Is it all a waste of money?

How many minutes per week do you actually play with your trains?
For myself, if I were to tot up the time spent travelling to exhibitions and shops, model-making in the den, reading the various hobby mags and books (and eavesdropping this NG!), I suspect that the time really spent on the end purpose is only about 1% of the time devoted.
What arguments can I then make to SWMBO to counteract the claims that the money and time would be better expended on the house?

invalid wrote:
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Of cause it would - you always need more space to build a bigger layout ;)

On Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:50:42 +0000, invalid wrote:
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Just tell it's better than sex, drugs and rock 'n roll. Well, perhaps not ;-)

: On Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:50:42 +0000, invalid wrote: : : > How many minutes per week do you actually play with your trains? : > : > For myself, if I were to tot up the time spent travelling to exhibitions : > and shops, model-making in the den, reading the various hobby mags and : > books (and eavesdropping this NG!), I suspect that the time really spent : > on the end purpose is only about 1% of the time devoted. : > : > What arguments can I then make to SWMBO to counteract the claims that : > the money and time would be better expended on the house? : : Just tell it's better than sex, drugs and rock 'n roll. Well, perhaps : not ;-) :
But she DOES know were 'hubby' is, which might not be the case with any of the above....

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But the end pupose is to make you a happy bunny, and if you are a happy bunny then you are willing to serve and make her happy. Would expending energy and money on the house do that, or would you become an irritable s*d moaning round the house looking for excuses not to fix that whatever. Travelling to exhibitions, shops, etc are not to necessary to achieve a running layout but part of the whole hobby, each part providing a different funtion to fullfill a different need.
Worked for me.
cheers, Simon

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Just tell her the withdrawal symptoms would make you take up football, smoking and betting on the horses.
MBQ

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He does those already. ;-)

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Ladies of the night? Not the Preiser ones.
MBQ

I used to be a member of the Diggle and Halebarns O gauge outfit in the Wirral. It was 'men only' except on one day every summer when wives were invited on a Bank Holiday afternoon for tea and cakes. One of the visiting wives was known to be very anti-Halebarns (maybe she thought we were doing other things than playing trains) but her hubby pointed out one of his beautiful model coaches which was running on the layout (a vast thing which ran round the garden with stations in five big sheds). She must have seen this coach, and others, under construction, but it was now complete and running in the fully lined 1928 LMS livery. I had painted it for him (I painted a lot of coaches on the D&H at the time). Wife asked a member standing nearby how much it was worth, expecting a figure down round Hornby trains prices I think . When she was told it would fetch about £300 at auction, maybe more, her whole attitude to model railways changed, and her husband said afterwards she was forever egging him on to make more, and she stopped moaning about the Friday nights when we operated from 8pm till midnight.
I used a simpler tactic. I married a lady who was descended from a long line of LNWR and LMS railwaymen - she knows about railways, it's in her genes. I get lots of encouragement to produce and sell more kits and make more coaches - she knows what these things are worth - and she also knows where I am most of the time. She got a nice car out of it as well.
Alistair W '5522' Models

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The good thing about model railways is they retain their value especially if you keep them in mint condition and retain their boxes. So if you are in financial trouble you can at least sell off some of your items and get back about 50-75% of your investment. In fact in some cases the value of the item actually increases and if you compare that to how much a 40" TV or other electronic gadget loses it value then they are a good investment!
Fred X

invalid wrote:
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It's cheaper than smoking.
And cleaner.
And healthier.
:-)
cheers, wolf k.

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Tell her that your model railway is an excellent way of countering the stress of her nagging you to apply your appalling DIY skills on the house.

I returned to model railways because our son, who has autism, loves trains.
Most of his layout is made of 2nd hand parts, wagons and bits of plastic / wood etc. so cost wise it's not a great strain on the finances.
In that way my wife is not too concerned about the time I spend on the layout.
She does give me some GBH of the ear sometimes but it's because she feels I have spend too long on the thing for my own good ...... which is sometimes right.
Visiting exhibitions is something we do not do so often as we used to, but when we do many of the exhibitors, we have found, either have special need children in the family or teach them so we are mostly always made very at home.
You can't put a cost on the look of his face when the trains are going round the track.
( The wife also used to work at Great Central )
Chris

Dragon Heart wrote:
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[...]
That's what trains are for....
;-)
wolf k.

: I returned to model railways because our son, who has autism, : loves trains. <snip> : : You can't put a cost on the look of his face when the trains are going : round the track. :
...and no amount of money can buy that, it's utterly priceless, so the time and money spent is well spent. It's obviously 'ticking' all the correct boxes, that's what really matters.
The model engineering club I used to be a member of started to have special steam train events when children with special needs were invited (organised with the local Round Table and local schools), to see the enjoyment, utter happiness and - yes - in some cases 'progress' (we were told) some kids made, caused us all to obtain far more enjoyment ourselves out of the hobby than we were otherwise getting on our normal public open days.

On Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:50:42 -0000, "invalid"
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But is that the end purpose? Some people actually like building the models. Or as Mrs Doyle put it when invited to end the misery of tea-making: "But I like the misery!" Guy

Marry a Dane who works in the the toy dept of a big store. Then buy as many Heljan locos as you like and if she complains about the cost tell her it's *her* fault.
Worked for me.
(kim)
PS: Don't have an affair with a sixteen year old who works in the bakery dept of the same store.

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Like taking a couple of baps to the train room to ward off hunger?
MBQ

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Was the one married Great ?
Cheers, Simon

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I bet you she "grated" when she found out though....... I'll get my coat...... Badger.