I was wondering if some of you guys are as lucky as I. Ten years ago,I moved down south,only the meet the women of my dreams,a redhead no less{yeah}. Early in the relationship,I told her about my addiction…trains and model trains.
Her reply was oh thats nice…ten years and four thousand dollars later,my addiction has grown.Sometimes we argue over money,bills ,yada yada ect,ect.She throws up the model train addiction thing in my face. {I’ll give her that ,shes right about me spending to much money on my hobby} my swift reply is…quote. It could be drugs ,gambling,T&A bars,classic cars,airplanes ,guns,salmon fishing {oh how I miss, salmon fishing} ect.
I can safely say I have a very understanding wife.
P.S
If I could ,just get her to help with my hobby,life would be perfect.
As I’ve said before, and will happily say as often as possible: Yes I do. She’s very understanding and supports me fully, though she doesn’t get into it herself. That’s fair, I’m not into scrapbooking which is her big thing. And yes, the classic line holds true: She realizes it’s better than me being out boozing and carousing.
As to the issue that most often leads to lack of understanding between model railroaders and their spouses, it’s luckily not a problem for us. She doesn’t ask what I spend on trains, and I don’t ask what she spends on… well, anything. Neither of us has ever felt the need to monitor the other’s spending, frankly.
I don’t really understand the apparent sentiment expressed by kchronister, but I will say that my wife is a saint. She indulges me reasonably, and keeps me focused. She does keep track of what I spend because I make sure she knows how much that is…we share the responsibilities for our finances. We comprise a team. Team members cooperate.
She’s tolerant, so to say, even will let me stop at the LHS (she wont go it though)
She drags me to all her shops and I dont have a fit when she buys cloths, shoes, etc that i KNOW she doesnt need, it keeps her happy, as she knows my trains keep me happy. Balance I guess they call it.
That plus my hobby before was hard-core mountain biking, I think I would worry her alot, because invariably I came back from a ride all beat up, scrapped, bleeding, and dam near in need of a hospital on two occasions, Hehehe guess this hobby is far easier on her nerves!
Mine is very happy with me and my hobby, when you look at society today not many people my age spend so much time at home with the family, my work mates live in the pubs and bars which puts a strain on things relationship wise.
My wife is not just understanding, she’s a partner in crime when it comes to all things railroading, not just models.
She encourges me to buy the latest greatest crafsman structure kits, so she can build them, My(?) first brass purchase was the complete 1939 COSF with A-B-B all powered, at her request, for her collection. She’s currently building structuires for our new On30 module.
When we go to a Gats or other show, she’s more likely to buy something than I am.
Riding the real thing is her favorite part of the hobby. We’ve done most of the Amtrack routes, most of the name trains in Australia, the Alaska RR, and trains in England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain.
But the best of all was when she suprised me with a “Rent-a-train” (also know as a footplate experience) in Wales. All day with a locomotive and 10 ore cars in with a switching puzzle to solve. And she took turns as engineer and brakeman!
Supportive - within reason of course![;)] I simply need to be ‘up front’ with her about my big-ticket train items (>$50.00). I also try not to spend more than 3 days/2 nights away at various “meets”, even when they have activities that fill up almost a week.
Mine may not be quite as involved as prompter’s, but she is very supportive.
As long as I keep the money to a dull roar she is happy. My five year old daughter Brenda, (six in two weeks) is a keen modeller as well. Brenda (daughter) works on scenery, lays track and operates. Mum does scenery, paints models and such. Me? I lay track, design things, operate. and have a fun time trying to think of where I can incorporate electronics into trains.
My daughter and I have a weekly ritual of going to at least one hobby shop, my wife sometimes comes with us. I suppose often enough that the folks at Georges Trains know her by name! Of course Brenda and I indulge mummy in her bridge playing addiction, so we all end up happy!
My wife enjoys all my hobbies as much as I do. She enjoys working on my layout but doesn’t spend a lot of time in the basement. She has her own ATV, loves fishing more then I do and loves going to car shows with my Trans Am, she tells everybody its HER car. She did ask me to stop drag racing awhile ago and gave a good enough reason so I did. I couldn’t imagine a married couple not wanting to spend time together doing things.
Both my birthday and our wedding anniversary fall in November. For my birthday she got me an Paasche VL airbrush. For our anniversary she got me a BLI UP MT-73 4-8-2 engine! She said, “I just want to be sure you know how much I support your hobby.”
Yes my wife was very understanding, she understood those stupid trains must go, so one day she threw out a $2,000.00 Lionel set in o scale while I was at work. I had bought it and put it together for my son. That is where my understanding came into play. I had to make a choice between trains or her, so I choose the trains. Now she is my ex-wife and she understands that trains are more important than her! P.s. I still have the kid!
My wife, while not a modeler herself, loves my train addiction. She never complains about the time I spend with the hobby, and I make sure that the time doesn’t get obsessive (I do most of my kit building upstairs with the rest of the family, for example, and have switched to ‘non stinky’ products). She actively enjoys railfanning with me (steam only, of course!), and has been bugging me for a couple of years to take her on a weekend long steam fantrip.
And since she’s a realtor and loves old houses, my presents for the past three years have been every one of the Branchline laser cut structure kits they’ve released!
Remember the “hurricane”? I still can’t get over that, but David’s is just as bad. I wonder if both are a case of not getting mad…just getting even. I would like to think that modelers are above reproach…except that I am a modeler, and cannot claim to be above reproach. [:I]
I’m one of the lucky ones to! Years ago when we bought our home which is 130 years old and has five bedrooms, first thing we did was redo the whole upstairs just her and I. 4 tons of old plaster and truck loads of old lath hauled away, she was right beside me getting into the dirt, she helped me insulate, wire, drywall, hang lites and paint! After the smoke cleared and the bank book was drained, she told me I should build a small layout in one of the bedrooms upstairs! My wife helped me do the benchwork, and lay track. I feel she is happy because I am! I put a 24 by 24 addition on my 3 car garage several years ago, she has helped me build my present set up and helps me when she can. The money part of modeling? I keep her up to date and ask if it is ok! I always get a thumbs up!
My wife is very understanding about the trains and is my partner in construction of Our layouts and is the main scenery builder. She goes to the LHS with me and we both control the money we spend on the hobbies. She likes to go to The railroad museums too. Her standards are higher than mine I will say good enough and she will say do it over til it’s right.
Yes, my wife is very understanding. While not into modeling herself, she’s always excited to see what progress I’ve made or what I’ve brought home from the LHS.
