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Morning Open Thread- Maiden Run Because I Persisted [1]

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Date: 2022-12-01

Failure is often that early morning hour of darkness which precedes the dawning of the day of success. -Leigh Mitchell Hodges (1876-1954), journalist and poet

I thought the above quote was appropriate for this MOT, as almost the whole project was done in the wee hours of the morn.

Welcome to Morning Open Thread, a daily post with a MOTley crew of hosts who choose the topic for the day's posting. We support our community, invite and share ideas, and encourage thoughtful, respectful dialogue in an open forum. That is a feature, not a bug. Other than that, site rulz rule.

Harken back to those dark days of 2020. We thought the world was going to stop spinning on it’s axis, and it did. At least for those of us who chose to take covid seriously. My plan on getting through the self imposed lock down was to start a major project to keep me busy and entertained. Model railroaders are adeptly equipped for such a situation. Given the opportunity, we can hunker down in the layout room and work for days and not come in contact with anyone and still be happy as a clam.

Little did I figure that it would take this long to get to this point though. Because I wanted to tackle some new challenges and learn new skills in the hobby, I chose to set myself up for failure. If you’ll remember, I spent a year meticulously hand laying every tie and rail only to find that it was far too fragile for a traveling set up that needed to bounce around in the back of a trailer for hundreds of miles.

Looks great, but falls apart if you look at it wrong.

Ok, so I wasted months and hundreds of dollars on a failed idea. That will always take the wind out of your sails. It took awhile for me to get the gumption up to rip it all off the layout and start again.

New track with dirt dug up from Ririe, sifted and glued down on the module to keep my cat from using the whole thing as her personal scratching post.

But how could I not swallow such disappointment and charge forward? After all, this thing sits in my living room.

That’s close to a thousand dollars in little plastic pieces glued together one at a time.

I had spent more money than I wanted to, but the idea of building something to exacting precision and traveling around the west to entertain and educate folks was far too strong of a pull to give up.

Looking south along the tracks, looking at Ririe Grain and Feed Co-Op

I’d get the same angle as the real photo, but my refrigerator is in the way

Being a model railroader helped with in my professional life. The ability to see a project through to the end was a skill I learned and used well in construction. When things go sideways or too tough to handle, I have known tradesmen walk away from a job. That’s when I would get a call. I fixed a lot of bad carpenters work because I have learned to soldier on. I guess I had to learn that lesson again.

Another thing I love about model railroading is that it forces to me think about problem solving using my imagination and creativity. What I have chosen to model is not something that can just be purchased out of a catalog or at a hobby shop. The idea is to be as faithful to what exists in real life as possible. I liken it to being a journalist. All I am doing is reporting what the facts are without making anything up. But I can’t get the scoop. I have to do the legwork to figure out how to invent what the truth is.

Loading grain to feed the world. Take a close look at the graffiti.

The problem here is that all I have is pictures. Even if the Co-Op would let me climb all over their complex taking measurements, there’s no way in hell I would climb up those hundred foot tall towers on spindly ladders spot welded to tiny steel beams. Not that I’m afraid of heights. But the lesson is that it’s ok to know I am going to fail. My success is knowing that I gave it my best and had fun doing it.

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