Women model railroaders

[kathymillatt]

I am the third woman model railroader raising their head above the parapet here. I am single so it is definitely nothing to do with a man in my life although I had a layout when I was young which was my dad's old 3-rail Hornby Dublo.

I have a 12' sq loft layout of the New Haven that is at the track laying stage. I also have a second UK layout underneath (not very finished either). I am the only girl in my regional club but there is one other in the UK who models regularly in her own right at the moment and her layout can knock the socks off most others.

Someone suggested that women don't like the construction and techie bits, however, I love those bits. I like learning how to do electronic bits and solder and build things. My last project were scratch built terraced houses with even the windows scratchbuilt.

Women are rare in the hobby. However, I get very patronising comments all to regularly such as "You really know what you are talking about" (I mentioned the words: Capacitor Discharge Unit!)

Kathy

[Anonymous]

mac 4884

Forgot to mention that my wife does N scale! She got replacement motors from Micro Locomotion and used a Dremel with diamond bits to redesign the Big Boy frames' motor housing to fit the new motors. Man, do they run sweet! Hardest part was pressing the worm gears off the old motor shafts and onto the new ones. Need a really steady hand on the vise to press the gear onto the new shaft (slightly larger diameter) without bending it.

[SSW9389]

This past October about 15 of us from the Radcliff Model Railroad Association went to visit Ray and Renee Grosser's Nostaglia Trip HO layout in Eubank, KY. Soo Line and Great Northern modelers will know where I am going with this. Renee has scratchbuilt many of the structures on the layout. I didn't realize how much she was into structure building until she told the story of how she built in HO scale the house she grew up in several times before she got it right! If you've seen this layout at a show you know it is incredibly detailed. It is now in a permanent building and has been enlarged with a center penisula. There is a link to it through the Soo Line Historical Society's website.

[Anonymous]

I think I must be one of the lucky few.

I'm just getting going with my new layout. My fiance and I moved into our current house last May...unfinished basement, and wouldn't you know, she said I could have the whole thing. She's now helping me build the benchwork and is extremely supportive of my purchases, when I decided I wanted to switch to ME code 83 flextrack after already buying 150 feet of Atlas code 100 flex, she matter of factly stated that she thought it was a good idea (!!!!!) rather than change the rail down the road when it'll be a more daunting task.

When I first came out of the rail closet to my family (for the benefit of our minority here...I swing both ways and appreciate the two of you being open here) my mom was the most excited. This surprised me because my dad and I built a layout when I was six, I figured he'd be excited but he seemed indifferent at first. Mom got pumped and has since started investing in buildings for the layout as well as buying some toy trains for her own enjoyment. She's even trying to convince dad to help her put in a garden railway in their yard. They have lots of room and gorgeous grounds, would be pretty neat; in the meantime she's been studing different bushes they have to see which have branches that would make the best miniature trees.

Dad has since picked up interest and made many trips to Menards with his trailer for me to pick up large loads of building supplies. He's most interested in shaping mountains out of foam, he seems to think that using a blowtorch and burning the foam will be fun. I'm donating some foam for him to play with out in an empty parking lot, he's NOT burning my house down with his crazy firelust.

My sister (16) is also really into this. She's a comic fan like me and really enjoyed seeing the HO scale Batman, Superman, etc figures I found. Any time I call out to my folks' to let them know of a new engine I acquired, my sister drags my mom to the car to make the half-hour trip to my house to see the new stuff.

There are also a couple of wives who occassionally come out to the club layout to watch for a while, my fiance has spent a few hours out there and enjoys it; my mom is wanting to join the club herself and run trains with me, though her biggest interest is scenery.

Ironically, my two younger brothers (20 and 25) have the least interest.

Good times, I'm almost afraid...with nobody to hold me to some sort of account I'm afraid I'm going to have to be the one to put brakes on the spending around here, seems every spare dollar goes into the railroad and nobody thinks there is anything wrong with this.

[Anonymous]

CBQ_Guy,,,,
At least you were able to Treat her to a New House. What is WRONG with these gals today? IF it is Your Money, and YOU Paid for the House, Food Etc., WHY the Nagging?
Don't they understand, they are better off having you at home instead of chasing after
some "other woman" or in some bar, strip joint, wasiting your paycheck on that or
worse, ? AT Least you have all your hobby equipment and material, RR Mags Etc.
I made the mistake of marrying Wrong the first time. During the divorce my EX took all
my Mags and burned them in the Furnace and a lot of my collectable HO Trains, Models and even new unbuilt car and engine kits were sold off at Flea Markets and
even at a RR Train Show. When I attempted to get the Local Authorities involved, they
turned their backs., My Advice to these self centered whining women is to Ask if they
would want any Cheese with that Whine ? They should be Happy with what they have,
More importantly, Be Happy with the most inportant thing in the Marriage, YOU and
the relationship and LOVE they have along with a Stable Home Life. Tell them to do a
Reality Check....... Mike Balog in N. H. [ Formally from the People's Republic of VT.]

[jwr_1986]

I swear i posted here before but now I have vergood news. My mother just put in an application for our local club. She loves the scenery end of things but is willing to learn the rest. That brings club membership to 5 males and 2 females.

[Anonymous]

UP_santafe tell me how she does that ! It,s already a pain just to take off my 4-8-8-4's
wheelbases. I think more girls should be in model railroading.

[Anonymous]

Though my wife took her layout down[:(], she is still into model railroading. In fact, she has more locos and rolling stock than I do! (most of it better quality and more expensive too!)

She has rebuilt one of her Rivarossi Big Boy locos' motors and re-motored the other two Big Boys. She started to do some DCC, but since taking down the layout has put that on 'hold'.

She likes building the old Aurora plastic buildings and super detailing and lighting them. She is still deciding on a new track plan for a new layout.

[ClinchValleySD40]

My wife is very much involved in my model railroad. She loves putting together building kits (AMB is her favorite) and does great work. My son's wife also helps with building freight cars.
I know of some female model railroaders in my area. One (Sue) is great at operations and handles whatever job she gets as good as anyone.
It's great to see women involved. Scenery and such seems to be a favorite.

[davekelly]

Antonio,

I agree, I hope more and more women enter this hobby. My fiance (we're getting married in two days!) thinks it's great that I have a hobby that enjoy so much. Although the whole thing is foreign to her, she's trying.

Of course, like several people have pointed out - women seem to me to be much more enthusiastic about something once they get into it. So guys remember - the woman you may be courting to get into the hobby might someday be your biggest critic and nitpicker. Of course that would be fine with me! (I can't wait to hear her say "you know Dave - you really should go the DCC route" - man, that would be great!).

[AntonioFP45]

I have seen some female modelers in the hobby at train shows I've attended. The women are not always accompanying husbands or boyfriends, they're actually interested. I've noticed that quite a few are really into detailing scenery.

Hope the trend continues!

[Anonymous]

Interesting discussion. I have a few comments:
My mother builds most of the buildings for her boyfriends railroad. She could care less about trains, but she is one hell of a modeller. She has built several craftsman kits, and I have no trouble choosing a gift for them- he gets trains and she gets buildings!
My roommates niece frequently runs my sound equipped locomotives. She has no trouble figuring out Digitrax- unlike me! She is 6 [:D]
The gentleman who is looking for a date should watch out. I don't know if I could share my C&O basement with a NYC modeller![;)]

[Anonymous]

Well last time I responded to this forum, I soon realized that as a woman with a
French flair for high speed rail and a subtle sense of humour for the obvious...
that perhaps my response to Tranzrail should have been read after at least one
full glass of Merlot followed by an episode or two of the Marx Brothers.
Laughter is good for the soul.
Anyway, as a female 'railroadess' ...I (no jibes please) have begun my journey
into railroading by starting off with a standard oval track of ATLAS code 22/100
main track, a Bachmann UP GP-40, BN well-deck container cars and finally just
for something different...DRGW & CSXT 65' mill gondolas (Walthers) that I feel would look great in a modern multi themed 5'x9' layout.
Though I have read many negative comments about Bachmann, I feel that my
locomotive is both quietly efficient as well as being value for money at this time.
"For everything under heaven...there is a first time for all new beginnings..!"

[CNJ831]

If the original question posed is considered seriously and if one doesn't consider women who are simply acting in support of their husband's/boyfriend's/faimily relation's (mother, daughter, young niece) interest in model railroading but are truly independently interested in the hobby, the number of women in MRRing becomes dwindlingly small. Currently I'd guess their number at well below one-tenth of one percent of hobbyists - say a couple of thousand, at most (assuming a quarter million hobbyists, total). The driving forces behind the hobby seem to have virtually no appeal to women on a personal level. It's easy to cite many other hobby interests that are essentially male-only too. It's simply that way and not a sexist thing, just a difference in the way humans work.

CNJ831

[Anonymous]

My wife enjoys painting. If I give her a tankcar to weather or ask her to paint the bricks and mortar on a building, she's more than happy to do it. If I ask her to help me make trees or even (shudder) to operate, she isn't interested. Painting, yes; everything else involved in model railroading, no.

[jsanchez]

Being a train dealer, I have had the pleasure of selling to a few women model railroaders. I have noticed most came from railroading families and had a historical interest in railroading. I have also noticed that I sell a lot of model railroad figures (Preiser, Woodland Scenics, Merten) to women customers, they seem to be the number one way women try to contribute to their spouses or boyfriends hobby interest. The other women customers I have dealt with are mothers who have sons or daughters that are interested in trains, yes many kids still find trains interesting. I met an 8 year old the other day who could explain all about the different steam locomotives the Union Pacific had or Norfolk and Western used, he dislikes diesels which is unique for a modeler under 50 years of age.

[mtoda]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Neerie

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

QUOTE: Originally posted by Neerie

I'm one of those rare women model railroader [:)] I have not yet build my first layout, mostly because I'm still a student living at her parents, studies cost a lot, but the money I'll get from a good job will go into trains, it's a long term investment [swg]

I must admit that most people look at me funny when I mention model trains and scenery and how much it's something that's always interested me, but who cares, that's what I like. My mother doesn't really like the idea, my father loves it and my girlfriend thinks it's very very cool. She herself is into modeling, just into model houses, who knows, one day, she might be the one making the buildings for my layout [8D]

To each their thing, but when it comes to model trains or modeling in general, I think it's just a stereotype and this same stereotype is what drives many women away from the hobby.

I think that's wonderful that you want to get into this hobby. Just one word of advice, buy the trains because you like them, and don't consider them an investment in terms of dollar value. They are not that kind of investment. There is a lot of value in this hobby, but it comes from the time you spend learning facts and skills, and making things.

Oh and watch out, I think a lot of the guys here want dates.[swg]

What I ment in investment was that I'm keeping my money for my studies now so I can get a good job and more money that I can use for trains later. And as for dates, read again, I'm taken [:D]

When I first read your posting I wondered about the girlfriend you mentioned. My Gaydar kind-of did a little blip.

Whenever I see those layout articles that mention the layout owner and his wife, but there's no mention of the wife's participation in the article, I just figure that it's probably just an honorary mention (casual heterosexism). I've wondered what MR would do if someone wanted to mention their same-sex partner in the same context.

By the way, I'm available, if any of the other single (Gay) guys are interested…

[Anonymous]

my girlfriend with is 12 enjoys putting up trees and the scenery on my dad and I layout.

[Anonymous]

My ex-wife despised model trains. I think any man who has a woman that enjoys or even helps with the hobby is the luckiest man alive. I have been quite surprised that every once in awhile in a train store is a woman is along with her husband telling him what to pick out and how to add it to the layout. I am really surprised how many women I have seen at model train shows, selling, buying, looking! Quite personally, I hope if I ever do decide to hook up again with a woman, I would enjoy having someone help with the hobby. But the last woman I had interest in told me "what do you want something like that for!" I threw her out and kept the trains!

[AlcoRS11Nut]

To few are in the hobby!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

QUOTE: Originally posted by Neerie

I'm one of those rare women model railroader [:)] I have not yet build my first layout, mostly because I'm still a student living at her parents, studies cost a lot, but the money I'll get from a good job will go into trains, it's a long term investment [swg]

I must admit that most people look at me funny when I mention model trains and scenery and how much it's something that's always interested me, but who cares, that's what I like. My mother doesn't really like the idea, my father loves it and my girlfriend thinks it's very very cool. She herself is into modeling, just into model houses, who knows, one day, she might be the one making the buildings for my layout [8D]

To each their thing, but when it comes to model trains or modeling in general, I think it's just a stereotype and this same stereotype is what drives many women away from the hobby.

I think that's wonderful that you want to get into this hobby. Just one word of advice, buy the trains because you like them, and don't consider them an investment in terms of dollar value. They are not that kind of investment. There is a lot of value in this hobby, but it comes from the time you spend learning facts and skills, and making things.

Oh and watch out, I think a lot of the guys here want dates.[swg]

What I ment in investment was that I'm keeping my money for my studies now so I can get a good job and more money that I can use for trains later. And as for dates, read again, I'm taken [:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

Oh and watch out, I think a lot of the guys here want dates.[swg]

Dates?

Well, yes, it is true.

BUT: What I am really looking for is someone special who will come into my life, spend the time it takes to get to know me and my model railroad... and then wire my layout for DCC.

I mean, dinner and a movie, that's gone and forgotten in a week, but operational trackwork, that's something that sticks with ya!

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Neerie

I'm one of those rare women model railroader [:)] I have not yet build my first layout, mostly because I'm still a student living at her parents, studies cost a lot, but the money I'll get from a good job will go into trains, it's a long term investment [swg]

I must admit that most people look at me funny when I mention model trains and scenery and how much it's something that's always interested me, but who cares, that's what I like. My mother doesn't really like the idea, my father loves it and my girlfriend thinks it's very very cool. She herself is into modeling, just into model houses, who knows, one day, she might be the one making the buildings for my layout [8D]

To each their thing, but when it comes to model trains or modeling in general, I think it's just a stereotype and this same stereotype is what drives many women away from the hobby.

I think that's wonderful that you want to get into this hobby. Just one word of advice, buy the trains because you like them, and don't consider them an investment in terms of dollar value. They are not that kind of investment. There is a lot of value in this hobby, but it comes from the time you spend learning facts and skills, and making things.

Oh and watch out, I think a lot of the guys here want dates.[swg]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Neerie

I'm one of those rare women model railroader [:)] I have not yet build my first layout, mostly because I'm still a student living at her parents, studies cost a lot, but the money I'll get from a good job will go into trains, it's a long term investment [swg]

That makes us about the same age. and we both have similar living arrangments. Want to compare notes?

James.

[Anonymous]

I'm one of those rare women model railroader [:)] I have not yet build my first layout, mostly because I'm still a student living at her parents, studies cost a lot, but the money I'll get from a good job will go into trains, it's a long term investment [swg]

I must admit that most people look at me funny when I mention model trains and scenery and how much it's something that's always interested me, but who cares, that's what I like. My mother doesn't really like the idea, my father loves it and my girlfriend thinks it's very very cool. She herself is into modeling, just into model houses, who knows, one day, she might be the one making the buildings for my layout [8D]

To each their thing, but when it comes to model trains or modeling in general, I think it's just a stereotype and this same stereotype is what drives many women away from the hobby.

[Anonymous]

Maybe she has embraced the pure form of the old age axim that reads.

"Ye who dies with the most trains, WINS!!!!!"

[MAbruce]

I’d have to conclude that this hobby mainly draws men. Sure there are women in this hobby, but it’s more the exception than the rule. I’m not sure of the reason behind this. Perhaps it’s cultural, or maybe just one of those things that appeals mostly to men?

When I restarted in the hobby (my last attempt was well before marriage), my wife thought it an odd thing that a grown man wanted to play with trains. But as it involved our boys, she thought I was doing it more for them. However, when she started to see the layout take shape, her perceptions changed. Now she brags about (and shows off) my layout to all her friends. She’s more proud of it than I am! Go figure!

[JPowell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

QUOTE: Originally posted by Grayhound Challenger

I am an avid supporter of women in the hobby. My personals add reads:

"Wanted Girl with Train!. Send Picture of Train.

james

Now here's a guy with his priorities straight.[tup][tup][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][swg]

If only I was as smart as Greyhound.... [:(]
But then again, who knows how "she" would have turned out either....

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Grayhound Challenger

I am an avid supporter of women in the hobby. My personals add reads:

"Wanted Girl with Train!. Send Picture of Train.

james

Now here's a guy with his priorities straight.[tup][tup][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][swg]