Wright writes.....

[APOLLO]

Railway modelling probably got me my gas engineering apprenticeship back in 1969. At my interview with the North Western Gas Board training officer he questioned my hobbies, "Railway Modelling etc etc" I replied. Several questions later I was drawing a circuit diagram for a 4 aspect colour light signal operated by a 4 pole 3 way switch, the "Double Yellow" being the hard bit !!!

 

Two weeks later I got the "Report to Wigan Gas Works at 07-45 on Monday" letter.

 

First day I nearly got run over by the works diesel shunter shoving coal wagons into the retort house !!  Happy days, a long gone era.

 

Brit15

[rowanj]

On my Civil Service interview from Uni, I got the expected questions on hobbies and interest.. After talking, truthfully, about reading  and theatre, the chap noted that that was all a bit "serious". I then revealed my railway modelling and more general railway interests. I got the job.

Mentioning West Coast Rock, Folk Rock and Newcastle Exhibition as other interests may have gilded the lily, so I kept them to myself.

Edited January 26, 2022 by rowanj

[Northmoor]

Tony's experience of a TV producer being surprised he was "normal", reflects the TV media industry which can't really understand anyone NOT working in television or worse, not wanting to.  He wasn't selected for the programme because he didn't fit their pre-determined stereotype.

 

My own youthful experience of being abused for my interests, other than to avoid being drawn into conversation about them, was that those most vocal in their "teasing" were those who had no interests except football/rugby and beer (normally lager actually) at weekends, because they'd been brought up to believe that's "what men did".  Unable to dare take an interest in anything themselves, they'd followed what their (probably equally bored) fathers had done.  There is a good proportion of young people who work all week (at something that doesn't really interest them), watch the football on Saturday, drink until closing time Friday/Saturday, take a two week holiday in Ibiza, then repeat.  I feel so lucky I was never one of them.

[Bucoops]

I'm fairly sure I got my current job because of football.

 

I was asked if I supported West Ham. I said no. He essentially said "Welcome aboard" - it turned out that about 75% of the staff including the then MD were die hard WH fans (the Director who interviewed me supports Leyton Orient who I'd never even head of then!).

 

 

[Mike 84C]

I'll add to my previous post. I was introduced to family friends on a couple of occasions as "our Mike, he shovels coal in a moving hole" parents then wonder why children loose respect for them. The remark didn't happen often but once said its said. But those post war days were different and so were ex military families.

[gr.king]

I often just tell people that I "play trains" as that seems to quite quickly get rid of some with whom I wouldn't want to converse any further. I also feel that once you've taken the p*** out of your own actions / interests / characteristics, there's not a lot of ammo left for others to use.

[MarkC]

1 hour ago, gr.king said:

I often just tell people that I "play trains" as that seems to quite quickly get rid of some with whom I wouldn't want to converse any further. I also feel that once you've taken the p*** out of your own actions / interests / characteristics, there's not a lot of ammo left for others to use.

Self-deprecation can be a powerful tool against, well, tools... 

[Long John Silver]

About 30 years ago when I was doing a presentation skills course at the Civil Service College, I had to prepare and give an initial presentation, five minutes long, on any subject of my choice. My subject was why Railway Modellers are Great at Parties.

I used two vu – foils (remember them?) – one listing the usual prejudices and a second busting all the mythology and particularly concentrating on the range of skills and interests that railway modellers have - artistic, practical etc. Not to be taken too seriously but it got a bunch of nervous students buzzing. They all agreed that I’d made my case.

I’ve never cared too hoots what people think about my hobbies - mind you I’m over six foot and can apparently do a good line in “hard stares”.

I play in a rock band and have played live off and on since the mid - 1970s. At a gig just before lock down I had to take the lead vocal on a song for the very first time. When introduced the number I made two confessions to the audience, one that I hadn’t sung solo since I was eleven years old and two that I was a railway enthusiast - that actually got a cheer. The song? – Long Train Running by the Doobie Brothers.

What does seem to be happening is that the younger enthusiasts do not seem to want to hide their interest in all things railways as much as they did ten or so years ago. That has to be good thing.

[Chuffer Davies]

Many years ago at work  I discovered that one of our project managers was an armchair modeller.  I had worked with him for a number of years and had come out about my own railway modelling soon after joining the company but he had maintained the secrecy. 
When we discussed his reticence he told me that when he wanted to flick through the model railway magazines in Smiths, so as not to feel embarrassed, he would take a magazine from the top shelf and hide the modelling magazine inside it.

[Jol Wilkinson]

I an happy to tell people what my hobbies are, but usually say I am a model maker rather than that I am a railway modeller. That usually provokes the question " what sort of models?"  and I respond that I make models of what was the WCML in Edwardian days. I find people then either change the subject (so as not to show their ignorance?) or become a bit more interested.

 

It is a shame that railway modellers haven't always had the best press and that the traditional stereotype view seems to live on. Other hobbies (painting, playing an instrument, potting, sculpting,  gardening, knitting, etc.) don't seem to suffer from this. Is that because they are seen as productive, whereas playing with trains isn't?

 

Of course it is sometimes difficult  for others to understand what people get from an interest. Today my wife collected a donation for  the charity shop in which she is involved. Eight "Reborn Dolls", extremely lifelike to the point of making us both feel uncomfortable. Apparently popular as surrogate babies for bereaved mothers and comforting for people with dementia, but why people would want to collect them neither of us can understand. They are however, extremely well made, eerily lifelike and cost less than the latest RTR locos.

[t-b-g]

I had a slightly disconcerting moment related to the model making hobby earlier.

 

I was looking for a resin kit for a small boat and found one for sale but the bar along the bottom of the webpage showing "other products I might be interested in" had a range of 1/12th scale resin kits to allow me to build scale models of Japanese schoolgirls.

 

My mind boggled for just a moment. It seemed quite wrong on many levels. Who might think that such a kit might be a good idea? Who might want to buy it? Those sorts of thoughts.

 

It made me feel quite normal.

[Adam88]

Herbert Hoover, one time president of the USA, was in casual conversation with a lady who asked his profession to which he replied: "I am an engineer".  "Oh", said she, "I thought you were a gentleman".  Appearances can be deceptive.

[rockershovel]

I had a Broadway Lines On30 2-8-0 and a section of track on my desk when working in Baku with BP. It was quite a talking point, especially after the survey engineer rigged a power supply and motion sensor so it would shuttle to and fro, whistling occasionally

[rockershovel]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds those "reborn dolls" rather creepy, although not as much as scale models of Japanese schoolgirls. 

[rockershovel]

One thing I really don't appreciate, is mockery of people's interests by people with no such skills themselves. I enjoy an occasional "music session" in the pub with my tenor banjo. My good wife has long since been warned off from referring to this as "plinky plonky"  - especially considering her mother's wedding present to us, a piano which would have paid for furnishing the downstairs rooms and to this day, she can't play...

[Bernard Lamb]

My other hobby is cycling. I took part in racing for many years.

In the off season many organizations held dinners or lunches and various other social events.

Many years ago at one such an event the guest of honour was a very famous international rider, sadly no longer with us.

There was a discussion about finding a suitable gift to present to him.

A few of us who knew him quite well suggested a model for his railway and he was duly presented with a Hornby Britannia.

There were some very surprised looks when he opened the parcel.

Bernard

[t-b-g]

On 17/01/2022 at 09:06, Tony Wright said:

Good morning Robert,

 

I think all you mention is Geoff Kent's peerless work.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Having had the chance for a visit to see Sandra and Retford today, plus having had a chat with Geoff Kent, I searched the layout and found the Kirk Gresley plus the Mailcoach twin.

 

Sandra thinks she may know who built the twin (not Geoff Kent) and I can confirm that the Gresley was the work of the (what is the opposite of peerless?) your's truly.

 

I don't like posting photos of the work of other people without asking their consent so I won't illustrate the twin but I did take a couple of snaps of the heavily modified Kirk. If you can't tell it is a Kirk by looking at it, I will take that as a good result!

 

 

[Northmoor]

Lest it be thought (from my earlier post) that I am anti-football and think it's only followed by people who can't think for themselves, far from it.  I follow (not support, that would require me to fork out to travel to and attend matches) two teams and enjoy watching it and other sports played by people who are good at what they do.  I do have a problem with the bloke culture around football* and people who insist you are obliged to hate particular teams if you are a "real" supporter.  I shared an office for three years with two West Ham season ticket holders but even they couldn't believe some of things they heard yelled at opposing fans at matches.

 

Others have spoken about mocking others' interests without understanding them; I can actually correlate my enjoyment of a particular workplace during my career, with the interests of my colleagues.  Working in places where everyone was very career-driven and seemed to live for promotions, pay rises and status, I quickly got bored (which was reflected in my performance rating!) as I simply couldn't relate to those people.  In one team I worked in for nearly nine years, there were people who variously: led a canal restoration group, restored antique furniture (which he developed into a business after being made redundant), part-owned a couple of racehorses (although rarely bet on races), walked long-distance paths and bagged Munros with his wife and one who competed in mountain-biking races and ultra-marathons and recently published a book about his experiences.  I don't remember particularly enjoying the work we did but being able to talk with people about their passions made the tea breaks and lunchtimes (or long drives to meetings) fly by.

 

*Unfortunately the same culture can often be found at cricket matches these days, when some of the crowd seem to be plastered even before the first ball has been bowled.

[Chas Levin]

11 hours ago, Chamby said:

Those who do get it, usually have a hobby of their own that would be considered a bit niche.  We are not alone!

That's the key, isn't it: people who understand the appeal of hobbies generally have no trouble relating that understanding to almost any pastime, however poorly regarded by the wider world...

 

7 hours ago, Northmoor said:

My own youthful experience of being abused for my interests, other than to avoid being drawn into conversation about them, was that those most vocal in their "teasing" were those who had no interests except football/rugby and beer (normally lager actually) at weekends, because they'd been brought up to believe that's "what men did".  Unable to dare take an interest in anything themselves, they'd followed what their (probably equally bored) fathers had done.  There is a good proportion of young people who work all week (at something that doesn't really interest them), watch the football on Saturday, drink until closing time Friday/Saturday, take a two week holiday in Ibiza, then repeat.  I feel so lucky I was never one of them.

...while those who have no hobbies or interests find such things quite incomprehensible.

 

What I find incomprehensible is anyone not finding things to do that really interest them.

 

Life's a bit like a Waiting Room I think: we were somewhere before we arrived here (no idea where, doesn't really matter) and we're clearly going somewhere else later (opinions on exactly where or what that is vary but again, not relevant) so while we're here, it makes sense to me to find things to do that we enjoy.

 

Right, enough said: preaching to the converted here I think!

[figworthy]

54 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

*Unfortunately the same culture can often be found at cricket matches these days, when some of the crowd seem to be plastered even before the first ball has been bowled.

 

Not unique to ball sports sadly.  I was talking to a neighbour a couple of years back, and he was repeating a tale his son had told him.  He was travelling by train to the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and a fair proportion of the passengers had had a skinful before they got off the train.  What state they were in at hoof off (and home time) is anyone's guess.

 

Adrian

[t-b-g]

1 hour ago, t-b-g said:

 

Having had the chance for a visit to see Sandra and Retford today, plus having had a chat with Geoff Kent, I searched the layout and found the Kirk Gresley plus the Mailcoach twin.

 

Sandra thinks she may know who built the twin (not Geoff Kent) and I can confirm that the Gresley was the work of the (what is the opposite of peerless?) your's truly.

 

I don't like posting photos of the work of other people without asking their consent so I won't illustrate the twin but I did take a couple of snaps of the heavily modified Kirk. If you can't tell it is a Kirk by looking at it, I will take that as a good result!

 

 

 

I don't normally quote my own posts but I must apologise for the blurry photos! I took them using the camera on my tablet and on the tablet screen they are quite sharp. On my computer screen, which I am looking at now, they look awful.

 

[Manxcat]

In 1977, when I was just 21, I applied for a job in the civil service in Scotland. The interview panel of three men asked me a number of general questions about why I wanted a civil service job and finally moved on to whether I had a hobby which I considered a passion. When I said I was a railway modeller they were all very interested and the questions turned, to my surprise, into whether I would model an actual prototype or not. I managed to turn this around to the fact that I was still planning my latest layout but not a week before had visited Ballachulish with a fellow club member to effectively produce a basic survey of what remained of the station and its environs, for him to make an accurate layout. I explained my secondary hobby of photography allowed me to record what was left of the buildings for my friend.

 

The rest of the interview shot past and I left quite confident that I had made a good impression. Less than a week later I got the job. My friend didn't start building for some months, at which point he decided his interest lay more in German railways and that is what he modelled from then onwards.

 

Archie

 

[john new]

52 minutes ago, figworthy said:

 

Not unique to ball sports sadly.  I was talking to a neighbour a couple of years back, and he was repeating a tale his son had told him.  He was travelling by train to the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and a fair proportion of the passengers had had a skinful before they got off the train.  What state they were in at hoof off (and home time) is anyone's guess.

 

Adrian

Similarly, a regular sight at York Station on race day is pax getting off morning trains smashed to the eyeballs on the way to the races. Smart suits on both men and women, later many very tousled and crumpled people wobbling their way back with the females carrying their high heel shoes.

[St Enodoc]

10 hours ago, Northmoor said:

rugby and beer (normally lager actually)

Shurely shome mishtake...

[St Enodoc]

5 hours ago, Adam88 said:

Herbert Hoover, one time president of the USA, was in casual conversation with a lady who asked his profession to which he replied: "I am an engineer".  "Oh", said she, "I thought you were a gentleman".  Appearances can be deceptive.

She obviously didn't know the difference, namely that a gentleman washes his hands after he's been to the toilet, whereas an engineer...

Edited January 26, 2022 by St Enodoc