An old man's hobby?

[CMLewis]

This year, I had to start wearing glasses which was a bit of  a downer because I always had really good eyesight.

Me too.  Flying the line for years I never had a problem, but I'm spending most of my time in the office now and I think that staring at a computer screen has exacerbated the aging process. I do find that the little cheater glasses bring in a world of detail and sharpness that I never had before, even with great eyesight.  It's easier to do the fine detail work with them, but my eyes get tired quicker.  At the ripe old age of 46, I've still got a way to go so I hope the eyes plateau for a bit.

Chris

[Driline]

For instance, I'm in my mid 40s.

Wow, Craig!   Your old!!!  I'm only 48.

Tom

48? HA. I pictured you much older... Well, you act older anyway. I figured Brakie was old, and I was right.

[Driline]

I'm not so sure about the future of this hobby. I don't know of a single teen or twenty something (other than this forum of course) that has anything to do with trains. My kids and their friends could care less, and I don't know of anyone yet via school friends etc. that is into this hobby.Many people are at least 30 something and most in their 40's and on up.

Today's kids are into video games, video games, video games, homework, sports, girls, Ipod's, and cell phones.

[dinwitty]

Sure its an Old Man's hobby. Its a young mans hobby too. Its a middle aged mans hobby.

Its a girls hobby too.

 Anyone who says this "its an Old Mans Hobby" I'm going to point at them and say, "hya you old Geezer!!" 

[jacon12]

I don't know if it's an 'old' man's hobby, but it's at least a middle aged and up (for the most part) man's hobby.  And that's simply because of the afore mentioned reasons.

1- time

2- money

3- space

We have about 18 regularly attending members in our club.  I'd say the average age is about 50 or so.  We do have one 13 year old and the oldest member is 69.  We have several members between 40 and 60.  None in their 20's.  Train show attendees, that I've noticed, are about the same.  This has made me wonder sometimes about the future of the hobby, whether there will be enough people in it to sustain it 20 years from now.  I'm 64 and just the other day a fella I know came in to see my layout.  He said that he never pictured me doing something like model railroading.  I don't know if it was an insult, a compliment or neither.

But, getting back to the question about age groups, ya gotta admit that for a layout, I mean a room or garage or basement sized layout, it's not cheap.  I suppose there are many 25 year olds that are well off enough to have the time, space and money to be in the hobby.  I just don't know any of them.

JaRRell

[reklein]

I started when I was twwelve or so. Then it was a kids hobby. Now I'm 63 so now its for middle aged guys.

[PA&ERR]

Who you callin' old?

George

[wjstix]

I think the comment wasn't meant to say "this is primarily a hobby for old men", more saying that model railroading is becoming a hobby predominated by older men because kids/teens are getting into computers and video games etc. rather than trains, so a higher percentage of model railroaders are over a certain age than they would have been in the past.

Model Railroad did a survey back in maybe 1979, at that time the average model rail was something like 37 and modelled the 1950's - their teenage years. They wondered at the time if the popularity of the 1950's was because of the steam to diesel transition itself (and so would remain popular) or just that guys like to model what was around when they were teens - the first time they could drive and get out and explore things and take pics etc.

AFAIK they never did another survey. I suspect it would show the average modeller to be older now, seems like most historical societies and hobby organisations are slowly diminishing in size as we lose older guys with time, and don't get enough young folks joining to replace them.

[edo1039]

I am a very young 68,old is only how you feel,the mind is young just the body gets old.

[easyaces]

An old mans hobby? I think not! I got back into the hobby in my mid 30's while my kids were still young and they loved it! I'm now in my mid 50's and I have a 3 yr old grandson who just loves watching "grandpa's trains", and I haven't stopped there as I scratch-build a lot of buildings and equipment!  

[AltoonaRailroader]

My personal model railroading journey has followed a path I bet is quite familiar to many.

About 10 or 12 years old, got my first trainset as a christmas present. 1970's, HO scale.

Age 12-18 - built an extensive layout in my bedroom.

Age 18-32 - College, first jobs, moving a lot, dating, many small apartments, no time, money or space for any model railroading..the hobby basically just falls off the map for a decade or more...just due to the lifestyle of a 20-something.

30's and beyond - have a good job finally, some disposable income, get married, buy a house, have a BASEMENT of your own for the first time in your life! The spark is re-ignited because it finally CAN be..the time is right again.

teenagers make up a fairly big percentage of the hobby, because they dont have to pay for their own space yet! ;)

Then the numbers take a major nose-dive among the 20-somethings..probably the age group with the lowest percentage of model railroaders. Just due to College and the first years after college..not condusive to the hobby.

then it steadily picks up through the 30's, 40's and 50's..

then another big spike around the age 65 mark (retirement) as people suddenly have a lot more free time..then a gradual decline in numbers due to..umm..natural causes! ;)

Here is a chart I just drew up..just my opinion, but I bet its fairly close: 

 

 Scot

(who is now 38 and got into G-scale and On2 scale in the last 5 years, after being in HO scale as a teenager in the 80's)

 

 

 

Yep, that's about a description of me exactly and the time line is right on, I'm 36 for just another 30 days or so. I don't know what re-sparked my love of model trains from when I was a kid, but it was bad timing none the less. Just as I was about to get the wife to move the computer out of the little back room in the trailer we lived in she got pregnant and my soon-to-be train room was quickly converted to a nursery. After a year of no trains I broke down and built a little 44x60 platfrom that I could squeeze into a corner of the living room so I could at least do something. I think that was the straw that broke the camels back because now we're building a house and although I have a basement of my own I have to share it with the wife, her room, my room sort of thing. LOL That is unless I can scrounge some more room until I can get my garage built.................with a hobby room above of course.

[CNJ831]

The average age of the hobby's participants has been reported as increasing at a very steady pace since the mid 1970's. According to MR, it was a very constant 33 years of age between 1944 and 1974, thereafter climbing steadily to an average age of 47 by 1993, well before anyone can make any case for the Internet to be skewing any figures. Since the rate of the reported aging was both linear and constant, there isn't any justifiable or logical reason to suppose it changed slope or direction following 1993 and the average would now be decidedly higher. Certainly no other documented hobby trend suggests it to be otherwise.

Likewise, according to Model Railroader's figures, in the 1950 20% of hobbyists were teens (it was the great age of trains at Christmastime acting as an introduction to the hobby). By the mid 70's the figure had dropped to 10% (toy trains for kids was dead) and they never mentioned teens again after that in their reports. With the increasing average age reported, this can only indicate the teen element dwindled to relatively nil in the years since then. No surprise that Student Fare went by the wayside in MR.

Interestingly, there seems to be some sort of desperate, sometimes almost fanatical, need for a lot of hobbyists to deny that everything might not be going great with the hobby, whether it be average age or the hobby's dimensions, whenever this subject arises on this and other forums. This current thread has been the mildest in its responses in a long time.

CNJ831

[Greg H.]

Chuck, I don't know why but I didn't picture you as 70. You seemed much younger to me although I can't explain why.

Craig, I think you're exactly right. I started with my first Lionel set when I was seven. I had a layout up until I was about 25 and then all the things other talked about made me an armchair modeler. I'm now 61 and have been building my first layout since I was 25. So, I think it's both a young and older person's hobby. The thing that's tough now is the cost to get into the hobby is so high compared to when I started in HO. I don't know what the inflation adjusted price is of an Athearn GP-7 that cost $9.98 in 1975 compared to a P2K GP-9 that goes for what, about $125 for DC, but I think the real cost is higher. I hope this doesn't become a barrier for younger people.  

Heres a little link that will alow you to caculate the inflation:

http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/research/data/us/calc/

Something that cost $9.95 in 1975 should cost $38.01 in 2007.

 

[IRONROOSTER]

This has been my primary hobby in my 20's, 30's, 40's, and 50's.  I just turned 60 this year and I expect it to stay my primary hobby.  Biggest difference is I now have more time, space, and money so I am building a bigger layout.  When I retire in a couple of years, I'll build an even bigger one.  But frankly age isn't an issue with me - I'll talk model railroading with anybody.  And the hobby is currently in the best shape I've seen in terms of stuff available. 

Enjoy

Paul 

[UP2CSX]

Thanks for that link, Greg, I knew the FRB had one somewhere. So, as I said, I fear price is becoming a barrier to entry by younger people. There is still Bachmann, thank goodness, that sells DCC equiped locomotives for $50 or less, which is about in line with an Athearn BB in 1975. Athearn's RTR line also isn't too far out of line but still needs a fair bit of money spent on one if you want DCC, not to mention sound. The Walther Trainline series of locomotives, while limited, seems like an attempt to appeal to modeler on a limited budget. But, even looking at the Proto 100 series RS locomotive at $95 list price, maybe $70 street price, a pretty fair hunk of change for a young person. They are certainly qualitatively better than the old Athearn BB line but twice as good? I don't think so. I'm happy to have more choices now but the low end market still needs to be catered to if we want the hobby to survive.  

[wjstix]

I'd say Scotty's timeline is probably pretty accurate. I'm 48; I was a modeller (or tinplater) in my early teens, was pretty much out of the hobby during high school and college, then got back into it in my mid-20's. I imagine a lot of folks who started having kids in their 20's were limited in what they could do in the hobby (both in terms of space and finances) until the kids moved out in their 40-50's (the modeller that is, not the kids I hope!!). Then there would be a golden period between the kids going and retirement where you are at your peak earnings and have limited expenses (mortgage paid off) and can spend it on trains and travel. Then retirement and a more limited income could cut things back a bit I suppose??

Question I guess will be, will the kids now playing with Thomas the Tank Engine be building layouts 20-30 years from now, or will they 'move on' to something else??  

[Dallas Model Works]

This has been my primary hobby in my 20's, 30's, 40's, and 50's.  I just turned 60 this year and I expect it to stay my primary hobby.  Biggest difference is I now have more time, space, and money so I am building a bigger layout.  When I retire in a couple of years, I'll build an even bigger one.  But frankly age isn't an issue with me - I'll talk model railroading with anybody.  And the hobby is currently in the best shape I've seen in terms of stuff available. 

Enjoy

Paul 

I have to agree with Paul's observation regarding stuff available. There's lots of it and more all the time. The same applies to another hobby of mine -- armour modelling. When I was a teen, it was tough to find a good range of kits. And aftermarket accessories practically didn't exist.

Now there's tons of stuff and there wouldn't be if the hobbies weren't healthy.

 

 

 

[Don Gibson]

 An 'Old man's hobby'?

I think 'playing with trains' is a great hobby for someone who refuses to completely grow up (Guilty).

Don't know why, but have you noticed, a 'Geezer'  always seems to be someone ELSE?

[NeO6874]

On a side note, kinda remings me of the one scene from Men in Black where Z and K are trying to figure out how to catch the bug thing and J (will smith) can't get their attention...

 

"Hey old guys!" 

and if you guys want to know - I've been 21 for just about 2 weeks...

[myowngod]

Wow! Geezers at 60... I must be middle age then being 35.  Time to start pullin' my pants up above my belly button, wearing socks and sandles on the beach, and saying  "HUH? What? Speak up LOUDER!... damn kids."

lifes over

 Actually that chart is pretty accurate.  I liked it as a kid, had a big surge as a teenager, it died off in my 20's and is reborn as a thirty-something.  The future only looks brighter.

Ron

[Walter Clot]

Model Railroading is NOT AN OLD MAN'S HOBBY!  I'll be 72 in December.  My layout has a duck under and I manage it easily!   MR. keeps you YOUNG!!!!!

Walter in Columbia, TN

[John Busby]

Hi guys

Here is my take on it.

 (polite cough)My theory which is entirely my own theory (spoken in high pitch whine)!!

It starts very young with a train set later the desire for realistic surroundings comes in to play.

Around the teens hormones come into play and suddenly cars and girls become much more interesting than the "toy trains" which are no longer cool like they where when you where a child.

Those who have truly caught the disease have a relapse later in life, after cars become just a means of transport and girls become daughters who inspire dreadful threats aimed at current boyfriends

Hence the misconception that model railways are an old man's hobby, also compounded by the need for a proper house for the trains which can only be bought by the mid to senior age group

regards John

[oleirish]

I'am 65 and have been around model railroading sence I was 13 ,Now that I'am retired I have more time for it!!I don't conceder it an old mans hobby,just go to an train show or two and look around!

JIM

[perry1060]

I've been in the hobby since age 10 --- I'm 47 in a week and building my fourth layout now.

I'm getting older so I take my hobby a little more seriously then when I was a kid.

For example ====>>>

 

 

Here's my newly remodeled Overton passenger car --- retrofitted with a lizard and deadwood.

 

Here's my remodeled Phantom engine --- retrofitted with a balsawood raft.

 

Ready - Set - Go !!!

 

 

 

[Dave Vollmer]

I'm 33, but my hairline would suggest I'm older than that...!

I've been a model railroader since age 7, with the obligatory break in high school and undergraduate studies.  I picked right up with the hobby after commissioning in the USAF.

I do tend to be among the younger folks displaying layouts at train shows.

[sfrailfan]

Hmmm...Maybe we should have a contest to find out who the youngest and the oldest "geezer" is here on the forum.  IMO, I think MRRing keeps us all from becoming "geezers"...

Tom

WELL SAID TOM!

Theres an old saying: we don't stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing. Add in the fact that this hobby is good for the mind in so many other ways and how do you go wrong?

The only reason I had to take a break from the hobby during college was because I had no space and no free time. I kept what I had and now that I'm back I spend almost all my available 'fun' money on trains.

I'm 38 and I'm into this hobby as much as the next guy; regardless of age. I live in NYC as well. There are A LOT of distractions here so I am proof that age has nothing to do with intrest in this hobby.

[Tracklayer]

I've been into the hobby seriously since I was about 25. I'm 44 now, and it's gotten to be as much a part of my life as the sun coming up every morning... However. You're going to run across various people with various opinions about the hobby. For example, I dated a girl a numbger of years ago that said she didn't want her kids taking an interest in it because she wanted them to be into things that were more outgoing, and felt that it was something only recluses got into (she was from Queens, New York so what do you expect...). Another said it was boring and she couldn't stand to sit and watch me work on my layout, and said it drove her nuts to sit and watch "those stupid little trains go round and round the track". Oh well. To hell with them!. Almost everything I'm into someone else has something negative to say about it including my gun collecting (assault rifles and pistols) and target shooting, fishing, raising dogs, etc. But I've finally come to the conclusion that there's only one person in this world anymore that I'm out to please - me...

Tracklayer