The Fastest Growing Scales In Model Railroading Today Are...........

[Anonymous]

Large Scale followed by Z Scale. That's what I read on the Yahoo board today. I wonder where they got these stats from, NMRA, Model Railroader?

[Anonymous]

I'd say On30..

[Anonymous]

Depnds how much you water them and whether they have direct sunlight or not

[ragnar]

LARGE SCALE is begining to be the dominate scale within my club which has N ,H.O and LS.
I myself am a dyed in the wool H.Oer with a few pieces of LS.

[Anonymous]

Yup, I'd say On30 as well. My local train shop stocks On30 ready-to-run Shays, Climax, and 25-Tonners, but has never stocked a single piece of HOn3 motive power, rolling stock, or track. Not even brass engines.

The On30 motive power that I've seen has that Christmas Train look to it- almost like a caricature of itself, writ large. Maybe that's part of it. A dyed-in-the-wool HO-er, I've been tempted to buy an On30 Shay as a display model, just because I like the look and the size. And if they didn't sell well, these guys at my local store, sharp businessmen that they are, wouldn't stock them.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Rivet Counter

Large Scale followed by Z Scale. That's what I read on the Yahoo board today. I wonder where they got these stats from, NMRA, Model Railroader?

Actually, I read the same thing although I don't recall where. I always thought N scale was the fastest growing but I may be wrong. I do know that Micro-Trains has been producing a lot more Z scale. Later this year, they're coming out with a GP35 and new track that looks exactly like the Kato Unitrack. I've seen the MTL F-7's and they look pretty impressive to me.

[hminky]

QUOTE: The On30 motive power that I've seen has that Christmas Train look to it- almost like a caricature of itself, writ large

The On30 equipment made by Bachmann is all prototype. It is just compromised to run on HO track. Sorta like 1/4" scale standard gauge running on scale five foot track leftover from 1/43 O scale.

Just a thought
Harold

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by hminky
[The On30 equipment made by Bachmann is all prototype...

They chose cute prototypes, then. Good on 'em for that.

[orsonroy]

The fastest growing SCALE? N
The fastest growing GAUGE? On30

[ericboone]

Actually, I just got into #1 gauge 1/20 scale (close to G scale, 1/22) for fun in the garden, but I'm still planning to build a nice HO layout in the basement.

[CNJ831]

Undoubtedly On30 would be the winner here. But consider, too, that we are talking about an only recently introduced, widely available/affordable, commercial scale with currently only a very small but growing following vs. the other long, long established scales/gauges that totally dominate the hobby. In fact, O, HO, and N are probably just about static in growth. Z is honestly too limited to make any meaningful comments about. Undoubtedly, G (L/S) ranks well above Z in growth rate but is still only a tiny fraction of the hobby.

In short, such growth rankings don't really have any meaning nor importance.[:D]

CNJ831

[red p]

I model the PC in HO scale (that will never change)
I also like to play with 1950s PRR in G scale.I wanted my garden Railroad to showcase PRR steam

[IRONROOSTER]

I would be interested to see actual numbers for the different scales. Anyone know when and who did the last survey?

Enjoy
Paul

[CNJ831]

QUOTE: Originally posted by IRONROOSTER

I would be interested to see actual numbers for the different scales. Anyone know when and who did the last survey?

Paul

My guess would be that the last such meaningful survey with published results would have been that conducted by MR in 1993, with figures now more than a decade old. I would definitely have to question the accuracy/validity of a survey by anyone else (particularly any conducted on-line) because of the probability of a drastically lesser database seriously skewing the results. The NMRA would also be unsuitable as a source of hobby-wide figures because it is essentially an HO-oriented organization with relatively few members representing the other scales.

CNJ831

[West Coast S]

I see a emergence is S scale, its getting crowded compared to a few years ago...More and more one can aquire accurate RTR equiptment, flextrack,turnouts, structures...Pricewise, i've seen HO RTR for as much or more and quality wise, many of the S manfactures are the same names familar to you in HO.

[Anonymous]

I model O scale 1:48 but it seems that the local shops stock more HO and N stuff. I think that in general, the entire hobby is booming because it is so much fun. Space and dollars still seem to dictate which gauge one selects. IMO.