Opinion

Healing through hobbies: I bought myself a model train set

6/1/2021

Translation: Veronica Bielawski

Back in the day, almost every boy had one. But today, model railroads as a hobby have largely fallen into oblivion. And yet, it’s so much fun! Especially since the miniature locomotives make true-to-the-original sounds.

Hello everyone, my name’s Thöme, I’m 46 years old and I like toys. I’ve kept all my past toys. All the Duplo, Lego, Playmobil sets, the Fisher-Price; all my Smurfs, cars and stuffed animals. They’ve aged alongside me, but still look just as friendly as they looked back then. You can read all about my resulting full attic here (text in German):

When I shop on Galaxus, it's not uncommon for me to add a Lego set or two, for example the cute little street sweeper, to my shopping cart. The joy I get from unpacking and assembling Lego has remained unchanged since the late 1970s.

LEGO

LEGO Street sweeper

60249, LEGO City

What I really don't understand is why Lego doesn't release new editions of the old sets. For example, the Knight Lego or the Space Lego kits. It would be a billion-dollar business. And I would be the prime customer – I would buy all of it. I like the modern Lego, but they lack the innocent simplicity and especially the creativity of the earlier stuff, and I was never a fan of the entire licensing orgy with Star Wars, Harry Potter, and so on, anyway.

Hello, Denmark, please make these again!

My latest acquisition is a model railroad in N gauge – that’s the nine millimetre gauge – which in turn means a scale of 1:160. When I say «model railroad», I mean it in the most rudimentary of senses: a simple oval track, control unit, and a short train consisting of a Fleischmann Ae 6/6 with two passenger cars. Even though the hobby of model railroading has been experiencing a tragic decline in recent decades, there are still many people who spend all their free time lovingly staging a true-to-scale little world, complete with roads, cars, people, mountains and, of course, a lot of tunnels. I don't have the space (or patience) for that, and I'm perfectly happy to just drive around in circles.

Most of all, this is thanks to the fact that model locomotives have been equipped with digital decoders and speakers for a few years by now. So, it’s not just power for driving that’s sent through the track circuit using the controller, but also information for activating various sound and light functions. The sounds are taken from the original locomotive and its surroundings: the train approaching, the compressor, the door closing, the train’s horns, brakes and station announcements. You can play the sounds at the push of a button, which makes it feel like it’s a real mini train driving through your living room. Or like you’re a 283-metre giant (height x 160).

The legendary Ae 6/6. Here we have the «city of Basel», including two «SBB train cars». Definitely one of the most beautiful locomotives to ever pass through our country (or my apartment).

I bought my railroad from Ms Neisser in Zurich. She runs the last remaining model train store in town. All the others have gone bankrupt, and her business has also seen better days. «The young’uns these days just aren’t interested,» says the charming old lady, not with sorrow, but with the laugh of someone who understands you have to take things as they come. Or as they don’t come. Since the coronavirus crisis, far fewer customers drop by, and Ms Neisser doesn’t have online shop.

Neither customers nor viruses can dampen her spirits: Ms Neisser in her model train store, which she has operated at this location since 1981.

A while ago, the magazine «Der Spiegel» published a wonderful short text about the decline of this hobby in general. The author expressed that people were more peaceful back when everyone had a hobby – such as a model railroad. He said that in those days, people used to go down to their basement to have some fun, and came back upstairs satisfied. According to him, nowadays, people go to their basement to write nasty stuff on the Internet. Though he does believe that all the online hate is likely just due to the disappearance of hobbies.

I like this theory. And it’s backed up by science, by the way: engaging in something that gives you pleasure, and serves this one purpose only, puts you in a state that psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi calls «flow». Besides Lego building and model railroading, electronic music gets me into flow, as well as chess and photography (especially light painting). None of this pursues any goal other than satisfaction. I don't want to win any competition or get recognition, I just want to have fun.

All you need to do this is a camera capable of long exposure and a coloured light source; in this case, a cheap LED light stick.

I think the world would actually be a more peaceful place if people spent more time on hobbies again. They would certainly have less time for the Internet (and yes, I know, I'm writing this for an online shop). Maybe you'll stop by Ms Neisser's? Surely you know someone who would enjoy a locomotive that makes cool sounds. Hey, maybe that someone is even you.

What’s your hobby? How do you get into flow? And which Lego sets would you like to see reissued? Write it in the comments!

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Thomas Meyer

freier Autor

tacheles@thomasmeyer.ch

Author Thomas Meyer was born in Zurich in 1974. He worked as a copywriter before publishing his first novel «The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch» in 2012. He's a father of one, which gives him a great excuse to buy Lego. More about Thomas: www.thomasmeyer.ch.

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