This is an "old" picture from Christmas 2007, with the electric train around the Christmas tree. This one has the old fashioned locomotive. I prefer it to the other one (which you can see here), the model of a more modern machine which ironically we got first. I sometimes we had the old one when we were little children. I associate our electric train with Christmas, mainly because we got our electric train at Christmas, also because it is now the only time of the year when we put it on display, always around the Christmas tree. There are a few things that I wonder about electric trains, which I will list here in hope of an answer from my readership. After all, I don't have to blog about deep and meaningful things all the time. So here we go:-Why do I, who does not particularly like means of transportation or find them particularly glamourous, love electric trains and am still fascinated by trains in general?
-Why is the electric train an almost exclusively masculin hobby? My wife rolls her eyes when I talk about it.
-Why do I still find electric trains so cool as an adult? And this goes for every man in the family. My father bought the train for himself as much as for his sons.
-Is the electric train the instrument for a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood, or does it preserve in men like me (and my dad, and my bros) a genuine part of childhood fascination?
-In any case, why the electric trains?
Pourquoi les trains....
ReplyDeleteC'est fascinant !
On jouait au cowboy le train attaqué par les indiens, ou à la guerre, ou encore il servait a construire un base de lancement de fusée.
Même grandeur nature..
et le TGV!
et sous la Manche !
et on en trouve encore au centre d'achat pour promener les enfants.
... men are mechanically minded..
ReplyDeleteThey love to know how something works...
They love toys... and playing games
Trains have historical significance and history is a common interest to men...
they make a loud noise... men like that...
and most of all, All men are still little boys deep down inside...
I could go on....
There's a strong tradition of train sets (and admiration of still-running steam railways) among (the boys in) my family. Maybe you should hook up sometime?
ReplyDeleteAnd yesterday there was an item on French TV lunchtime news about some Frenchman's fantastic model train collection. Some of those babies are worth four thousand euros.
Not sure I have any great insight, but I do agree with the above commenters in some of their answers. I will say, though, that my sister's favorite toy for YEARS was an electric train set she got for Christmas when she was really young. And she didn't stop there--she added to it and ended up with a pretty impressive pastoral scene for the train to wind through.
ReplyDeleteI'm not so much for electric trains myself, but I do have romantic notions attached to trains in general.
I desperately wanted a train set when I was young. I don't think anyone took me seriously, even though I kept making little towns and stations from my Lego. My father seemed to be constantly suprised that I played with it so much! (Holly's sister and I could have had loads of fun together!)
ReplyDeleteI think I liked it because it moved by itself, unlike the Matchbox cars I also played with.
I never got into the sound effects, though. Now, that is very much a male thing!