Expand your horizons How to avoid getting into a rut/Bob Walker T
he first time that I jumped out of a perfectly sound aircraft there were a lot of random thoughts banging around in my head. Not the least of these was “Who packed this @#$! chute, and was he having a good day?” As my youthful macho bravado rapidly faded, a lot of colorful prose could be written to de- scribe the feeling, but scared witless works for me. As the training regi- men progressed and I learned more about what I was doing, the process moved from terrifying to mystifying to exhilarating in very short order. The journey between all those condi- tions,
in retrospect, was pretty
darned exciting, to the point where I would gladly repeat it. Like a lot of things military, the entire process was more complex than first imag- ined, and not nearly as dangerous as that first jump was thought to be. I learned that things military were in- herently safe. It was the enemy that made things dangerous. As we progress through life, certain things become habit and are done by rote. We all achieve a “comfort zone” of sorts in our working lives as well as our hobby endeavors. In a lot of ways, this is a good thing, since we gain valuable experience as to what works and what does not. We tend to stay within the boundaries of what we know and are familiar with. Experi- ence teaches us, and the end results of any given project become nice and predictable.
There is another word for the last five sentences: Rut! That’s right, we can get into a rut, and some of us need to get out of it. Maybe it’s time to learn some new tricks, even though some of us are “old dogs.” It is my concerted opinion that you can teach old model railroaders new tricks. Perhaps it is time to leave that comfort zone and expand your horizons. There, I knew I could work this month’s title into the text somewhere! A man I know of, who shall remain nameless (to protect the guilty), had a basement-sized model railroad. It was built with care, and, as a result, operat- ed flawlessly. The benchwork was firm and neatly done, the track was hand- laid to perfection, and the wiring was well organized and logical. Everything was crafted in a very workman-like manner indicative of the builder’s high level of skill. All his equipment was
54 NOVEMBER 2012
Scratchbuilder’s Corner
first rate and as flawless as his rail- road. His cars stayed on the track, and his engines were smooth as silk. Dur-
ing his afternoon-long operating ses- sions, the only derailments or electrical problems were operator caused. It was one of the best built layouts in the country. In other words he had a truly great model railroad–not! It was truthfully, the proverbial Ply- wood Pacific (no scenery and not even ballast), and only a few common kit- built structures. You know, Gruesome
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