Reverse Running commentary
W
hile serious pro-
totype operation
seems to be a hot
topic in the hobby, is it correct
to assume that everyone ought
to run their trains this way?
Model railroading is diverse
enough I don’t think there’s any
one thing in the hobby “every-
one” ought to be doing. While
I personally get a real charge
out of serious prototype opera-
tions, I think it’s a mistake to believe everyone does.
Some who are into serious ops seem to think “running trains
for fun,” just to railfan, is akin to sacrilege. While I personally
love serious ops, I am okay with serious model railroaders
who don’t like prototype ops.
Let me tell you a story to illustrate why I feel this way.
Back when I first got into the the hobby in the late 1960s, I
soon discovered a fellow model railroader in the most unex-
pected place – the 40-year-old high school janitor!
Tom the janitor was as passionate a model railroader as I had
ever seen, carefully modeling backwoods railroad logging
equipment and having a total ball doing it. Tom and I became
great friends, talking for long stints about model railroading.
Reverse Running: Stepping outside the box with a contrary view
by Joe Fugate
Just run trains for fun
Tom was also quite a good modeler.
However, I soon discovered that while Tom loved the mod-
eling and delighted in watching the trains run, he had zero
interest in serious operations. At first that surprised me, but I
could see Tom loved the hobby as much as I did, even though
he couldn’t care less about running trains realistically.
I felt a strong camaraderie with Tom, and the fact he didn’t
care for ops didn’t change our shared passion for the hobby.
Much later, I became something of a hobby insider in the
1990s, and I learned that prototype operation is not the most
popular topic in the hobby. Operations books and videos
don’t sell nearly as well as books and videos on scenery and
DCC, for instance.
It’s a give-and-take. Those of us into serious ops need to
allow that there are those in the hobby who love the model-
ing but they don’t find serious ops to be all that fun.
On the flip side, those who don’t enjoy serious ops need to
recognize that those of us who do love serious prototype ops
can find it to be a real blast. Serious ops can be like any group
game, with some good-natured fun and interesting challenges
to solve.
Both sides of this question are running trains for the fun of
it. And for those who tire of the “roundy-roundy” running,
there’s more serious prototype ops.
For those who never tire of railfanning model trains, there’s
just running for the fun of it. After all, why not? Remember
Tom the janitor. It’s all
about
having fun with
trains.
Right, Tom?
MRH-Aug 2013
