Any other female modelling mums out there?

[Trainmadmum]

Hi I am mum to 2 boys who love Hornby,  modelling etc and I myself have been drawn into it, although I think its genetics as my late father was an avid trainspotter and many childhood days spent on railways or trips on his co owned red double decker bus. I was asking as it would be lovely to have another female to discuss the hobby with from the point of supporting the children and modelling myself. I do speak to men at shows a lot who are always surprised it's me who is into it and not my partner who just gets dragged along. But he is very good at electrics and carpentry, all put to good use on several train layouts!. I find it hard to find other children involved in the hobby near us

[tc]

Can't help specifically due to gender, but we have a large number of mums who come to Young MRC and get stuck into modelling  - whether doing scenery, making buildings or constructing wagon kits. So you are far from unique. Maybe some of them are on here...

[Silly Moo]

Hello,

 

I’m a female modelling Mum but my children have long since left the nest and are in their thirties. To be quite honest neither of them were interested in model railways at all. So I just carried on modelling myself.  My father influenced my love of railways and I had a train set when I was six, I started railway modelling again in my mid twenties. 
 

I’ve always liked the scenery side of things which can be an advantage in some ways but I have huge gaps in my knowledge of the real thing and virtually no carpentry and electrical skills, luckily I have a husband who can help although he’s never been fond of woodwork. 
 

Apart from forums like this Facebook is good for model railway groups and your local community page might be useful for finding young modellers in your area. I’m sure there are some, it’s just a matter of finding them.  If you have a local model railway shop, they might know of other families in your area with children of a similar age to yours. When the lockdown is over consider joining a local model railway club.  I found joining a model railway club was an excellent idea and my knowledge increased tremendously, I was always welcomed and helped by more knowledgeable members. 

 

Please feel free to contact me if you’d like to chat. 

 

 

 

[Trainmadmum]

Thanks for reply, I have considered a club but  unfortunately a lot of them are quite late in Evening, my boys have special needs and I cant deviate from bedtime and the routine. I did think when they r older I would join one. Model shop is a good idea as I get on very well with the chap locally. He knows the boys are a bit different and lets them play behind counter etc, I will ask him. I did find a club about 45 mins away we went to once they loved having boys there. Not modellers but they ran vintage clockwork which my ten year old wants to get into as well. They started at 4 and by 6.30 were finishing up so brilliant for quick snack after school then we all piled into grandads car and off. My mum remarried one of my dads friends who is also big into trains and he is grandad to the boys and loves being part of the hobby with them. Its unusual isn't it for a female to like trains. I don't really have any friends as I think I'm odd and not into normal female stuff!! However I have a lovely relationship with my boys as I get them and we share a great interest. We have got Into 0 gauge which is lovely. I've been saving for 2 years and my 0 gauge union of south Africa should land this week. So great excitement over mums new train. Are your boys still into it?. I think it will be lifelong for my boys. My dad made so many friends in the hobby, I hope they do too.

[Trainmadmum]

Sorry just realised u said your boys not I to it! 

[Silly Moo]

It is unusual for females to be interested in model railways which is a shame because I think we can contribute a lot to the hobby. There’s also an overlap with various other predominantly female crafts that can be useful when building a model railway.  My parents never seemed to bother about gender stereotyping when we were young so we had a great variety of toys, I always tended to prefer anything transport related. I bought Matchbox and Corgi cars and Lone Star Locos with my pocket money. We also had lots of Lego and I had a go at building Airfix model aeroplanes. 
 

I tried to take up railway modelling seriously in my mid twenties but as it was pre internet and we were living in Africa it took time to get anything resembling a working layout going. After a break when my children were toddlers, I started up again and this time joined a club which made a tremendous difference to my skills as I got a lot of help from fellow club members. 
 

The fact that I’m interested in model railways usually causes some surprise and amusement but I’ve never worried about what people think. It’s such a wonderful multi faceted hobby and there’s always something you can learn. I think it’s particularly good for children and yours are very fortunate that you are involved. 

I have rather eclectic tastes and have mainly N gauge but also some 00, Hornby Dublo and small collection of 0 gauge. I tend to buy locos and wagons that appeal to me visually rather than sticking to strict prototypes. I do have very large gaps in knowledge of railways but I’m learning as I go. 

 

[Siberian Snooper]

There are quite a few female modellers around,  the earliest one I new of was Vivian and built a 4mm scale model of Eastbourne. She got published in the Railway Modeller back in the 70's. Shirley Rowe is/was a pretty good modeller and Maggie Gravett dabbles a bit. 

 

[kevinlms]

3 hours ago, Silly Moo said:

It is unusual for females to be interested in model railways which is a shame because I think we can contribute a lot to the hobby. There’s also an overlap with various other predominantly female crafts that can be useful when building a model railway.  My parents never seemed to bother about gender stereotyping when we were young so we had a great variety of toys, I always tended to prefer anything transport related. I bought Matchbox and Corgi cars and Lone Star Locos with my pocket money. We also had lots of Lego and I had a go at building Airfix model aeroplanes. 
 

I tried to take up railway modelling seriously in my mid twenties but as it was pre internet and we were living in Africa it took time to get anything resembling a working layout going. After a break when my children were toddlers, I started up again and this time joined a club which made a tremendous difference to my skills as I got a lot of help from fellow club members. 
 

The fact that I’m interested in model railways usually causes some surprise and amusement but I’ve never worried about what people think. It’s such a wonderful multi faceted hobby and there’s always something you can learn. I think it’s particularly good for children and yours are very fortunate that you are involved. 

I have rather eclectic tastes and have mainly N gauge but also some 00, Hornby Dublo and small collection of 0 gauge. I tend to buy locos and wagons that appeal to me visually rather than sticking to strict prototypes. I do have very large gaps in knowledge of railways but I’m learning as I go. 

 

Many men worry about how others see them as railway modellers, mostly because of the insulting comments some like to give. Some never tell anyone, which is rather sad.

 

A late friend of mine went back to Liverpool taking his layout with him from Australia! He set it up in the attic of his new wife's home - childhood sweetheart apparently.

His father in law, used to give him a hard time, on the basis of 'grown men playing with trains'!

 

My friend was in his 70s at the time and his father in law aged 100 and used to go up in the attic, to give him a hard time! You'd think that being in your 70s, you could do what you like, without senior relatives interfering!

[Doncaster]

3 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

There are quite a few female modellers around,  the earliest one I new of was Vivian and built a 4mm scale model of Eastbourne. She got published in the Railway Modeller back in the 70's. Shirley Rowe is/was a pretty good modeller and Maggie Gravett dabbles a bit. 

 

There have been a number of excellent female modellers.  You mentioned Vivien Thompson - she was inspirational for me as a teenager because of her focus on building.  Along with the likes of Peter Denny she showed the way!

[Silly Moo]

I bet a lot of the people who make rude remarks about railway modellers would secretly love to have a go. My children were embarrassed by my hobby when they were teenagers until their friends came round and said the layout was ‘cool’ They used to find my model railway supplies very useful for school projects too. 
 

I tend to worry about people who have absolutely no hobbies, they are usually very boring. One thing that does upset me is hearing about men giving up the hobby because their wives or girlfriends disapprove of it. I’m fortunate that my husband has always been happy that I have a hobby even though he is sometimes bemused by it and the insatiable desire for locos : ) could be shoes and handbags I suppose. 

Edited May 3, 2020 by Silly Moo
Typos

[LocoLadies CF]

The Locoladies were the first (and at the moment only) female team to take part on last years The Great Model Railway Challenge on Uk Channel 5. It is still available on catch up and we were in Heat 3. We were a team of 5 rather than 6 as it was hard for me as team captain to find females who were interested in joining me - mostly I think because they were afraid of  publicly making fools of themselves. In the end more of my team were crafters than railway modellers. 

We definitely didn’t make fools of ourselves and were invited to go to the Warley Exhibition last November to show off our layout. We were in the National and local press as well as two of the most significant model railway magazines (British Railway Modeller and Railway Modeller).  Unfortunately due to the ill health of one of our team we withdrew at the end of our heat but were invited back to be in the background at the final. By the way ... we had an absolute ball.  We became well known for having a forest of crochet trees which we sold off for Breast Cancer Awareness at Warley and made £350 for the charity. 
 

We had to dismantle the layout after Warley as we are not members of a club and had no where to store it,  but have had many invitations to undertake demonstrations at exhibitions. We were or are due to go to Warley again this November (??).  
 

 I thought you might like to see a few pictures. Two from the tv programme and two from Warley. 
 

[Bill_J]

Welcome to the hobby Trainmadmum,

 

There are definitely female modellers on here. If you check out the cakebox challenge thread on here you will find at least one more. And Annie from New Zealand makes digital models. There are others, although they are spread around the forum.

 

As a previous poster has said there is a history of very talented female modellers in the hobby.

 

[Modelrailwayquest]

I built and now exhibit an exhibition layout called Brief Encounter Monochrome 

Edited March 10 by Modelrailwayquest

[AyJay]

This is brilliant!

I have long said that there are ladies keen on model railways and you have proven me right, this hobby is a broad church that can give expression to all sorts of skills.

I only wish that my other half found this hobby interesting.

[jcm@gwr]

Not forgetting Kathy Millatt and Jenny Kirk!

 

(although I accept that they aren't mum's!)

Edited March 9 by jcm@gwr

[robertcwp]

Also not a mum but let’s not forget my good friend Sandra Orpen. A highly skilled modeller in EM - she is building a model of Andover Junction - who also saved Retford from oblivion after Roy Jackson passed away. 

[robertcwp]

I recall a female ex-colleague of mine (and mother of two) telling me about how, when she was a child, she had asked for a train set for Christmas and was told something along the lines "girls don't do that sort of thing". I wonder how many other girls were steered away from the hobby by such gender stereotyping as it might now be called.

[The Johnster]

Probably a lot, and it seems to have been a feature of the English-speaking world not necessarily found elsewhere.  The Squeeze, who is Polish, had a Piko train set as a child, which was a family thing used by her sisters and brother without any conception that it was in any particular sense specifically a boy's toy.  She is highly supportive of my efforts and occasionally drives; she has a natural feel for this and understands scale speeds and replicating slow decelleration and accelleration, and smooth operation generally, quite well.

 

Another reason she's a keeper!

[tomparryharry]

Gender shouldn't be entirely relevant in this day & age. Anne Diamond is well known for her model-making, and I guess it's only a lack of publicity that more ladies aren't involved. 

 

As for driving, gender is most certainly not an issue. I've met highly competent & skilled lady drivers. On the other side of the coin, I've worked with men who can't drive if their very life depended on it. And that's regardless of scale.

 

'Right person, right place, right time, right job, right result.

[tomparryharry]

On 11/03/2024 at 08:57, robertcwp said:

I recall a female ex-colleague of mine (and mother of two) telling me about how, when she was a child, she had asked for a train set for Christmas and was told something along the lines "girls don't do that sort of thing". I wonder how many other girls were steered away from the hobby by such gender stereotyping as it might now be called.

My sister had a train set; bought by dad. 

[adb968008]

A bit too young to be a mum, but My 13 yr old little one is still into the hobby, wants to drag me out to see the blue 455… indeed she was at Ally Pally hanging out with a friend this weekend. Admittedly an Ipad was a bit more than normal, but she was driving the 142.

 

Edited March 17 by adb968008