Well said and I agree but like those you mentioned, were not geeks, were the cool guys!!!!!!!

There are some issues with this...

• You can make the same comments about almost any hobby.
• All hobbies are fun. Otherwise, they'd be work.
• Males, generally, are more into hobbies than females. And like it or not, most people into model trains are male.
• Model trains are, to a degree, geeky. We collectively need to accept that, revel in it, and move on past that fact.
• And while it's a noble effort to pass along a hobby to your kids, that doesn't happen very much. At a model train show on Saturday, a guy was telling me his newborn son will be into model trains. "What was your dad into?" I asked. He frowned and said his dad was into cars and working on engines. "Did you get into that?" I asked. Heck no, he said, he couldn't stand it and wouldn't even change his own oil. "So, knowing that, what makes you think your kid will be into your hobby and not hate it like you do your Dad's interest?"

Now, all that said, I think model trains are a great way to spend your time. Otherwise, I wouldn't be into it... But these things need to be said.

Thanks for sharing John.    This is the only part that I would take issue with...

...while the ladies get absorbed in the terrain, scenery and buildings.  The fun for the mom and children is building cities with streets, stores and homes

I get a kick out of doing scenery and obviously when you look at some of the photos posted by members on this forum, you can see that there are a lot of guys here who are real talented artists.

I don't model trains....I don't do railroad modeling....I still play with trains  

Great post John.

I credit my Mom with getting me hooked and she's my biggest fan when I get a layout set up. Dad did the work when I was little, but Mom was the driving force. 

Neither my parents were a a driving force as such, but they sure did what they could to support it. Dad made me several wood train toys as a little kid and got me a Lionel O27 set when I was about 6 or so (I still have the locomotive).

When I was 11 (1981), we were going to be in the Chattanooga area and I asked if we could go to TVRM. SRR 630 was running that day, and Mom asked someone if I could get a cab ride. So without me knowing, Mom comes up and says, "They said you could ride in the cab on the way back."

That was my first RR cab ride ever. They were always doing stuff like that. If we knew of a steam locomotive (even a stuffed and mounted one), we always went to it if was near anywhere we were going.

On family trips from home in Florida to visit family in Tennessee, we'd pass by the Memory Station hobby shop in Watkinsville, GA. They always stopped by and let me look around if they were open. And they usually gave me some money to shop there, too.

Yeah, my folks were the greatest, growing up. God knows they weren't perfect (they were pretty overprotective) but I have very few complaints from my youth as far as they're concerned.

My aunt, who lived across the street, let me play with my cousin's, away with high school band practice,  pre-war Lionel set.  My mother got my grandfather to build a "train board" and together, they gave me a Marx set on the board for the

next Christmas.  As for women and hobbies, some men don't have hobbies, and some

women collect dolls, my aunt collected antique furniture (actively and aggressively),

my grandmother (who also collected china figurines) and mother made quilts (my grandmother was a whiz at cranking out quilts and stuff on an old treadle Singer sewing machine) and some of their own clothes, other women have green thumbs and grow flowers and gardens.  Some times I think, "What the heck IS she interested in!?", but then I have to remember all the above.

Call it whatever you want. I call it fun!

I second what Chris said. Trains are to have fun with

You forgot Rod Stewart and Micheal Gross. However, I agree with p51. We are geeks. If Phil Collins, Niel Young, Micheal Gross and Rod Stewart weren't famous rock stars and actors then people would call them geeks too.

IMO It is a diversion from a harsh brutal world.  A place to get lost in more sensible times, where a pay check and food were prime concerns.  It's very easy to turn the media off and play with these toys.  Unfortunately the insanity of this world doesn't go away. IMO  We should consider ourselves very lucky to live in an environment that affords this luxury.   

Mike CT 

John, thanks for posting that article - I needed to be reminded of the fun.

Paul

Please define "....average Joe..."

It's always interesting to me to see what hobbyists think about their hobbies or how they got into them. I don't think my children will follow my interests. When they were younger, they certainly liked to help - usually re-arranging things on the layout or running the trains themselves (fast). I like the creative part of the hobby - imagining and making the little world for the trains to run in.

Me!

I served in the military, believe in God, loved my family, worked hard, never made allot of money but did ok, been a good citizen, always voted, been to 62 straight Yorks, still working PT at age 69 and still having fun with my trains. 

It gets no better then this.

All too true.

I don't understand why people into any hobby strive so hard to 'normalize' something that isn't mainstream.

Why can't people accept they're into something the vast majority of people aren't into and just revel in the fun they have from it?

For me, the funny part is that nobody ever mentions the geeky quality of model trains as I'm into far more geeky stuff than that... I am into sci-fi, have gone to Space Camp as an adult three times (and plan to go next year) among other interests I have.

Geek? Sure. And I have no problem with it.