Trains.com

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Poll Thread

4941 views
42 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    January 2012
  • 61 posts
Posted by Pantherphil on Thursday, November 23, 2017 8:35 PM

Age:  67

Scale:  N

Region:  East Penn to New England

 

Era:  1950s to 1960s

Time in Hobby:  1955-1965 Lionel O 27 (MMP&R) 1968-1972  HO  1980-1994 HO (PSS& M) and N (Philipsburg & Milestown)  2006-  N (East Penn) and N (Philadelphia, Reading and Lehigh Valley).

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: west coast
  • 7,584 posts
Posted by rrebell on Thursday, November 23, 2017 8:01 AM

Age 65. Time in hobby (not counting childhood) around 35. Model era, the 30's but still allowing stuff from later as long as it was available in the 30's (as a side note, you would be surprised at what was being tested in the 30's, even by the railroads but were not built till after the war as anything other than a test item). Region mostly west coast, lot of SP stuff for engines. And since we are mentioning eyesite, mine is slowly getting worse in the one eye but the other eye (always had a lazy eye) is getteing better and am told I will have 20/20 in that eye if I live long enough, I am sure many many years from now.

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: Nashville, TN area
  • 707 posts
Posted by hardcoalcase on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 3:22 PM

dehusman
Hardcoalcase: Have you looked at the Yahoo Groups EarlyRail forum, lots of pre-WW1 modelers over there, plus the Railroad Line Forums has an Early Rail forum.

Yes, I've been on the Yahoo Early Rail Group for some time now, but didn't know about RR Line Forums.  I'll check it out, thanks!

Jim

  • Member since
    November 2017
  • 92 posts
Posted by Bubbytrains on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 2:12 PM

Era: 70's-90's

Region: New England

Scale: N and HO

Time in hobby: about 4 decades

Age: 51

Bubbytrains

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 8:05 PM

These are the eventual planned modeling interests.

Eras: 1940-1950, 1970s, 1990s-present.

Railroads:

N&W, NYC, BM, MEC, PT. 1940-end of steam on various lines

Chessie System, Conrail 1970s-early 1980s

INRD/Soo Line early 1990s

Maybe NS modern era at some point.

Scales N, HO, O (3rail)

Age 30(ish), started when 8, stopped when 12.  Started when 18.  Navy stopped that before 19.  Started again whenever my profile says I joined.

Where I live: here

Regions: 

Portland, Me (BM,MEC,PT)

somewhere near Cincinnatti, OH (N&W, NYC, Chessie)  

Southwestern Indiana (INRD/SOO) 

location undecided (Conrail)

location undecided (NS)

  • Member since
    August 2014
  • 251 posts
Posted by tedtedderson on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 6:12 PM

Era: 50s-ish

Region: upper Midwest-ish

HO 

Time in hobby: few years with my dad around 7-12 years of age. 4 solid years with my own layout/funds.  Just about 40 years old now. 

Location: smack dab between Milwaukee and Chicago on the northern side of the cheddar curtain. 

I like to model Milwaukee road and c&nw.

T e d

  • Member since
    March 2017
  • 58 posts
Posted by RobertSchuknecht on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 5:42 PM

Era: Modern, with a lot of poetic leeway.

Region: Much of the eastern US. Modeled portion of railroad is Chicago.

Scale: HO

Time in the hobby: 1972-1990, 2012-present.

Age: 58

  • Member since
    November 2013
  • 2,672 posts
Posted by snjroy on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 5:25 PM

Scale: HO and HOn3

Era: mining and logging, 1920-1960, depending what I choose that day  (buildings stay, rolling stock changes). I also run big diesels and steam locos strictly at the club.

Roads: CN, CP, TNVR. Eastern Canada

Me: 50-59 

Years in MRing: 20, non continous

 

 

 

  • Member since
    July 2017
  • 71 posts
Posted by Nevin on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 7:32 AM

Scale : HO

era 1915-1920

Railroads:  Tonopah and Tidewater, Las Vegas and Tonopah, Bullfrog Goldfield

region depicted:  Goldfield, Nevada

Time in hobby: 40 years

  • Member since
    January 2001
  • From: US
  • 231 posts
Posted by EMDSD40 on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 7:11 AM

Born in 1953 and the Lionel trains purchased for my first Christmas still ply the rails on the “O” gauge level of my layout. Thanks to a great father and grandfather, I was bitten by the “magic of Lionel”. This started a lifetime hobby resulting in a bi-level HO on top, “O” gauge on bottom layout. Both layouts reflect an urban industrial setting circa 1955. As I grew up along the PRR panhandle division in SW Pennsylvania my interests are firmly rooted in the PRR and NS. Turning 65 in 2018, the kids are planning a “Medicare“ party. The money difference between private pay health insurance and Medicare will equate to more “hobby dollars”. Enjoying it while I can, as the years are going by very quickly.

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: Saskatchewan
  • 2,201 posts
Posted by last mountain & eastern hogger on Monday, November 20, 2017 10:31 PM

WhistlingHi Gang,

The era of the LM&E is mid sixties to 1982

It is based on the Western Pacific and occastionally others from the pacific northwest.  The Last Mountain and Eastern is a fictional Line owned by the WP. just like Sacramento Northern.

Size is 13' x 17' in basement, separate room.

Been active in the hobby off and on, mainly on since I was 7 years old.  I am now 77.  You do the math unless you are too old.

I have some of my Railroad passes that we used to exchange through the Model Trains mag of Kalmbach. The railroad name on those passes is the same as it is today.   "Last Mountain & Eastern"   Pretty good record eh.??

I have about 40 locos,  7 are steam that pull the excursion trains.

Night all...... Johnboy out.

from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North.. 

We have met the enemy,  and he is us............ (Pogo)

  • Member since
    November 2015
  • 52 posts
Posted by JimL on Monday, November 20, 2017 10:14 PM

late 1950's

Pennsylvania coalfield to industrial New Jersey

HO, O

45 years in HO, 17 years in O

58 years young

 

  • Member since
    November 2006
  • From: NW Pa Snow-belt.
  • 2,216 posts
Posted by ricktrains4824 on Monday, November 20, 2017 8:58 PM

Scale : HO

Era : 2002+

Locale Modelled : Northern PA/OH/NY tri-state area.

Railroad Modelled : Freelanced Regional Line.

Age : 31

Years in Hobby : HO scale 17 years. Trains of one kind or another - 28 years.

Ricky W.

HO scale Proto-freelancer.

My Railroad rules:

1: It's my railroad, my rules.

2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.

3: Any objections, consult above rules.

  • Member since
    February 2004
  • From: Central Ohio
  • 567 posts
Posted by basementdweller on Monday, November 20, 2017 4:44 PM

49 years old and been in the hobby about 13 years or so. I model the Pennsy in the mid / late 1960's, along with a DT&I interchange. HO scale. No particular location, i just hope it looks believable. Sometimes i can't help but want to run some steam. 

Located in central Ohio. 

  • Member since
    July 2017
  • 201 posts
Posted by marksrailroad on Monday, November 20, 2017 4:33 PM

54 years old, from south east Texas, model 1955-60, model western US, N scale, 27 years in the hobby...

  • Member since
    December 2004
  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
  • 21,342 posts
Posted by MisterBeasley on Monday, November 20, 2017 3:48 PM

I model the 1950-60 timeframe and the 1930s.  To switch eras, I replace trains and vehicles.  I have a few unfinished structures destined for swapping as well.  I model the northern Midwest with Milwaukee Road equipment in HO scale.  I've been back in the hobby for 12 years, but I really started when I was about 3 or 4 and put the trains in storage when I went to college, resurrecting them in 2005 to start again.  I'm 70 years old now.  I grew up on Long Island, New York and now live in the burbs of Boston, Massachusetts.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
    April 2016
  • 252 posts
Posted by Lazers on Monday, November 20, 2017 2:20 PM

Region: Indiana, Chicago South Shore & South Bend + South Shore Freight

Location: Beverly Shores - Carroll Avenue inclusive + Industries along the Line

Era: Sumitimo Electrics / GP38-2's Orange Livery - Date      Scale: HO

Layout: Researching, Designing and making from Scratch - Buildings, Structures etc. Layout when I have moved to new house.

Residence: England   Age: Much too late to Emigrate, to the U.S.A.

Tags: Poll Thread

"It's the South Shore Line, Jim - but not as we know it".

  • Member since
    January 2015
  • From: Southern California
  • 1,682 posts
Posted by Lone Wolf and Santa Fe on Monday, November 20, 2017 1:34 PM

Layout #1 1980s-1990s, southern California, HO scale, since 1970s.
Layout #2 1880s-1890s, northern Nevada, HO scale
Layout #3 2080s, Planet Mars, HO scale

Modeling a fictional version of California set in the 1990s Lone Wolf and Santa Fe Railroad
  • Member since
    May 2012
  • 1,855 posts
Posted by angelob6660 on Monday, November 20, 2017 1:28 PM

Majority time era: 1980s-2006

Location: Northeast (CR) West (BNSF/UP)

Scale: N

Age: 31

Place: Arizona

Active: 28 years 

 

My fictional railway the Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio is located along those states but I hope I'll build it. 

Modeling the G.N.O. Railway, The Diamond Route.

Amtrak America, 1971-Present.

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: Omaha, NE
  • 10,616 posts
Posted by dehusman on Monday, November 20, 2017 11:39 AM

hardcoalcase
era - 1910 region modeled - NE PA to the west bank of the Hudson River, NY

1900-1905

SE Pennsylvania-Delaware

HO standard

50+ years in the hobby, 37 years on the prototype

60's

Nebraska

Hardcoalcase:  Have you looked at the Yahoo Groups EarlyRail forum, lots of pre-WW1 modelers over there, plus the Railroad Line Forums has an Early Rail forum.

Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Maryland
  • 12,857 posts
Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Monday, November 20, 2017 11:36 AM

Sir Madog

 

 
 
What are you going to do with the poll results

 

Finding out, that the majority of us model railroaders roaming about this forum models the transition era west of the Alleghenies in HO scale, standard gauge, is male, over 55 years old, qualifying as old phart" and has chosen model railroading as his life time hobby.

One more fact - the number of "oddballs" modeling exotic eras, regions and/or prototypes is rather small.

 

While all that is likely true, when the poll is over you may be surprised to find the north east/mid atlantic/ohio valley a very close second to everywhere else in the US combined. Why?

Because despite some population shifts recently, a large percentage of the people in North America still live east of the Mississippi and North of the Ohio and Potomac.

Sheldon

    

  • Member since
    February 2015
  • From: Ludington, MI
  • 1,731 posts
Posted by Water Level Route on Monday, November 20, 2017 11:21 AM

Era: 1940's

Region: Upstate New York

Scale: HO

Theme: Imaginary branch of the New York Central 

Time in the Hobby: 33 years?

Age: 41

Mike

Mike

  • Member since
    March 2002
  • From: Milwaukee WI (Fox Point)
  • 11,427 posts
Posted by dknelson on Monday, November 20, 2017 11:16 AM

Era: 1966-69, probably closer to 1969.  

Region: City of South Milwaukee WI on the C&NW, my hometown (so, "upper midwest")

Scale: HO (also have dabbled in N and I set up 0-27 at Christmas)

Time in the hobby: if you include wind-up and toy trains, about 62 years.  A bit less for HO itself.  

Age last birthday: 65 years.

 

THANK YOU for NOT asking "estimated total life-time expenditure on trains."  Zip it!

Dave Nelson

 

  • Member since
    November 2008
  • From: Imperial, Nebraska
  • 29 posts
Posted by wyobraska on Monday, November 20, 2017 11:14 AM

Era: October 1999

region: western nebraska, southeast wyoming

HO scale

age: 44

Been in hobby for 10 years off and on- have 3 kids and a job, so time is at a premium these days!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Miles

 

Modeling the UP Sidney Sub in Nebraska & Wyoming in fall of 1999 in HO scale

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Maryland
  • 12,857 posts
Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Monday, November 20, 2017 11:12 AM

OK, I'll play.

Era: 1953 (but a real rivet counter will find a few 1954 items)

Region: Mid Atlantic region of the US

Scale: HO

Theme: Freelance Class I double track mainline

Time in hobby: 50 years - my father built me a very nice layout and got me started at age 10 - been at it in some form ever since.

Age: 60 years

Sheldon

    

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Bakersfield, CA 93308
  • 6,526 posts
Posted by RR_Mel on Monday, November 20, 2017 10:24 AM

Thank you Steven.  Great thread!
 
Mel
 
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
  
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
 
  • Member since
    January 2017
  • 2,980 posts
Posted by NWP SWP on Monday, November 20, 2017 10:20 AM

Sorry I'm Steven I'm 16 and live in the midsouth.

Well I really just started this thread for fun. So I guess the poll results are there for anyone to see.

Steve

If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!

  • Member since
    October 2001
  • From: US
  • 973 posts
Posted by jmbjmb on Monday, November 20, 2017 10:18 AM

Era:  Late 1950s, with perhaps a squeek to 1963 to squeeze in those funky looking GP30s.  I also have a pull, but am not currently modeling late 70s (just as the mergers were happening so you had this wonderful mix of paint schemes) or WW2.

Region: South Carolina Piedmont, cotton mill region.  I grew up in a mill hill town that was trapped in the 50s culture wise so I'm trying to capture that unique culture of a southern mill town that is fast vanishing.  Though having lived in Colorado, I feel a connection to the vastness of the scenary.

Scale:  HO

Time in:  Since 1971.  I won a Tyco train set selling Christmas cards in 6th grade.

 

jim

  • Member since
    March 2015
  • 1,358 posts
Posted by SouthPenn on Monday, November 20, 2017 9:04 AM

Era: late 1950s

Region: north east US.  But it could be anywhere in the US depending on what rail line is running. ie: Great Northern, Western Maryland, CB&Q, PRR, NYC, B&O, South Penn, Blacklog, Tuscarora, EBT, etc.

Scale: HO

Time in hobby: ~30 years - Not counting the time with my Dad; 39 years

Age: 69

Location: Pennsylvania, USA

 

South Penn

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Users Online

There are no community member online

Search the Community

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Model Railroader Newsletter See all
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!