Where do you stand?

[twhite]

I'm a choral director at a private Catholic girl's high school. Music is my profession. Last Christmas, a fellow teacher and good friend of mine bought me a T-shirt that says STILL PLAYS WITH TRAINS. I've almost worn the darn thing out. I wear it every 'Casual Day' at high school, the teachers think it's hilarious, the girls think it's Very Ultra Cool. I'm one year away from retirement, I've been an HO scale model railroader since I was fourteen (almost pre-dating Japanese brass, by the way) and YES, I PLAY WITH TRAINS!
It's the World's Greatest Hobby and I wouldn't change it for anything else. After a full day of intense music rehearsals and performances, I escape into my California Basement (garage) and run my freights and passengers and mixed over the Sierra. It's wonderful.
And those same teachers and some of the students are the ones who come over occasionally and just stand there and say 'wow' when Mr. White runs his trains.

[tankertoad70]

I just quietly inform the perpetrator that this is 'Scale Model Railroadin'.[}:)][8][:D]

[Anonymous]

I don't mind folks saying that. I usually have a snappy answer back to them like " It's alot better than playing with Barbie Dolls like you folks do" Or else I'll tell them that "This is my homework, I go to college & I'm learning how to be a big shot graduate so I can run a railroad, You know,.........1 car plus 2 cars equal 7cars"! That usually shuts them up & they change the subject.

[jwmurrayjr]

QUOTE: Originally posted by stokerk

I don't mind folks saying that. I usually have a snappy answer back to them like " It's alot better than playing with Barbie Dolls like you folks do" Or else I'll tell them that "This is my homework, I go to college & I'm learning how to be a big shot graduate so I can run a railroad, You know,.........1 car plus 2 cars equal 7cars"! That usually shuts them up & they change the subject.

Now that's pretty funny![^][:)][:D]

[Anonymous]

When people say "you play with trains" i respond by saying yes! i do play with trains, and that i am in training until I grow up to be big enough to drivve the real thing., and I am 41 yrs old. [:)]

[Anonymous]

As much time and effort one puts into this hobby, and as skilled as some of us are at parts of the hobby, I wouldn't call it "playing" with trains.

[AntonioFP45]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BRAKIE

Naw,It doesn't bother me..After all it usually comes from people that have no hobbies,no life and spend all their free time looking at the idiot tube.More the pity...[V]

So well put! I used to get irritated but now, I give a big smile and tell people that I enjoy it and it's cool and relaxing. To someone that wants to be a "smart aleck" I keep cool and just tell them:

[1] It improves analytical and mechanical skills. Brings out artistic and creative abilities as most humans only use 1/10 of their brain capacity!
[2] Beats dumping money on drinks at bars--drinks which eventually wind up in the toilet, and you with a hangover and if you're a heavy drinker a burned out liver!
[3] Better than spending money on weed, meth, and "party drugs" that kill brain cells.
[4] Beats going to wild clubs and dancing with sweaty people having questionable hygiene.
[5] I get to buy the products..........and enjoy them for years.

So there's no need to get mad, defensive, or hostile. Do it, with a smile and keep rolling.
Replies like what I just mentioned usually "shut the persons up" or "cools their jets". [(-D]

To our teen friends: Guys, when I was a teen years back, I found that on several occasions, even the "bully/thugs" in school thought that model trains were cool once you explained that you had scenery, buildings, and ran trains with 3 or 4 locomotives on the lead as I did on my friend's layout, or if you ran Amtrak trains.[8D] And guys, photgraphs of your layout or detailed models do wonders! [;)] How many of your classmates can do scenery? Airbrushing? Decal work? Plus, you're so fortunate today with digital cameras that give photos in less than a second. Don't feel embarassed about sharing your hobby with a girl your "talking to". [:)][:I] Be straight, make no excuses and move forward. [:)][:D][8D][;)][8)]

So don't let anyone ruffle your feathers. Smile and let the "dumb" comments dissappear into the air, just like hot gas!

Cheers!

[tomnoy3]

Usually its just my mom or dad calling them toys or telling me to go play with them, but they just do that to mock me on how much i obsess over them. Theyre kinda right but its my time and money isnt it?

-Tom

[Jetrock]

It doesn't bother me. I play in a band, why can't I play the train too?

Besides, it's not the weirdest or most difficult to explain pastime I have...

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on how we look at it. Most of life can be divided into 2 categories, work or play. I think you are working when you are constructing and modeling, but playing when you are running or operating.

The biggest point, in my opinion, is why would anybody care what anyone else thinks? Are you doing this for you, or are you trying to impress others? Next thing you know, you will be getting hair plugs and liposuction.[:O]

[AggroJones]

I'm not a proffessional chef, but I can cook up a storm. Am I playing with my food? NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

[darth9x9]

I try to put it intocontext for the person making the comment. If they ask if I play with trains, I ask them if the play with their favorite hobby. For example:
- Do you play with motorcycles?
- Do you play with computers?
- Do you play with cars?
- Do you play with fire trucks?
- Do you play with airplanes?
- Do you play with tractors?
- Do you play paintball? (obvious answer here)
- Do you play with flowers?
- Do you play with wood? (in a wood shop)

You can see what I am trying to say. It is funny that as soon as you put it into context to something they can relate to, their attitude changes almost instantly.

I have fun. I don't care what someone else lables it.

[Paul W. Beverung]

Well, I say "I play with trains." And I don't mind someone asking me how many cows we'er running. My wife and I have a cow-calf operation. That's a type of ranch. We have 20 cows and 2 bulls. How long have we been ranching? Long enough to know it's a hard way to make a living. I don't mind people saying that I play with trains or asking how many cows we have. By the way I've got H.O. and 7.5 inch live steam. No, I'm not rich just happy.

[Paul W. Beverung]

FYI. A sure fire way to make a small fortune in ranching. Start with a large fortune.

[cisco1]

I don't mind if someone says I "play with trains". Those who visit change their tune once they see scenes in miniature that don't just "sit there" like in a museum. Yes, there are those who ask how much I've got tied up in all this. I just say many hours of relaxation and enjoyment! Chris

[rexhea]

People who would tease or stab you about MR usually know absolutely nothing about it. If you have the opportunity to explain the complexity and the intricacy of the work involved or show them your layout, their ridicule usually becomes admiration.

I do look at it as an art form, but also as an opportunity to use highly developed skills that have been learned to create this art. PLAY?? Well, one definition of "play" is to amuse oneself. YUP! I do that, so I guess I play.

I'm not that sensitive about it. It's mine and it's for my enjoyment. All this said, what's wrong with an adult playing?[;)]

REX

[vsmith]

I'm a little confused by the the meaning of this topic?

...Is that before or after I beat the [censored] out of them with a pipe wrench?

[Anonymous]

Depends on who says it. If its someone who doesn't know better, I try to shrug it off. If a modeler is doing it just to be stupid, I give 'em the evil eye.

[bcammack]

I don't do this to earn money. I don't do this to make the world a better place. I don't do this to help people in some fashion. I am playing. Say what you wish, but we are not involved in a productive enterprise here. It is not relevant to our survival.

Like the old "animal, vegetable, mineral" criteria, you can pretty much divide human activity into "survival", "sleep", "reproduction", or "play". Work, eating, and necessary biological functions fall into the 'survival" category. "Sleep"is fairly self-explanitory, as is "reproduction". [:)] Model railroading, racing automobiles, hang gliding, etc. don't fall into the first three categories, so it must be "play".

[DavidH]

I've been in this hobby since the age of 12 in 1964. I really couldn't care less what the opinions of the great unwashed are . . .

David

[jfugate]

Interesting discussion. Consider this:

I attended the JMRI (Java Model Railroading Interface) discussion at the National in Seattle this last July. JMRI is an "open source" software initiative for DCC and connecting a computer to your layout to do useful things.

Turns out, the number of downloads of JMRI components makes it the *third largest* open source project on the planet! Open source, as in the Linux Operating system ... we're talking big stuff!

So model train open source software development is the third largest world wide software initiative on the globe.

Playing with trains? Yep, right up there beside playing with computer operating system development in the eyes of the planet's population.

[AggroJones]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul W. Beverung

Well, I say "I play with trains." And I don't mind someone asking me how many cows we'er running. My wife and I have a cow-calf operation. That's a type of ranch. We have 20 cows and 2 bulls. How long have we been ranching? Long enough to know it's a hard way to make a living. I don't mind people saying that I play with trains or asking how many cows we have. By the way I've got H.O. and 7.5 inch live steam. No, I'm not rich just happy.

Well, do you model the cattle industry? You got a fleet of stock cars?

[mustanggt]

Hmmmm... this reminds me of when I drive my rc cars at the local park people say "whoa. did you buy that at toys r us?" Then I give them the whole hobbytown blablabla HPI racing blablabla machined bilett aluminium blablabla lecture, thats how I think they hear it[:p]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by simon1966

I play a lot! I have 2 young boys 4 and 7 and believe that playing is a wonderful form of bonding with the kids. The fact that Model railroading is technically challenging, mentally stimulating and appeals to my interest in history is an added and welcome bonus. It is so far removed from my day job (medical equipment sales) that I find it a very enjoyble distraction from day to day pressures.

My boys and I run our HO, O and G scale trains a lot -- and I love to think of it as playing with them.

My 10-year-old -- who I thought was "getting too old to play with trains" surprised me last week and asked for some N scale equipment to build his own layout.

Brought tears to me eyes ...

[Anonymous]

I work in a very stressful, high tech bussiness, so if people want to think that I play with trains, so what, let the critics think it, I really don't give a tinkers d@$%. I just fall back on the old adage, " LOVE YOUR CRITICS AND DRIVE UM NUTS". Remember this, you're an adult only once in your life, you're a kid twice, or in some cases all your life, so what, life is too short to worry about what other people think. Until they've walked in my foot steps, in my shoes, their opinions have no merit and don't even begin to merit my consideration. This also applies to that CANCER of all CANCERS, "THE HATED RIVIT COUNTERS".

[Anonymous]

i have no problem telling people i play with trains if thats what they say i do. if they think that a 27 year old plays with trains instead of engages in a hobby, then its not worth my time explaining what the difference is.