Trains and the Gender Divide

As I noted in my last post, all of the people who work on the Coaster are men, except one: Cindy, one of the engineers who drives the train. Here is another train/gender-related observation: All (yes, all) of the people I’ve seen taking photos or video of the train have been boys/men.

Without fail, a couple of times a month, I see one man or a small group of guys with a nice camera or video camera on a tri-pod at one of the train stations or along the route somewhere. These aren’t tourists just snapping photos of the local train; they have obviously planned this outing, and probably even know the train schedule.

Since childhood, boys seem to have a fascination with trains. While girls may share this fascination for a while, they seem to grow out of it at some point—probably around the same time they start to love horses or princesses. Some boys never grow out of it, as seen with those who love model trains.

I wonder, though, what do these photographers/videographers do with their footage of trains? Do they have a collection? Is there a website to post such things? Maybe a local train enthusiast group? Maybe I’ll ask one of them if I get the chance. I’m sure there is a lot to this train subculture than meets the eye.

Trains: Still a Boys Club, with Exceptions

Where the boys are; Cindy is the lone woman who drives the train.

The guys who work on the Coaster are generally young, outgoing, friendly, helpful, and, often, funny; I have no complaints. However, they are all men—with one, quite unusual, exception: one of the engineers who drives the train is a woman.

Cindy is probably in her late 40s with long, thick light brown hair that she often wears down. She dresses like the guys, which is a uniform, of sorts: jeans or khakis with a company polo or button-down shirt and work boots. I know who she is because she is very friendly. I haven’t seen any of the other engineers who drive the train, but she comes out and talks to passengers when the train is idle and knows many of them by name. On the train I take in the morning, she is usually the driver, and I often see her talking to other passengers.

As far as I can tell from my brief Internet search, becoming a train engineer is pretty competitive, and, while it doesn’t require a college degree, it requires long years with a company working your way up. In addition, it requires practical experience with mechanical issues, as in, being able to “work on” the train if there are issues. I suppose that is why the job appeals more to men than women; men tend to be more interested in working on cars and motors.

So, my hat is off to Cindy, who is not only friendly, but is kicking feminist butt in the train world.