# Why don't females like model trains? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 2, 2014, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106 "2014-12-02T05:37:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/81 "2014-12-03T13:10:55Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > In mild defence of “Thomas” – and as you inform, this is a thing for which you have no use, and there’s no reason whatever that you should be obliged to like it (even as a small kid, the “Thomas” stories never greatly took my fancy): however, the books were written by a genuinely keen and knowledgeable railway enthusiast. By the way, the author was as it happens, a Church of England clergyman – for some reason or none, now and in the past a seemingly disproportionate number of those guys have been railfans. > > He was basically writing for small children, the great majority of whom would be too young to “get” advanced technical or mechanical detail re railway operation. Nonetheless: anthropomorphising aside, the railway practices and lore in so far as depicted in the “Thomas” books, are correct for the British railway scene of some three-quarters of a century ago. Thomas is big with kids with autism because I think, the faces dont change much and are easier to deal with. As for the technical pars, occasionally they discuss technical things like bumpers, switches, water areas, breaking, and once I remember they showed a train with an automatic sand dispenser to help with a trains traction. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/82 "2014-12-03T15:50:52Z")
Not to mention that all of them are based on real engines and rolling stock. FWIW, the draw for me has always been the story behind the layout as much as the rolling stock itself. A basic starter set is pretty uninteresting until you add the story of how the engineer was running late and they have to get the cargo there on time because,…etc. The really big layouts have stories behind them as well, all created from the mind of the people that build it. It’s those details that I find interesting now. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/83 "2014-12-03T16:48:38Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Thomas is big with kids with autism because I think, the faces dont change much and are easier to deal with. There’s also no body language to interpret- it’s all the faces and the actual dialogue, so it’s a much simpler thing to process, I suspect. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/84 "2014-12-03T17:34:29Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Thomas is big with kids with autism because I think, the faces dont change much and are easier to deal with. Those who snobbishly look down on railfans and railfandom – considering themselves socialites and cool cats, to a standard at which, such nerdery is utterly beneath them – can be imagined as commenting, “Yes, that figures”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/85 "2014-12-03T21:09:09Z")
> [@campp](#): > > This. You don’t have to buy pre-fab stuff. Building it yourself is the REAL hobby. > > You have to be a government, a land planner, a businessman, a landscaper, planner, an earth-builder, researcher, electrician, painter, mathematician, artist, project manager, and a railroad tycoon. All these talents blend together. > > We build models that don’t just sit on a shelf. They look realistic, and they MOVE and do things! > > But if you don’t get it, that’s OK. And if one is part of a club you build a section of track with landscaping to join with the other members track and then you take that to traveling shows where the clubs trains run on all the sections. So you might build say a circus scene which will sit next to a tornado scene or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/86 "2014-12-03T21:42:14Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > This is like asking why girls play with dolls and boys play with toy trucks and airplanes. I always thought that was because girls wanted to be the icons of total power, control, and authority while boys used whatever tools were at their disposal to try to keep them from laying waste to the landscape as far as the eye could see. “Now, you play _nice_ with your sister…!” ---
**Author:** ![Abracadebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Abracadebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abracadebra)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/87 "2014-12-03T21:47:06Z")
I don’t make a special effort to seek out train shows, but I have toured a couple of railroad museums and didn’t die of boredom. As far as other motorized things, not so much, although I do remember the Christmas my sister and I went apeshit because we got the Hot Wheels Hazard Hill Race Set we had begged our parents for. We played with that thing for hours and hours. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/88 "2014-12-03T22:35:22Z")
PS- in case I have to say it about my post, Of Course I was kidding. We had train & car sets growing up. Santa got the boys a Lionel for the tree many years back. > [@Abracadebra](#): > > I don’t make a special effort to seek out train shows, but I have toured a couple of railroad museums and didn’t die of boredom. > > As far as other motorized things, not so much, although I do remember the Christmas my sister and I went apeshit because we got the Hot Wheels Hazard Hill Race Set we had begged our parents for. We played with that thing for hours and hours. The kids have a Sizzler set from when they re-released them a few years back too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/89 "2014-12-03T22:46:00Z")
So maybe that’s why my mom kept giving me dolls at every excuse,when I’d ask for the farm set. She’d ask what I wanted,I’d tell her and I’d get another damn doll which,like the other 297 would be taken out in the yard and the dog and I would play a rousing game of “Fetch”:mad: She’d tell me"If you don’t want to play with them,you should put them on a shelf and look at them":smack: Do you think she wanted dolls so much when she was a child that she was really buying them for herself? Maybe trying to push me into the “girl” mold? Gaaah,I don’t know,but I’ve thought about this a lot ( too much:() ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/90 "2014-12-03T23:01:00Z")
> [@48Willys](#): > > IME, very few ladies are interested in any machine. As long as it does its job, they rarely show any interest in it. If it does not do its job, they may give it just enough attention to get it working again. After that, they usually ignore it. This is along the lines of that old story: Men view relationships the way women view cars: they stay the same, no need to pay much attention, always run along smoothly as you expect them to. Women view relationships the way men view cars: you have to listen to them, tune them up, not take them for granted, work on them regularly. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/91 "2014-12-04T03:33:39Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That is my wife’s attitude to a T. Her conception of all things electrical and mechanical is that they ought to be as easy to use, maintenance free and reliable as a toaster or microwave. There’s absolutely no joy in it for her to learn how to set her PC up optimally, or in why her PC’s wireless sucks (poor drivers), or how to operate her car’s MFD. All she cares about is that it comes on when she turns the key, that the stereo works, and that it doesn’t break down. I can’t see her being the least bit interested in model vehicles, and the only technical fiddling she’ll do is in the process of creating something; the fiddling is a necessary evil to her, not an end in itself like it is for me. See, that’s me. I want to simply turn the key and have my car go where I want it to, without having to think about alternators or oil pressure or differentials, which interest me not in the slightest. I want to switch on my laptop and have it go to the Dope (or Pornhub, whichever; depends on what sort of wanking I’m in the mood for). I love to look at beautiful cars, but it’s all about the aesthetics for me. And I’m a middle-aged guy. > [@Broomstick](#): > > With the hobby being male dominated to such an extent any girl or women participating risks various social costs from ridicule (“girls don’t do that”, “what are you, some kind of lez/dyke/other implication sexual oddness”), to being dismissed as a girlfrend/wife/daughter/whatever and ignored, to being unconsciously shoved away from displays by larger males intent on getting a closer look. > > I speak from experience on all of the above. Including as recently as a few years ago when I went to fly model airplanes at a location and some old fart yelled at me to get off the flight line and out of the way of the pilots. To the credit of the other men there, they told him that the policy of not disturbing/talking to people actually flying their planes applied to women pilots, too, and stop being an ass. > > As a result, girls who otherwise might be involved are discouraged, leaving only those girls with unusually strong interest in the topic (or are married to an enthusiast). Meanwhile, boys with minimal interest might either be encouraged or dragged along by a father, bloating their ranks… > > …What would help is making girls feel welcome at such gatherings, which can be as simple as making sure there are bathroom facilities for girls as well as men (I have on multiple occasions had to either use the men’s or find someone to unlock/turn on the lights for the women’s room at gatherings where it never occurred to someone that yes, a _woman_ might be in attendance). When some male decides to defend “masculine turf” he needs to be told that it isn’t a boys’ club (such as at the RC flight line I described). > > On the flip side, I’m also a long-term knitter/crocheter/crafter. It’s the same thing in reverse. Men need a place to pee, too, either their own toilet or assurance that they won’t get in trouble for using the women’s if needed. When some woman or cabal of them start getting bitchy and defending female turf they need to be reminded that, until recently, there was a strong tradition of men knitting and told to STFU. Very well put. It’s not nearly to the extent that women in stereotypically masculine fields get, but I catch a fair amount of crap about being interested in things like costume history, fountain pens, and calligraphy. As well as a degree of incredulity at _not_ being interested in basketball, guns, or tools. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/92 "2014-12-04T14:52:11Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > See, that’s me. I want to simply turn the key and have my car go where I want it to, without having to think about alternators or oil pressure or differentials, which interest me not in the slightest. I want to switch on my laptop and have it go to the Dope (or Pornhub, whichever; depends on what sort of wanking I’m in the mood for). I love to look at beautiful cars, but it’s all about the aesthetics for me. And I’m a middle-aged guy. To me, this seems kind of strange; I find a degree of satisfaction, although not pleasure, in finding the best way to accomplish the task at hand, and that usually entails making sure the machine is well-maintained, and using the appropriate settings to do the best job. My wife just views it as a task to complete, and wants to just hit “Go”, and doesn’t really care about anything other than that it gets done to some minimum standard. Overall, I have less trouble than she does with things like food particles on washed dishes, or soap streaks on laundry, and I attribute it to having read the manual and paying attention to how the machine works versus my wife’s approach of just hitting “Go”. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/93 "2014-12-04T15:43:15Z")
I don’t have an interested in tinkering for its own sake, but I’ve learned that the machine is most likely to actually work when you push START if you know how to take care of the darned thing. I am probably one of the very few people here who actually reads the manual of any new car I purchase and note maintenance items and schedules. Basically, yes, I like to just push “go” and have the machine go, but (especially since my aviation days) I tend to be a bit hyperaware of the functioning of the machine, the sounds, the motions, etc. If they the least bit off from normal I notice it. I usually can’t diagnose or fix it, but I can almost always describe the “symptoms” well enough for someone qualified to make a good guess at what’s wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/94 "2014-12-04T17:52:49Z")
> [@bump](#): > > To me, this seems kind of strange; I find a degree of satisfaction, although not pleasure, in finding the best way to accomplish the task at hand, and that usually entails making sure the machine is well-maintained, and using the appropriate settings to do the best job. My wife just views it as a task to complete, and wants to just hit “Go”, and doesn’t really care about anything other than that it gets done to some minimum standard. Overall, I have less trouble than she does with things like food particles on washed dishes, or soap streaks on laundry, and I attribute it to having read the manual and paying attention to how the machine works versus my wife’s approach of just hitting “Go”. Oh, no question that machines work easier and better if they’re maintained regularly and used correctly; I too read manuals and directions. The difference between you and I, or you and your wife, is that you _enjoy_ understanding the machine; I don’t, and it sounds like your wife doesn’t either. You’re about the process, where I just care about the result. I intellectually understand your enjoyment. I just don’t share it. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/95 "2014-12-07T07:02:04Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > It may not all be cultivated, but I suspect a good chunk of it is. Maybe including some of the model train “culture” itself. Last year I was visiting the park down in San Diego with some friends from Iraq (all women), and we wandered into the model railroad club. They were utterly fascinated, (I could hardly get them to leave), but I think a lot of that was because they couldn’t have imagined people going to such lengths. (I also don’t think they were picking up on some of the subtext to the model railroad guy’s discourse–though you can be the judge, with the video here: “[There’s a dead man in the trunk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bryaQJJgRU).”) ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/96 "2014-12-07T16:36:51Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Just the other day, someone told my one year old that the toy cars she was playing with are “for boys.” Why would you say that? What does that even mean to a one year old? > > That same day, I had to outright argue with my husband that I was NOT buying the pink version of the classic popcorn popper walking toy, as I had no intention of re-buying all our toys if the next one is a boy. I’m convinced it’s a full on conspiracy. > > The gendering of toys is strong, and I can already see how my daughter gets praise for doing “girly” things like imitating my putting on makeup, and gets admonished for doing “boy things” or being attracted to things that are “for boys.” Unless I made an active effort, nobody would introduce her model trains, much less encourage her interest. If she showed an interest, I could see her being diverted away. > > It may not all be cultivated, but I suspect a good chunk of it is. My family isn’t even particularly gender-roley, but I can still see them perpetuating this stuff on a kid who doesn’t even have a concept of gender yet. > > … I understand that even very young peers will enforce the stereotypes. My favorite story of the “full- ongender-bias conspiracy” come from an anthropolgy teacher told a story of a woman who was able to correctly identify the sex of the little bundled newborn babies in the hospital nursery, even without pink/blue cues. If a baby had even 4 hairs on its head, the nurses parted them for boys and ‘swirled’ them for girls. The story is a bit old, I can’t speak for it’s accuracy or currency. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/97 "2014-12-07T17:38:49Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Because in their childhood, the sexist Santa Claus did not bring them toy trains. Santa is suppose to bring what is asked for. ---
**Author:** ![liz666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@liz666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liz666)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/98 "2023-10-22T01:38:06Z")
No, it’s because girls who loved and always wanted a model train set would never get one because it was seen as a boys toy so their requests would be ignored cause their parents thought playing with trains would make them lesbian or infertile or some bs. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/99 "2023-10-22T04:14:20Z")
Sooo much to say. Sooo not gonna. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106/100 "2023-10-22T04:30:47Z")
> [@liz666](#): > > No, it’s because girls who loved and always wanted a model train set would never get one because it was seen as a boys toy This happened to me with the Erector Set. I think the trains going 'round are one of the few meditative activities available to men - or have been historically. It’s a lot like fiber arts in that there is a repetitive mindlessness that one can fall into, with occasional bursts of concentrated creativity (making the little towns.) Pottery is more of a rural man’s field, but less often a suburban man’s hobby, and has some of the same elements. Wood lathing is another one. Guys who get into that are REALLY into it. Women are more likely to knit, crochet, throw pots, paint, or play an instrument. The divisions in what kinds of pass times are considered appropriate go back hundreds of years, at least. I’m betting Roman little boys had toy soldiers and boats, and little girls had yarn and looms. You’ve got to be taught. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-females-like-model-trains/706106.md?page=6)