Getting your wife involved


NYC_George

NYC_George

Well-Known Member
Most of the structures on my layout were done by my wife. We started this as a joint venture. She would do the structures, building, abutments, some of the bridges etc. and I would do the track. She shows off the photos, videos, etc. to her friends. She's very creative. She once made a teddy bear out of old men's ties. I've never seen any thing like it. So maybe you have another modeler in the house and don't even know it. This is a real old photo and it's not very clear but it's her first attempt at a steam engine coaling tower.

coaling_tower.jpg


NYC_George
 
In my case, my wife is happy I have a hobby. Her's is shopping. :) I'm sure there are women who would like to and can get involved in some aspect of model railroading. I'm just happy if she thinks what I do is "cute".
 
Buying and Happy

Guys Just that their happy and buying you things is way more important then building some structures. I just thought I'd throw that out there about my wife helping.

NYC_George
 
I'm into trains & my wife's into Quilting. She's always talking to me about helping her to cut out 325 squares for a new quilt & I always ask her to install about 100 ft. of track. She says no & I say no. So, we just do our own hobbies & leave it at that. Can U imagine cutting 325 little 1&1/2" pieces of fabric? Won't happen for me.

Larry
 
I'm with Larry on this one. She has her thing and I have mine. I nod politely and say "yes dear that looks nice" and she does the same for me. One happy family LOL
 
my wife just told me she doesn't even like trains at all, she just acts like it because she thinks its makes me happy! :( You guys that have your wife involved in your hobby are very fortunate...My wife doesn't even have a hobby she certainly can't understand the love for mine!

-Rich
 
My wife has no interest in it yet, but I'm hoping she might as I get more done. I'm also hoping my daughter will take an interest in it, but she's not even a year old yet. I'm just glad my wife lets me use the attic.
 
I'm in the planning stages of an N-scale layout, and had started cleaning out a finished room in the basement.

My girlfriend came up from the basement the other day and said "I just looked at the train room, and it doesn't seem like it's nearly big enough!" She's also keen to build some structures.

She's a keeper.
 
Never had any desire to have my wife interested in my hobbies. Would rather do what I do on my own. She has her things to do, and I do mine. We're still together after 40 years, so it seems to be working!
 
I'm a wife and I'm getting into it. I'll tell you what hooked me... little cows! They are so cute! And the little people and houses! I was addicted to "The Sims" before, which is a computer game where you build houses and people. So it's a similar concept. I'm frankly more into the landscape than the actual train, and he's into the train. I said put down all the tracks you like, but leave me room for my houses and farms.

Getting your daughter into it shouldn't be too hard, Nekom,... I mean how different is this from a dollhouse, really? If you want your daughter to get into it, I suggest, when she's about 5 or 6, reading the "Little House on the Prairie" books to her. Skip "Farmer Boy", but read the rest. The first few have nothing to do with trains, but "By the Shores of Silver Lake" is about Pa getting a job on the railroad and moving the family. You could build the town of De Smet, and Silver Lake! You could build Pa's homestead! She might be more into the little people than the trains, but still, it is something you can do together.
 
At first, my wife couldn't understand why I'd be interested in anything like MRRing. It was nothing more then a gigantic waste of time and money to her. Oddly enough, she didn't, and had never had, a hobby for herself. She saw no value at all in such things.

I'm happy to say that all of that has changed now.

She likes to read (she has a hobby!) and she sees that MRRing is not only a stress relief for me, but it also keeps me home and out of trouble!

I think it all started a couple of years ago. She has Muscular Dystrophy, and she never let it slow her down.....until a couple of years ago. Thats when she started to have trouble walking. She started reading and realized what value doing relaxing things had.

Since then, she's gone to a train show with me (her idea!), she's encouraged me to buy hobby things that I'm interested in, she insisted that when we bought a new house a year and a half ago that it "had" to have a train room, she bought me a Digitrax Super Chief radio equipped setup complete for Christmas 2006, and has suggested that I might like to join a MRR club.

Yup, she's a keeper!
 
Nicole, welcome to the hobby. Maybe that's my problem, I have no little cows on my layout. :) I do have some ducks on my lake but I don't think they are quite cute enough. I can certainly see how being addicted to The Sims on your computer could translate into trying some of those things in real life. I'll be interested to see some pictures of your creations.

That's a very good suggestion abut the Little House on the Prarie series as a way of getting young children interested at least in the general concept of railroading. Actually, I think most parents would do well just to spend some time reading almost anything to their children. It builds a bond that may make it so they don't want to run out the door when you get home.

Phillip, I would agree that your wife's a keeper. Funny how changed circumstances can change our outlook on life, isn't it?
 
My wife isn't particularly interested in the trains, but she does appreciate fine craftsmanship and models in general. She haa a very artistic eye which is a great help when dealing with color choices, etc. When I eventually build my layout, I'll be using her consulting services a lot. Maybe I'll even get her to do some hands-on work. I'm hoping she will at least paint the backdrop!

I've been re-reading the Little House series. What's wrong with Farmer Boy? :)
 
My wife has always been very understanding of all of my hobbies, or adventures as she calls them. She's big into quilting and things such as that so I have spent quite a bit of time in quilt shops. Heck, I even have my own quilt that I picked out the fabrics and she put together. I also used to race mountain bikes in 24 hour solo races and my wife ran my pit area for me....very dedicated.

As for the MRR building, she goes to the LHS with me almost every time I go down there and she looks at the rolling stock and buildings to see if anything appeals to her. I'd like her to have some input every once in a while and she will eventually. She did buy me a sheet of pink foam this weekend so I could start laying some track. We're a team with most things and I'm sure that the MRR will be the same way.
 
We ran into a woman at the local train show yesterday who was waiting for her husband, who was off somewhere. Not sure if she was resting or what, but she did say that she was into the hobby as much as he was, and couldn't wait until he started building the layout....

Kennedy
 
What's wrong with Farmer Boy is it's a diversion from the awesome adventures of Laura! I made the mistake of reading it when I was 7 when what I REALLY wanted to read was "On the Banks of Plum Creek".

A De Smet railroad would be pretty cool... but there don't seem to be a lot of 1870s-1880s figures out there... most seem to be Civil War era or early 1900s. Early 1900s would be better, I think, hoop skirts are too big for the bustle era, though apparently they make a comeback in "Little Town on the Prairie". I guess you could fudge it and do some of both.

I'm telling you, little people and animals is the way to get your wives into it. Ask your wives about their input on little people.
 
It's true. On those occasions my wife comes to the hobby store with me, she is always drawn to the figures. She is particularly amused by the strange Prieser figures, like the sexy santa.

As a child, I skipped Farmer Boy, but I'm reading it now and find it quite interesting! :)
 
My wife (okay girlfriend) loves muscle cars and has her own that she places and moves around the layout. She is a martial arts instructor so she's currently looking for HO figures of that. She also grabs a throttle now and then and runs a train. She admits she'd rather have me downstairs than in the bars looking at, um, "other things".
She also can't wait for the snow to melt so we can start the G scale empire up the hill!
 
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