Train Shame

[Anonymous]

How many of you out there are ashamed of your trains? If you were at a banquet with important business associates and the Master of Ceremonies publicly mentioned your interest in model trains on the PA would you try to hide and grovel under the table? Would you deny that you had any interest? Or would you say, "Oh they're not for mee-eee, no no nono no; they're just for the (ahem) kids...heh heh heh..." as you wipe the sweat from your blushing brow? If you agreed that you would die of terminal humiliation if your boss, clients or associates knew you liked trains would you feel the same about public mention of any other hobby you may have? Would you be ashamed to be "outed" as a camera bug, coin collector, stamp collector, baseball card collector, Beany Baby collector, radio control airplane, boat or car fan? Why the difference? I was once picked as a juror after I mentioned that I have a large collection of model trains. Both lawyers (who incidentally were the plaintiff and defendant in the case at court...yeah, two lawyers were sueing each other...It was beautiful) took time to ask me about my trains just from their own curiosity. I was lucky I got picked because at the time I needed a week of sick time and I had exhausted my sick time. It worked out well. So are you proud of your hobby or do you altruistically only do it "for the kids" or because "you never really grew up" or it "relaxes you" or "you are just a kid at heart"? Opinions?

[Roger Bielen]

I find that most folks show a genuine interest when they find out that my hobby is trains. My wife is always mentioning it to others and a number of them have come over to see my layout. It's suprising how many people have a latent interest and just need a little encouragement to get started in the hobby.

[spankybird]

I can say that I am very proud of my trains and everyone at work knows of my hobby. In 1997, I set up a small two foot tree with lights and a HO trains set running around it in my office. I had to have a meeting with a couple of VP and the Owner – CEO of our company. One of the VP asked where we should meet and the Owner said Tom’s office so we can play with the trains.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Ashamed??? Not no, but HELL NO!! I'm actually somewhat well known because of my trains. If people try to ridcule you for your love of trains, it's because THEY don't understand. That's when it's time to whip out photos, or invite them over, and leave them with their jaws on the floor.

Actually, my mother may have been my biggest critic, but she wasn't around for my finest hour. Even my father has changed his tune a little over the years.Both train and non train friends are impressed when they see what I have created with my trains.

[Anonymous]

Are you kidding?? I'm proud of my trains and my train room! Not only do I run trains, but I also collect-----

DADADADADADADA BATMAN!!! And have since 1966. I also am the publisher of my own Batman toy magazine called, the "Batman Toy and Collectibles Price Guide". It is legal, copyrighted, trademarked and approved for publication by DC Comics and Warner Brothers. [:D]

[daan]

Nope, most of the times it's mentioned, a whole conversation about brands and makes of toytrains is the next thing. Alot of people are very interested, but show that only when someone else talked about it first..
When one sheep crossed the dike, more will follow...(dutch saying)

[Anonymous]

In America, our saying is, "If you can't find a dike, a sheep will do."[:D]

[Anonymous]

Why should I be embarassed or ashamed?

Heck everybody knows I do Toy trains, astronomy, military firearms history, scanner radios, utility station shortwave monitoring, computers, and cub scouts. Most know I'm thinking about ham radio and 1/32 scale slot cars. They know I left scale HO for toy O because I like to play with my trains. They know my interest in trains is greater than my son's. They also know I haven't watched a professional baseball or football game since the player strikes. Never watched basketball or hockey and don't watch college sports either. I my not be real good at any one thing but I do a lot of things. Proud of them all. Now there are a couple of things from 25 years ago in college I don't talk about ... much .... [:D][;)]

Never have worried what others think... always have gone my own way.

[Anonymous]

My problem is that when people find out that I like steam locomotives, a few will all too often assume that I am developementally delayed or something, because I share an interest with their three year old; they assume that I like "choo choos." My remedy in this situation is to start out with a sentence involving "hydrodynamic pressure coefficients" or an equivalently complex saying (laws of fluid dynamics work well in this situation as well).

Most are more tollerant of my toy trains, as most have been exposed to them at some point in their life. Believe it or not though, I have been taunted about trains at a railroad museum, of all places [:)]! I have even been called a foamer, although by another one. (I wonder if the facts that I read five train periodicals, four newsletters, participate in this forum, and have a railway datebook gave me away [:)].)

But am I ashamed? In my view, the only people who should feel shame are those who do not realize the joys of being a railfan.

See you around the forums,
Daniel

[Anonymous]

Don't get me wrong...Trains are nothing to be ashamed of. I guess I am describing shyness instead of shame. When my son was in high school he was just short of being an eagle scout when the phone rang. I answered it---it was for my son so I replied that he was at his Boy Scout meeting and could I take a message. When my son came home I mentioned that he had a phonecall and I told them he would call after he got back from his Boy Scout meeting. My son almost fainted! He demanded to know why I told them that? I asked what was wrong and pointed out that he was acting like I said he was masturbating. He groaned and said that I might as well have. He quit Boy Scouts right after that. People who make fun of other's hobbys are the ones who enjoy their own interests and think they are better. There are some really dedicated people who deal in old cars, hot rods, golf, motor boats. horse riding, tole painting, handicrafts etc that I don't care to engage in. Let them have their fun and let me have mine. Odd-d

[Anonymous]

I'm not ashamed at all of my trains! I don't go right out and advertise it to complete strangers, but I don't hide it. Many people who hear about my trains immediately want to come ovwer and see them. My dad's a dear hunter and once got a dear who's antlers placed third in the province, so sometimes people who know want to see the dear, which is mounted above the stairs to the basement. He'll always invite them to come down and see the trains as well and usually they leave being more interested in the trains than the dear. My dad's coworkers know I'm into trains and that has been to my advantage. Once someone gave him a train calendar for me and another time someone found an old Bub tinplate windup engine in their garage that I got that they would have thrown away otherwise. I have in the past received some ridcule from a few people in school, but that was some time ago and it was never from anyone in my own class. I'm sure most people I know well in school think I'm completely insane, but they respect that I have my own interests, no matter how weird it may seem to them. I certainly have my oppoition to many things they enjoy.

[cwburfle]

The comment about the son being embarrassed by his dad mentioning a boy scout meeting sounded familar. I think teenagers and young adults are more likely to be embarrassed by having Model Railroading / Train Collecting as a hobby. They have all too recently transitioned from playing with toys to taking their place in the world of adults. They don't want to be seen as playing to toys. Once they've been out in the adult world a while, and they are confident in their position in life, the trains won't be an embarrassment.

There are exceptions of couse.

[insfil]

Ashamed!!! No way, no how!!! 99 & 9/10ths of individuals that know I'm into trains and the train model hobby are always mezmerized and ask all kinds of questions about it. While my layout is still in the benchwork construction phase,
many people are always asking and want to see my basement layout at some point in the future.Many will say "i have a friend or relative thats into the hobby
also".
Yes indeed, I'm quite proud to be in such an exciting hobby!!!

[FJ and G]

Actually, Odd-d has asked a pretty fair question. I too would say "heck no" now; but as a teenager, toy trains or even real trains, for that matter, were just not "hip"; and that is but 10 years after the Golden Age of the 1950s. What a change one decade makes!!!!

Loss of steam and toy train shame.

But kids are cruel and back then, you had to wear long hair, bell bottoms, and if you wore white socks or high-water pants, that was a dead giveaway for you being a geeky nerd.

I don't know if kids today are still like that but in the late 60s and early 70s, you really had to fit in with the crowd or be an outcast.

Consequently, I played with my toy trains alone; having no friends who were at all interested.

Dave Vergun

[Buckeye Riveter]

There is no Train Shame in Roger's Corners, Ohio. In fact, people love to spend a summer evening drinking adult beverages on our deck and then heading to the train room to see and run the trains. Since the layout is designed for a child, almost all of the PhDs that pass through Roger's Corners are able to learn how to do it in a couple of hours. [8D][:D][:)] (The kids learn how to do it in about 2 minutes.)

[Anonymous]

I'll talk trains 24/7 with anyone who will listen. Plus you never know who might have some trains stuck in a corner somewhere, and be willing to part with them. Being ashamed or even shy has never been a problem for me when it comes to trains.

[Anonymous]

Not shy about my hobby. I have to agree, most people are interested. When I tell people I collect trains and mention Lionel, they either stop and listen or start to ask me questions (not to say that lionel is better). As a matter of fact I went on an interview about a year ago. The interviewer asked if I had a hobby and I told him. We spoke more about trains than we did about the actual interview. When they found out at work that I collect trains, I got few jobs to do some repairs. The best part is when someone know you collect trains and gives you some "junk from the basement".

I just went and scrolled up and saw you wrote the same thing keith. its true!!

Angelo

[Anonymous]

When I was younger, I was ridiculed for playing with trains by my peers. I found it very disturbing. While they were quoting stats. on baseball and football, I was memorizing Whytes Classicfication of Steam Locomotives and the initials of various railroads. Today, some of those same people now have kids of their own and they come to the hobbyshop where I work. It's poetic justice in a way when they ask me which starter set is ideal for them. Yes, I enjoy playing with my trains and i am not ashamed of it. Here's a little rebuttal if you come across someone who hassles you. Just say, "Yes, I play with trains. Got a problem with that?!"

Howard M Hirsch