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Melbourne man discovers extensive model train network underneath house

sbs.com.au

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Re: Melbourne man discovers extensive model train network underneath house

#111

Post by Cthulhu_ »

dkdbejwi383 wrote: post #73
perlgeek wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there anything particularly "neuro divergent" about having a hobby? No, but how obsessive the pursuit of that hobby is, that's the question. There are some model train enthusiasts that, over their life time, spend several millions of EUR on their hobby, so they basically work to finance their hobby.

Isn’t that just normal life? I know that I, and almost everyone I know, only works to finance the things we actually enjoy.

I'll admit I don't know many people but nobody I know has that kind of expendable income. The "worst" case spends hundreds a year on merchandise / collectibles though.

Re: Melbourne man discovers extensive model train network underneath house

#112

Post by bombcar »

MrJagil wrote: post #58
alnwlsn wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Side note, but if you're trying to sell off this stuff, you better do it soon. Train nuts like this are a dying breed. Probably will all be mostly worthless in a couple decades, along with commemorative plates, or the "good china" your parents never use. Market is hot(ish) now though, or was a few years ago. A friends dad died and he had trains. We helped ebay all of it. Owned a toy store or something, lots of rare s…

> Train nuts like this are a dying breed. Why? To me it seems there are more hobbyists than ever. It's finally "cool" to play DnD, Covid gave hobbies a big boost and people yearn to do something away from screens.

There have been some articles lamenting that the space isn’t available as easily anymore.

But I think it’s a combination of “toy trains” being pushed out of the “hobby” so fewer new kids are introduced to it (the Lego Train clubs get some heat and hate and generally are disregarded by the “real model trains” for example) and that the “train obsession” has other ways to discharge these days.

Many people who would have built elaborate basement models instead spend their time perfecting Factorio or Minecraft worlds (any sufficiently advanced sandbox game becomes a train simulator).

Re: Melbourne man discovers extensive model train network underneath house

#113

Post by lupusreal »

gadders wrote: post #94

Maybe he had to keep it a secret? "A businessman who secretly built the UK’s biggest model railway feared his girlfriend would dump him if she learnt about his ‘dull’ hobby." Train-mad Simon George, 53, spent £250,000 and a staggering eight years on his 200ft-long project. https://metro.co.uk/2021/12/07/man-spent-250000-secretly-bui...

> ‘I told her the truth and she was like “ok”. ‘But she has an art degree so she appreciated the level of detail and work that went into it. We’re now engaged'

Glad that worked out.

Re: Melbourne man discovers extensive model train network underneath house

#114

Post by Theodores »

This story deserves a follow up in a few years.

I would not be too hasty with modernisation of the controllers as it seems that most enthusiasts are happy with DC (analog) rather than DCC (digital). Too much determination to modernise could result in a broken train set since the project would be large. Restoration with no modernisation would still provide the fun, and be part of the owner's original vision.

What he was lucky with was the state of it. My own father was into model engineering, however, he never put his tools away and never completed a project, so it just took months to tidy up his hoarded junk, to find there was absolutely nothing of value at the bottom of it. If only my dad had completed his projects and left it in the condition shown here.

Re: Melbourne man discovers extensive model train network underneath house

#115

Post by averageRoyalty »

cjbillington wrote: post #78
danielheath wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Melbourne real-estate market is _mad_. Prices (relative to wages) are exceptionally high and continue to rise, spending half your take-home income on housing isn't super uncommon. Widespread sentiment that if you don't buy something ASAP, you'll never be able to - meaning lots of buyers skimping on due diligence to close a sale.

Melbourne property prices actually haven't recovered from their 2022 peak, and that's before adjusting for inflation. I believe rents are down in real terms as well. Things have been crazy for a long time, but I am actually optimistic for Melbourne specifically - the construction rate is up and the state government has been decreasing the power local governments have to block or delay development. If this continues,…

Population growth rate in Victoria has been 1.9% YOY average for 20 years, with no sign of slowing down. Even if they hit their targets, demand will exceed supply.

The Victorian government has also failed significantly on public housing. The wait time is about 20 months (10 months is VicGov's target, it was 14 months 3 years ago) and they're currently looking to demolish many existing options without many short term optionsnfor residents.

It seems very unlikely to me that Victoria's house prices will drop in any sigificant way this decade.

Re: Melbourne man discovers extensive model train network underneath house

#116

Post by averageRoyalty »

bombcar wrote: post #107
mcdeltat wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really a shame too. If the realtor found that prime basement living space beforehand they could've tripled the sale price!! (A joke but also not really because housing prices here in Australia are absolutely insane)

What is insane? I’ve been staring at valuations so long that $1,000 a square foot in SoCal doesn’t seem “that unreasonable”.

Heads up, the rest of the world don't know what a "square foot" or a "SoCal" is.

Re: Melbourne man discovers extensive model train network underneath house

#117

Post by em-bee »

somewhereoutth wrote: post #95
em-bee wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

or maybe they are so overwhelmed that they are procrastinating. the problem here is expectations. you have the expectation that one should not chill or focus on a hobby when they should be looking for a job, or spend time with their children, or whatever else they could be doing when they don't chill or work on their hobby. i know that feeling. i have been there. more than a year out of work, i could not focus on any…

My point is that many people do not have the time and opportunity.

the problem is that people who slack off or do their hobbies when they should be doing something more important are worse off than those who are just busy. saying they are catching a break is like saying that an alcoholic is catching a break because they got the money to buy alcohol. or (from my perspective) if you have time for tv, youtube and tiktok you must be catching a break, because i don't.

the problem is the generalization. sure, when you catch a break then you can afford to slack off or do your hobbies. but the reverse conclusion is not true. not everyone who is slacking off is catching a break.

it's this judgement of people that when they do that it must be because they are well off that bothers me.

i faced this multiple times. when i grew up we lived on welfare but we could afford things that other people could not because we were thrifty and we saved money on other things we didn't need but were common otherwise, like a car and a TV. but because we were able to afford certain things people thought we were better off. i had time for my hobbies because i didn't spend time watching tv.

they were measuring my life through their perspective.

the same goes for hobbies and hence, your statement.

Re: Melbourne man discovers extensive model train network underneath house

#118

Post by nandomrumber »

notachatbot123 wrote: post #88
nandomrumber wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tangentially related, re hoarders and death traps, have you come across the story of the Collyer brothers? Homer Lusk Collyer (November 6, 1881 – March 21, 1947) and Langley Wakeman Collyer (October 3, 1885 – c. March 9, 1947), known as the Collyer brothers,[1] were two American brothers who became infamous for their bizarre natures and compulsive hoarding. The two lived in seclusion in their Harlem brownstone at 207…

Where are you quoting this from? Please provide the source.

Oh yeah, Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collyer_brothers

Re: Melbourne man discovers extensive model train network underneath house

#119

Post by nkrisc »

tenuousemphasis wrote: post #50
alnwlsn wrote: post #41

Reminds me of an estate sale I went to one time. Unassuming place, one of those tiny postwar homes about the same size as the one in this article - but with at least double or triple the density of this train layout in the basement. The owner must have been a very thin person, as the narrow winding paths around the basement in places measured no more than 8 inches, and the widest parts were only about 2 foot wide. In…

Sounds like he was neuro divergent and his wife made him keep his obsession in the basement.

...where else are you going to put something like that in a home?

Re: Melbourne man discovers extensive model train network underneath house

#120

Post by perlgeek »

_Algernon_ wrote: post #83
perlgeek wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there anything particularly "neuro divergent" about having a hobby? No, but how obsessive the pursuit of that hobby is, that's the question. There are some model train enthusiasts that, over their life time, spend several millions of EUR on their hobby, so they basically work to finance their hobby.

There are plenty of people that travel a lot. Some would say they work to be able to travel. Would you consider those people obsessive in the pursuit of traveling? The reason why I'm asking is that my impression seems to be that there is a lot more acceptance for obsession when the obsession is considered extroverted and conforming to society's expectation.

> Would you consider those people obsessive in the pursuit of traveling?

Could be, depending on how much they give up for traveling.

> The reason why I'm asking is that my impression seems to be that there is a lot more acceptance for obsession when the obsession is considered extroverted and conforming to society's expectation.

Maybe it's also related to the accumulation of things related to the hobby.

If you see somebody's collection of model trains and their tracks, it's pretty visceral that they must have spent lots of time and money on this. Same for basically any other hobby that involves collecting this (that aren't tiny, like postage stamps).

If, on the other hand, you hear that somebody has traveled a lot, that doesn't hit home to the same degree..

Maybe another factor is that we tend to associate at least some forms of neurodivergence (autism and AD(H)D at least) with hyperfocus on a few topics, whereas travel exposes one basically automatically to many new experiences. Haven't really thought that through yet...

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