FS: model trains...

Edit: Yay rewrite! so much for auto save functions...

Selling model trains on eBay. Basically trying to make some extra money outside work. Successful? I'm selling them, sometimes for prices to low, but they are getting out there and my customers seem to like what they get.

For my first 9-5 type, fill out a W2 style job, a hobby store! Here, learning the art of dealing with the public and upper-level management.
I made no commission, thankfully, as I had a regular salary instead. I spent a lot, saved very little. I lasted 6-months giving notice long after I no longer had fun working there. Temporarily killing my love of model railroading, but it had definitely peaked by then. No longer were trains something fun, but a product on a shelf to move and replace with others.
Fast forward some years: numerous college credits down... I found another avenue to sell trains, eBay. I work out of home, making my own hours and selling stuff off at my own pace. How do I like it? Well, it's work! Writing somewhat detailed listings for trains is dull, monotonous and time-consuming, not to mention time spent putting in boxes and running to post office, but I do make some monies at it. And clear out stuff I needn't keep around, yay!

While packing and shipping these trains, it brought back memories of what the hobby meant to me:
From 1998 to 2003, oh such fun, working with my hands, doing research, learning new skills, yes at the expense of school, but I didn't care. Paint and glue fumes probably weren't good for my brain-cells at the time, but again, I cared not, this stuff is fun! Breaking the stereotype of being an antisocial shut-in, I found a train club, where a finished layout that functioned pretty well allowed me to room and space to actually run my trains.

How do I regard it now? To me, all trains, even the nicest scale models are toys, as in toys for adults. The stuff that only lays behind glass? Maybe not so much, but they serve no function other than being eye-candy.
That said, I've always thought highly of the hobby, few allow you to engage in so many skills and crafts in pursuit of the creation of works of art. Wood and metal working, using an airbrush, historical research, electrical work and others all can be practiced through model railroading. Importantly, I feel that my own abilities with working on bikes, cars and small appliances had been boosted by having played with model trains in my younger days.

So I definitely thought highly of that hobby. I even still like looking at pictures of well done railroad models, but for personal reasons, namely other interests, I just choose not too.