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How often do some of you just say the hell with it and close the door on it for a while? My frustration level reached that point today. Can't get some track to come together around a switch area. I've cut flex track, sectional track, to try to get it together for quite a few hours now. I admit that inexperience is the problem here, but I've had it for a while.
Paul
Anyone who hasn't experienced that level of frustration and its generational lack of success is a super-human. I've never met one. The best we can hope for is to react as you did and to leave it be for a while. Almost always the worst outcome is to decide on an entirely different solution and to stop trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
-Crandell
Anyone who hasn't experienced that level of frustration and its generational lack of success is a super-human. I've never met one. The best we can hope for is to react as you did and to leave it be for a while. Almost always the worst outcome is to decide on an entirely different solution and to stop trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
-Crandell
I definitely think going about this a different way is in order.
I'll have to let my sub-conscious work on this for a while.
Paul
Paul,
Like Crandell, I've never met a mrr who hasn't gotten away from it for a while. What I'm finding is that when I let it go for a couple days, the solution seems to come through. That is one of the things I like about this hobby - there are so many different phases that while one problem is resting, I can work on any of a number of other areas... or not.
If it weren't for the frustration, I'm not sure I would enjoy the accomlishments so much.
Regards,
Jon
Sometimes a couple of times a month.
I lose desire every now and then. Been like that this summer and will most likely get back in around September. Sometimes you just need a break for a while and do some other stuff. I get burnt out from time to time but when I get the urge I work on something and then take another break. Either way don’t get discouraged but just find something else to do for a while and then go back when you feel like it.
I'm working a plan to use a 48 foot trailer as my r.r. room in the back yard
if that fails i have to pack up the trains for a while : (.
.. but i also model
1/50 scale tug boats and have taken a year off from them so not to
break some very pricey toys
If I read Paul's opening post correctly, he isn't thinking about packing it in for a while. He is frustrated over a small problem that has suddenly confounded him and has him at a standstill. He has grown frustrated over this one molehill. Instead of throwing a fit, or a prized locomotive, he has wisely decided to call it a week and do some honey-do stuff for a day or two while he figures out his next move.
-Crandell
I agree with what everyone has said. Sometimes you just need to let things alone and do something else. One way I discovered to help with matching track to a turnout is to decide where the turnout needs to be and nail it in place. Then I work backwards from the turnout to the already laid track. Doing it this way I've found you have a lot more room for "adjustment" by simply joining two pieces of track a foot or more before the turnout. In other words slightly changing the radius of two pieces of flex track to meet each other is a lot simpler than making a precision joint at the turnout. Striving for perfection is one thing, actually getting it every time is a different story.
I find this level of frustration even in my work at times, and I find the best thing to do is to walk away for a while, as little as an hour or two, or a couple of days or weeks. I don't often have the luxury of walking away for very long periods of time at work, but sometimes even an hour or two helps.
After walking away, I almost always find a solution of some sort when I return if not while I am away.
This happens to all of us and not just about model railroading problems. You work and work and something still isn't right and nothing is fixing it. Believe it or not, I've found a one hour nap is the answer to almost all problems.
Somehow, it seems like a little snooze kind of defrags the hard drive and gets your mind back on the right track. I used to do this all the time when I was a programmer and you'd be amazed at how many times I woke up from a nap and solved, in five minutes, what had taken me hours of frustration.
My wife knows my frustration as my language gets worse and worse! She tells me to walk away and try again later. Granted, she is just repeating things I've said to myself out loud, but its a timely reminder when I'm about to throw a project out of our third story window!
I can also tell when I'm hurrying at a project. That is an equally important time to step away. The other day I was fighting with a Walthers kit and losing. I started laughing when I pointed out that this was a hobby to relieve stress!
Well, I got it the next day. Used a section of flex, snipped it and it came right in. Not as hard to walk away now that I'm retired, as I know I can get back to it anytime.
Paul
Glad to hear that it worked out for you. It's like stepping away from a puzzle, then popping in a piece as soon as you return to the room.
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