Edge Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 (edited) I’d like to make it perfectly plain that my comments following are not directed at any one person’s posts but as a general comment on the situations mentioned in this thread: The vast majority of women that I’ve met have been most appreciative of good work and good layouts. However, they have also found the vast majority of efforts to accommodate them to be somewhat overzealous and ultimately unnecessary. We have a hobby here which is ready made for anyone to join in. Quite literally anyone can pick up a Hornby train set and get stuck in with whatever they want in whatever way they want. Indeed, my female friends who have come to me with exhibitions were only put out when someone was trying to be ‘nice to the ladies’ and did something inadvertently patronising (although this forms a quite phenomenal minority). Most women really don’t WANT to be encouraged into a particular hobby, And model railway-ing along with wargaming are the only two communities which are open and relaxed enough to invite all comers without making anyone feel patronised or left out. We’re a big tent people, room for all Edited March 28, 2018 by Edge 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Girls/ women are more than welcome of course, but regardless of this virtue signalling crimethink world we live in, model chuffers are more commonly appealing to men, because unlike most women , we don’t grow up... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted March 28, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 28, 2018 The reason few women get themselves involved in model railways as a hobby is largely IMHO because few are involved in real railways as a hobby. Historically, railways were a man's world, and those who were interested enough to be enthusiasts were mostly men. Although society has changed and is changing in a way that is more inclusive to women (and about time too), our hobby is overwhelmingly peopled by white middle class middle aged men, and this in itself is not attractive to women. Or people from a different background, or ethnicity. The trouble is that we like it like this and are unlikely to make much effort to change it, though of course all are welcome in our big tent. We just don't look like anything they'd want! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 It is what it is ... we don't want to go down the route of ' targets ' do we like some company's are forced to Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 I'm confused as to " white middle aged middle class men " not being attractive . My wife thinks I'm sexy as .... Probably the group most descriminated against these days Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Dava Posted March 28, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 28, 2018 Maybe it's the 'railway' aspect puts some of them off....the blokey obsession with locos, hardware, operational details? There are female modellers I've learned a lot from who are very skilled with figure painting, trees, landscape, buildings. Very good with fine details and the more aesthetic aspects of the scene. I'm not going to paint another back scene after Mrs Dava rescued my last one. The skills of designing and making fine craftwork, jewellery, crochet, painting, dolls houses, theatre sets etc are directly transferable to finescale modelling, for those who become interested. But not necessarily the trains! Making layouts intriguing to girls at exhibitions may also be part of it, by engaging the imagination. There are modellers on here who do that, others don't appear to. Why is 'World's End' so popular at shows? Dava 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Vecchio Posted March 28, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 28, 2018 My current better half actually brought me back to railway modelling. (Probably it was too cold at the club airfield for her where I flew my model aeroplanes... which I still do but much reduced) So she said why not building again a layout? Also she has an interest on preserved prototype trains and we had several rides from Ffestiniog to Epping-Ongar, Dartmouth steam railway, Fort William to Mallaig, Isle of Wight and so on. She even went on a ride in a Pullman car without me (I thought for that money I rather invest into a new locomotive...). We also have been on model railway exhibitions together. So - yes I am a happy man and for 2019 we are planning to visit miniature wonderland in Hamburg as well as a rail tour into the Swiss alps. The only comment I got so far is that the layout I am working on currently is rather on the large side.... (Donnersbachkogel) 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgman Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 More likely to get you a slap and a knee in the nuts... My ex would have even taken them with her when she left given the chance !!! P.I.Stonbroke Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted March 29, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 29, 2018 It is what it is ... we don't want to go down the route of ' targets ' do we like some company's are forced to I agree, it is what it is, and targets or mission statements would be the death of it. It will change in it's own time and at it's own rate, as society itself becomes more inclusive and accepting. I doubt any model railway club would overtly prevent women or anyone else from joining, but the current situation would I suspect be one where women members are culturally expected to be 'one of the boys', 'as good as any of us' and so on, which is not really accepting them on their own terms as well as ours. My squeeze enjoys (and is by no means bad at) driving, and is beginning to absorb the finer points, planning moves and devising her own shunts on a layout designed for complex shunting. Her driving sessions are a joint enterprise with me acting as signalman, as she does not yet fully understand the function or points and signals, which I have to set for her, but I have no doubt she will absorb this in her own time; it is, I think, important not to allow my ebullient enthusiasm to force the skills on to her as it will destroy the fun from her point of view. The layout is a BLT which is extremely simple in the electrical sense, with the turnouts directing current where it is needed as part of route setting by hand (automation is a future project), so there is no control panel for her to learn. As a child in Poland, she and her siblings had a train set, Piko I think, that they played with. She loves some of my detail cameos; the sheep blocking the road on the overbridge (no bus for me), Taliesin the cat sitting on his pile of boxes and crates by the goods shed supervising activities, and the lady waiting her turn outside the telephone box. I think it is a good thing for your relationships if you have them to involve your partner, but it is very dependent on the partner's willingness to become involved; in my case she was having a conversation about something completely unrelated with me during an operating session and asked if she could have a go. Even at the first attempt her driving was smooth and sensitive, and improves continually, because she herself wants to be better at it. She is good enough to criticise poor driving on YouTube layouts! 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 (edited) My wife thinks I am an absolute wan&er, and cannot understand why I would want to do anything that did not concern her personal view of aesthetics. But she will still "reluctantly" ride the odd steam line now and again. Even she will concede a certain street cred when we are inundated with concern about the progress of my layouts, garden or barn, even though almost all of those asking at the local bar, think I am an absolute wan&er, because that is the correct thing to believe in polite society (and may have some basis in fact). But they will secretly offer practical advice and even sources of material I need. It is definitely the garden line that is the bird puller. Many of them are quite attractive ladies, albeit of a certain age. Just saying. Edited March 30, 2018 by Mike Storey 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted March 30, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 30, 2018 My wife thinks I am an absolute wan&er, and cannot understand why I would want to do anything that did not concern her personal view of aesthetics. But she will still "reluctantly" ride the odd steam line now and again. Even she will concede a certain street cred when we are inundated with concern about the progress of my layouts, garden or barn, even though almost all of those asking at the local bar, think I am an absolute wan&er, because that is the correct thing to believe in polite society (and may have some basis in fact). But they will secretly offer practical advice and even sources of material I need. It is definitely the garden line that is the bird puller. Many of them are quite attractive ladies, albeit of a certain age. Just saying. I take it that you are talking about the famous Bistro St Pierre Mike. I am also asked about my layout whenever I go in. I can now tell them that it is there. Jamie 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Its very simple guys............... Treat your lady like your sound decoder installations, firstly, find the one you want and take home, always take great care during transport. Then remove the packaging very slowly and ensure everything is in the right place. If it is not you may wish to abandon your project at this point......... 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coppercap Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Its very simple guys............... Treat your lady like your sound decoder installations, firstly, find the one you want and take home, always take great care during transport. Then remove the packaging very slowly and ensure everything is in the right place. If it is not you may wish to abandon your project at this point......... You're not really Swiss Tony by any chance? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Swiss Toni? All I can say is that hearing my Paul Chetter sound fitted 47s throbbing on my depot as they enter the shed is like...........................making love to a beautiful woman........................ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted March 31, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 31, 2018 Swiss Toni? All I can say is that hearing my Paul Chetter sound fitted 47s throbbing on my depot as they enter the shed is like...........................making love to a beautiful woman........................ They can't be, they keep going all day long when you're stuck next to one at a show. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 Its very simple guys............... Treat your lady like your sound decoder installations, firstly, find the one you want and take home, always take great care during transport. Then remove the packaging very slowly and ensure everything is in the right place. If it is not you may wish to abandon your project at this point......... ...... her legs and her hair She left on the chair Side by side.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 I take it that you are talking about the famous Bistro St Pierre Mike. I am also asked about my layout whenever I go in. I can now tell them that it is there. Jamie No, rarely go there now, although Russell keeps asking me when you will be back. We tend to stick to the Concorde PMU, as the coffee is much better, and they now have outdoor heaters. Luxury!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 I freely admit that one of the key attractions of the club I ended up joining, was the sub-group of (mostly) retired and semi-retired, widely travelled railwaymen and oil terminal personnel (who are teaching me to lay track, which I find very absorbing) There is also one woman member, and her teenage son, who is being coached as an exhibition layout operator. They seem to fit right in, which is probably the mark of a good club. Regarding ethnicities and cultures, I’ve met various modellers, model-makers and model engineers in my travels. I had a model locomotive on my desk occasionally, which attracted a lot of attention - the electrical engineers even rigged a power supply for it, by some sparkies’ trick or other. But, it has to be recognised that a hobby like this comes down to available space and disposable income, which in a lot of places and cultures, simply aren’t available. There’s also the slightly tricky point that many Muslims regard representational art as haram, unacceptable. Engineering models are fine, because they come under the same logic as pets being haram, while hunting or working dogs are permitted, but not representational models for pleasure or amusement. So I would only do this in certain places. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted March 31, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 31, 2018 Its very simple guys............... Treat your lady like your sound decoder installations, firstly, find the one you want and take home, always take great care during transport. Then remove the packaging very slowly and ensure everything is in the right place. Will you be showing any unboxing videos? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 Will you be showing any unboxing videos? No. Nor will there be any videos showing how to attach protection using a plastic covering for safety................... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 They can't be, they keep going all day long when you're stuck next to one at a show. Jamie Some of us can and some of us can't.................... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairburn Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 Some of us can and some of us can't.................... In life imitating model form, aren't there stay alive capacitors these days? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 In life imitating model form, aren't there stay alive capacitors these days? I always use stay alive................. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharris Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 If you tell her she has all the looks of a model... ... best to stop there and not say it was a model of a Q1 you were thinking of. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted March 31, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 31, 2018 (edited) Many of them are quite attractive ladies, albeit of a certain age. Just saying. Please, explain... I will be most interested to see you dig your way out of this one should any woman come across this suicidal comment. It is bad enough to start with, but you have really pushed the boundaries with 'quite', and 'albeit'. I used to do this sort of thing a lot, and learned the hard way! Edited March 31, 2018 by The Johnster Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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