Don Cassler’s Satisfaction in Creating Model Railroads
Don Cassler
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There are many areas in which a modeler can find satisfaction in their model railroad. Enjoyment can lie anywhere from the art, to the end result, the operation, or the construction. As Don Cassler describes to Allen Keller in this interview, for him the satisfaction lies more in building the model railroad and less with looking at the finished work.
In this video, Cassler reminisces on creating his layout over the past twenty years, and the changes that were made to it. If aspects of the layout were not to his or the other modelers’ liking, he and his team would tear it up and start again. Cassler encourages others to not be afraid to rebuild parts of their layout as they learn and grow as a modeler.
Cassler finds his owner’s satisfaction in the art and creating a product that he is proud of. It is satisfying to see a vision come to life after a lot of hard work. Cassler also receives joy in the knowledge that others enjoyed themselves when they came to see his layout.
What's your favorite aspect of the hobby? I think it's the artwork because it's the most satisfying. What about the least favorite? Turning off the lights and sweeping up the floor . When we talked earlier about you might have some things that you do differently, but basically you wouldn't change much.
No, I don't think I would. Why do you feel that way? I mean, if you, after 20 years of... you obviously came up with something that 20 years ago, you know you'd like 20 years later. Well, I made a couple of changes on the 20 years that have gone by when we did it wrong we stopped and tore it out and did it the way we wanted it to.
Is that what you advise other people to do? Sure. It's difficult to come up with something that you know is going to satisfy you 20, 30 years down the road. There's no question about it. For a layout this large, when you start out you have no idea what kind of problems you're going to get into with your original ideas.
Don't be afraid to tear it out and use a better idea that you've based on the operation that you have done so far. Because after all, once the railroad's built it's not nearly as much fun as it is while you're building. Is there one thing you want people to remember about your layout? I want them to remember that they had a good time when they came down here to see it.
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