Stephen Lacey (92245) Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 My mates try to take the micky for me volunteering at the Bluebell etc, and try and embarress me in front of girls when we are out, but it is actually quite refreshing how many girls (between the ages of 22 to 30 odd) are actually quite impressed with it and my passion for it as well. Think they may be intreiged that I dont fit the public perseption of the typical spotter by not wearing a cagool, NHS horn rimmed glasses and being on the sex offenders resigster.... At work a few of the managers (especially the financial bean counters) would make snide remarks every so often which suprised me seeing as a couple of them actually spent their weekends restoring MG cars. Anyway any sort of snide remark was delt with in a finanical matter....."how much does you MG cost?...oh £4k......yeah my toy trains I play with down the Blubeell cost in excess of £100k......makes your little car seem a bit matchbox doesn't it?....." That usually shut them up and stumped my career development! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldshutterbug Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 I think I must be a bit of a Flasher as I read Model Railway Magazines everywhere, pleased to say I have made several friends because of it, IMO when you are involved in the best hobby in the world its something to be proud of. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold bcnPete Posted July 13, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 13, 2010 I must admit, I don't read the railway mags on the train/buses but I do surf the RMWeb on my Iphone as its a little more descrete - If I visit the UK, at the airport I usually dive in WHS and buy the modeller, however I sneak it in my bag as if it was something from the topshelf That said, here in Spain, although Scaletrix seems to be more popular as a hobby, people are genuinely more interested to see my trains rather than the architectural models of houses...which one would think they can relate to more... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 I must confess, it's not something I would normally bother talking about or bringing into the open any more than I would any of my other predilections, unless someone brought it up. I'd more likely be banging on about my beloved Scottish Borders in general, rather than the specifics of the Waverley route and its trains. During a recent assignment it transpired that a colleague was an avid DCC operator, so after that it became as normal a topic of conversation as any other in the workplace, or after in the pub. Most folk who know me do so through punk rock; in that context the railway element is considered normal to a lot of people! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jemstein123 Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 My mates try to take the micky for me volunteering at the Bluebell etc, and try and embarress me in front of girls when we are out, but it is actually quite refreshing how many girls (between the ages of 22 to 30 odd) are actually quite impressed with it and my passion for it as well. Think they may be intreiged that I dont fit the public perseption of the typical spotter by not wearing a cagool, NHS horn rimmed glasses and being on the sex offenders resigster.... At work a few of the managers (especially the financial bean counters) would make snide remarks every so often which suprised me seeing as a couple of them actually spent their weekends restoring MG cars. Anyway any sort of snide remark was delt with in a finanical matter....."how much does you MG cost?...oh £4k......yeah my toy trains I play with down the Blubeell cost in excess of £100k......makes your little car seem a bit matchbox doesn't it?....." That usually shut them up and stumped my career development! See I like classic Cars i would collect models of them if i had the money because its all about spending .. I am a girl and this proves your theory I am quite impressed with the passion and the time and the effort that is put in to create your own layout. Good For you! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvian Tennant Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 I'm a goth and proud and I'm a railway modeller and proud! When I stopped seeing it as a stigma, others tended to not see it as a stigma! Though that doesn't apply to all Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue star control Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 I'm a goth and proud and I'm a railway modeller and proud! When I stopped seeing it as a stigma, others tended to not see it as a stigma! Though that doesn't apply to all As a few will know, I started in model railways officially when I was 9, my first purchase being some bits of track and a couple of wagons from the old days of C&G Model Railways in Darlington. I found it odd when I would buy the old issues Railway Modeller, and children in my class would ask my why I was into it....My normal responce was just that I've always been into railways. Now 25 (not far off 26) I share the same state as Sylvian of being very much into the goth/metal/rock/punk/80's alternative....and it proves these days to be a good conversational point whilst I work at Wickes. They see the long hair and the 'strange' earings and automatically think 'student'..then they ask the questions and depending on what they ask...I drop in something about the hobby being relevant to my using a given product. And the same can be said about going to Whitby too, When I attended the Whitby Goth Weekend festival's, at the time my wife and I lived in Whitby (Bonus!!) and friends/visitors would come back to the flat with our hospitality, they'd see the railway photos and often the question was asked....'you like railways then?'....most definatly!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted October 28, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 28, 2010 I suppose one of the benefits of being a Goth modeller is that it must be easy to find brass bits when they drop on the black carpet Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue star control Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 I suppose one of the benefits of being a Goth modeller is that it must be easy to find brass bits when they drop on the black carpet LOL...If only!!....that said though a purple carpet would be nice...'looks down at the green low pile office style carpet'....it does make for good fun though...especially when your in a timber shop picture the scene....madfish (big shark boots - do a google search) skinny fit regular cut jeans, a brando leather jacket and long hair (blonde/black/blue/pink/red...what ever takes your fancy) standing in the middle of your local timber shop and the staff are looking at you abit oddly, then you come out with something VERY specific...that they're taken aback kinda thinking 'ohh good grief....he knows what he's talking about' lol...Ahh all good fun One day..One day my wife and I shall be back in Whitby Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted October 28, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 28, 2010 standing in the middle of your local timber shop and the staff are looking at you abit oddly, then you come out with something VERY specific... Did you ask for 9 Inch Nails, then? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Ha ha such diversity.... I think I would rather hide my copy of rm inside fiesta or razzle ! Again the link between music and models . Must be the creative brain I guess. I just confessed to liking "30 seconds to mars" amongst much laughter.apparantly im too old to like them ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady_Ava_Hay Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 She makes a good ranging pole - "Just stand next to that please while I take a photo..." (5'6" at 4mm:1 foot = 22mm). I once did this. I asked her to lie down between the drivers on a West Country once. Then the whistle blew........... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Hi, I always say that I'm a Railway Modeller, which at 16, when you should be liking girls (which I do before you ask! ), is considered a bit strange. But when I show people my photos of my layout, they get really interested. The people at school got really intertested when my Headteacher annouced that I had written an Article in RM in assembly! ( ) . People still make jokes about me being the only one who likes trains, but then I say RMweb has 10,000 members and probably only accounts for a small population of railway modellers in the country, then they shut up! When ever we are out, mum says that dad and I are railway modellers, as if it was a forbidden subject, but then sometimes, the person says, I like model railways too! In fact, we had sold an old chin cabinet a year or so ago and the one of men who came to take it away asked us "Who's is the model railway?" (we had a part of it in the kitchen) We then had a long talk about it! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
0O00 Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Hi, I always say that I'm a Railway Modeller, which at 16, when you should be liking girls (which I do before you ask! ), is considered a bit strange. But when I show people my photos of my layout, they get really interested. The people at school got really intertested when my Headteacher annouced that I had written an Article in RM in assembly! ( ) . People still make jokes about me being the only one who likes trains, but then I say RMweb has 10,000 members and probably only accounts for a small population of railway modellers in the country, then they shut up! When ever we are out, mum says that dad and I are railway modellers, as if it was a forbidden subject, but then sometimes, the person says, I like model railways too! In fact, we had sold an old chin cabinet a year or so ago and the one of men who came to take it away asked us "Who's is the model railway?" (we had a part of it in the kitchen) We then had a long talk about it! Simon I was 16 when I ditched model railways in favour of girls, beer and cars (ok thats two years too young for the middle one!). Picked it back up again when I was 32 and I still like beer and cars. As for girls, well I married one of those and she quickly turned into a 'pal' and understands my hobby. She doesn't necessarily shout it from the rooftops to everyone. She knows that I am fairly selective who I talk to about my railway interests but I guess it helps that I have many other things going on including sport and outdoor pursuits, which means I have other things to talk about. It's a shame that this hobby is seen by some of those outside of it in an awkward light. Jeremy Vine didn't help a few years back when he debated the hobby on Radio 2. A complete prat in any event and certainly didn't cover himself in glory from my perspective! He thought every railway modeller bought Smokey Joe sets and lived in the attick! Railway modelling will be cool one day when everyone is bored of fake tans and celeb trash-mags. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted October 28, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 28, 2010 I was 16 when I ditched model railways in favour of girls, beer and cars (ok thats two years too young for the middle one!). ...and one too young for the last one as well!! Myself, well I have been told that in theory normals, even one as old as me (Sort of thirty something...) spend all their spare cash on the three important things in life, wine, women and song. I point out that 1 - I don't drink, 2 - I can't sing and 3 - My romantic achievements could be documented on the back of a postage stamp let alone a postcard which means I have considerable cash to spend doing something creative, yes, my railway modelling!! Keeps me quiet and out of trouble I suppose!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue star control Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Did you ask for 9 Inch Nails, then? Strangly enough...No.. lol Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 My romantic achievements could be documented on the back of a postage stamp let alone a postcard which means I have considerable cash to spend doing something creative, yes, my railway modelling!! Keeps me quiet and out of trouble I suppose!! Hi, Same here, that's why I keep to my model railways, something I can actually do! Of course you could say that Railway Modellers are normal, the rest of the world is weird! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 I've had all the usual jibes about train sets et al. Recently at work a visiting colleague noticed a picture I had of Shoreditch Station, taken by Jim Connor, on my desktop. He said it would make a nice model. My reply was "really, are you into model railways then?". It transpired that he was modelling in 'N' gauge and we got talking about our layouts. Then there were the usual comments of "show us your trainset then" from other people in the office, taking the pee. Reluctantly I showed them pictures of Harford Street. The mickey taking stopped very quickly, and a couple of people actually wanted to see the layout in the flesh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torn-on-the-platform Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 I do have to explain to a couple of friends that I'm not a 'trainspotter' on a regular basis, though when they ever saw my set at home they would be fascinated. I had some immature members of a previous hockey team who liked to tease me about it on the way to every away match... well, they tried, I'm not ashamed and didn't care what those particular people thought of me! At uni I live with 2 boys and 3 girls. They are all aware of my hobby and I have never come in for any stick. They girls aren't interested atall, the boys will occasionally comment on a picture in a magazine, saying it 'looks cool' or something similar. It is always useful to have someone in the group who has an understanding of railway companies and where they go! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvian Tennant Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 LOL...If only!!....that said though a purple carpet would be nice...'looks down at the green low pile office style carpet'....it does make for good fun though...especially when your in a timber shop picture the scene....madfish (big shark boots - do a google search) skinny fit regular cut jeans, a brando leather jacket and long hair (blonde/black/blue/pink/red...what ever takes your fancy) standing in the middle of your local timber shop and the staff are looking at you abit oddly, then you come out with something VERY specific...that they're taken aback kinda thinking 'ohh good grief....he knows what he's talking about' lol...Ahh all good fun One day..One day my wife and I shall be back in Whitby I HAVE a pruple carpet and it makes the job no easier! I'm tempted to totally make up myself at our next exhibiton!!! I can only imagine the faces as I waffle on about an L1 on it's stopping local in black eye liner and purple lipstick! Oh my lord, madfish what about new rocks!!! though I must admit I wear neither no more! I've went down the army boots line! Please do return, oddly enough, on the Sunday morning I went with a friend to get breakfast at the co-op next to the train station at Whitby and saw none other than a Black 5 pull out! She was relieved of her funny look as I skipped by telling her I was a massive train enthusiast. I actually enjoy building my wagon kits to Bauhaus or Virgin Prunes as well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minster Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 How do you tell people you like to go to model railways shows? You don't, you get two kids and tell them how they would love to see a railway show, Then join the other bored kids with their Fathers, Uncles or Grandads being trundled around the show! John. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterbournecm Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Interesting stuff. I am married with two daughters and have never baulked at my hobby. The facebook side of things is strange though. I regularly upload layout pictures and "publish" them which means any of the friends get a snapshot too. The reaction is often wierd to say the least... I get a range of "nice one - that looks real" to others asking when am I going to get a life etc... I never complain to others about their blurry, boozey oafish night out pictures, or sport pictures, or other hobbies. It seems railways are good fodder to have a dig at by people. I dont take any notice really, just upload more - if they dont like it, delete me - I'll still sleep soundly thanks. One area that is sad is in the railway industry. I have advised people (regrettably) to curb thier enthusiasm when apply for jobs on the railway. I know this is sad, but being a rail enthusiast can be an issue when some people sift through applications. I must admit to finding this a total enigma, as you wouldnt get a job in the music or TV industry without a passion for what you are doing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted November 3, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 3, 2010 One area that is sad is in the railway industry. I have advised people (regrettably) to curb thier enthusiasm when apply for jobs on the railway. I know this is sad, but being a rail enthusiast can be an issue when some people sift through applications. I must admit to finding this a total enigma, as you wouldnt get a job in the music or TV industry without a passion for what you are doing. I know exactly what you mean, Craig.... Of course, on the other hand, something that always amuses me (given that my interests are not particularly secret within the railway industry), is the number of middle and senior managers who 'come out of the woodwork' at model railway exhibitions. It's a case of 'Hello, fancy meeting you here - I didn't realise you were into this!'.... at which point they invariably mumble something along the lines of 'oh yes, I've got a Z/N/TT/OO/EM/P4/O* gauge layout at home' (* delete as applicable)... Alternatively, if they've had the foresight to bring their kids with them, they sometimes say 'oh, my lad asked to come here'......(but I can usually guess the truth!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37023 Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 I am 20 year old, and have no problems telling people i like railways, its my hobby. After all i could be at a show at weekends or bricking windows like other 20 year olds you see and know of. There is nothing to be ashamed of after all its an interest not a life style choice and No one actually cares if you like trains or not.... the only thing i deny about my hobbyis tho when people say "do you sit a on a staion with a flask and anorak and watch trains?" Lets face it no i dont.... theres no propper traction to watch and im allways to busy working on the real things!!!!! all in all what is there to be imbaressed about? Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wollastonblue Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 I used it as a bit of a chat up line last night on a date. "Do you want to come and see my train set?" went down rather well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.