Meet our "other halves"...

[Jim Duda]

...our train partners, our sidekicks, our wives, our bosses, our companions, our fiances, our brides...whatever/whoever we call 'em, a lot of us have them to thank for allowing us to enjoy our hobbies. Thought we might introduce them to the other forum members.

I married Karen in 1970, she helped me put the 3 kids through College (the two boys graduated from U.T. Austin (Longhorns) and the daughter graduated from Texas A&M (Aggies)), so we have fun every Thanksgiving watching the football game...(wink) Anyway, without her I wouldn't have most of my toys and she enjoys them just as much as I do. Say hello to my ornery bride!

JD

[MartyE]

Interesting Topic...

Linda my other half tolerates my hobby. Can't really say she gets into it. She does her part to keep my train funds limited.[:D] Josh (13) is semi interested, Jessie (9) no interest and Victoria (7) is my only kid that owns her own train...she's daddy shadow when the trains are up.

[3railguy]

You're a very lucky fellow, Jim, to have married such a charming lady.

[Anonymous]

My wife Wilma is into trains as much as I am. So much so that David Vergun did a story on her one time on the OGR forum before I was snubbed and ignored by everyone EXCEPT DAVID!

[Dr. John]

Good idea, Jim!

My wife, Sheryl, and I have been married for 20 years. She is a registered nurse, although not currently working in the nursing field. We have three great kids: Dana, 18; Ryan, 16; and Amy, who is 12.

Sheryl tolerates my hobby interests although she does not share them. The one exception is the annual Christmas layout with Dept. 56 buildings. She likes the simple loop of O-27 track with the trolley running around the village.

[daan]

I share my life with Kendra, who is my former neighbour.. She lets me play toytrains, but is not interested herself. Michelle, my daughter, is 14 and hasn't any interest at all. Only clothes, boys and Idols.[:D]
We all have our own hobbies, Kendra has her horsies and carriages, michelle has her music and the computer and I have the train (and a bit computer too).

[spankybird]

Hi all,

I am still a newly wed at only 4 years this June. My wife is very supportive of my trains and loves the circus layout. She also have a handicap 22 year old daughter who lives with us.


tom

[dougdagrump]

My wife, Sherry, and I will have been married for 39 years come Oct. As of Jan of this year we are both (semi)retired and loving it. She enjoys the trains although she would prefer a garden layout more than mt "O" gauge stuff, but she did surprise me with a prewar set a couple of months ago. [:D]

[ChiefEagles]

My wife is Pam. She is the flower and shrub gardener and I'm the veggie gardner. She is real good at home decorating and yard landscaping. She has supported me in my fishing and now is supporting me in my trains. She says she is going to do background art work and some scenery for the layout. She does NOT fish with me. So, the trains may be a joint thing. She is now interested in a graden layout. We've been married for 18 years. I have two [Cathy 33, Frankie 28] and she has one [Alison 27]. We all "grewup" together as my kids lived with me and Alison was small when Pam and I married] which almost made the "Brady Bunch". Cathy left for college shortly after we moved her in Rolesville. That freed up one bedroom downstairs [moved Alison upstairs] to make den and computer room. Wife insisted on havng a guest bedroom upstairs. Frankie left and that room became the storage room. Now Alison is gone and her room is till full of wedding presents. That is the room that has the floor track running around the presents. Frankie's old room is being cleaned out and most moved to attic or gotten rid of]. That is becoming the TRAIN room. ::

Pam and Alison


Frankie and Cathy

[FJ and G]

Halves?

My ex better halves could be divided into Quarters; but none worth a plug Nickel.

dav

[ChiefEagles]

Dave, all your exes in Texas so that is why you are in VA? [:D]

[cnw1995]

Here are my two partners in model railroading - though my boy is more into it lately.

Here is their newest brother - now almost two years old - who is hugely into the trains - loves to watch them run. Tries to grab them, etc.

Let's see if this photo works of Kelly, my better half - she 'tolerates' my trains.

[Anonymous]

Great topic, Jim. My wife Susie and I are coming up on 33 years together. In this world she's my no. 1 blessing. We have three children ranging in age from 24 to 13. Everybody enjoys the trains. Susie often buys me a car for the layout, and even the girls over the years have enjoyed showing the trains to friends.

We just have so many other interests, that the trains are pretty much an occasional diversion. We have to work them in between church, sports, music, and yardwork. But they're fun when we're able to run them.

[Anonymous]

Cheif,

Thats why I hang my hat in Tennesse....

[Big_Boy_4005]

After 14 years of marriage and 2 children, as most of you know by now, I have had to start over.

I got very lucky last year when I found Tammy, she's wonderful. When we compared stories about our pervious marriages and ex's it was almost scary! We have an ideal relationship, and we both know it. In over a year, there has NEVER been a fight, about anything.

One of the coolest things about her is, that she enjoys being around me so much, that she has taken a liking to trains. She has become so interested, that she even posts here on the forum sometimes. Before meeting me she had no real exposure to or interest in them.

I have ridden trains many times over the years, but on July 2nd, I'm taking her on her first train ride. Steam no less!!! She is very excited to say the least. I'll post some of the pictures of that trip here.

I said this before in another post, and when I showed it to her she smiled. I said, "She's fun in the kitchen, she's fun in the train room, and she's fun in the bedroom. What more could a guy want?"[swg]

[Anonymous]

[:O]

[Big_Boy_4005]

Well Joe, we do enjoy other activities beyond cooking, eating, trains, and "you know what", but those are our favorites these days. [swg]

[Anonymous]

Big Boy,

The Z scale boys are looking for you.[:D]

[Big_Boy_4005]

I found that Joe. I think some of them wanted my head on a platter. Being the diplomat that I am, I think I explained myself back into their good graces. Time will tell. I found it amazing how many of them came out of the woodwork after my provocation. I'm good at that too.

For those of you interested enough in Joe's inside joke to me, this will explain it all.[swg]

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=2&TOPIC_ID=16291

[Anonymous]

Big Boy,

Actually, I think you did the Z scale community a big favor by initially calling it a novelty scale. I doubt they've had this much action on the MR forum in the past. You're right, they sure did come out of the woodwork in droves. I do think they appreciated your responses and found you to be a good guy afterall.[:D]

[Big_Boy_4005]

I think what we need to do is offer them up a corner of the MR forum, so that they can maintain a higher profile. They have their own "little" world in cyberspace, but it is not well known ouside their group. That was probably how they managed to rally so many voices, when word got back there about my comments.

The truth is that they are a minority in this hobby just like we are. Every scale is, when compared to the numbers in HO. I would like to think, that our numbers are growing faster than their's, but we are mainly a North Amarican market, and they are more of a world market, so the potential advantage may be their's.Not that we are trying to win a popularity contest or anything.

Beside, we may lose Joe.[swg]

[spankybird]

If I were to model it, I would need a 10 power glass, just to see it.


tom

[Big_Boy_4005]

I hear you Tom. Watching them run is no big deal, for that I can see just fine. But working on them is a whole different story!! I'm sure those guys have plenty of magnifying tools at their disposal.

Jim, sorry about going way off topic here on this really good one, and I hope more of the guys will find it and post about their "significant others". At least having this little side discussion about Z will keep the topic on the front page.[swg]

[GregM]

Karen, my wife and best friend for the past 32 years also likes trains. She asked for one at Christmas when she was 15 she thinks. She didn't get it then, but now is a different story. She has two LGB trains and we add to them every now and then. She doesn't claim any of the Lionel's as hers but when I'm gone she intends to keep several for herself. Karen particularly likes the Lionmaster Challenger and the other steam engines we have. However, she was not happy when I decided to run the Scale Hudson we bought several years ago. We went to York last month for the first time. Somewhat surprisingly, to me anyway, she wants to take the Weaver factory tour this fall. Hey, I said she likes trains.

Here's to many more years with my train buddy.

[Anonymous]

My wife, Mary, really isn't into trains. She generally has a problem with me spending money, it seems. I've been guilty of picking up things, going whole hog, then getting tired of it & dropping it in the past. I've sworn off buying anything train related until we get the addition built.

In the interim, I'm concentrating on my other new hobby, woodworking (& writing that dispatching program). The good thing is that by the time I'm ready to build the "permanent layout," I'll have the skills to do the benchwork, and then some. Laying track & making scenery are another thing.

Mary's told me that so long as I use the tools, she doesn't mind spending the money. So my next project is a rolling tool cabinet with fold out wings, two slide out trays, and a removable tool chest on top. I got the plans from woodsmith.com.

Next, I'm going to build a router cabinet, then I'm going to build a series of cabinets for my shed with a miter station on top Eventually, I'm going to open a doorway between my garage & the shed & build a workbench & cabinets along the back wall of the garage.

Tony

[FJ and G]

Have Lionel set, hound dog, used pickup truck. Will share "the goods" with wild, fun-loving better half.

Send email and photo.

Dave Vergun