i have a horrible story about how my family thinks i am alittle kid because i play with trains at the age of 41. they teased me all day and night to the point i turned the trains off and put them away. does anyone have this problem.
sticks and stones will break by bones but names will never hurt me. Just turn up the sound volume on the trains
I find people like that to be very ignorant. Do they ever say what a grown man is supposed to do with his time? Or their money? Do they ever express interest in anything besides gossip or making money? Forgive me if I am placing my own past discussions in this thread! 
I look at the holidays as being a chance to share my interests with others. Just like they would share their winemaking hobby, cooking hobby, singing or sports. I accept that they don’t all share the same interest, but don’t think of them as lesser friends.
Sounds like they are giving you a pretty rough time. Me, I would do what I want and keep running the trains.
Get the trains back out and start playing with them again. Show them pictures of Dads and their children playing with trains, and tell them this has been going on for 100 years. Then ask them if they would rather have you spending your time and money in a bar, or chasing women.
I am in my mid 50’s, and just had a great day playing with my trains, and just designed another layout for myself.
Don’t let the grinches spoil your hobby.
Larry
No!
Tell them that you enjoy your trains, continue to run them and maybe someone will join you, or tell them to eat Taylor Ham (John Taylor Pork Roll)!!!
http://www.jerseyporkroll.com/what.htmMerry Christmas,
Ralph
Many of us have had to put our trains away for awhile. Some of us have even lost our childhood trains, only to find we were able to regain them, and then some later.
Here’s hoping that someday in the future you will have an opportunity to separate from and overcome the situation you find yourself in now!
Sometimes those that we are close to are the ones that know us the least, like family members at Christmas. My teenage daughter hates the trains but did the decorating on the layout for Christmas and the portable layout. Later I asked why and she stated she loves the buildings and little people but does not like the trains. We then made a deal that she can do the buildings and people and I will run the trains.
As above basically stated sometimes it just you need to find a way to incorporate them into helping with the setup/design of the layout as it may just be they feel there being left out of your life that your not including them in something and feel there being rejected.
So, an adult enjoying a fun, harmless hobby is the one acting like a little kid? But, the other adults “teasing” you aren’t acting like little kids? That seems very odd.
As others have said, just ignore them and enjoy your trains. As long as our hobby (no matter what the hobby is) doesn’t harm anyone or cause us to neglect our faith, family, or job, then you have nothing to be ashamed about.
Merry Christmas,
Joe
I must say, that is a horrible story. When you say your “family”, who are we talking about? Your parents? Your children? Your siblings?
First of all, if you actually played with trains as a kid, then why would your family members tease you as an adult? That has been an adult pasttime for probably 100 years or more.
Second of all, teasing you “all day and night”? What is with them?
I could maybe see a little momentary teasing is you were laying on the floor with your head on the floor like my 2-year old grandson pulling a little Fisher Price plastic toy car around, but that is not what we are talking about here.
My main suggestion is to simply not run the trains in their presence, but if the trains are on display, leave them there to be viewed. I am sure that it looks cool.
In my family, the only one who even remotely questions my hobby is my son-in-law. He doesn’t tease me because I would break his neck (LOL), but I can tell that he thinks it is immature. So, I never operate the trains in his presence. But, guess what? My 2-year old grandson is totally fascinated by my layout, so his Dad (my son-in-law) loves to take him down to the layout.
What I find amusing about my son-in-law is his hobbies: Fantasy Golf, Fantasy Football, an indoor putting green. My other son-in-law has every version of Call of Duty on his computer.
I think that the biggest problem you face is the “day and night” frequency of the teasing. Just don’t run the trains in their presence.
Rich
Its a hobby, seems like some folks have a hard time accepting the fact that building an electric train layout and operating trains is no different than building and operating RC race cars or airplanes. No different than photography, fishing, hunting, collecting stamps & coins, or chasing a little white ball around a couple hundred acres.
Hey, wait a minute!
Are you teasing me now??? [(-D]
Rich
C’mon, Jeff. You da big dog! Put a dead bolt on the inside of your train room door and tell your family to BACK OFF!! [:(!]
Pete
Making a mountain over a molehill tells you it’s they who have a problem as far as being juvenile. It’s their problem, not yours unless you chose to own it by taking arrogant pettiness to heart. They sound like an unhappy bunch…and if it wasn’t the trans it would have been something else they could feel superior about…My mother in law at one time started to rag on me about the trains, and I told her in the nicest way possible it was none of her damn business, and it was never brought up again.
It’s a little unclear about what “family” you’re talking about. Your parents and siblings? Your wife and kids?In either case, if you let other people dictate to you what your hobbies can be, then the problem is twofold: theirs for being so immature and yours for letting other people dictate your personal preferences. You can’t do much about problem number one, but you have full control over problem number two. Use it.
Here is an interesting comment that pertains to this situation:
Mat 18:2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
Mat 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Kinda makes you think that more time with the trains might have a long term payoff. Personally, I am 70 years old and I refuse to grow up.
My Biggest advice is just dont let it get to you. when they tell you to put away the trains, you just add another loop. Tell them its what YOU do as opposed to sitting around on a computer all day something or the sort. Call me crazy, but I find spendind hours watching a bunch of men fight over a ball (dont get me wrong, I love football) just as, if not more immature then admiring an important part of American history. I get alot of flack for being into model trains. My Paretns and Grandparents were always supportive, but my extended family always had a hatrid for it thinking I was “chldish”. High School is also not a safe place to admit you have a model railroad at home, but the best response is to not listen to them and stop your hobby, but to but to stand up to them, tell them you dont care what they think keep going even stronger.
Ya know what, I’ve found that when somebody teases somebody else for something like what you experienced the ones doing the teasing are simply jealous. Of what or why who can say. Invite them to operate the trains with you, if they decline, just simply ignore them and enjoy your own activities. One way to disarm the teasing is to laugh with them and make your own jokes.
My father, while not being a train basher, definitely doesn’t have the train fever. He seems to go out of his way to point out how much of a ‘kids’ thing it is. My mother on the other hand is the complete opposite and tells him in no uncertain terms to shut his yap or she’ll nail it shut. She has always loved trains, holiday trains in particular. She and not my father was a heavy influence on my love of trains.