If there is a sage piece of advice to offer someone who is
interested in joining the motor car hobby it’s this: Take
Your Time! Too many of us have made avoidable
mistakes, spent too much money, bought the wrong equipment,
frustrated ourselves, and made life difficult. Others have
made a smooth transition, found the right equipment, saved a lot of
money and made life easy…. By taking the time to look around
and learn about the hobby.
After all, this is not like sitting in the shade watching the
trains pass through. This is a proactive hobby that requires a
lot of commitment, a lot of dedication, and a lot of work.
You’re going to get wet, and you’re going to get cold.
You’re going to sweat in the summer heat, you’ll have to lift and
pull, you might have to drive hundreds of miles to get to the set on
point. You’ll have mechanical breakdowns, and hopefully you’ll
have the needed spare part; many parts are not that easy to find.
But you’ll see things that other folks will never see: less than
200 folks have ever traveled the Copper Canyon by motorcar.
You’ll pass through valleys, climb long grades, cross wooden
trestles, glide along rivers and rushing streams, pass through
forests for hour after hour. And all with a view that in many
cases is better than the locomotive engineer has.
And then there's the people in the hobby. Some of the
greatest people you’ll ever meet are a part of the motorcar
community. Every walk life, every economic level is
represented. There are doctors, lawyers, business people,
mechanics, police officers, custodians and a healthy assortment of
railroad people who simply like to ride railroads other than their
own.
And you’ll never be without help. You’ll find folks to
mentor you, to help you select the right equipment, to take you on
rides before you’re ready to go on your own. Folks will exchange
ideas with you and give you the best advice. And when that
breakdown does occur, you’ll find help in getting you car back
underway. And quite possibly that part you need will be on
someone’s motorcar, somewhere in the excursion.
Next:
Let's get
started
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