‘We should educate the young, who don’t know what the railroad is all about.’

Bob Bickley wants to share his hobby with the rest of the world. The 49-year-old former symphony orchestra manager has taken his love for that under-the- -Christmas-tree tradition--model trains--and translated it into a business and an educational tool. Bickley has owned Reed’s Hobby Shop in La Mesa for the last seven years, but spent the previous 20 years in the music world. After receiving a degree in musical education, Bickley taught music at a junior high school for 10 years, then worked with the Jackson (Miss.) Symphony for six years. He went on to manage the Jacksonville (Fla.) Symphony for two years and eventually wound up as the symphony manager in Honolulu for four years. The non-stop work involved in selling tickets, advertising events and raising funds for the orchestra took its toll, and Bickley decided to leave the symphony world in 1981. He and his wife, Susan, settled in El Cajon, and he bought the hobby shop later that year. He believes education about trains and railroad lore is important, especially for the children who would not otherwise be exposed to it because of changes in transportation. To this end, he offers free classes at his shop to those interested in learning more about model railroading, teaching such things as layout planning, track laying and scenery making. He was interviewed in his shop by Times staff writer Kathie Bozanich and was photographed by Times staff photographer Dave Gatley.

My dad was always Mr. Christmas. We kids would come downstairs Christmas morning and the trains would always be running. He would spend all of Christmas Eve setting them all up and have such a great time doing it.

As a kid, I was always going to hobby shops; there just seemed to be dozens to go to. They slowly began to disappear over the years, but I really do believe there’s a resurgence.

I believe one of the things all of us in model railroading have to do is education, to let people know what it’s all about. We should educate the young, who don’t know what the railroad is all about. They haven’t experienced it in this day and age. A lot of nostalgia goes into it.

I think it (model railroading) is a very positive thing, and people are looking for something to do that is positive. I think staring at the TV all day long is a terrible bummer; it’s no escape.

I like this hobby for a lot of reasons, but one is because there are tangible results--I can look and tinker with what I’ve accomplished. Also, it’s a hobby that you can come back to time and time again. You might get caught up in other things, but you can pick it right up again when the mood strikes.

I believe to make a business work, you just have to go for it. You have to work hard at it, say a lot of prayers and have a lot of luck, but somehow it seems like it just works out.

One thing I want to do as a businessman is to provide service in a friendly atmosphere. If someone’s writing a check, I don’t give him the third degree, as if he’s applying for security clearance. That’s insulting.

I told my wife a long time ago that someday I wanted to get away from the (symphony) board, the ticket sales, the fund raising, and own a hobby shop in a little burg somewhere.

My first three years away from the symphony world I missed it a lot and almost decided to go back to it. But I think the symphony orchestra field needs to do a lot of soul-searching as to where it is going. They’ve got to ask themselves if they are attracting the young people, if they have made any plans to make their futures more stable.

I haven’t gone to a symphony concert in years, partly because they conflict with the store’s hours and partly because I just wanted a break from it. It was a demanding business, and when I left it, I was burned out and angry with it. I’ve found a lot of happiness away from that world.