What Matters?

Since the last holidays, I’ve been participating in a discussion on MRH forums started by James Six, a well-known modeller from the Midwest. The conversation – centered on one-town layouts – quickly raised fundamental questions about our relation with our hobby and why we do it. James is an accomplished modeller by most standards and built layouts and scrupulously detailed cars for years until he hit a wall and started to put in perspective what he was doing, trying to understand the “why” behind it all. The discussion could have been about sharing success recipes (which incidentally would be too handy to exist), but it became evident that as modellers, we too often prefer to discuss “how to” instead of asking why.

Interestingly enough, fellow modeller Mike Cougill just released a new blog entry about similar subjects. It is well worth a read since and it sums up quite well the topics explored my discussion with James Six in a more readable format.

At the end of the day, isn't it strange that most of us never take the time to ask ourselves what matters for us in this hobby? Blinded by our genuine passion - often fueled by happy-go-lucky consumerism - we often completely forgot what we actually like about trains and the mythos around them...