They are toys. We play with them.
They are grown-up toys. So are windsurfers, home entertainment systems, PCs, bikes, fast cars…
A few of us transcend from play to high art (George Selios etc). My MR is definitely an act of self-expression, a theatrical event… but at the end of the day I do it to play
It doesn’t bother me as most of the people that ask “if i play with trains” actually show an interest in it after poking fun at it.
Gordon
If ignorance was bliss, those that make those statements would be the happiest people in the world!!
I love playing with my trains, and have no problem with people calling it that.
I love playing with lots of stuff. I love playing with my trains, I love playing at Disney World, I love playing golf, I love playing with my wife [}:)], I love playing in my backyard, I love playing with computers at my job, I love playing at the casino.
Life is short. Have fun. Play with stuff.
[:)][:)]
He who dies with the most toys, WINS!
I give’m the Fergie Death Stare then walk a way. Especially as what they do with their spare time is a waste of “O2”.
And I would consider that it is you that has the problem. You obviously take yourself far too seriously. The average person has no idea what ‘Model Railroading’ is so I have absolutely no problem of saying that I’m going to the basement ‘play with my trains’.
When they see the layout, they understand the difference between toys and models, and if they don’t, so what. It’s my world, not theirs. 
I have learned that when we have company I do not bring up the railroad or offer to show it UNLESS the guests ask about my trains. Then I share it with them. If they ask REALLY STUPID questions I explain as best I can. If they have some awareness of the hobby (which you can tell by the questions they ask) I share more detail with them. If they are judgemental and critical I ask them to go back upstairs!
I have trains and a layout. I’m pretty sure that I play with them. They don’t seem to produce any real revenue.[:p] I don’t think that I could call it “work” (Well…I guess I could, but it ain’t.)
The on-line Merriam Webster synonym for “play” is “fun”. I have fun with my trains.
I’m sort of creating a partially imaginary world of my own, in very much that same way that my granddaughters create their own “play-worlds” with their toy animals and farm houses and fences. I’m sure that there is a difference. I think that they take it more seriously than I do.[:0]
Personally, I HATE it. [:(!]
I’m a choral director at a private Catholic girl’s high school. Music is my profession. Last Christmas, a fellow teacher and good friend of mine bought me a T-shirt that says STILL PLAYS WITH TRAINS. I’ve almost worn the darn thing out. I wear it every ‘Casual Day’ at high school, the teachers think it’s hilarious, the girls think it’s Very Ultra Cool. I’m one year away from retirement, I’ve been an HO scale model railroader since I was fourteen (almost pre-dating Japanese brass, by the way) and YES, I PLAY WITH TRAINS!
It’s the World’s Greatest Hobby and I wouldn’t change it for anything else. After a full day of intense music rehearsals and performances, I escape into my California Basement (garage) and run my freights and passengers and mixed over the Sierra. It’s wonderful.
And those same teachers and some of the students are the ones who come over occasionally and just stand there and say ‘wow’ when Mr. White runs his trains.
I just quietly inform the perpetrator that this is ‘Scale Model Railroadin’.[}:)][8][:D]
I don’t mind folks saying that. I usually have a snappy answer back to them like " It’s alot better than playing with Barbie Dolls like you folks do" Or else I’ll tell them that “This is my homework, I go to college & I’m learning how to be a big shot graduate so I can run a railroad, You know,…1 car plus 2 cars equal 7cars”! That usually shuts them up & they change the subject.
Now that’s pretty funny![^][:)][:D]
When people say “you play with trains” i respond by saying yes! i do play with trains, and that i am in training until I grow up to be big enough to drivve the real thing., and I am 41 yrs old. [:)]
As much time and effort one puts into this hobby, and as skilled as some of us are at parts of the hobby, I wouldn’t call it “playing” with trains.
So well put! I used to get irritated but now, I give a big smile and tell people that I enjoy it and it’s cool and relaxing. To someone that wants to be a “smart aleck” I keep cool and just tell them:
[1] It improves analytical and mechanical skills. Brings out artistic and creative abilities as most humans only use 1/10 of their brain capacity!
[2] Beats dumping money on drinks at bars–drinks which eventually wind up in the toilet, and you with a hangover and if you’re a heavy drinker a burned out liver!
[3] Better than spending money on weed, meth, and “party drugs” that kill brain cells.
[4] Beats going to wild clubs and dancing with sweaty people having questionable hygiene.
[5] I get to buy the products…and enjoy them for years.
So there’s no need to get mad, defensive, or hostile. Do it, with a smile and keep rolling.
Replies like what I just mentioned usually “shut the persons up” or “cools their jets”. [(-D]
To our teen friends: Guys, when I was a teen years back, I found that on several occasions, even the “bully/thugs” in school thought that model trains were cool once you explained that you had scenery, buildings, and ran trains with 3 or 4 locomotives on the lead as I did on my friend’s layout, or if you ran Amtrak trains.[8D] And guys, photgraphs of your layout or detailed models do wonders! [;)] How many of your classmates can do scenery? Airbrushing? Decal work? Plus, you’re so fortunate today with digital cameras that give photos in less than a second. Don’t feel embarassed about sharing your hobby with a girl your “talking to”. [:)][:I] Be straight, make
Usually its just my mom or dad calling them toys or telling me to go play with them, but they just do that to mock me on how much i obsess over them. Theyre kinda right but its my time and money isnt it?
-Tom
It doesn’t bother me. I play in a band, why can’t I play the train too?
Besides, it’s not the weirdest or most difficult to explain pastime I have…
I think it depends on how we look at it. Most of life can be divided into 2 categories, work or play. I think you are working when you are constructing and modeling, but playing when you are running or operating.
The biggest point, in my opinion, is why would anybody care what anyone else thinks? Are you doing this for you, or are you trying to impress others? Next thing you know, you will be getting hair plugs and liposuction.[:O]