Famous quotes from your spouse!

One thing my wife often says that I feel she's right about:

"You have too many hobbies!"

I can't argue that one, I do wish I wasn't interested in so many different things...

"Why didn't you remind me that the auction was about to close?"...re an auction I had no idea she had even put on 'watch'!!

 

#2...."Whaddya mean we might not be able to get to the next York!! Where's the problem??"....while ducking for cover.

 

#3..."You bid too much on that 'best offer'!!....I told you to bid lower!  But, congratulations, anyway!!"

 

"4..."Why don't we go down to the basement and run some trains??  Do you know how long it's been since the trains have been run?????"

 

....and so it goes.

 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

 

KD

A friend of mine and his brother tried that on their dad once...his answer was "See this wallet? What fits in there is what you're getting. Get over it."

Thanks all for your responses- GREAT reading!

I tend to follow the speed limits (mostly). When my wife and I are on our way to something she is anxious to attend she will tell me to "drive like you are gong to the train show" ! 

Gentlemen,

    When my wife does something completely illogical that makes no sense at all, and costs us serious money, "I am a professional musician, you know I was like this when you married me".

 

The problem is I really did know!

 

PCRR/Dave

And Dave, she also loves for your trains & layout as well. Did she know this as well before she married you? 

"I love it that you have a hobby.  It keeps you home with us"

 

The best quote so far.

My  marital strategy was to get my wife in to doll collecting. THAT is expensive but I went to shows with her and bought her lots of books etc. Sometimes there was a toy collector at a show with some old tinplate. after looking at a $7,000 french doll, train prices didn't look so bad.  My wife did like toy trains -to a point. Our Xmas was layout was an HO Marklin which I added to each year. My kid left it behind in one of his divorce moves so I lost it. Good running trains.

Just this Wednesday: "We don't have any train stuff for Parker under the tree - you have to go buy trains".  Unfortunately, the 3 Vision Lines sitting at the LHS had already been spoken for, otherwise, the 2 year old grandson would have had a a new "smoking engine".  (he did get several Thomas items).

Back in the mid-90's when I had "finished" my first (version of the...) layout, my wife and I had been talking about the reactions guests had to being in the train-room and seeing the layout. We were standing next to a section that was approx. 14' long x 10' wide, which was totally dedicated to a roundhouse, turntable, and freight yard. We had noticed that few guests stopped at this section to look further, nobody commented on any of its features, and I certainly did not add to the entertainment value by operating any aspects of this facility because I was busy running everything else, answering questions, and being the host. I certainly wasn't bringing any locomotives out from the roundhouse and/or composing freight consists.

 

She stood next to the layout, right next to this particular area, and while gesturing with her right arm over the whole feature, said, "Get rid of this."

 

She was right. And I did.

 

The next day (well, over a couple of days and nights), I cleared everything away and replaced the "plug" of plywood that had been jig-sawed out (and saved!) of the platform to accommodate the turntable, supporting it from beneath so that it could withstand my being atop the layout once again at this site, crafting a whole new vista (partially seen here, in one of its latest reiterations).

I love this hobby.

Frank

I started dating a nice woman two years ago this spring.  She makes her living as a graphic artist and is an excellent artist besides.  She went to design school and makes her living that way.

 

We had been dating a few months when she said, "What is the scale of the trains you collect?"  I replied, "I collect and run O Gauge."  She said, "But what is that?  Is it like 1/24th, 1/32nd, or 1/64th scale, or something else?"  I was impressed and replied that "It's 1 to 48".

 

Shortly after that, she asked me, "If a train rode on the street by the house, how high do you think it would reach?  To the top of the porch?  Mid-way up the second floor windows?"  She asked the same question later when we were on a train to NYC.  She noted the answer to her own question whenever the train pulled into a station.

 

Meanwhile, I didn't notice that she would wake up very early in the mornings and was measuring the outside of my house for several mornings over a few weeks.  For that Christmas, she gave me an exact 1:48 replica of my house.  It was the first model she had ever built.

 

I was knocked off my pins -- completely. All I could say was "I have been doing this for 45 years and I'm not even worthy enough to carry your paints."  She was a master modeler right out of the gate.

 

 

The above is one side of it while it was under construction.  Note the electricity meter.  A slide show of most of the construction can be seen here.

 

But it gets better.  I designed and am building a layout that will occupy most of the third floor of the house.  I included an 8-foot long bridge that I was going to make by abutting 2 of those great MTH ABS double-track bridges plus some of the connector sections.  I wanted it to be the first thing that caught a visitor's attention upon walking up the stairs and into the room.  She said: "It's your vision, and I don't want to take over, but don't you think that people from around here might appreciate walking in and seeing a model of the Mt. Hope Bridge?"  I hesitated for about 14 milliseconds before saying: "Please, let me just get out of your way."

 

The Mt. Hope is a bridge about 2 miles from our house:

  

 

She is now making a model of it, including LED lighting, etc.  She also said: "If you don't mind, I want to clear out an area because I'd like to build a studio for myself.  I've never had one and it will make it easier for me to make models here.  I think creating a replica of some of the prominent homes on the streets of Bristol (RI) would be striking and would work well on the layout."

 

Yes, boys and girls, it's official: I have died and gone to heaven.

 

Steven J. Serenska

 

Wow Steve, that's amazing! I'd say she's a keeper. Wonderful modeling skills; the two of you can work together and create a great layout.

Don

 

Steven

You are one lucky guy.  Just one question tho.  Please show us how you get the cars out of the garage.

Steven:

 

Having been brought up in Rhode Island, I have been over the Mt. Hope Bridge many times. This will make an unbelievably great addition to you new layout.

 

You certainly have a very special girl. This is what we call call a "keeper".

Don, Dragon Man, and PTC:

 

Thanks for sharing these warm thoughts. I am blessed on many fronts.

 

A few notes about the house model:

• My girlfriend previewed it to my oldest daughter and sister.  I seldom remember just how genetically similar they both are, but I was told that, upon seeing the pictures, my daughter said "Ooof.  He needs to up his game," and my sister responded in one-two, rat-a-tat-tat fashion, "Watch the big oaf break up with her before Christmas...".
• To Dragon Man's question, the garage, unfortunately, follows the actual footprint of the house.  I bought the house from the estate of a 95-year-old woman who had lived in it her entire life.  She had the garage built, but had it done in a size I refer to as a "1 and half car garage".  You can get two cars into it the same way they're shoehorned into the model: You have to back one in and pull the other in nose forward so that the drivers' doors open into the middle space.  In this case, the model definitely parallels reality.  Among other things of note in the garage area of the model, the license plates on the cars are correctly lettered, there's trash in the trash bin and recyclables in the recycling bin, and I do keep my boyhood surfboard on the roof of one of the cars as one of my daughters uses it.  And, yes, I drive two Corvairs as my primary transportation.  To get them out of the model, you reach in with two fingers and slide them out.  The garage door is operational.

It is amazing to have a full-time, professional artist/designer on the premises while building a layout.  There's a section where I will have 3 tunnel portals through which 4 tracks will pass, all on curves.  I was noodling with how to arrange them, and I asked her opinion.  She then a) rearranged them for me, b) they look perfect, and, c) she took the time to explain the design reasons why it all works visually.

 

Can you imagine living with someone who's looking forward to the Big E show in Springfield, Mass in January so she can get more scenery ideas?  As I say, I'm blessed.

 

SJS

This is a great and rare catch, don't let her get away. I'm surprised no one has yet asked if she has any sisters?

".....and you ask me 'why so many pots and pans and dishes I buy"......

 

     Hoppy

When coming along for the first and last time to a train show ... "Some of these guys need showers."

To RTR12

I was going to but then remembered that tomorrow is my 17^th wedding anniversary.  

Sersenska

How about the lip at the front of the garage? Will she do my 6 tunnels?

Well, when I get caught with another engine! The look I get is worth a thousand words. Cause, I ain't ever going to ask "What do you think about this one Honey"!   ......................................................................Brandy

We had a train in our TV room, now we have a TV in our train room!
No spouse or train room anymore. Still got the TV though!

Sad situation !!

Not my wife, but my MOM says..... "How many PFE reefers do you need? I Hate orange!"

 

As many different car numbers as we can get!

Out of the question for me too, we just had our 40th this year in August. Mine is also actually pretty creative and crafty. And she also has a solid maple rolling pin that I think I mistakenly gave her as a gift one time. Young newly married men take note, you need to carefully consider the type of gifts you get for your new spouse. They could easily be held (or used) against you someday.  

rtr12, I got a MARBLE rolling pin for Christmas one year. (But then, I asked for it...and no, it's never been used for anything but rolling out dough!)

 

--Becky (insanely fond of baking)

I think you're ok with giving a rolling pin.  Now if you'd have given her a bowling pin, that could be painful.

My wife says:  "You can't fool me.  Trains only drop in value, they don't appreciate."  Of course she is right.

 

Joe

Where did you get all of those trains?

 

Jeff Davis

I think I may have heard that one myself.  Bob Severin

When a postwar Lionel steam engine would arrive at the door i would show my wife and ask her what she thought.

 

her answer "they all look the same"

 

Now have bought many diesesl engines over the years  !

Asked what do you think each time as well.

 

her answer

"its alright i guess"

 

no longer show her what arrives as she has been putting up with it for almost 30 years.

"You're such a geek I can spot you a mile away shrouded in ground fog...except at a train meet then I can't tell where you are...everyone there looks just like you!"

Years ago my wife told my mother in law, he is always in the basement playing with his trains. Her answer was, well at least you know where he is all the time!

 

Now she said you have too much down there. You need to get rid of some of your stuff. If you die first how am I going to get rid of all that?

 

 

The question that she continually asks and then looks bewildered with the always different response. " why do you need that?"

PTC,

   Brian I think she knew about the trains, but not the cost.  My biggest fear is that when I die, she will actually sell all my trains, for the cost I told her I paid for them.

PCRR/Dave

My wife also likes to bake. So far I have been able to dodge the rolling pin, but I am not going to get her one made from marble.

 

 

Trust me on this one, the maple one she has could leave a rather large and nasty lump. Lump size would be directly proportional to the amount of wind up prior to impact.

"You have a COMPULSIVE-OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOR DISORDER"... only she said it so very, fast. I've tried to repeat her verbatim but I just can't do it justice. I know she's only trying to compliment me! God Bless Her... that's why I love her so.

I think this is the funniest thread. Love it. When my wife was living I only had rickety old Standard gauge and Lionel pre-war O gauge. My wife didn't like it, she wanted cars that "did something" so now I have early post war that "does something".

Clean up the basement or I'm going on the O-Gauge web site and tell them what a mess your train room is!

Mine told me if I died, she'd sell all my trains in a yard sale and put a $5 tag on each of em no matter what the item was In fact, she has told me that more than once