Wayne,
Does your wife have a sister?
My wife is actually pretty good about my model railroad hobby. She has allowed me to have a "train room" in the last 3 houses (even if it was an unfinished basement). She does "buy' me the latest Fine Scale Miniature kit for Christmas the last 8 years.
She has gone with me to Cass Scenic Railroad, Great Smoky Mountain Railroad and on 2 excursions. I do get "the look" when something comes via UPS or FedEx. Brass is a real "no-no". I would have been great helping smuggle slaves with the "underground railroad" or helping the Jewish people avoid the *** during WWII. But, in all of these scenarios, the good guy (or gal) does get caught once in a while.
Please, no comments about the "underground railroad" and avoiding capture by the ***. These were not meant as political comments or to in any manner demean the valor of those brave individuals who did such honorable deeds.
Craig North Carolina
Aikidomaster Wayne, Does your wife have a sister? My wife is actually pretty good about my model railroad hobby. She has allowed me to have a "train room" in the last 3 houses (even if it was an unfinished basement). She does "buy' me the latest Fine Scale Miniature kit for Christmas the last 8 years. She has gone with me to Cass Scenic Railroad, Great Smoky Mountain Railroad and on 2 excursions. I do get "the look" when something comes via UPS or FedEx. Brass is a real "no-no". I would have been great helping smuggle slaves with the "underground railroad" or helping the Jewish people avoid the *** during WWII. But, in all of these scenarios, the good guy (or gal) does get caught once in a while. Please, no comments about the "underground railroad" and avoiding capture by the ***. These were not meant as political comments or to in any manner demean the valor of those brave individuals who did such honorable deeds.
Nope no sister in her immediate family, sorry. But she did in fact ride with me on the Cass Scenic Railroad two years ago and she loved every minute of it....what's not to like riding a steam locomotive through some beautiful country in West Virginia? But not just any steam locomotive but a Shay! But like you, the only brass thing in our house is cook-ware. A brass locomotive might be pushing things for me.
Wayne
Modeling HO Freelance Logging Railroad.
I can work on the layout as much as I want to because I'm single.
Of course not, but then again I chose carefully.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
No more than car restoring time, reading time, skiing time, hiking time, etc.
Which is to say, hardly at all.
She often encourages me to play with my 2-8-0 and 0-6-0 to "let off steam".
Definitely a keeper.
Sean
HO Scale CSX Modeler
I knew there were advantages to being single!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well I am not the drinking type, so my wife does not have to worry about me hanging around in bars but I do get her ok to hang out in the shed and work on the layout. Her reasoning is I am home and she knows where I am and that I am not out getting into trouble. My son is still too young to work on the layout with me but he likes to watch what I do. Also she likes to garden and I really dont care for that activity. So I build trains, she gardens and soon I get to build my trains in the garden, but that is going to come later when we can put some more money aside.
Massey
A Veteran, whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve, is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."
My wife considers it "behaving."
- Harry
There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.....
We're both second-time-arounders with awful past spouses, so there's a high degree of patience and tolerance. She quilts, plays oboe, and gardens, I play with trains and cars and cameras.
This reminds of a friend's comment during an open house. Visitor pointed to a nice PFM Santa Fe 2-8-0 and asked, "How much did that cost?"
Buddy's answer: "A couch and a new dinette."
Massey,
I have used the same logic with my wife of 29 years. I do not gamble, run around with other women, or go to bars. If I am anywhere but at work or with her, I am down stairs.
How many wives out there would love their husbands to be hanging around a train room rather than seeing the old guy living 3/4 of his life in a bar, just imagine if the bar money went towards a train layout, it would be featured on a 3 page spread in Model Railroading magazine.
Guys and (gals) I think we can safely say that for those that are single there are no worries regarding MRR. Those with a spouse, partner, significant other etc wind up having them fall into a few catagories:
1) not interested and questioning your sanity
2) not interested but respecting your hobby
3) interested and involved to one degree or another.
FWIW, im unemployed, been married for 31yrs to my college sweetheart . so long as i put food on the table by gardening and hunting, i get little greif over my rr time. then again ive never tried to model time :)
Nope, my wife was the person who got me back into the hobby by buying me some cars and other model railroad sfuff. Bonnie actually told me I could have a much larger room for my layout than the one I chose. Love my girl.
Bob
Photobucket Albums:NPBL - 2008 The BeginningNPBL - 2009 Phase INPBL - 2010 Downtown
No, my wife supports my trains hobby, but she doesn't understand. She let me build a brand new 1800 sq ft basement for my trains and allowed me to place her dream home on top of the basement to keep the rain off of my trains.
She keeps a list of my MRR wants in her purse so she knows what to get for my birthday and Christmas.
She went with me on my last trip to Caboose Hobbies in Denver and complaind that we drove 3 1/2 hours to Denver and I did not buy very much.
She doesn't like the long rows of old MR Magazines on the shelves in the den. I told her I could get rid of them if I had the new MR DVD. So she is going to order it for me.
She is a keeper and I am very happy. It is not a one sided hobby relationship. She collects American Girl Dolls (Molly) and has about everyting in the catalog for her doll.
Jim, Modeling the Kansas City Southern Lines in HO scale.
No grief. In fact when I retired she said "I expect to see a railroad in the basement". OTOH I don't spend every moment there.
Enjoy
Paul
No, I don't get grief about my MRR time, which is few and far between, but I do get the occasional "have you lost it?" look when I mention the price of some of the locomotives. Heck, I figure she's a keeper as we went to Atlanta for the Greatest Hobby on Tour show in February, which happened to also be our wedding anniversary. I also don't have much of a MRR budget as the bills and other household needs are taken care of first and foremost (this includes keeping the "rainy day" account topped up), but there are times when I can pick up a few small items.
I cringe whenever one of these threads comes up where a fellow model railroader seems to indicate that they are held back or criticized by their spouse for pursuing the hobby. I wonder what else there must be in their relationship that would allow for one partner to be subjugated to the other.
I am blessed by having a spouse who encourages my model railroad activities (and occasional expenditures) even though I have retired and she is the main bread winner.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I get no grief from my wife about my model railroading and railfanning hobby. She usually says to me what it taking you so long to finish the layout. How many guys out there can say they rode a steam excursion(I rode on the Western Maryland Scenic in Cumberland) on their honeymoon? Earl...
I cant say we rode a train on our honeymoon but we drove cross country from Virginia Beach to Tacoma WA, following I-40 and chased a few trains!
Hi!
Wife # 2 is pretty much the ideal MR's other half. She appreciates what I do, enjoys tourist train outings (we are going to the C&TSRR again in October), and just railfanning in general. In fact, for a couple years she was a key punch operator for the SP here in Houston. In our 11 years together, she has never said anything against the hobby or my participation. And,she has often encouraged me in my efforts.
One of the keys for this is having an "other half" that has their own hobby. My wife does computer graphics (and is pretty good at it), and other pastimes that keep her involved and enthused. And of course, I support her fully in any way I can.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Well, my wife has decided that it would be a "good idea" for me to attend the MER convention in Cary, NC!! Our daughter, who is 26 years old (and was my modeling partner in the 1990's) wants to accompany me!!.
I have sent in the application for the convention and booked the hotel. I am looking forward to my first Regional Convention in more than a decade. I am sorry not to have any model to enter in the structures contest. I have a few Fine Scale Miniature kits that I have built but not yet installed on the layout. Maybe I will bring one of those with me.
What wife??????????????????
Ohhhh the joys of being a bachelor!
LIke i tell my buddies! I still have all my toys!!
I have just started my new layout in a spare bedroom, which really isn´t spare, as my wife and I share it. It´s our office, guest room, storage and laundry room. My new layout is quite intrusive, as it is T-shaped and will also have an extension right in front of the windows.
I had my wife share in the planning stage, so I had hoped she had been quite aware of what was coming up, but seeing a layout on a computer is very much different from reality. When I put up the benchwork, she had to swallow hard, but it didn´t take much time from a frown to a smile again.
My wife is very understanding and supportive. She likes the artistic touch to the hobby and often has valuable hints and tips for me.
She is for keeps - I am married to her for 30 years now.
TheK4Kid What wife?????????????????? Ohhhh the joys of being a bachelor! LIke i tell my buddies! I still have all my toys!!
You even have enough time to read 3 year old threads. You are so lucky.
My wife of 46 years has not cost me any of my toys. They have just been changed to OUR toys. When we introduce people to our model railroad, she likes to point out the things that she bought me, or that were build at her request.
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
LION is single. Lives in a big cage with 34 other lions. Him has layout in old classroom above library.
LION gets no grief about layout, and seldom an issue when him ask zookeeper for some money for parts. Parts, resistors, wire seem to be ok. A request for another trainset would be frowned upon.. go figure.
Well, LION has no complaints, him gets other wrok done, makes trains when time he has.
Pray for Prey!
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Gee, 3 year old thread and I can't recall seing anything posted form Aikidomaster recently, I may have missed it. I DO remember him though.
I am SO lucky, MOH {My Other Half} shares my love of trains, though growing up with a german mother and spending time every other year in Germany with grandmother for summers, MOH likes the European/German trains and RRs, not so much the American models.
Although I built a small HO layout, and there is no room for MOH to do an N scale layout, there is no arguement.
Although we have changed themes this for year, we generally go to some tourist line that runs Steam Locomotives around the NE. There is never any arguement! MOH enjoys running/breathing/coal belching steam locos as much as I do!
Have fun!
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
I wouldn't know as I've never had one. A wife that is. Trains and time to work on them? Plenty.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
PWRS is on the way home to our house from most places. My wife will stop in there and buy me something the way someone will buy flowers for their spouse. PWRS has my wish list and likes on file. They help her out. She has on two occasions brought me home an Atlas Trainmaster gold series Loco, Rapido coaches and a few other things like a Proto SW1200.
She usually comes in while I am at the computer and passes them over my shoulder while kissing me on the head. I married her at 40. We were friends for 14 years before that. She was at school becoming a Veterinarian and getting other advanced degrees and I was taking care of my bucket list.
I use to tell my friends that would ask me if they should marry someone, that just the fact they are asking the question should give them the answer. I never asked that question when the time came, no need, we both had done all the things we had to get out of the way before making a commitment (my long bucket list, her career) Life is perfect except for me being very beat up, but that is a small inconvenience considering all I have.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."