Model Railroad Hobbyist | January 2015 | #59
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EVERSE RUNNING
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commentary
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STEPPING OUTSIDE THE BOX WITH A CONTRARY VIEW
JOE FUGATE
ARE YOU A WISE GUY?
THERE’S A SAYING I TOLD MY KIDS
when they were growing up: “Smart
people learn from their mistakes.
Wise people learn from other people’s
mistakes.”
Actually, that’s one of the huge benefits of
the internet for any hobby these days: you
can quickly connect with others who share your interests and ask
them what has worked and what has not. While it’s certainly pos-
sible to waste time online arguing over minutia, if you’re wise you
can also save yourself a lot of lost time by benefiting from what
others have learned through experience by going online.
And really, isn’t that all experience is? There’s another saying
about this: “Good judgement comes from experience, and expe-
rience comes from poor judgement!”
We all love to hear from those who have lots of experience – but
typically the more experienced are simply those who’ve gotten
out of the armchair and tried more times – and found a lot of
ways that did not work! But that poor judgement doesn’t need
to be
our own
poor judgement, though, which bring us full
circle back to the idea of learning from other people’s mistakes.
The Layout Design Special Interest Group (LD SIG) has the motto:
“Make only new mistakes.” The LD SIG motto implies, however,
that you’re aware of the other mistakes that have been made, so
you’re not remaking the same old mistakes yourself. This means
it’s important to be well-versed in the hobby: through books, vid-
eos, through web posts on forums / blogs, and via local hobbyists.
But if you’re new to the hobby, where do you start? Or if you’re
a seasoned modeler who’s been in the hobby for decades, how
do you share your learnings with others, and as the LD SIG says,
make only new mistakes?
Let’s look at a personal example. I’m starting to apprentice my
13-year old grandson, Bobby, in the hobby. I’m excited by all the
various skills he’s learning: carpentry, wiring, electrical under-
standing, hand-eye-coordination, mechanical skills, varied tool
usage ... the list goes on and on.
As I teach Bobby, however, I’m being very deliberate to pull out
and expose him to all the hobby sources I use so he can not only
benefit from my own personal knowledge, but can learn how to
find out more for himself. Rather than just give him a fish, I’m
teaching Bobby to fish, as the saying goes.
And by showing Bobby how to search out and find these
resources, I’m exposing him to others who are telling about
their mistakes, and helping him become a wise modeler himself.
One thing we hope to do with MRH in 2015 is to help more of
you become “a wise guy” in the hobby yourself and likewise
make only new mistakes!
☑
