Gender of railfans

[amamba]

Do you most of you agree with me that railfans tend to be male? Why do you think more women aren't into trains? Just curious. I have always loved trains - when I was a kid my most favorite family vacation involved a steam locomotive trip somewhere near Lancaster, PA, and I had tons of toy trains - but it seems like this forum is comprised mostly of men and it seems like men seem to predominate railfanning. Just curious if anyone had any other thoughts on the issue.

 

[AAARGH!]

Do you most of you agree with me that railfans tend to be male? Why do you think more women aren't into trains? Just curious. I have always loved trains - when I was a kid my most favorite family vacation involved a steam locomotive trip somewhere near Lancaster, PA, and I had tons of toy trains - but it seems like this forum is comprised mostly of men and it seems like men seem to predominate railfanning. Just curious if anyone had any other thoughts on the issue.

Well, in our society boys are typically given toys such as hot wheels, remote controlled cars, toy trains, etc... Girls are given dolls etc... So mechanical/powerful/"macho" things like trains are emphasized with boys, while typically not with girls.

I think as we grow up, these things stick. Of course this is a vast generalization, but could be the over-arching reason.

 

[yarrow]

i think it's a gender role thing. girls are not encouraged to like trains. my wife enjoys train travel and has a general interest in trains. when i mention the topic at work, women seem about as interested as men. traditionally, most railroad jobs have been for men but that is , of course, changing so maybe it's just a matter of time before more of those on the distaff side beome railfans.

 

[Tony]

I can add that a very good female friend of mine has a masters in mechanical engineering. However, when I try to show her how to change the oil in her car, she was puzzled when I

asked for the wrench.

Though, I would assume there are guys who would be equally puzzled if asked for the potato peeler.

 

[Greg]

I think it's a logic thing...men tend to think in a more linear manner, like trains logically connected to linear rail... I've wondered the same thing myself and that's the only thing I can come up with.

 

[sunchaser]

It may lean more towards male, just because of the fact that boys usually show more interest in trains, cars etc.

However, there are exceptions to every rule.

I was not raised around trains, or even rode trains as a little girl, but found an interest in it a few years back as a way of travel that would be less stressful for us as a couple.

Seeing that now the airports will be doing full body scanning, that will just encourage us to choose the train vs flying if at all possible!

Hubby fondly calls me a foamer, because I am reading this board a lot, to try to answer his & my questions.

As a child, though, I was a bit of a tomboy. Dad wanted another son, & got a girl.

 

[Alice]

I think it depends on your definition of Railfan. Riding trains, I see as many women as men, especially single women. But I think maybe we are less likely to be "rabid" (from other thread) about many details. Who cares if it is a Superliner I or II, for instance, as long as I'm getting on it? I suspect most of the women here deal in information to make trips more enjoyable for themselves or others, rather than the nuts-and-bolts things which seem to be the bulk of the posts, so they check in less frequently.

I also suspect that more women have toy trains than you expect. I still have mine, all in good condition and many displayed, but I don't have one of those life-like setups (just a few buildings and lights), never subscribed to Lionel magazine, and don't belong to any Lionel clubs, so I'm invisible to those groups. How many men didn't take care of their childhood sets or they are collecting dust in the garage rafters?

 

[rrdude]

I think it's a logic thing...men tend to think in a more linear manner, like trains logically connected to linear rail... I've wondered the same thing myself and that's the only thing I can come up with.

You're kidding, right?

 

[sunchaser]

I think it's a logic thing...men tend to think in a more linear manner, like trains logically connected to linear rail... I've wondered the same thing myself and that's the only thing I can come up with.

You're kidding, right?

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[AAARGH!]

I think it's a logic thing...men tend to think in a more linear manner, like trains logically connected to linear rail... I've wondered the same thing myself and that's the only thing I can come up with.

The_Traveler thinks in loops and circles. :blink: How does he fit in?

 

[sunchaser]

I think it depends on your definition of Railfan. Riding trains, I see as many women as men, especially single women. But I think maybe we are less likely to be "rabid" (from other thread) about many details. Who cares if it is a Superliner I or II, for instance, as long as I'm getting on it? I suspect most of the women here deal in information to make trips more enjoyable for themselves or others, rather than the nuts-and-bolts things which seem to be the bulk of the posts, so they check in less frequently.
I also suspect that more women have toy trains than you expect. I still have mine, all in good condition and many displayed, but I don't have one of those life-like setups (just a few buildings and lights), never subscribed to Lionel magazine, and don't belong to any Lionel clubs, so I'm invisible to those groups. How many men didn't take care of their childhood sets or they are collecting dust in the garage rafters?

I like your take on it, Alice. I don't have near as many train miles as most of you, so I'm still here collecting info, & detaills we would be interested in. Not that I mind some of the other posts "which loco is better" "how the a/c, heater, toliets work" etc.

I think that the Ladies are observing, then chiming in on their interests.

I actually have been trying to pick up a train set for around the Christmas Tree for a couple of years, just haven't found one at the right price yet. If I had the space, I would not mind having one set up permanently for the grandkids.

 

[amamba]

I think it's a logic thing...men tend to think in a more linear manner, like trains logically connected to linear rail... I've wondered the same thing myself and that's the only thing I can come up with.

:blink:

I actually think the point about women being less interested in the details - some of which I would consider mundane but I know are quite important to many on this board - is an interesting take. I am less interested in some of the mechanics of the train and more interested in the experience of riding a train. Although I am trying to learn about all of the differences in the engines! (like what kind of engine is on the 66 and why is that different from most others on the NEC - I still don't know, but am trying to find out).

 

[Trainmans daughter]

Yeah, Alice! Everything you posted was "spot on". I'm sitting here looking at 3 old toy trains I've had since I was a kid. (Hard to think of my old toys as "antiques", but I guess they are).

I check out imaginary trips almost every evening. After checking routes and ticket prices on Amtrak.com, I'll say to my husband, "Well, for $548.20......", and he'll interupt me and ask, "Where are you going this time?"

On our trips, I'm the one who studies the schedules, buys the tickets, packs for us all, makes sure we get to the station on time, wakes up at night obsessing about everything, and is so excited on the day of departure I start shaking and almost throw up! My husband just shows up.

 

[AAARGH!]

I check out imaginary trips almost every evening. After checking routes and ticket prices on Amtrak.com, I'll say to my husband, "Well, for $548.20......", and he'll interupt me and ask, "Where are you going this time?"
On our trips, I'm the one who studies the schedules, buys the tickets, packs for us all, makes sure we get to the station on time, wakes up at night obsessing about everything, and is so excited on the day of departure I start shaking and almost throw up!

Now THAT is the definition of a Railfan! (from another topic).

 

[Guest]

The_Traveler thinks in loops and circles. :blink: How does he fit in?

He was only allowed to play with trains at Christmas time... a small circular track that went around and around and around the tree.

 

[Bob Dylan]

The_Traveler thinks in loops and circles. :blink: How does he fit in?

He was only allowed to play with trains at Christmas time... a small circular track that went around and around and around the tree.

Actually I have it on good authority (I made it up! :lol: ) that his family was very wealthy and built him a private line that ran from the Northeast to PDX thru CHI via Texas,Southern Calif., up the Coast and returned via Washington,Montana,ND,Minn,WI,CHI and back East via WASH,ATL,BHM,NOL and then

baclk to ATL,WAS,NYP and to the NE to various and sundry stops where he resided briefly between his loophole trips as a kid! :lol: :lol: :lol:

As to the gender question: I'd say its a combination of conditioning by society and peers, personal interests (the tomboy example is very good! )and there are scientific studies that do lean towards the linear thinking idea! Personally I tend to like anyone that likes trains and think that females sure make the train ride a little more interesting and pleasant!

 

[dlagrua]

My wife enjoys train travel as much or perhaps even more than I do. She dislikes air travel (as I do) and feels more relaxed and confortable on a train. On most trips that we have taken the travelers are mixed. For instance on the AutoTrain its about 50/50 on the NE corridor maybe 60/40 in favor of males but overall I do not believe train travel is favored by any gender or age.

 

[sunchaser]

I think it's a logic thing...men tend to think in a more linear manner, like trains logically connected to linear rail... I've wondered the same thing myself and that's the only thing I can come up with.

:blink:

I actually think the point about women being less interested in the details - some of which I would consider mundane but I know are quite important to many on this board - is an interesting take. I am less interested in some of the mechanics of the train and more interested in the experience of riding a train. Although I am trying to learn about all of the differences in the engines! (like what kind of engine is on the 66 and why is that different from most others on the NEC - I still don't know, but am trying to find out).

I still think that's quite a funny thought! I've been known to try to figure out how things work & fix them. I also tamper with my recipes a lot. Sometimes I will look at something that has been sewn or crocheted & figure out the pattern & duplicate it.

I may not be interested in how the engine works, but I do find it interesting some of the opinions on one type versus the other. The same applies to train cars-SSL, CCC, Superliners, Viewliners, Amfleets, Talgos, etc.!

I would say that the women may be focusing on other details, not just the mechanical part.

Yeah, Alice! Everything you posted was "spot on". I'm sitting here looking at 3 old toy trains I've had since I was a kid. (Hard to think of my old toys as "antiques", but I guess they are).
I check out imaginary trips almost every evening. After checking routes and ticket prices on Amtrak.com, I'll say to my husband, "Well, for $548.20......", and he'll interupt me and ask, "Where are you going this time?"

On our trips, I'm the one who studies the schedules, buys the tickets, packs for us all, makes sure we get to the station on time, wakes up at night obsessing about everything, and is so excited on the day of departure I start shaking and almost throw up! My husband just shows up.

Well said! I do the same stuff too! I'm the one who does fake trips out & let him know the prices. He just nods his head, we talk about it for awhile. He was talking about someday going all the way from SLC to CHI to take the whole Empire Builder route! Boy was I surprised when he said that! (It's going to take some doing to pull that one off.)

I too do all the legwork, planning, schedules, packing, getting a pet sitter, etc. Hubby books the tickets, & comes along. I know he does enjoy it though!

 

[Sue in KY]

Well, speaking as a female who was never a tomboy, I have to say I'm a railfan and always have been, simply because I've always loved to travel, from toddlerhood on! Some of my earliest travel memories were the annual overnight sleeper trips across the width of Texas to visit my grandparents in far West Texas; this was during the late '40s and everything about trains was glamorous and grown-up, I thought, and I loved the whole trip.

I couldn't care less about the sorts of details most of you care about, but I've ridden on trains across Europe and Britain and (for the past couple of years) quite a bit here in the States again, and I enjoy it even more than my husband (who WAS the sort of kid who had toy trains when he was a kid) — now he likes everything but the having to sleep in the upper bed!

 

[John Bredin]

I think it depends on your definition of Railfan. Riding trains, I see as many women as men, especially single women. But I think maybe we are less likely to be "rabid" (from other thread) about many details. Who cares if it is a Superliner I or II, for instance, as long as I'm getting on it? I suspect most of the women here deal in information to make trips more enjoyable for themselves or others, rather than the nuts-and-bolts things which seem to be the bulk of the posts, so they check in less frequently.

I wholeheartedly agree with your distinction between riding trains and being a details- or trivia-focused (or "rabid" if you like ) rail fan.

I think the flip-side of women being less likely to be railfans is that they're also less likely to be car nuts. In my humble opinion, the biggest obstacle to people riding trains where train service is available in this country is the "driving is freedom" attitude and being overly emotionally attached to one's car. Driving isn't freedom when you're stuck day after day in glacier-like traffic, or circling around the umpteenth time in search of a parking space, while people are hurtling past you on trains.* Driving isn't freedom when you are hunched over the wheel for the fourth hour at 80mph on the Interstate, sandwiched between a truck and and SUV so all but the slightest mistake will be spectacularly fatal. A car is a tool, useful in some circumstances but not all.

A woman -- or man -- who treats a car as a practical tool is more open to riding the train when it provides any advantage (more enjoyable trips, as you say, or cheaper, or faster door-to-door) over driving than a person who treats their car as an extension of their ego.

*I'm talking to you, rush-hour drivers on the Kennedy Expressway. Metra trains are flying past you on one side, and Blue Line trains are passing you on the other. And yet you don't seem to get the hint. :huh:

 

[pennyk]

I am a woman and I LOVE to travel on trains. I find train travel very relaxing, whereas I get stressed while traveling by car - and flying is awful. I do not consider myself a railfan, just a train lover. When I was young, my father set up a minature train set in our garage and I loved it. My first train trip was my 8th grade trip from Miami to DC. I did not travel by train again until I went to college in 1970. Unlike most of my friends, my mother did not drive me to college at the University of Florida, she put me on a train to Waldo (which is no longer a station stop). Ever since then, trains have been special to me, but I do not know the difference between Superliner I and II (however, I do know the difference between Viewliner and Superliner - Viewliners have toilets in the roomettes - which is important to me). The technical stuff escapes me.

I cannot speak for all women, but as far as I am concerned, I do not need to be a "Railfan" to love trains, however, the more time I spend reading posts on this form, the more I am learning about trains and the closer I am becoming to be a railfan. I have to confess that last fall, I took photographs of several stations and my roomette.

 

[Dan O]

Boys like wheels more than girls, generally speaking.

Dan

 

[ayndim]

Well I am a woman and I love trains. Then again I have two boys (and a girl) and am divorced so it is probably a good thing. I have spent many a night setting up Thomas tracks and whistling like a train, even when I was married. Much better than barbies and we now have a wooden contraption/whistle that makes the sound for me.

However, while I can be as girly-girl as the next gal, I am also mechanically and spatially inclined. I can put together just about anything. I am the one who helps the boys with the pinewood derby cars. I also played baseball and raced cars in high school. I am a strange mix. It was nothing to see me running around playing cops and robbers in a dress and a hat when I was little. At least I wore tennis shoes. I may not be the best person to say that many women like trains, lol.

 

[mercedeslove]

I am another woman who loves trains. However, I am not a fool and I know there are less of me than there are males. I don't care, that just makes me even more special.

I grew up in the subs of CHI. Where riding Metra was just what you did. I rode it so much for so long that it made me kind of I don't know how to explain it other than saying. When I met kids who lived near CHI like I did and had never been on a train at all I thought they were weird and I never understood it.

I just love a train ride.

I was also the kind of kid who when I was 8 my mom could put me on a train headed into the city and know I'd be fine getting there and also once I was there I would have no issues getting to where I was going alone. I could also get myself on the train back home alone without help. It's amazing hat cutting the "apron strings" at a young age and not codling a child does for a person.

Take your avg. 8 these days and do that and he/she would get lost/cry/killed/do something very stupid. Parents just raised kids WAY differently these days.

I think I will take my mothers approach to raising me and put a more modern spin on it. But I want my kid to be very, very independent at a young age and most of all love trains like me. Boy or girl.

 

[volkris]

Preface: I'm sorry if this offends anybody. I know it can be an emotional subject to people who've had to deal with autism in their own families, and having seen it first hand, I definitely understand why. So please, take it as it was intended, as a non-offensive tidbit that people might find interesting.

Well here's one thing to throw out there: far more men have autism spectrum disorders, and many of the traits displayed by railfans (intense focus on a subject, passion for knowledge of details others would consider trivial, inability to understand and connect with "normals" on certain levels, etc...) could very well be considered hints of that spectrum.

To be clear, I'm not saying all railfans have autism or anything like that. Like I said, it's a spectrum. Psychologists recognize that people can fall anywhere along the range of autistic behavior from, well, slightly quirky on down to full blown disorder, and it's not at all unusual or bad for people to register on the scale. Fact is, some of the traits associated with the autism spectrum are also clear in the railfan community, so whatever causes autism to be so skewed toward males (some say 4:1 ratio) could likely also exist with regard to railfans.

And anyway, some groups of people take pride in cheerfully diagnosing themselves as autism spectrum. Just look at the groups of computer enthusiasts who celebrate self-diagnosed Asperger's syndrome as if it was a requirement to join the club