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 Posted - August 04 2015 : 8:39:31 PM
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Hello again Tyco Forums
You might have noticed I've been absent for a few weeks since the whole debacle with the site shutting down briefly. A number of personal and family troubles here on my end happened to coincide with the troubles here, so I haven't been able to log on in a while. Unfortunately I now do so only to say goodbye. At the advice of my therapist and my girlfriend, and having considered where I'm going in the future and realizing the impact the hobby has had on my life in the past couple of years, I am giving up model trains altogether as of today. A number of personal conflicts have been straining my life and my family, and when I realized that with my trains out of the picture, many of them would be easily resolved, the decision was made. This has nothing to do with the forums, I guess, but you guys were my friends and I wanted to say goodbye.
Over the next couple of weeks I'll be cataloging my collection in its entirety for the first time, after which I'll be selling it whole to whichever local dealer has the space. With around 100 locos and over 1000 cars, not to mention structures, scenery, track, books and other supplies, I believe I will come up with enough to, combined with my savings so far, get myself an old car with which I'll go to college. I know I had some things pending here that I was going to buy or sell with various forum members; my apologies, I've lost track of everything lately, forget it all. If I do owe anyone something specific, let me know and I'll send it your way. I will be back once more to post the exact count of my collection once I've finished cataloging it--I've never known exactly how many cars I have and I've wondered for years. After this though I wish to delete my account to avoid the temptation to return to the model railroad world in any form. I'm quitting cold turkey, as I, my girlfriend, and my parents believe is best. When your hobby turns into your only coping mechanism in the face of depression, and starts to ruin your life, time to quit.
I wish nothing but the best for all of you here on the forum I've enjoyed greatly over the past few years. It's good to see that there are moderators here now, and great to see that catfordken and toptrain were selected, I can't think of anyone better for the job. I hope all goes well with the future of the TF community, whatever it may hold.
-Connor Chinoy, age 17, PRR 4800.
--CRC
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Posted - August 04 2015 : 9:17:16 PM
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| hi connor sad to hear,but i wish the best for you,and hope the future brings you success in whichever choices you make,will miss you,ken
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Posted - August 04 2015 : 9:26:48 PM
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Connor - sorry to hear of your recent troubles, above all I have always enjoyed your input and will miss "seeing" you.
You know what's best, so now move forward and give it your all.
For what it's worth, I did not really start enjoying this hobby until I was 52! So...perhaps one day you can enjoy it again as well. Life has a funny way of doing things like that!
Best wishes always, my friend.
http://tycodepot.com/
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Posted - August 04 2015 : 10:05:22 PM
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| Get rid of the girl friend... keep the trains it will be cheaper in the long run....
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Posted - August 04 2015 : 10:08:45 PM
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Farewell!
I hope all can be worked out well with family, friends and life in general.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - August 05 2015 : 12:21:48 PM
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Hopefully everything works out good. I really do hope so. It's a shame to see you leaving, honestly. We appreciate what you've done for this group over the years and wish you luck in life.
-Steve
"A lot of modellers out there who go to these train shows see broken HO stuff and go, 'This is useless' when, in reality, they can still be used for modeling whether it's as a prop on your layout or a cool project to make something old new again."
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Posted - August 05 2015 : 9:16:31 PM
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Sorry to see you go Connor, but it sounds like this is a healthy move at this early stage in your life. It can be a fine line between hobby and hoarding, and I think hobbyists & collectors of all sorts fight a battle against the creeping crud.
You have many years ahead of you. Even if you wait until your 40's to re-enter the hobby, that still gives you decades to amass a collection with which to burden your kids. 
Good luck.
Nelson
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - August 05 2015 : 10:09:10 PM
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Hope everything goes well for you, Conner. Best of luck... 
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Posted - August 05 2015 : 10:23:33 PM
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well good luck anyway
Wish I could of got some of your trains 
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Posted - August 05 2015 : 11:19:47 PM
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Sad that a young person is leaving hobby Since we do not know the whole story 9and it's not our DAMM bussiness) must respect your decision
But let me leave you with this in my college years took down my HO layout (A garage sale find by my parents by the way) and took NO pleasure in doing so ,for a simple reason
and before I reveal that..........
The parents thought it was a symbol that I had given up on the hobby well with college and other intrest's trying to pan out a logical reason
BUT WHY DID I DO IT???
it did not work properly after being bought home a decade earlier
SOOOO the only sane thing to do tear it down and rebuild
WHICH costs money and when you are in ANY college well YA NEED CASH
And then the time and a lot of bad curves thrown at you etc things NOT working out on almost everything
in 1996 bought a (for the time) HUGE collection of Lionel from original owner and well and in a matter of speaking gave me a reason if trivial to embrace our crazy world
Approaching the big 50 now (not yet BUT getting close) And unless they are with families (mom dad relatives etc )
STILL
the youngest at these shows etc
DESPITE the financial costs (well before the net) and we ALL have been hit by that the hobby is a way to relax in our crazy world of today and nice to see a young kid wanting to buy a train in this age of electronics and texting and Sims Mario Brothers and you tube
at any rate good luck young one and if you succeed where I and others may or may not have
One day if you become a father of a child you just might stop at a sale shop meet or dumpster and rediscover the world of Model Railroading
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Posted - August 05 2015 : 11:53:39 PM
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I'm 22. The whole go to college, buy a car, move out on my own thing is fairly recent in my past. Quite honestly you probably wouldn't have time for trains anyway, and dragging a collection as vast as yours between apartments, res, etc. is way more trouble than it's worth. I've been lucky in the sense that my parents let me store the hoard back home and my girlfriend doesn't mind the few displays and small workbench I have in the apartment, but if I look at how much progress I've actually made on any projects it's virtually non-existent. I started my trolley layout almost a year ago and have yet to complete a single side of my lone block. 
Depression sucks but you have friends and family on your side. They've got your back. Keep fighting!
Maybe one day we'll see you again... or maybe not. Either way, best of luck!
cheez
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Posted - August 06 2015 : 01:01:54 AM
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| As others have said, I thought you were an interesting young member and I'm sad to see you go. However, I also know many of us have demons that we need to deal with. Best of luck in dealing with yours. As a school teacher, I know that a young man your age has a lot more to deal with than young men used to. It's not fair and I hate it, but that's what the world has become. Again, all I can say is good luck and keep focused to make good decisions for the future. It can get better if you make it better, and someday your teenage years will be nothing but a memory, good or bad.
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Posted - August 06 2015 : 09:16:42 AM
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Best of luck to you Connor. Personal well being and school are more important than any hobby. You can always come back to the hobby much later in life like many of us have done.
rich p
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Posted - August 06 2015 : 8:50:12 PM
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Well I always thought hobbies were therapy but I'm no doctor. Connor, best of luck to you in getting your life together, you can't be too bad off if you have a girlfriend. They'll ditch you quick if you were and it sounds like you have caring parents. Don't under estimate their value. Remember, all things in moderation (including moderation)
Master Of Plasticville
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Posted - August 06 2015 : 10:52:02 PM
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Best wishes to you Connor. You will be missed!
Glenn
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
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Posted - August 07 2015 : 11:22:00 AM
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Consider keeping some of your items for future enjoyment. Around 100 cars and engines seems reasonable and I am sure that your family members can accept this compromise. You have enjoyed this hobby for some time and it would be a shame to shut it down completely.
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Posted - August 07 2015 : 3:07:33 PM
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quote:|
Consider keeping some of your items for future enjoyment. Around 100 cars and engines seems reasonable and I am sure that your family members can accept this compromise. You have enjoyed this hobby for some time and it would be a shame to shut it down completely.
Originally posted by wks - August 07 2015 : 11:22:00 AM
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I would second this.
Box up and put away the cream of the crop. If you revisit the hobby X years from now and have no interest, sell it off then....and if you want to give it another try, you won't be starting over from scratch.
http://tycodepot.com/
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Posted - August 08 2015 : 2:31:15 PM
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** Take care kid and have that good life. Best of everything to you. Miss you at Allentown and new Hope.
frank
toptrain
" It's a Heck of a Day " !!!
Edited by - toptrain on August 09 2015 10:43:13 AM
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Posted - August 09 2015 : 09:46:59 AM
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Sometimes young people become obcessive in the things they do, from video gaming to , yes, trains. I have many hundreds, if not thousands, of pieces myself by now, my collection has also become something of a prison, but one at least I enjoy.  Sorry to hear your condition is such that such a drastic measure is needed.
I , too , second the thought that you should keep some of the cream. Box it up, and give it to someone like your parents to store away, hidden, until some future time, like a time capsule. If you still feel that it would be a negative after all that time, you could sell it off then. At least if someone else has them, you won't be tempted.
Good luck with your therapy and life, Connor, unlike alcohol, I suspect this is just a youthful addiction that can be overcome later in life. Nothing wrong with giving it all up for now, but I'd at least give it a chance for the future. 17 years old is WAY too young to say Never to something forever.
Jerry, over-collecting HO trains.
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - August 09 2015 : 11:58:17 AM
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Why the rush? You might regret this later.
I can think of a lot worse things than
a love affair with model trains. Sounds like
you are doing this to meet the expectations
of others. Good luck with that. Why not
take a break and see how you feel in
a period of time? Who are you really
going "cold turkey for?"
Edited by - Chops124 on August 09 2015 12:01:06 PM
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Posted - August 12 2015 : 12:53:02 AM
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Sorry to double blast you PRR, but I don't read much enthusiasm
about "an old car and college." I do hear a lot of regret about
leaving behind a hobby that clearly seems to have brought ]
you much personal satisfaction.
College is fine- for people who know exactly what they want
to achieve and are willing to endure a lot of poverty to get
there. Frankly, college is a bit over rated these days. A college
degree used to be a big deal. Wake up, everyone, that was
yesterday. So many professional jobs, like engineering, for
example, have been outsourced to emerging Third World
countries where the engineer, who will have been taught
perfect English, can design anything at all on a computer
and hit the "send" button, and will be happy to earn $50 a
week for his trouble.
I have a dear friend who, like you, is a collector. He has
many hundreds of high end models and locomotives. He
knows each one by heart and where he got it and when.
He works for the railroad as an engineer. He tried mightily to
achieve an accounting degree. He is a very smart guy and
has an astonishing memory, but the way the exams were
rigged, the professors test the material in a reverse order
of how it was taught. It wiped him out, after two full bore
tries, and he signed on with the railroad.
He is very happy running 15,000 ton grain trains, has a
Shelby in the garage of his house. And he will retire with
a decent pension. Not many of us have that to look
forward to.
I work with people who are addicted to heroin, meth, alcohol,
pills, cocaine. Now THOSE poor devils have a BIG problem.
Their lives tend to be devoid of creativity. Your "addiction"
is based on creativity and a collector's instinct.
I think AF Kid kind of hit it on the nail, to be frank. You might
find someone who can accept you, or even embrace you, for
the things you love. It is a hard life trying to make everyone
else happy. I know- I've wasted many years trying to do that.
You will NEVER make anyone else happy by trying to bend
yourself into THEIR pretzel. As soon as you do, they will want
a different pretzel. I promise you that.
Take some time off, if you need to, but act not in haste. Just because
you are a true collector does not make you "sick." Depression, if
anything, might be made worse by a drastic decision to walk
away from your coping mechanism.
PM me anytime.
Your friend,
Chops
Edited by - Chops124 on August 12 2015 12:57:48 AM
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Posted - August 24 2015 : 5:26:50 PM
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| Sorry to hear of your concerns. I second the idea of keeping some of the best of your collection for later years. And remember, the hobby has taught you your first big important life lesson - everything in moderation, so it can't all be bad.
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Posted - August 31 2015 : 12:30:44 AM
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I agree with chops its sad that ur giving up trains I did and found my way back with a model of a alco century now i have 3 two on the restore tab one running and alot of cars
devin "give me the ugly steam none of that streamlined stuff"
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Posted - August 31 2015 : 02:15:51 AM
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I agree DaCheez. I've got so much that packing and moving really takes a while. Trains help me stay happy at times but I'm not drowning in trains. It's a weekend affair now. Connor, hope someday you'll come back to the hobby and enjoy it.
" Heck with counting 'em rivets, TRAINS ARE FOR FUN! Not called the Mad Scientist for nothing either!"
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Posted - August 31 2015 : 2:02:15 PM
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quote:I agree DaCheez. I've got so much that packing and moving really takes a while. Trains help me stay happy at times but I'm not drowning in trains. It's a weekend affair now. Connor, hope someday you'll come back to the hobby and enjoy it.
Originally posted by Redneck Justin - August 31 2015 : 02:15:51 AM
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got any steam u dont want anymore
devin "give me the ugly steam none of that streamlined stuff"
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