I thought my wife mostly tolerated my model rr hobby when I tried to build my first layout back in the early 2000's. Unfortunately, it got away from me (more ambitious than I had time and experience for) and was never really finished. She had to retire for medical reasons, and we also bought and moved into a one-story house from our former 3-story townhouse. Kinda hurt tearing down the old layout, but it was a relief in a way.
Once we settled in the new house, she surprised the hell out of me when I was looking through all the rr cars and locos I gathered over the years, contemplating selling them on E-Bay. She looked at me and said, "We have two guest bedrooms, and only need one -- you want to use the other one for a new layout?" I damn near fell out of my chair, but then got smart and kissed her. :)
The new layout is 2/3 complete, much more manageable (it's a 3-wall shelf branch line layout), and she checks in almost daily to see the progress. She usually doesn't come into hobby shops with me, but doesn't complain when I go in search of one or stop at one "for a minute" (which we all know is a severe underestimate of the time we spend there). She compliments me on the progress I've made, and I believe is genuinely happy to see me happy with my trains.
She's stuck around for 33 years now, so I'd say I'm luckier than I ever thought I was.
Love ya, honey -- happy Valentine's Day!
My model rail road interests never seem to come up in conversation or otherwise. I may receive a comment or compliment about some model I have completed if we both happen to be in the same area I model in together at the same time, but that generally is the extent of it
She, Carol-Ann, should refere to her by name, takes more interest in my 1939 Oldsm8bile Series 60 Sedan which she can relate to more I think.
Dusty
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Hello everybody,
I am not yet married, but had a bit of a lesson from a previous girlfriend in my life. She thought that it was a waste of perfectly good plywood to use it for a model railroad. I thought she was a waste of my perfectly good life. So a few ladies later I know have someone that is supportive of the hobby. It took was like a process of elimination. Very happy now.
"If you need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm."
9 out of 10 husbands say their wives are always right. .... The 10th husband has not been seen since the study was conducted. .....
Seriously, my Main Squeeze is absolutely wonderful. We have 5 adult kids who are married and we have 6 grand children .
Shelley has a terrific sense of humor, and she is a fun person. We razz each other a lot, but it is always good natured joking. She keeps busy with her stuff while I work on the layout.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Mrs. Hot Rod I noticed that the other significant hasn't said anything so I will put my two cents in.
I noticed that the other significant hasn't said anything so I will put my two cents in.
Great to hear from one of the female members of this froum. And great to hear that model railroading is something you both share.
Mrs. Hot Rod We are lucky to be friends that like to share one another's hobbies. We feel truly blessed (married 50 years).
We are lucky to be friends that like to share one another's hobbies. We feel truly blessed (married 50 years).
I too am blessed to be able to call my wife my best friend. In May it will be 20 years for us, congratulations on what sounds like 50 wonderful years for you!
Chris Ballinger
Modeling the Clementon Branch of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines in HO scale
Mark, The trains in the living room etc. will definitely make finding a new wife or sig other a challenge! But the up side is if she accepts that arrangement, she is a real flexable and tolerant!
My first wife was not very tolerant of my hobby. Whats worse is she inherited a lot of money and didn't work, but expected me to work full-time and yet restricted my hobby spending to a pitiful amount while she took frequent trips to Europe etc. Needless to say, that arrangment was not sustainable and eventually ended in separation and divorce - an expensive lesson.
After a number of years single, I met and married a lady from England who is cut from very different cloth and while she isn't personally into the hobby, enjoys keeping track of the progress, does a little train watching with me and goes to train shows - and encourages me in the hobby - and sees it as a nice past-time as long as it's balanced with life. During construction of the benchwork, she would usually ask me if I needed anything so I could move ahead with construction. It certainly is a blessing to have a wife who is supportive!
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I noticed that the other significant hasn't said anything so I will put my two cents in. We are advid hot rodders who fell in with model trains a few years ago and have gone bonkers. I like HO and my husband built me a 20x30 room with heat and air out in our hot rod shop. He is outside the room with Lionel and American Flyer going about 12x32 down one wall. I am also a quilter but mostly at night or in the winter and he has hit and miss motors. We are lucky to be friends that like to share one another's hobbies. We feel truly blessed (married 50 years).
I've been divorced for 12 years. My ex was supportive of my hobbies...model railroading, railfanning, and even my firearms and at times did those things with me...when we were dating/engaged. But when we got married... she had this big sign on her head that said 'Me...Me...Me', and I became a piece of dirt. Partly because I didn't share in her interests of watching TV, buying clothes, and smoking weed with her friends.
There are advantages to being single. My layout occupies my livingroom, diningroom, and part of my kitchen.
I would like to meet a new partner somewhere along the way. But she'll need to be rather open to my very 'unique' furnishings and can't be fearful of firearms.
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
My ex was somewhat supportive. Everytime I bought something, I'd get the "Don't you have enough already" speech at which point, I reminded her that I could have a drinking hobby, and that usually shut her up.
Brought to you by the letters C.P.R. as well as D&H!
K1a - all the way
PRSL6006... Tell us how your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend enrich your model railroad experience.
I guess I, too, can count myself among the lucky ones! My wife of 29 years is totally supportive of my hobby involvement, even though she herself has zero interest in trains. She sees its value as something intellectually stimulating and creative, and appreciates how it keeps me out of the bars.
-Ken in Maryland (B&O modeler, former CSX modeler)
I am another of the lucky ones. My wife and I got interested in the hobby together after a visit to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, about two years ago. We have been married for 32 years and the kids have all left the nest, and as we walked out the museum we both had the same thought--here is a hobby we could share, now that we have some extra time and money. (Mostly time.) The original plan was for me to focus on the trains and tracks, and she would focus on structures and scenery. However, she has since decided to go back to school, so it is all up to me now. She continues to be excited about the progress I am making on "our" layout.
Richard
When we bought our latest house a few years back one of my wifes request was for me to build a g scale railroad in the back yard. After looking at prices for track and the amount of work to maintain the roadbed we settled on an HO scale basement layout. So yeah she likes it.
I'm one of the lucky ones too. My wife of 47-years, Joyce, gave up one of our three bedrooms for my layout, (We don't have a basement.) so I guess I can say she supports my hobby. She seldom goes to a train show with me, but she is always up to go railfanning, especially if the grandsons are going too.
She has given up more than one vacation so we could visit Strasbourg, Altoona and several other railroading sites. She even helps plan the annual train related trip my eldest grandson and I take each year!
I don't think she has ever held a throttle in her hands. And now that I think about it I'll try to change that. She does enjoy watching the grandsons run the trains though.
She will roll her eyes and say, "This has got to stop!" when I bring home a new locomotive or other addition to the layout. But that is the end of it. And she usually springs for a new sound equipped loco at Christmas. Hard to beat that.
In other words I am blessed.
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
I am a lucky one. Mine is very supportive of my hobby. She goes to train shows with me and even picks up the some of the stuff I didnt see. She also picks up stuff the thinks is "cute"..which tends to be a problem. I sometimes have to reconfigure a scene or find a way to incorperate her "cute" thing on the layout. My wife does some of my painting for me.
My wife likes going railfanning as long as there is a diamond there. She loves the sound of the diamond.
Jeff
My wife is supportive to a point. The point bring that the trains seem to take a secondary role to whatever else is going on in our life. Thus I tend to operate late at night when she is working or sleeping.
Joe Staten Island West
The only significant udder around here belongs to the cow, and I an't going near that, what with the bull in the same field.
The monks are quite tollerant of the railroad and the time I spend on it, just so long as I do not ask for much money. They like to bring visitors up there to show them the layout, so I gotta keep the floor cleaner than I would otherwise.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
My wife of 47 years and I do everything together.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
I'm also one of the fortunate ones, since my wife does not like model railroading at all. Perfect for both of us, I think.
Wayne
My wife supports my interest in model railroading and trains. When we were talking about building a new home here if we end up staying here (which I hope we don't), we talked about an additional room for a layout. She has bought me a number of model railroading items. My other favorite hobby is ice hockey. We don't not have that around here. Vegas is trying to get an NHL team, but that is still a 3 hour drive to get there. It has been almost 10 years since I have hit the ice, but still get the itch. Now if we can just find her a BLM job near a city with an ice rink, I will be extremely happy.
Robert H. Shilling II
My wife tolerates my hobby and while she doesn't go to train shows very often, she has encouraged me to "go ahead and buy it" on occaision when I'm on the fence over a purchase. She also encourages me in getting our 3 year old grandson interested in trains - Thomas and Lionel.
Enjoy
Paul
gmpullmanI have several friends and coworkers who don't seem to have any hobbies at all. I just can not understand how they while away their free time without doing... something?
Ed,
I'll bet much of their time is spent in front of that questionable invention, the teevee.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
My wife is the type that just rolls her eyes at the mention of trains and model railroading. However, it is significantly cheaper (and a heck of a lot safer) than my first love hobby - auto racing! Fortunately for her, my eyes went south so I don't get to race anymore. On the upside, selling the racer meant I had an empty garage to fill with a layout. She always went to the track with me (maybe she just wanted to be there in case she could cash in on the $1,000,000 accidental death insurance package). She never goes to train shows with me and I couldn't get her to pick up one of my layout's throttles to save her life. But, she does renew my MR subscription when due and doesn't complain much when I spend (a little) money on train stuff so I guess that's something.
Hornblower
My wife Dianne is very supportive of my hobby. Now that I am retired she is the major bread winner, but she doesn't object to my modelling investments. She is not involved in the hobby but she appreciates the work that goes into it.
I think one of the keys to having your spouse support your hobby(s) is to support theirs. I enjoy her hobbies a lot. She has two main hobbies, namely bird watching and kayaking. We spend several hours each weekend driving around looking for hawks and owls, and we often visit the local conservation area where we can feed the chickadees and nuthatches right from our hands. We also spend a few days each May at Point Pelee on Lake Erie to see the bird migrations. Although I don't kayak any more, the kayak is always strapped to the top of the tent trailer when we go camping, and I just booked her a sea kayaking adventure for this summer when we are visiting Nova Scotia.
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
My wife would rather not accompany me to hobby shops or train shows, but she encourages me to go when I want to. She has been to a few train shows with me, unfortunately the ones here are far from compelling.
As I said in the other thread, she does not understand my interest but she does respect it. It does not hurt that the railroad is named after our first dog, has various businesses related to them (including a racy gin mill named for our second).
Ironically, we got engaged at a bed and breakfast where we were staying when she accompanied me to Altoona for Railfest 1999.
Another bit of irony is that her hobby, photography, spawned from my trips to places like Altoona. I explained lighting, how to capture or freeze movement, depth of field and such when I was shooting pictures at various railroad venues. She started asking about macrophotography of flowers, and a hobby was born.
- Mark
PRSL6006My wife will also accompany me to train shows and hobby shops, and while she may not know what I am specifically looking for, she does her best to be my extra set of eyes. In a word she is AWESOME when it comes to letting me enjoy this great hobby! How about you?
Your description matches my lovely spouse as well, I couldn't have a better wife when it comes to hobbies, and anything else in life. I am truly blessed.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
PRSL6006How about you? Tell us how your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend enrich your model railroad experience.
I'm very fortunate to have a wife who supports and encourages my involvement in the hobby. She also enjoys the opportunity to work on detailing and scenery work on the layout. The sweet woman even hand painted about 250 Preiser figures for my passenger car fleet!
She has her share of hobbies as well and there are some we are involved in together so we remain very active. There are times when we don't see each other for hours when we are involved in our individual tasks but she will stop in to my "shop" or see what I'm up to on the layout and shows genuine interest in what I'm working on at the moment. Conversely, I'm there when she needs a quilting frame or additional plant lights set up in the greenhouse. I was at a modeling standstill for a while because I loaned her my Opti-Visor when she was working on some needlepoint... and I never got it back! Now I had an excuse for an order to Micro-Mark
Bless her heart, she doesn't even flinch when a $1200. brass engine shows up. "It was on sale" I tell her, wink-wink.
I have several friends and coworkers who don't seem to have any hobbies at all. I just can not understand how they while away their free time without doing... something?
Thanks for asking, Chris
Happy Modeling, Ed
My wife Cris is not a modeler but she loves trains and even had her own N scale "train set" before I met her. So she's very supportive of my hobby. Besides, it's something I can do right here at home, unlike some of my other interests (camping, rocketry, exploring ghost towns).
I'm also fortunate in finding a supportive spouse. She grew up in Japan, where her father was stationed in the Navy for extended periods. Unlike more milbrats (like me) she lived on the economy and went to Japanse high school (speaks fluent Japanese, in fact because of her fluency people think she's from where she lived over there if they talk on the phone.) Getting around by train or transit was just a given. Then she went to college in San Diego and enjoyed taking the trains there to Los Angeles, etc. She doesn't drive, because she's never needed to, although she may be starting to learn this summer finally.
She knew of my commitment to the hobby. She just an admirier there, but she takes layout pics and posts them online where people ask, "Where is that?" and she tells them, "In my basement."
For our honeymoon, we took a trip to Canada and rode the Tour of the Line on the Algoma Central, from the Soo all the way to Hearst and back. There are a LOT of pine trees in Canada to stare at, considering the large number of slow orders, but she enjoyed every minute of it.
While we've been on a budget since I'm just now finsihing grad school, she has also been OK with dropping modest sums to keep things going with my sanity time in the basement. her latest contribution to my hobby joy was donating 2 iPhones and an iPad so that I can make WiThrottles out of them on my recently installed JMRI install. Instead of buying a single $150 wireless throttle, for $50 in parts and software, I now have 3 new wireless throttles.
I'm another one of the lucky ones. My wife enjoys going to train shows with me, and if there is a problem, it's on her. Every time I stop to look at something, she says "That's cute" or "those are nice colors, why don't you get it." If I bought everything she suggested, I'd have to rent a warehouse to store it all. Good thing I can't afford it...
She also enjoys railfanning with me. We have a great time doing that, and often make overnight trips to watch at a new location. She also enjoys train excursion trips. We have met some nice folks along the way too.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA