future of model railroading

[relucas]

I've been modeling ho sence 1977. From what I see the younger people now spend more time on these computers, and thing that are do now instead of something that takes a little time and effort to get enjoyment. A nother thing could be is real trains are not seen as much as they were a while ago. Well thats just one mans thoughs. [:)]

[Hawks05]

i'll be 18 in a couple days and i'm just getting started. when i was a little there was a lot of trains going through town, now i'm lucky to see maybe 4-7 a day, if that.

i got into it because of a friend's dad. he showed me his layout one time and i was just amazed and had to get started.

i spend a good amount of my day on a computer because i don't have a job and have nothing to do so the computer is a easy place to search for things, sports, trains, music, etc...

hopefully i'll be around this hobby for a lot of years. i know this is very addicting and i like it.

[Anonymous]

Well, I´ll turn 18 in about 4 months, and I have been active in the hobby since I was 11. Now, when it comes to armchair modeling the age goes to down to 5, when I saw a book about how to build a layout (Building A Model Railroad With Personality). I'm currently working on my 2nd layout and while I'm no George Sellios, It's so far a fine model...or so I'm told.

[Anonymous]

I'm 18 and I've modeling my whole life. Can not remember a day with modeling something.

[Anonymous]

Will be 22 in december.

Been an active model railroader since age 4

Modeling Late 1960s GN

James

[ericsp]

25

[Anonymous]

At the age of 43 I've learned one thing about my fellow hobbyists. We aint getting no younger![:0]
If you want to secure a future for the hobby, peel your kids away from the boob tube and the pc and get them interested in trains. Now only will they learn to work with thier hands, but they can also learn woodworking, geometry, electronics, and art. A few things X-box wont teach them.
They say Ghengis Khan might have been a nicer man if he would have had a train to play with as a child![:D]

[AntonioFP45]

I did vote, and I'm 41. However I thought this question was going to be on this hobby's outlook. If you don't mind, I'll give my 2cents worth. Been in this hobby since the late 1970s. Got married, career and model railroading took a back step, though I was still a full time railfan. I continued on and off to "fiddle" with my rolling stock but had no layout to run them on.

In a nutshell: Model Railroading's future bright but expensive![;)]

What drew me back like an Aardvark to an ant hill, was DCC and sound! As a teen I always enjoyed hearing the sounds of EMD & GE diesel engines as well as the various horns. I was very impressed when I checked out Soundtraxx's sound samples on their web page and later when I got to hear the Broadway Limited Hudson and E7! [:D][:p]

One positive outlook:
I've run into guys ( just a few) my age and older that have the "DCC or Sound is just a gimmick! No need. It'll go the way of CTC 16 and Dynatrol!![:(!]" attitude. But I expect that many of the young adults and teens on this forum will help to advance this technology forward to the point where in the future; DCC & Sound will be as common an application as Kadee couplers are today! I hope that we continue to encourage this group.[:)][:D][8D][8)][4:-)][tup]

Cheers with an E7 in Run 8!

[MAbruce]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45


In a nutshell: Model Railroading's future bright but expensive![;)]

I would agree with this, but would add these thoughts about the long term. It’s my opinion (and I stress “opinion” as I am not in the industry) that Model Railroading will continue to enjoy growth – only for another 10 years or so. Why? Simple demographics.

I think we can all agree that our hobby is currently dominated by the baby boomers (and other surviving retirees from previous generations). They are by far this countries largest population demographic and they are reaching (or have reached) retirement. As such, they have more time and more disposable income to dedicate to a hobby. This generation can also relate more to model railroading because it was something they likely did before (or have been doing), as well as being around trains more when growing up.

In ten years (or maybe a bit more), this generation will start to pass in greater numbers. Even if there is a renewal of interest in MRR’ing in the younger generations, there simply won’t be enough of them to take the place of the departing baby boom modelers. A further complication is (as Antonio mentioned) the escalating cost. If the MRR manufacturers can’t reel in their prices, then they will continue to make it difficult to attract enough younger modelers - who likely can’t relate to railroads nearly as much as the baby boomers did (and would probably rather spend their money on PC's). A double jepordy will also occur where there will be a lot of good & cheaper second hand equipment being sold off via estate sales.

The bottom line is that this hobby needs to find a way to continue improving quality/technology while keeping the cost attractive to new modelers – less they price themselves out of existence.

Just my opinion and I could be wrong…

[Anonymous]

I'll be 18 on August 26th. There are more young people involved in the hobby than you might expect, which is good to know, but the percentage shown in this poll probably doesn't reflect the whole model railroading community. The amount of young people is probably much lower than the percentage here. Many more young people use computers than do older people and so more are likely to show up on this internet forum.

[rayhippard]

IMHO a hobby is an activity that you make something. Woodworking is a hobby if you make birdhouses for example. Tying flies ( lures ) for fishing is a hobby but fishing itself is a sport. Do you get my point yet ? Useing a computer for playing games or to do your homework is not a hobby. Writing code for a game would be considered a hobby. The future of model railroading hinges right now on RTR and completely built structures popularity as opposed to actually building a kit or kit bashing or scratch building. I doubt that anyone could argue that you get more satisfaction of accomplishment from building it instead of buying it. I'm not talking about building absolutely everything, but if you don't put some personal effort into it, you won't get the same feeling about your railroad. I think we should encourage manufacturers to bring back and or produce more kits and MODEL RAILROADER MAGAZINE should use their influance editorially to help us. Also, age makes no difference in your passion for this hobby. And I see a lot of passion in the threads on these forums. We all need to promote our hobby and being kind and patient with other modelers is one of our best atributes. Almost all of the people that I have met over 40 years in this hobby have been the best examples of this.
Does anyone else out there share any of my views or disagree ? Inguireing minds want to know.
Ray

[IRONROOSTER]

I think the future of the hobby is secure. While the baby boomers are getting older the population in the country is growing. There will be more and more hobbyists.

The RTR trend is good since it will entice more people into the hobby. The emphasis on layout building will increase even as the relative emphasis on model building decreases. Think of the layout as a giant scratch building project. Look at the growth of N scale. This has always been mostly RTR. The number of 3 rail O scalers has been increasing.

Cost is a factor, but most of the cost increase represents better quality. The car kits from 30 years ago have not gone up more than inflation, but they are not as detailed as today's kits and RTR. When I first got into this hobby 32 years ago, I had a very limited budget, I bought mostly MDC and Athearn cars and Atlas buildings and track a little bit at a time. That can still be done. These are still available and affordable.
Enjoy
Paul

[sparkingbolt]

I became a model railroader in '75 when I was a teenager and I still am one (You decide which I still am) Dan

[Roadtrp]

IRONROOSTER said everything I would have wanted to say better than I could have said it.

He must be an old guy like me, cause he SURE IS SMART!

[:)]