The hobby isn't dying but the local hobby shop is, and so are we. Our old ways of looking at things, buying things, and using them are dying. Just as has always happened. So What. Enjoy now and if you're worried about the future go on the good ol' YouTube and search "maker" and follow some of the threads. Young people are making everything out of everything (just like they always did). They're using home made CNC machines and 3D printers, they're making things that never existed and they're making things that did exist in exquisite detail. Would they buy from a local hobby shop? Maybe, but then they might "hack" the dickens out of what they bought to make it fit their vision. No one worries about being a "nerd" because nerd is a subset of cool today. Can't play B Ball? Go be Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. Make a zillion.
Yeah, some of 'em are space cases but by and large, "the kids are alright". Things'll be just fine.
Lou
Here is my ten bucks worth.....Kalmbach and others have coined the phrase...."The world's greatest hobby". I agree to some extent, but it just ain't quite accurate. More accurate would be "The world's most secretive hobby."........and there lies much of the problem. It appears to me that everything in this hobby seems to be marketed to just the hobby and not presented to the general public. Decades back, this was not the case....there were even TV shows about model trains, ads everywhere, train and hobby sections in most department store, and so much more. Young adults today are missing out on so much by not developing skills that require manual dexterity found in model building. Xboxes, Ipads, and all of the other high tech electronic game systems and associated bull crap to me are creating nothing but a nation of nerds and nerdettes. The term "train nerd" is an oxymoron as we hobbyists are anything but nerds....."artists" would work for openers.
Brass models are a fine example of lack of forsight among the so many past and current importers. Here is a field that offers much for serious collectors of fine art, and rest assured that brass models are art in the fullest sense...........but they have only been marketed to folks within the hobby, and indeed quite a small group considering that just about everyone on this planet has some sort of affection if not interest in railroads....or at least knowledge. Just go to a "collectible show and you'll find the damnest things being collected including antique condoms. Many of these collectible items have publictions available to the general public (although I seriously doubt that magazine exists on condom collecting).
Folks...we have done this to ourselves. I'm doing my best by sponsoring a rather large train show for the last 32 years, I support my LHS and others, even though I can get better prices on line. but I know once all sof the LHS's are gone so eventually will go the hobby as we know it...Then of course I open my railroad to the public as often as possible. I'm sure others do the same and we should all continue as best we can by being ambassadors for our hobby.
HZ
dknelson BPoi ... but the fact is that anything I can buy in a physical store is available cheaper and, quite frankly faster, over the internet if the shop wouldn't have had what I wanted in stock. And the sharing of knowledge--hello, this forum--is faster as well. All of this is in my opinion, only. Bruce I would only take serious issue with Bruce on two points. Even the guys I know who purchase almost exclusively via the internet do that primarily for the big ticket locomotives and highly desired limited run rolling stock. For the plain old work-a-day stuff like rail joiners, bottles of glue, extra couplers, and the like, they still go to the LHS, and will be upset if it closes. But no shop can make a go just selling that little stuff. And when you are in mid project and you need that certain size of Evergreen styrene strip, or that certain color of Tamiya rattle can paint, or those Kadee washers to make the coupler height come out correct, you want that ASAP and might even be willing to pay more for it. If the LHS doesn't have it you curse the LHS. Then you sometimes learn that even Walthers doesn't have it either. But if the LHS does have it, being able to have it in your hand that day still has value. As to whether the sharing of knowledge on this forum is as reliable as what you might hear at a hobby shop I am reluctant to opine, being somewhat of a knowledge-sharer myself. I will freely concede it is faster as a rule. Have enough people answer one question and one of those answers is bound to be right. Which one it is is still up to the questioner. Dave Nelson
BPoi ... but the fact is that anything I can buy in a physical store is available cheaper and, quite frankly faster, over the internet if the shop wouldn't have had what I wanted in stock. And the sharing of knowledge--hello, this forum--is faster as well. All of this is in my opinion, only. Bruce
... but the fact is that anything I can buy in a physical store is available cheaper and, quite frankly faster, over the internet if the shop wouldn't have had what I wanted in stock. And the sharing of knowledge--hello, this forum--is faster as well.
All of this is in my opinion, only.
Bruce
I would only take serious issue with Bruce on two points. Even the guys I know who purchase almost exclusively via the internet do that primarily for the big ticket locomotives and highly desired limited run rolling stock. For the plain old work-a-day stuff like rail joiners, bottles of glue, extra couplers, and the like, they still go to the LHS, and will be upset if it closes. But no shop can make a go just selling that little stuff.
And when you are in mid project and you need that certain size of Evergreen styrene strip, or that certain color of Tamiya rattle can paint, or those Kadee washers to make the coupler height come out correct, you want that ASAP and might even be willing to pay more for it. If the LHS doesn't have it you curse the LHS. Then you sometimes learn that even Walthers doesn't have it either. But if the LHS does have it, being able to have it in your hand that day still has value.
As to whether the sharing of knowledge on this forum is as reliable as what you might hear at a hobby shop I am reluctant to opine, being somewhat of a knowledge-sharer myself. I will freely concede it is faster as a rule. Have enough people answer one question and one of those answers is bound to be right. Which one it is is still up to the questioner.
Dave Nelson
IRONROOSTERFrankly, I think lack of trains in toy stores / toy departments is the bigger issue. Everytime a Walmart, Target, etc. opens there's a new toy department with no trains.
I would definitely agree with that. When I was a kid there was exposure to the hobby in a variety of places. I was lucky in that the town where we lived had 3 LHS, two of which were in walking distance and one was exclusively trains. Then of course Woolworth's had a sizeable hobby section with lots of train stuff & there was a second, independently owned 5 & 10 called J.A.Rowes that also had a pretty fair hobby section. And a lot of the department stores did too. We even had a local Hardware store that had hobby & train stuff.
The advantage to me personally was the ability to get a "hands on" look at things before you spent your money. You could decide if you liked it or if it fit the bill before you bought it. (How many tmes have you seen posts on forums such as this of someone not being terribly thrilled with something that just arrived that they bought online?) And at the LHS's there were people there that could make suggestions or steer you in the right direction towards something that might work better than what you might have initially had in mind, before you spend your money. You got first hand exposure to the stuff rather than watching videos of it or looking at photos of it & reading the manufacturer's naturally biased write-ups. You could look, touch & decide for yourself. Thankfully, forums such as this do tend fill that part of the niche.
All that is pretty much gone now. It's a 180 mile round trip drive to the nearest train shop now & that's $30.-$35. worth of gas and about 5 hours all told. So, I resign myself to trying to learn as much about what I want or need for the layout online & then buy online as well. Don't have a whole lot of choice anymore. I wish it were not so, but it is & that's the new order of things in the hobby business, like it or not. Lets face it, the internet has changed almost every aspect of our lives and it's a lifestyle change that's here to stay.
Carl
"I could never belong to any club that would have me as a member."
BRAKIE richhotrain Well, maybe it is only me, Larry, but the LHS is what made the hobby what it is today No,my friend I fully agree..A hobby shop was a useful thing in many ways from the friendships made to layout visits..Sadly time as moved on and left many things in its wake..
richhotrain Well, maybe it is only me, Larry, but the LHS is what made the hobby what it is today
No,my friend I fully agree..A hobby shop was a useful thing in many ways from the friendships made to layout visits..Sadly time as moved on and left many things in its wake..
When I started in this hobby, I was stationed in Germany in 1971. There was no LHS - the PX Toyland sold some Tyco trains. I didn't know anyone in the hobby. MR introduced me to the hobby and for 2 years I mail ordered everything I needed (except for the Tyco trains I started with). I also ordered some of Kalmbach's model railroading books as well to learn about wiring, track planning, scenery, scratchbuilding, etc.
Then I did stuff and when I made mistakes I analyzed and corrected them and moved forward.
These days with online videos, forums, websites with pictures all free it's so much easier to get started. And the mail order (now internet) stores are still there. MR is still there as well as lots of model railroading books.
So while I agree that a LHS can be helpful, lack of one is not an obstacle.
Frankly, I think lack of trains in toy stores / toy departments is the bigger issue. Everytime a Walmart, Target, etc. opens there's a new toy department with no trains.
Enjoy
Paul
cmrproducts What is going to be intersting is once 90% of all Hobby Stores are gone We will begin seeing Internet Stores closing! What will take the place of the Internet Stores? And don't say they will last forever - as NOTHING Lasts FOREVER! BOB H - Clarion, PA
What is going to be intersting is once 90% of all Hobby Stores are gone
We will begin seeing Internet Stores closing!
What will take the place of the Internet Stores?
And don't say they will last forever - as NOTHING Lasts FOREVER!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
Bob,I suspect it will be direct sales only..Look at the manufacturers that sell direct now and some times at a discount..Its no longer "Your dealer can get it from Walthers" now its you can order direct and may even get a on sale discount that some shops won't honor.
There's the answer-----as sad as it is.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
As much as I loved the old hobby shop, my purchases there were not going to keep it afloat. I loved to go in there and see all of the American Flyer stuff, and he had a running layout that would spur the imagination : See what I could build if...
The last (only) hobby shop in Bismarck was Dave's Hobbies (He used to advertize in MR) had a huge layout, but as he began to loose interest in his layout he also began to loose interest in the store. There was little that he had that I needed to buy. Mostly I bought strip wood, and Plasticstruct.
I consider my LHS to be Trainworld in Brooklyn. I was a regular customer of their Rockville Centre branch, but of course I do not live in the city anymore. Still, I can call them up or send them a letter and they will send stuff right out to me. There is not much to see in their store anyway.
There is Caboose Hobbies on 45th Street. It used to be a fine store under its former owners, but when they retired, the guy from Caboose (Across the Street, third floor up) took over the place and installed his remarkable clutter. He probably has what you want, but you are surely not going to find it. He has a nice cat on the counter, but if you are not careful with his cat she will mistake you for dinner.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
richhotrainWell, maybe it is only me, Larry, but the LHS is what made the hobby what it is today
I don't have the answers but I guess I am one of the few who is both optimistic and excited about the future of not only model railroading but many hobbies. I think to some extent we have reached a point in our hobby where the older, more established ways of enjoying and learning the hobby have come into confluence with different and far more varied and less established forms. This can often cause misunderstandings and perhaps even hard hard feelings. Case in point is YouTube. My young Son and I use YouTube extensively as a tool to progress and learn in the hobby. It is a wonderful and often underused tool for model railroaders in my humble opinion. Others may not see it the same way, harkening back to the days of Saturday morning gab and coffee sessions at the LHS. Bottom line everything evolves and changes. Model railroading is not exempt. Yes, sometimes change is good...sometimes it's not. People get enjoyment from this hobby in many different ways. None is better then the other. It's whatever is best for you. The glass can be half empty...or half full. Honestly, was the glass ever full in this hobby? Really?
Enjoy and HAPPY MODELING to all!
Don.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that both engines have failed, and we will be stuck here for some time. The good news is that you decided to take the train and not fly."
ATLANTIC CENTRALRespectfully, how many hours of retail sales or management experiance do you have?
I have enough hours behind the counter to fully understand how a hobby shop works also enough time that it killed my youthful dreams of owning a hobby shop and that was years ago..My last part time hobby shop job was back in 02/03...I knew then hobby shops was a dying business as did the owner.
BRAKIE All of those concerns is covered on forums,youtube and Kalmbach books.. You seem be clinging to the age of dinosaurs when you're in the computer age and the same thing is dooming hobby shops.
All of those concerns is covered on forums,youtube and Kalmbach books..
You seem be clinging to the age of dinosaurs when you're in the computer age and the same thing is dooming hobby shops.
Well, maybe it is only me, Larry, but the LHS is what made the hobby what it is today.
And, IMHO, the demise of the LHS will eventually prove to be the undoing of the hobby as we know it today.
Rich
Alton Junction
BRAKIE ATLANTIC CENTRAL But selling off slow moving inventory at little or no profit - assuming that lowering the price even makes it move - is not a magic bullet for a store of that type. True, any business needs current inventory that people want, but the modern idea of closing out everything that is not flying off the shelves flies in the face of a "customer service" business model of a small shop. And selling off stuff at no profit because you think it is dead inventory - well the next customer in the door may be looking for just that item.......... And by doing that your customers goes elsewhere for their needs while you wait and wait and wait and wait some more to sell your dust covered stock to modelers that may never come.. Which is best to mark it down and sell it or go out of business and watch your stock take a big loss on the auction block?
ATLANTIC CENTRAL But selling off slow moving inventory at little or no profit - assuming that lowering the price even makes it move - is not a magic bullet for a store of that type. True, any business needs current inventory that people want, but the modern idea of closing out everything that is not flying off the shelves flies in the face of a "customer service" business model of a small shop. And selling off stuff at no profit because you think it is dead inventory - well the next customer in the door may be looking for just that item..........
And by doing that your customers goes elsewhere for their needs while you wait and wait and wait and wait some more to sell your dust covered stock to modelers that may never come..
Which is best to mark it down and sell it or go out of business and watch your stock take a big loss on the auction block?
But again Larry, that view assumes that marking it down will sell it. That is not always the case. I have watched some stuff sit on store shelves at 40% off (cost for most small shops) and no go anywhere.
Some people buy stuff just because it is "cheaper", others still only buy what they "want to own".
Good managers see trends in merchandise before they get stuck with a whole store full of stuff that does not sell. In a business like this they also hopefully learn which items are worth holding on to and waiting to get their price. The real skill is in not buying too much of the wrong stuff in the first place.
Respectfully, how many hours of retail sales or management experiance do you have?
Again, I agree some of their problems may have been self inflicted, but the answers are not always as cut and dry as you think - unless you have big piles of money.
Sheldon
richhotrain BRAKIE richhotrain The LHS provided the physical presence of sample layouts, inventory, and on site expertise. It is pretty hard to get excited about the hobby when all you have to go on is a laptop or a mini-iPad. Rich I know this..My youngest grandson is a gamer like his dad and has never bought a game from any retail shop including Gamestop.He buys his games on line.When he is stuck in a game he turns to youtube for the solution.. Besides model railroading doesn't require a PHD and help can be found on the internet through forums such as this and youtube and that help is available 24/7.. Not the same thing, Larry. Buying a computer game to play on a computer is not the same thing as buying a locomotive, rolling stock, a power pack, setting up electronics, landscaping, building structures, installing decoders in DCC, etc, etc, etc. Rich
BRAKIE richhotrain The LHS provided the physical presence of sample layouts, inventory, and on site expertise. It is pretty hard to get excited about the hobby when all you have to go on is a laptop or a mini-iPad. Rich I know this..My youngest grandson is a gamer like his dad and has never bought a game from any retail shop including Gamestop.He buys his games on line.When he is stuck in a game he turns to youtube for the solution.. Besides model railroading doesn't require a PHD and help can be found on the internet through forums such as this and youtube and that help is available 24/7..
richhotrain The LHS provided the physical presence of sample layouts, inventory, and on site expertise. It is pretty hard to get excited about the hobby when all you have to go on is a laptop or a mini-iPad. Rich
I know this..My youngest grandson is a gamer like his dad and has never bought a game from any retail shop including Gamestop.He buys his games on line.When he is stuck in a game he turns to youtube for the solution..
Besides model railroading doesn't require a PHD and help can be found on the internet through forums such as this and youtube and that help is available 24/7..
Not the same thing, Larry.
Buying a computer game to play on a computer is not the same thing as buying a locomotive, rolling stock, a power pack, setting up electronics, landscaping, building structures, installing decoders in DCC, etc, etc, etc.
Did you know Woodland Scenics has videos on their web site that shows you how to use their products?
Do you know there are gamers that build dioramas for playing roll playing games with miniture figurines? I suspect the majority of those players has never set foot into a hobby shop when they bought their Woodland Scenic products or model paint..
richhotrainThe LHS provided the physical presence of sample layouts, inventory, and on site expertise. It is pretty hard to get excited about the hobby when all you have to go on is a laptop or a mini-iPad. Rich
BRAKIE richhotrain So, how is a young kid going to get started and progress in the model railroading hobby? In my opinion, it ain't gonna happen. The loss of the LHS will eventually prove fatal. Rich I think your underestimating today's youth..They're very savvy when it comes to finding things out.. 98% will know to type in "model train forums" for a google search or head to Face Book and do a search.MR still mention their forum and MR can be found in big box stores and some convenience stores..They can even go to You Tube and find tutorials.
richhotrain So, how is a young kid going to get started and progress in the model railroading hobby? In my opinion, it ain't gonna happen. The loss of the LHS will eventually prove fatal. Rich
I think your underestimating today's youth..They're very savvy when it comes to finding things out..
98% will know to type in "model train forums" for a google search or head to Face Book and do a search.MR still mention their forum and MR can be found in big box stores and some convenience stores..They can even go to You Tube and find tutorials.
Sure, today's youth can do all of that stuff, but you are overestimating the amount of effort that it takes beyond getting started. Anyone starting into the hobby today, absent a LHS, a buddy who is into model railroading, and/or a local club, is faced with an enormous learning curve. It is not insurmountable but for many, if not most, it will not be worth the effort without the physical inspiration to pursue the hobby.
To simply say that today's youth is computer savvy is to miss the point. The LHS provided the physical presence of sample layouts, inventory, and on site expertise. It is pretty hard to get excited about the hobby when all you have to go on is a laptop or a mini-iPad.
richhotrainSo, how is a young kid going to get started and progress in the model railroading hobby? In my opinion, it ain't gonna happen. The loss of the LHS will eventually prove fatal. Rich
ATLANTIC CENTRALBut selling off slow moving inventory at little or no profit - assuming that lowering the price even makes it move - is not a magic bullet for a store of that type. True, any business needs current inventory that people want, but the modern idea of closing out everything that is not flying off the shelves flies in the face of a "customer service" business model of a small shop. And selling off stuff at no profit because you think it is dead inventory - well the next customer in the door may be looking for just that item..........
In some ways, this thread ties in with the Where Are We Headed thread.
Does the demise of the LHS spell the doom of the model railroading as a hobby?
Not necessarily, at least not immediately, but it is a cause for concern, IMHO.
Here is why I say that.
I had American Flyer trains as a kid, then stepped away from model trains for 45 years, before getting back into the hobby in early 2004.
On a lark, I visited one of my three LHS and purchased a steam engine, a DC power pack and some sectional track. I built a small oval on a 4' x 8' piece of plywood. Within a year, I had expanded to a DCC powered 25' x 12' layout and landscaped it. All with the help of the LHS owner and his sidekick.
True, there were some old guys who hung around the store, drinking coffee and BS'ng, but not me. I constantly visited the shop, bought merchandise, and asked questions about electronics, structures, landscaping, you name it. By the end of that first year, I had joined this forum at the suggestion of one of the guys at the LHS. The forum supplemented my increasing knowledge base.
If I decided to get into the hobby today, a mere 10 years later, all three of my LHS are now closed and gone. So, I would have nowhere to go to get started. I would not know about the forum. I could not accomplish over the next 10 years what I have accomplished over the past 10 years. So, how is a young kid going to get started and progress in the model railroading hobby? In my opinion, it ain't gonna happen. The loss of the LHS will eventually prove fatal.
alco_fan Sheldon, I know that you believe that you know everything _about_ everything, but in this case you cannot know the situation at all -- not that it would ever keep you from making a pronouncement. Franciscan had old tired inventory they would not discount to move out to make way for other stuff. They were late to see the Internet as a marketing option rather than view it as a competitor. Note that they sold a lot of RC stuff and other hobby goods, so this was not a model railroading specific shop any longer -- nor is the closing a model railroading specific problem. Not to mention that the real estate got very expensive. But now I will withdraw and allow those of you who _never set foot_ in the shop to explain what went wrong there.
Sheldon, I know that you believe that you know everything _about_ everything, but in this case you cannot know the situation at all -- not that it would ever keep you from making a pronouncement.
Franciscan had old tired inventory they would not discount to move out to make way for other stuff. They were late to see the Internet as a marketing option rather than view it as a competitor. Note that they sold a lot of RC stuff and other hobby goods, so this was not a model railroading specific shop any longer -- nor is the closing a model railroading specific problem. Not to mention that the real estate got very expensive.
But now I will withdraw and allow those of you who _never set foot_ in the shop to explain what went wrong there.
Alco fan,
You are correct, I don't know anything about the shop in question, but based on the info the owner provided, and the info you provided, and my years working in and managing hobby shops, and my many years being self employed, I have a pretty good idea of the problems.
And yes some of them may well be self inflicted by the shop owner.
But selling off slow moving inventory at little or no profit - assuming that lowering the price even makes it move - is not a magic bullet for a store of that type. True, any business needs current inventory that people want, but the modern idea of closing out everything that is not flying off the shelves flies in the face of a "customer service" business model of a small shop. And selling off stuff at no profit because you think it is dead inventory - well the next customer in the door may be looking for just that item..........
And, it creates an expectation of even more discounting, discounting that I explained before they simply can't do and still make a profit.
As for the internet, maybe they lacked anyone with the knowledge and did not feel they had the resources to hire such a person?
AND AGAIN, unless you can buy more product, and buy it direct from the manufacturers at lower prices, being on the internet is of marginal use - except maybe to sell that "dated" inventory to people on the other side of the country who may be willing to pay top dollar for that long out of production "new old stock" item.
It takes money, and lots of it, to buy direct from the likes of Bachmann, or to get distributor pricing from Walthers, Bowser, Digitrax, or whoever. In fact, from a pricing /marketing standpoint the small dealers only have one true friend in the list of big boys in this hobby - Athearn/Horizon who sells at basically the same price to all retailers and does all their own distribution.
So it does not matter if you are Train World or some mom and pop shop, they both buy Athearn at prices close enough to the same to be able to be competitive with each other.
Back in the good old days, all that stuff you called "tired inventory" was why I went to places Gilberts in Gettysburg, MB Klein, or other long established stores. Sure new releases are nice to see, but I want depth of inventory where I shop, or I would just rather buy from www dot send it to me now.
Mabe the owner or owners simply did not want to risk their houses, or life savings to "move into" the changing market of hobbies? Who can blame them. There is and old joke amoung hobby shop owners - "how do you make a small fortune in the hobby business? - start with a big one"
It is a tough business - it was a tough business when you could get retail prices, and a 10,000 sq ft store could hold most of the available products on the market. Now you need a super market sized store, you have buy direct so you can discount, and you have sit on tons of stuff to have depth of inventory because of buying direct and "limited production" in China.
And you mention real estate - retail rents can kill these kinds of businesses- only hope is be in a low rent area or own the building - owning the building, that is part of ther secret of several of the big name suppliers talked about on this forum all the time - they have no rent, no mortgage, their owners paid for the land and building decades ago. How do I know this? Oh yea, that's right, I worked in this busienss and know these people.
I will repeat my offer from a while back - I just need 10 of you to each put up one million dollars, and I will open and run the best full service, discount model train store you ever saw. Who's in? Oh, you have to wait 5-10 years for any return on that money...........
As far as being able to go hang out at the hobby shop and shoot the breeze, in a way, were doing that right now, only its in our own houses. Not quite the same, but, we are hanging out now and doing it internationally. The hobby shop, in the form of the world wide web is also available to us internationally. It might take a week to get something but its all available, at least to shop, 24/7. If you have stuff to sell, you can, internationally. Of course the next huge change in our hobby will be high resolution table top 3D printers.
As Paul Harvey would say "Now you know the rest of the story."
I alway said there's two sides to every story.
Thanks for the "rest of the story."
alco_fan Franciscan was my local hobby shop for a few years when I lived in the city. Not to blame the victim completely, but many of their problems were self-inflicted in terms of inventory, failure to address the Internet, etc. This has been coming for a while.
Franciscan was my local hobby shop for a few years when I lived in the city. Not to blame the victim completely, but many of their problems were self-inflicted in terms of inventory, failure to address the Internet, etc. This has been coming for a while.
Inventory? How can a store have inventory when everything is presold "limited" production?
Address the Internet? How? lower prices to below their cost? Read my earlier post.
The only brick and mortar storesthat will survive will be tohse big enough to buy direct from the manufacturers - I conld see this comming 35 years ago.
I mentioned this on another thread
I work for Amazon.com and I've come to understand this issue pretty easily having the chance to see things from the standpoint of being a consumer and employed by a supplier. Consider how many businesses larger and small have disappeared as a result of my employer selling direct and much cheaper than a localized store. I am not pointing the finger at them, they are only doing what we've wanted.
My LHS closed in November. That leaves me to buy from online retailers. Go figure.
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
cedarwoodronI am only 59, but perhaps- in my remaining lifetime- the distributors and manufacturers will also begin to die off
The manufacturers disappear? Not a chance. New ones are starting up (Rapido, et al), including hundreds of small ones that could not have happened without the Internet.
Distribution is changing, for sure. But the sky is not falling and the hobby is not dead. For people who actually _do_ model railroading, the hobby is changing (and _surviving_). For people who spend most of their time only _talking_ about it ... well, that is another story.
First of all, this is a sad letter but it is indicative of what is happening in so many places. The writer lists several of the reasons we have discussed many times here before and we all can add to the list.
The fact is that many of the institutions we knew in our younger days are slowly dying. I can remember there being a Memorial Day parade in my hometown which was a huge event and involved hundreds of people. Today it is almost nonexistent because the people who supported it have died out. Another personal example is my church - 30 years ago it had over 4,000 members - it now has 1600 and is in a long painful decline. We all can name similar things. When it hits home like the closing of a favorite store, restaurant, hobby shop, hardware or other much loved place it is a sign that the world and marketplace are all changing.
And unless there is concerted effort of the part of many people these closings are going to continue. There is a much loved book store located in a resort city in northern Michigan that was in danger of closing when the big name stores opened in the mall. This downtown store survived because people simply refused to let it die and now it is going better than ever. Other mom and pop stores are no different and one way they may survive is if we continue to give them business.
I was the person who recently posted the question about the future of the hobby and I received as many opinions as there were responses. We shouldn't kid ourselves that the hobby is also changing and if it is to survive for another generation then instead of beating ourselves up for once again discussing the issue, the bigger question is what can all of us do right now to help preserve it.
There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.....
When I was a kid, there was a hobby shop about 1/2 hour from my home. That is where I purchased everything for my frst layout. At that age, I pretty much only worked on the railroad in the winter months as in the summer there was too much going on outside. Then one year we went there just before Christmas & I found that it was now a video & hobby shop with very few modeling supplies. This was in the early 80's. Then I found another about an hour away and by this time I had my liscense so I could drive myself, unfortunately after buying a car, gas, and insurance there wasn't much of a train budget left. Last time I went there, in the early 90's, the store was a sporting goods store. When I moved to a different town a year later there was a nicely stocked hobby shop, unfortunately the owner wasin his 70's and when he retired there was noone to take it over. Once the internet took off I was able to get modeling supplies again without a 3 hour one way drive.
Within the last year, I did find another hobby shop in the town I live in. It seems that the owner opened it within the last year. Suprisingly, this owner started by selling on the internet, and eventually had so much buisness that he decided to open a brick & mortar store. It's not a spectacular shop with mostly RTR equipment & very little scratchbuilding supplies. He didn't say it but I suspect that hiss internet sales supports the store. It may not be the greatest shop but it's refreshing to see a hobby shop opening in this day & age.
Michael
Never attempt anything you don't want to explain to the EMT