Hmmm..YTGRFA I'll never remember that! how about Fathers of American Twin Railfans? FATR and it fits since I'm putting on some pounds too :tb-biggrin:
You Go Girl! Don't and trust me we want to see more women join the hobby. As you can tell, most of our wives are also Railfans to some degree so we just need to get more of them to also join TrainBoard too. We also need to work on getting more girls into the hobby starting with our families. :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up:
You guys are both blessed. I can't get my 4 year old interested like that...yet. I'm gonna keep tryin'.
My wife isn't a railfan, but she IS married to one................ At least she knows that if I mention I'm out chasing Miss Katy, I mean relics of the MKT and not some floozy. Railfanning was my therapy in my two years as a contract tech. Can't say as I know of too many female railfans, but I have seen one or two. At trackside, though, I don't focus on gender, age, or race of railfans- if you're there trainwatching, it's all good.
Just joined TrainBoard: [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Georgia, Verdana]Ottosdaughter[/FONT] :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up:
My Mother was the first railfan that I knew. She would take me to places where we could watch yard action. Our favorite was the bluff overlooking the Harmon, NY engine terminal where the NYC changed engines between steam and electric. It was too far away for a brownie box camera, but great with binoculars.
While in the minority, they definitely exist. Besides the ones who have already been mentioned, Dominique DeChamp comes to mind (ddchamp71). She's a pilot with Air France who seems to fly the Paris-Cancun route frequently because she does some railfanning in the Yucatan Peninsula area. She is also a Z scale modeler. And we just had a woman, Ottosdaughter, post her first post here yesterday over on the UP forum. My wife, like a few others mentioned in this thread, enjoys trains and accompanies me on all my railfan trips. But she doesn't post on any forums. I might add that 3 of the photos in my latest thread were taken by my wife. http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=96837 Oh, and by the way, welcome to TrainBoard. Regards Ed .
I think it all depends on how we wives got ropped into it. For me...It was by force. You will either like trains or I am taking back that ring!!!! Welcome! I am not around much because the hubby will not let me near the computer when he is home. He is proud of what he does....talk on train board. Don't let these guys intimated you....They are all teddies at heart.
You can have the computer, when you pry my cold, dead fingers from the mouse.... Here's Dakotacowgirl doing the railfan thing somewhere east of Missoula, MT at 75MPH:
Hemi...you promised to edit out that picture! I am going into your railfan account and changing that password so you have no access to it!!!!
In your dreams bucko! I still think there needs to be a thread that is geared to the wives of railfans. That would make it fair. Only spouses (not just wives) allowed.
The photo of Dakotacowgirl I like the photo. I don't know what she's bothered about. I will say that I used to like having my photo taken, but not so much any more. But I like the fact that it shows her taking a photo of a train. And in Missoula, Montana, which is a beautiful area. I'm a Washingtonian, but for the past two years, I have been working summer jobs in Montana. I like Montana almost as much as I do my home state of Washington, except for the fact that Montana has no coast. But I also love watching trains there. All my favorite railroads had a presence in Montana. Great railroad history!
Montana is rich with railroad history, and ghosts thereof as well. Kristal takes great pictures, she's just modest.... Here's another, this time from Shelby, MT:
My mother might have been the first railfan I know. In 1944, at age 17, she took a train from Pensacola, Fl to Seattle, WA. In 1949, she took that same train back to Florida and returned, this time with two sons, me and my younger brother. "The Empire Builder" was something she spoke about with great admiration. Her grandfather was a career L&N man and as a young teen, she often took him his lunch so who knows what was taking place back then... Now my great-grandfather often took me around trains and talked a lot about them and voila!! Been a train fan since day one. Another fact... Trying to do some things was like pulling hen's teeth. But whenever I asked if I could go "watch trains" she always said "yes"! And that, at age 8!
