Staying Motivated

Summer’s upon us.

     With that, many model railroaders shut down their operations so they can focus on outdoor activities. As soon as the cooler weather returns, the layouts and projects get dusted off, and playing with trains resumes.
     I don’t have the luxury of a three-month hiatus, and either do the other small business related to our hobby.
     So, I’m asked all the time, how do I stay motivated? Well, how do you stay motivated in your job? I’m motivated by the challenge of a new project, and by the prospect of a paycheck when I’m finished. Just like you, I go to work everyday because it pays my bills. If and when I get to the point when I don’t need the money anymore, I’ll just go down to the basement and work on my own layout, or if the weather is nice, I’ll go to the beach.
     But that doesn’t mean I don’t struggle from time to time. Because I am a one-person business, for the most part (I do have some part-time employees) I don’t have the advantage of being able to turn to someone for help when a problem arises. An example of that would be last week when I struggled with finding a solution to a trackwork height problem with the Direct Buy layout.
     The industrial tracks in the rear of the layout were raised up to provide better viewing for visitors. Unfortunately, I turned the area into an industrial roller coaster. Dioramas on both ends of the layout dictated the necessity in height, and a solution was not easy to come by.
     It took me a few days to come to grips with the answer. It may have come quicker with a little help from some co-workers.
     Bob Van Gelder, the owner of South River Modelworks, is also a one-man show. To complicate matters, he works on one project for an entire year. People have asked him why he doesn’t re-release his kits, and his answer is simple. In order for him to keep his interest and his motivation at a level required to produce one limited run kit a year, he has to finish a project, and move on the next. Continuing to deal with the same kit over and over again would force him into another profession.
     Of course, I have other interests besides the hobby. My wife and two children keep me busy, and as a former athlete, I am an avid sports fan.
     Others are also able to “get away from the business”. Dave Frary is best known to us as the consummate professional model railroader and hobby author. But he is also a highly regarded competition barbeque chef, and travels around the country competing.
     Sometimes the key to refueling your motivation can be as simple as picking up a hobby magazine or visiting someone’s layout. Other times, the only way is to walk away from the hobby for a while. Before I had a business, I would take time off, sometimes by choice, and sometimes by necessity. Each time I came back with a renewed interest.
     The question that was asked of me the most during the recent Scotty Mason Tour last January, was how I am able to keep my interest in building my own layout after working on others all day. The answer to that is simple. I’m building my layout for me. It’s a fun thing. No deadline pressures. No client expectations, just fun. That’s what this hobby is supposed to be about.
     So if this is the time of year that you put away your trains, and go outside for some fresh air, please do so, and we’ll see you in the fall.

Answering the phone was my first mistake...

...but certainly not my last! On the other end of the phone was my friend Doug Foscale, the owner of Fos Scale Limited, a manufacturer of craftsman structure kits. Doug had an idea he wanted to run past me.
     Now, for the record, when someone says, “whatever you do, don’t hang up on me. Just listen to my idea,” that’s the cue to hang up the phone and run far, far away. If the next sentence starts with, “You’re going to think this is a crazy idea, but…,” Then it probably is, but out of respect for my friendship with Doug, and the knowledge that I’ve come up with a few crazy ideas in my time, I listened to what he had to say.
     Doug proceeded to lay out a plan for a convention that focused on craftsman structures. I thought he must have had a head injury. While he was speaking, the objections flooded my mind. Craftsman structure building is a small, niche in our hobby. By my calculations, slightly less than five-percent of all model railroaders participate. What percentage of them could we attract? What would they be willing to pay to attend? What could we possibly provide to get them to come? When and where would we hold this get-together? Who was going to do all the work associated with putting on a convention? Doug was still talking and I was still quietly objecting.
     Maybe it was Doug’s enthusiasm, and maybe it was my love for craftsman structures, but I told him if he and his wife Anna Maria (equally enthusiastic) wanted to come up from Connecticut and talk to me about it, I would be happy to listen.
     So, on Sunday, November 12 th, 2006, Doug and Anna Maria sat in my kitchen with my wife Pat and I, and Doug put on a presentation that would rival those by professional sales people. He had graphs and charts, marketing material, sample magazine ads, a rough design for a website, a schedule of events, possible topics for clinics and who we could recruit to do them, as well as the cover to a show magazine he wanted to put out. He talked about producing a limited edition kit to commemorate the event, the contests we could hold and the prizes we could award. He even went so far as to laser cut a sample award plaque from polycarbonate. It was beautiful.
     He laid out a scenario that convinced me that not only was a show a great idea, but those attending would love it. His enthusiasm for the hobby reminded me of my own enthusiasm. The difference is that he’s organized! I signed on, but with one condition. I don’t do anything in this hobby anymore without the invaluable assistance of my friend Jimmy Deignan. Jimmy is the owner of CRAFTSMANKITS.COM, the largest reseller of craftsman kits in the world. He is, quite frankly, the Radar O’Reilly of model railroading. If you need something done, he can do it. If there’s a problem you can’t solve, he can. Jimmy runs my website, and is the engineer of my podcast. He is indispensable. And, he never says no. (Publishers Note: Scott offered to show me his "hidden" tattoo the other day. I said NO! - Jimmy)
     The end result of all this is the First Annual Craftsman Structure Show, which will be held on November 2 nd and 3 rd 2007 at the Holiday Inn in Mansfield, MA. The Show will feature clinics, a panel discussion, dealer and manufacturer booths, a modeling and photography contest and an awards dinner.
     We set out to design a convention that is unique. We decided that a good portion of the clinics would be hands-on. So, for instance, if the title of the clinic is Painting and Weathering Wood Walls, the attendee will actually paint and weather a wood wall under the direction of the clinician. Other hands-on clinics we came up with are: Painting and Weathering Masonry Walls, Painting Figures, Painting and Weathering Detail Castings, Making Trees Using Peppergrass, and Signs.
     Other clinics include: Quick Interiors, Scratchbuilding with Styrene, Modeling Power Poles, Introduction to Craftsman Structure Building, Buying, Selling and Trading Craftsman Structure Kits, Fos Scale 101, FSM 101, SRMW 101, Sierra West 101, and Photographing Model Railroads.
     The best structure builders in the hobby responded to my requests by volunteering their time to become clinicians. Dave Frary, Bob Van Gelder, Brett Gallant, Brian Nolan, Dave Revelia, Mike Tylick, Doug Foscale, Jimmy Deignan, Dick Elwell and myself will all be presenting programs.
     We couldn’t have a structure show without the King of Structures, George Sellios, but George is shy, and doesn’t normally do shows. I thought I’d have my work cut out for me to try to convince him to attend. Not the case at all. George readily accepted, and will have a booth at the dealer show as well as participate in a panel discussion on the first evening of the show.
     As a tribute to George, Rich Josselyn will be presenting an on-going slide presentation of the many photographs he has taken of the Franklin & South Manchester Railroad. Rich has long been an associate of George’s and has photographed the F&SM on several occasions for many publications.
     George and Dave Frary will also be receiving Lifetime Achievement Awards and be the first to be inducted into the Craftsman Structure Modelers’ Hall of Fame. We hope to have new inductees each year. The awards will be presented at the Awards Dinner on the final evening.
     Which brings me to the awards we’ll be giving out to our contest winners. We’ll be presenting awards in the following categories: Best Structure, Best Diorama, Best Photograph of a Prototype Structure, Best Photograph of a Model, and the ever-popular Peanut Butter Lid Challenge.
     The first four may be self explanatory, but you may not be familiar with the Peanut Butter lid contest. The goal here is to build something on the lid of a standard sized peanut butter jar. It can be anything in any scale, but must be contained within the circumference of the lid. In other words, it can’t overhang. We’re all looking forward to seeing what folks bring.
     The point of the contests is to have fun and show off your work. There aren’t a lot of hard and fast rules. We just want folks to enjoy each other’s artistic talent, and we think this is the perfect showcase.
     Several dealers will also have tables where they will be selling and displaying their structures, detail parts, scenery materials, etc… There will be no locomotives, rolling stock or white elephant tables at the show. Manufacturers and dealers that will be displaying include: South river Modelworks, Fine Scale Miniatures, Fos Scale Limited, Crow River Products, Sierra West, Banta Model Works, Northeastern Scale Models, BEST Trains, Hodgdon Scale Models, SCOTTYMASON.COM, CRAFTSMANKITS.COM, Creative Works 3D, Blue Ribbon Models, Schomberg Scale Models, Raggs to Riches, Moose Miniatures, Full Steam Ahead, Ed Fulasz and Sokol Structures among others.
     To commemorate the event, Doug Foscale has designed a very limited edition craftsman structure kit that will be named after our two inductees. Each participant will have the opportunity to purchase one kit. At the end of the show, any remaining kits will be destroyed.
     Lastly, we didn’t forget the spouses. A number of activities have been planned for non-model railroading spouses including a trip to the largest outlet mall on the east coast, massages, manicures, and yoga classes.
     So far, response has been great. This is really shaping up to be everything we expected it to be. If you’d like more information, you can visit our webpage: wwwcss07.com. We’re convinced this will be a very unique opportunity for manufacturers and dealers of craftsman structure kits to meet the folks that build and collect them. We also think that the hands-on clinics will provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from the masters in our hobby. I hope to see you in Mansfield, Massachusetts on November 2 nd and 3 rd.