, and to keep every- thing in their scenery in harmony with this period. There are no TV antennas or streamlined cars on the layouts with trains from the 1880's and 1890's. While some kit manu- facturers put out period pieces, most of these are made by the model railroaders. They may use the motor and framework of a modern model locomotive, but they build a new superstructure, following old photographs carefully to make sure of every detail.
 
At the same time, other hobbyists are busy modernizing their equipment, changing from old-fashioned couplers to knuckle couplers, electrifying manual switches, and so on.

Recently there has been an increasing interest in trolley cars and interurban cars, with their own tracks, as addi- tions to train layouts. Several firms are now offering trolleys in kit form. Almost anything, it seems, can now be bought in kit form for model railroads, all gauges. Many old-timers, however, dislike working with kits.

They say that you might as well buy the locos or cars al- ready assembled. They insist on building from scratch— everything but the electric motor. In the process they obtain fine machine shops for themselves, and many do beautiful work.

Others are interested primarily in gadgets—drawbridges, turntables, waterfalls, mines with real coal coming out of them, and special sound effects. You can, incidentally, buy records with all different railroad sounds faithfully reproduced.

Whether your chief interest turns out to be making your own equipment, building scenery, or operating your trains, you will find books in the library and several magazines to give you help and new ideas. Some of your best inspirations will continue to come from your observations of trains, tracks, buildings, and Mother Earth herself.

Whatever your chief interest, wherever model railroad- ing leads you—have a good time!