And very healthy too, if these YouTube channels are any indication!
Here's a cornucopia of the same, all worth watching and all with infectious enthusiasm.
From Pennsylvania comes Henning's Trains:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC08b5iTlDNRH4l5IcnzwM7A
I don't know where this nice young man's from, but his channel is broadcast quality! It's RBP Trains!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzZ3Aga4kq7ONnKFWqkBMNA
And here's Long Island native RJ, a proud fan of the Long Island Railroad.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNjHzOHMCrXwEwggLpuDm0g
From up North here's my fellow Jerseyman dagryffyn.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZtRLLniAL39E5YDrhcxj0Q
Further South, there's Sean's Train Depot, with travels, whys, and how-to's.
Can't leave out JDStucks!
https://www.youtube.com/user/JDStucks/videos
All perfect for some glorious binge-watching!
Give them a look, you won't be sorry.
Seventy-nine views and no comments?
Any thoughts anyone?
I love RBP trains! He has good energy and he provides useful knowledge on all eras of Lionel trains.
I also am a big fan of Anthony's Trains. He's a student like me so we have similar constraints. He also runs Rail King Imperial line trains and I run those as well (or at least my daylight.)
His channel is here. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY4QlkPRjIlLdNxtsDBEGGA
In general I enjoy watching youtubers who don't necessarily have the largest layouts or funds. Watching people with constraints and seeing how they deal with them is more useful and entertaining for me.
I quite enjoy Station Road Model Railway as well. https://www.youtube.com/c/StationRoadModelRailway Julian is in New Zealand and he runs a British themed OO layout which is completely unlike mine, but I still enjoy his videos. And despite how different our railroads are, I find his videos useful because he demonstrates how to do different things without having to buy the specialty scenery supplies. I'm a big fan of doing things in this hobby with everyday supplies one might find around the house when possible to save a little money.
Also I don't know if any of you folks use Instagram, but there is a decent cohort of model railroaders with pages on that app.
Thanks for those links! I'll check 'em out!
Okay, I'll bite. I don't think it's an accurate statement to say the hobby is doing well by the popularity of a few video channels that (not all lisited here), for the most part, have an obvious bias towards the high end scale products. In fairness, dagryffyn's channel does have a number of videos concerning postwar products. Also in fairness, Chris's RPB channel does review products across the entire price spectrum, and with less obvsious partiality than others. I won't watch Eric's trains anymore unless he decides to pay me to do so. I don't need his bias against the traditonal side.
But I laugh outloud when I see videos of high end Legacy products with 60,000 views, and think "Lionel wishes they could sell 60,000 of those." In reality, it's probably one percent of that 60,000. Or maybe two or possbily 3 percent if it's an out-of-the-ballpark home run.
As of 2 years ago (maybe that's changed now) Lionel stated the trains that keep them in business on a day-to-day basis, are the line of traditional starter set trains. So where's the promotion of those products? Why aren't they in the front of the catalog? Where's the Ready To Run catalog?
I think there's a real disconnect between the types of trains that get all the attention and promotion, and the one's that are actually selling in any quantity... Well, one hopes for the well-being of Lionel as a company, that they're selling. Yet Lionel dropped the Ready-To-Run catalog, probably to save money to help cover high end tooling costs, though a big mistake in my thinking. And in the current Big Book catalogs, the products that supposedly keep Lionel in business, are in the back of the catalog. That makes no sense to me.
When I got back into the hobby some 30 plus years ago, there were 3 train shops within 30 minutes of my home. And another 5 or 6 within an hour. Today, there are NONE. I wouldn't be back in the hobby at all if I were starting from scratch today. Nevermind, no electronics stores, like Radio Shack and others that I had. All gone.
Many have no choice but to mail order. And you absolutely have to factor in shipping to that supposed mail order discount price. I recently found an 027 train car I wanted for $10.00. Good price. The shipping was $25.00. No thank you, I passed.
A couple final thoughts:
The "Magic of Lionel" is long gone. Which was, toy trains that in your imagination, looked and sounded like the real thing. Today, it's the "Technology of Lionel" but it leaves nothing to the imagination. There's no magic, no imagination, just complex circuit boards.
Many people go ga-ga over all the digital effects now standard in so many current trains, and rave how much better the trains are today. BUT there's a fly in that ointment: Most folks that can fix Lionel trains of other vintages, can't fix these newest ones. They have to be sent back to Lionel within one year provided you are the original buyer. And it has to be a product manufactured no more than 3 years ago, otherwise you're out of luck. I feel sorry for folks buying a LionChief set that they might not be aware is an older stock item. Today, it's essential to find out the return policy of any place you buy trains from. And you probably have to pay the return shipping, like it or not.
Nevermind that parts for many recent items are simply not available, even if you could find someone local to you, who is good with electronics that could fix them. Little wonder on the high end items where they're only producing a few hundred. But a real shame for the starter set products that are supposed to be the calling card to the future of Lionel and the hobby.
I've been hearing this for the entire time I've been back in the hobby: "Oh the trains you like aren't scale. Or the trains you buy are starter set junk." Yet I've never had one single DOA, nor any problem I couldn't fix myself. And everything is still running today. Not like some of the more recent scale high end trains, relegated to the title of "shelf queen" because they're unrepairable, either because of parts or practicality with cost.
Sure there seem to be more video channels related to 3-rail trains. But there's more channels concerning anything and everything. The real health of the 3-rail train hobby would be more accurately measured in the number of compannies producing trains (not as many), the number of overall retailers selling trains (not as many), the number of repair shops (not nearly as many), the page counts of the train publications - based upon ad content (not nearly as many), and the overall sales figures of the various 3-rail train makers, which they don't readily disclose.
Mike Wolf said a number of years ago, that MTH was in the hole, which explains why there was hardly any new tooling from MTH outside of the 44 ton switcher. And could explain why they couldn't find a single buyer to purchase the entire company instead of piecemealing the tooling between other companies.
Like with K-Line years earlier, over $5 million of debt on a company with $7-8 million of annual sales. No surprise there, no buyer was found. Too much high end tooling without the necessary sales on those products to make back that investment.
I know that reads like a lot of doom and gloom. But it is reality. And/or maybe the 3-rail product market just got too big for its' britches, without the essential sales numbers to support it. So maybe this is just a period of readjustment... getting back to reality. After all, HO scale is still something like 65% of the overall train hobby market. With N scale being the majority of the remaining third of that pie, with the 0 market at 5% or less... and our market the most diverse with tinplate, 027, traditional, 3-rail scale and scale.
brianel, Agent 027
"Praise the Lord. I may not have everything I desire, but the Lord has come through for what I need."
Well, I can't dispute anything you've said, but I base my optimism on those channels and the amount of young families and young people in general I see at shops and especially at the local train shows.
Ten years ago all I'd see were retirees and their parents. Know what I mean?
It's not perfect, but it's not all bad.
And honestly, being a conventional runner I'd be a lot happier if they'd leave out all the expensive gee-whiz electronics (Which add a hell of a lot more to the retail price than people realize. I was a copier repair technician for 30 years and what sophisticated circuit boards cost would give you a heart attack!) just to make the things more affordable, but that's just me, I'm a fossil and I know (and glory) in it.
I dislike paying for features I'll never use as much as anyone.
Flintlock76 Well, I can't dispute anything you've said, but I base my optimism on those channels and the amount to young families and young people in general I see at shops and especially at the local train shows. Ten years ago all I'd see were retirees and their parents. Know what I mean? It's not perfect, but it's not all bad. And honestly, being a conventional runner I'd be a lot happier if they'd leave out all the expensive gee-whiz electronics (which add a hell of a lot more to the retail price than people realize) just to make the things more affordable, but that's just me, I'm a fossil and I know (and glory) in it. I dislike paying for features I'll never use as much as anyone.
Well, I can't dispute anything you've said, but I base my optimism on those channels and the amount to young families and young people in general I see at shops and especially at the local train shows.
And honestly, being a conventional runner I'd be a lot happier if they'd leave out all the expensive gee-whiz electronics (which add a hell of a lot more to the retail price than people realize) just to make the things more affordable, but that's just me, I'm a fossil and I know (and glory) in it.
I ma with yoiu on this one. Not really interested in the latest special effects sound stuff. Just give me a good running train like my pre war and post war stuff.
If the traffic on this forum, or lack thereof, is any indication of it being alive and well, it's doomed.
I really wish we could somehow get this forum kick-started. The other forum is on fire, but not the best atmosphere in my opinion.
Michael6268I really wish we could somehow get this forum kick-started.
Yeah, I can't figure out what's going on either, the conversations and topics here used to be pretty lively and entertaining, but the Forum seems to be moribund right now.
I know about that other forum and have no interest in getting involved, the "atmosphere" as you call it is not the best. Even one of their editors had to step in once and tell everyone to cool it. "Pennytrains" doesn't call it the "Ogre Forum" for nothing.
For what it's worth the "Trains" magazine Forum's gotten pretty dull too.
The hobby is very much alive and well, prices and the scarcity of some of the older items shows this very well. Magazines might be doomed in the print form as online content is better reading that most any current magazine issue I have thumbed thru. The local shows post Covid shows have been very well attended, prices marked/asking have been higher, however the dealers are ready to negotiate or even offer a better price if any interest is shown in a train. I got my 2333/44 hybrid F3 pair this way(33 shells on 2344 drive/chassis).
The lock downs and folks being stuck at home in 2020 really gave the hobby a boost as folks both started a new hobby or got active once again. And this goes for other hobbies, not just model trains in general. The continued issues with Covid are keeping many home more with less traveling. So the boost to hobbies at home like trains is constant right now. Shows are fewer but larger here locally. Instead of 2 smaller shows not to far apart, we have one larger show with multi buildings full of dealers instead of just 1 building at each show. Even outdoor shows, thru the summer months have appeared locally. Hosted by Mr Muffins trains, the downtown streets of Atlanta, IN become a tent awning city with tables of trains(mostly 3 rail O gauge naturally). Even on a 80' summer day, they were well attended. Most I spoke to were picking up things for the coming fall/winter when hobby time moves indoors.
With a greater number of baby boomers heading to the roundhouse in the sky, plenty of pre/postwar trains are hitting the market and getting snatched up quickly by the younger generation at the local shows. Nice stuff, priced realisticly and open to negotiaion were selling well. Overpriced, just as always, just sat with the dealer complaining late in the show about lack of sales. Nothing new there! Enjoy the hobby folks, its a great time to sell and a great time to buy. If your not having fun and enjoying yourself, find some other hobby. We NEED positivity in the hobby, especially around new comers that might be lurking here, or within earshot at shows. Lets not turn off the young folk by being grouchy old men. Mike
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
wrong thread.
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