In his classic 1951 piece, If I Had A Million, Linn Westcott outlines how the money could be applied to the hobby. Would you do the same?
Those who have been around awhile likely remember Model Railroad editor Linn Westcott’s famous article “If I Had a Million”. The article posed the hypothetical possibility of becoming suddenly wealthy and how to apply that change of circumstances to the hobby. He immediately made the leap that the funds would be applied to a massive layout. Every few years, the same thought experiment pops up on one of the general discussion forums and evokes the same feeding frenzy leap to buying a pole barn and filling it with a railroad. In each case, a direct connection is made between square footage and hobby satisfaction. Is that the case though? For some people, maybe. The missing piece in all of this is having a true understanding of yourself and what aspects of model railroading you get the most enjoyment from. For most of us, that may take decades to sort out. If you don’t jump into the game and start building things, you’re running totally blind.
It does make for an interesting exercise in introspection both in terms of the hobby implications as well as life in general. The answers are likely all over the map and driven by individual circumstances. Here’s the thing though, just as with athletics, music, or the arts, no amount of money will make you a better modeler. Having a ton of money won’t make you a better tennis player or golfer and it won’t make you better at scratch building that saw mill scene.
I suspect what a person would do with the windfall would depend on how much they equate layout size with hobby enjoyment. When you really dig deep into it though, things become more interesting. What if you’ve spent twenty years building your current layout and don’t want to part with it? What if your satisfaction comes from structure and freight car building? In those situations, I don’t see how money will move the needle for you. If your enjoyment comes from having a representation of a long stretch of transportation system, it would.
I’m curious how my readers would hypothetically handle a windfall like this, not only on the modeling front but with life in general. My career experience has given me a fascinating, forty-five-year, fly-on-the-wall witness account of how personal wealth plays out in life, if not modeling. I spent twenty years in financial services working primarily with first-generation wealth holders, mostly small business owners and professionals. My custom building clientele is similar. What I’ve learned is that real-world wealth is nothing at all like what you see in the media. My clients typically “got rich slowly” and, for the most part, live pretty under-the-radar lifestyles. Many stayed in their old neighborhoods and drove Camry’s, Buicks, and pickup trucks. They are a generally happy and content group of nice, high-integrity, classy folks. What’s interesting is that none of them pursued wealth, they pursued a passion and the money slowly built up, almost unnoticed. By the time it dawned on them that they were in fact, “wealthy”, they were pretty set in their ways and not that motivated to make huge changes. (For a fascinating, and very accurate read, check out Thomas Stanley’s The Millionaire Next Door)
My guess is that on the modeling side, the answers would depend on how much modeling experience you have. The fans of the hobby, those with little or no experience, would probably want to go large. The more experienced modelers would probably be less likely to simply because they know the tradeoffs and have more self-awareness. Experienced modelers are more likely to be mid-stream into a layout you’d need the jaws of life to pry them away from.
What about life changes? Would you retire? Buy a new house locally? Move? Stay in your house and build an addition? Make no changes? My guess is that those folks who are employees would probably retire. Business owners and private practice professionals, as a group, prefer to keep working until they are planted six feet under.
I’m unlikely to hit the lottery, primarily because I don’t play it. If I did hit the jackpot, let’s say 5 mill, I suspect I probably wouldn’t alter my life that much. I find my custom layout building, design, and writing business satisfying (most days). I think I’d go nuts if I retired. It’s taken me decades to get my 1952 house close to the way I want it. I like my neighbors and living in DC so I’d be unmotivated to move. The thought of tearing down my layouts makes me cringe. My interests lie more with industrial railroading which doesn’t take much space to model. I’m keenly aware that massive layouts are not a free lunch and what they entail.
What to do with all of that money? Hmmm. All I can think of would be buying three or four top-of-the-line locomotives and sending those out for boutique electronic upgrades. I could use a full-scale LED light upgrade in my basement. Now I’m running out of ideas. As a scratch builder, I spend less than a hundred bucks a month on the hobby. I guess that’s it on the modeling front. On the travel side I’d make more frequent trips to LA and Miami for rail fanning. I might make some minor home renovations. That’s about it. In short, it would be nice to have the money from a security standpoint but I wouldn’t change that much in terms of my modeling habits or lifestyle.
What about you? What would you do on the modeling and “life” front if five mill. plopped in your lap?
I have a very simple answer, Lance. I would hire you to design, build and install a complete and functioning model railroad, because at my age now (72) I want to sit and watch my trains move. I don’t feel like lugging 2 by 4’s and plywood up and down basement stairs. I don’t want to be crawling under the layout hooking up wiring. My modeling work would be making my freight cars look as realistic as possible. My layout would allow for continuous running along with operational possibilities.
The Warren Buffett way!
What you have taught me, Lance, is that my newfound wealth would better be used for other items – financially assisting my kids and grandkids would be at the top of the list. Your approach has helped me to realize that quality takes precedence over quantity. Thank you for that.
Great question, fairly similar thoughts, pay a professional to install my ditch lights that’s for sure! Invest in some high end rolling stock maybe outsource some weathering, I enjoy all that stuff though.
The main thing would be to move and buy a house with a bit more space our young family has quickly out grown it and would be great to have a dedicated layout/hobby room, keep my existing layout and just expand it, I definitely don’t need an empire to be able to enjoy the hobby any more than I already do.
Buy a bigger house with much more room for my layout along with a garage for working on old cars and trucks. Also buy some custom weathered model trains and other neat stuff.
In my younger days, I dreamt of a massive layout. But time (working on my career and raising a family) and money were obstacles. I settled on building smaller layouts and honing my skills. Fast forward to the present. I’ve retired and doing well (health and financially). I’ve managed to complete a bedroom sized layout.
So, now that I have the time and more funds, I am going to downsize. A shelf layout along one wall could fit into a smaller house or apartment. I no longer have the desire to Go Big! As we baby boomers age, we need to face the reality that building a huge layout may not give us the satisfaction we once dreamed of.
This was an awesome essay to read. I think if I got rich overnight, I probably wouldn’t change much. Like you mentioned in the essay, I am in the middle of building a layout that is very near and dear to me. It did, in fact, take the jaws of life to pry me away from it—I have moved abroad for work for a few years—but I continue to work on it remotely, scratchbuilding various items that I can install upon return. If did have a ton of dough, I would probably commission a builder to make some custom n-scale CNJ steam power: a couple of camelback switchers and 4-6-0s, and then backdate the railroad. I would also invest in a laser cutter.
This was a fun and thoughtful essay. Please keep up your great work.
I like your comments.
You were perhaps too gentle is reviewing Linn’s article. Westcott’s article taps into all the worst impulses of this otherwise great hobby and its hobbyists. In one fell swoop it over-emphasizes money and the worst dimensions of competitiveness. Moreover, I suspect the folks most intrigued by that article when it was written are the folks least likely to ever build a layout. Articles such as the one you described have the unfortunate result of relegating too many of us to a perpetual armchair modeling existence.
Fast forward to 2024, how much of that article’s influence today lingers in Model Railroader and the Layout Design SIG? I would venture that perhaps Westcott threw a long shadow that still hangs over our hobby.
My apologies for the tough talk – I have been both hobbyist and active NMRA member for more decades than I care to think about – my opinion on this subject is shaped by many interactions with my fellow modelers as the layout tour coordinator for the MER/Potomac Division.
And you can print what I wrote above – let folks holler – they only will holler because they know I speak the truth.
OK. One more comment. If I had a million dollars I would buy first class airline tickets each year to visit the annual On Traxs train show in the Netherlands. In 2025 they will be holding their 15th annual edition. This is a three day meet where some of the most creative exhibition layouts are on display. I would also make another visit to England’s Pendon model railroad museum.
I am not sure a million would be enough, but I’d like to develop a better DCC-based operating system for model railroading. Something that simplifies and clarifies programing and operation for the user. It would probably be some sort of command station and throttle combination with clearly defined inputs and easy to navigate menus.
More space doesn’t have to be filled with a more complicated layout. Use it to spread the design elements out with more running room, or keep the layout simple with better quality locomotives and cars, plus I could pay Lance to do the wiring. 🙂 The layout might have to share space with a bass boat.
I suppose having more money would mean one could farm out more of the work to others. For example, one might want a specific locomotive and the only way to get it is to scratch-build it. That can take over one’s hobby time. But that doesn’t need millions of dollars. And there’s very little I would farm out because one of the things I like about this hobby is I *get* to build things.
So what would one do with serious piles of dough? If the big layout is the answer, than one would probably end up being less of a railway modeller and more of a project manager. That sounds too much like work.
A better answer might be to continue building the layout already underway, and put the new money into holidays with family and friends… railfanning adventures and layout-related research trips… attending more RPM meets, NMRA conventions, operations weekends.. and so on.
Better yet: – tour some railroad museums with an eye to investing in one or two of your favourites. Every railroad museum needs financial contributions. Imagine what such an operation could do if you could build them the workshop they need, or restore the station, or have their fleet of passenger cars rebuilt, or…? Some have had great success with this: The WW&F is a stellar example. But there are plenty of others that are okay or struggling, and could use such a financial lift to become stellar.
The best part is, those types of activities build friendships – something not guaranteed with a big layout hidden away in an outbuilding.
I’d pursue what I’ve learned over the years, watching the Brits and their development of cameo layouts, reading your thoughts on what is “just enough,” taking Paul Scoles’ comment to me that his basement layout was too much of a headache and doing it again he’d go small. I have done well in life, but the fact is that my house, which I love, isn’t going to have space for much more than a 7′ shelf layout, a narrow gauge switching layout in compressed space most likely. I’m not moved to add space to the house, either, nor negotiate with my wife to get more space. Filling a basement with layout feels like a headache for me and those who have to deal with it when I pass. That tired model railroading trope keeps so many of us inactive in actually building. So what to do with money if I had it? A focus on doing it right in small space: pull out the stops on realism and operation; focus on a prototype or an idea that is spot on plausible. Use my time to develop the feeling of space in a tiny area like the best of the Brits do. Get a couple engines looking fantastic and operating well with a handful of focused equipment. And then operate, not run, it, either by myself or with a couple friends. Seriously, who needs more? And oh, wait, I already have the funds to do this since it doesn’t require a fortune. And here’s the best part: build one, operate for as long as it’s fun, then start again. With the other $995,500 I’d make sure to travel, have money for health issues and set up education funds for grandkids.
Lance,
Like others have said, I’d probably hire you to build me a layout. I’ve realized that model trains are a vehicle for me to enjoy trains, history, and a sense of place. Model building in and of itself is very much secondary for me. Scenery is the only thing I truly enjoy for its own sake. I could never build another structure again and be supremely happy. haha.
Now, what would I want? Big layout, big scenery for sure. But not a “mega empire.” Something in a well-appointed room that was part layout, part library, part entertainment space. Something that captured a sense of place in my home state of Oklahoma. Probably proto-freelanced to incorporate some key elements. As a 30-something year old living in the South, modeling friends are mostly found online. I’ve rarely found people are model railroad clubs who share my passion for prototype modeling. Other than a brief session with Tom Klimoski last year, its been almost a decade since I have operated on someone else’s layout. Tom also has the distinction of the only person who has operated one of mine! So not a layout that required a full host of operators. A winding mainline through scenery that could just let trains run, with a branch line or switching district for solo ops sessions.
So if I had that windfall? My priority would be finishing my Army career without worrying about making it to retirement, and taking my kids on vacations to Europe. I would just want a relaxing space to run trains and enjoy a bourbon while my wife is cozy nearby with a book. The good news? This is all achievable on a much smaller scale. After grad school when we return to North Carolina, my wife and I have already planned to move my trains to the den off the living room while she takes the upstairs room for her office. I’ll be closer to the family in a well-lit area where a small 10 ft. 3-turnout switching layout and a 4×6 no-turnout “roundy-roundy” diorama will fit nicely. It’ll be great to display my railroadiana collection in a well-appointed space. Maybe the lottery isn’t necessary after all?
I’m sure I wouldn’t spend all sudden funds on model rail roading. But I certainly would spend a lot more time working on model railroading and other hobbies than working, even though I am self-employed. I’ve worked in my profession for over 30 years. That’s enough for me, I can let some of the younger folks take my place if I didn’t have to still earn a living. I don’t have an extensive layout in my home. But I doubt I would move to have a more ideal basement. I would probably just find a nice unused industrial building to purchase or maybe just a home that has a huge ranch style floor plan. And use that building to build “the dream” model railroad. I just enjoy running trains rather that operations. So the longer the main line and the more rolling stock, the better. And if money isn’t an object, I’ll hire good builders to do the work I’m not interested in.
I reluctantly agree with Nicholas Kalis. Linn Westcott’s fantasy about a million dollars did cast a long shadow over this hobby. For years, I believed that I had to fill a basement or an attic with trains and if I couldn’t do that, I might as well go read a book. The late Carl Arendt and his micro layouts went a long way to counteracting this belief in the hobby (and in me).
And yet I must defend Westcott. I worked in publishing, and I’m sure that the staff of MR in 1951, as with any magazine in any year, had space to fill and a list of ideas to fill it. They chose the million dollars and Westcott ran with it. The long-term results were unfortunate – Kalis is exactly right – but you have to admit it’s an entertaining story. Yes, they spent all the hypothetical money on trains, but it’s a train magazine. They weren’t in the business of giving financial advice.
Westcott made so many contributions to this hobby. His book on L-girder benchwork taught me more than any shop class I was ever in, and I used his techniques not only on benchwork but to fix things in every house we’ve owned. And look, here it is 73 years later and we’re still discussing something he wrote. If I knew that people would read and discuss something I wrote 73 years later, I’d die a happy man.
Thanks, Lance, for this discussion and for everyone who participated.