An informal survey

[ruderunner]

It seems to be a common complaint that there's less "new blood" entering this hobby than years ago.  I won't even try to deny that since there are lot's more hobbies to get involved in nowadays.  But I don't think it's all doom and gloom as some folks think.  And since I've not seen anyone put up any actual numbers to confirm the situation, I figured maybe a quick survey to feel the pulse of the hobby is in order.  I'll keep it breif:

Age of modeler, years in hobby (armchair hobbying counts), scale, DC or DCC, prototype-freelance-protolance

I think that covers the big splits, one could ask lots more questions and micro manage this but that may be too much to handle without having professional surveyers doing it.

So I'll start:  age 36, approx 30 yrs, HO, DCC (recent convert), protolance

[Anonymous]

I am not sure whether this informal survey will give us a true picture of the situation, as there may be loads of people out there, who do not participate in this forum, but are still model railroaders.

But anyway - here I go:

Aged 54, a model railroader since 47 years, with a track record of Z, N, HO, HOe, HOn3, G and even live steam. Call that a broad interest

Currently in the planning stage of a HOn3 protolance layout, starting out as DC-controlled, but later on "back" to DCC.

[MisterBeasley]

63, HO, DCC, Protolance, but...

How do we count years in the hobby?  Is it the 58 years since I first found Lionels under the Christmas tree?  The 51 or so years since I bought my first HO set?  Or the 7 years since I pulled those same HOs out of the attic and began my current layout?

[Flashwave]

Let me give you several ranges ofg info:

Myself, I'm 18 (for another three weeks) First train was at 2 or so, carried around a little Bach 4-4-0 until gravity and the grass got hold of it. dropped that at 6 for wooden Thomas, until 14 when the HO went back up over top of Thomas. HO now, protolancing, no layout. Will be DCC

At the Trainclub Membership is ~25. Of that, there's also 5 kids attached, ages rangining from 12+

At ITM (1:1 scale) there's three kids 10 &12 regular, another three that can only make it out during the Summer and little at that 12-14, and 4 regular 14-16yr olds. Besides me, there's also 4 other high-teens.  Probabyl out of an active membership of 30 

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

OK, I'll play.

I'm 53 and I will count my years in the hobby from when my Father gave me full artistic control of the layout he built for me. That was age 12. From there I modified track arrangements, built car, loco and structure kits, learned wiring and hand laid track, etc. So that is 41 years.

That layout was two 5x9 platforms and featured lighted structures, extensive plaster mountain scenery, multi elevation track plan, hidden staging, and multi train operation.

At age 14 I started working in a local hobby shop, did train repairs there, traveled out of state with the owners to help build a commercial diorama in HO scale then moved on to manage the train department of another hobby shop as a young adult.

At age 15 I became a member of the published and somewhat known Severna Park Model Railroad Club, where the old masters there taught me more about hand laid track and scratch built scenery. While i'm no longer a member there, from what I understand at least one on my scenery/structure projects is still on the layout to this day.

Personally, I have always modeled in HO, except for setting up a Lionel layout for my son at age 3-4, but my store experiance gave me strong background in the other scales as well.

I now model the time just before my birth, the early/mid 50's, in the part of the country I have always lived - the Mid Atlantic. My current layout space is a heated and cooled finished 24 x 40 room above my garage. My layout is currently being redesigned and reconstructed to better suit my goals, on major one is to allow it to be moved in the future, as we will likely retire elsewhere and I have no desire to EVER start over again - done that too many times already in this hobby.

I currently belong to an informal "Round Robin" group and find that suits my "social side" in the hobby just fine. No more formal clubs, dues, or "club activities" for me. When the round robin does "extra stuff", sometimes I'm in, sometimes not.

I have helped other members of the group with track plans, wiring and control systems, benchwork construction and we have regular operating sessions at various members layouts one a week. I enjoy most all types of prototype operating schemes/systems.

I use wireless DC at home, I consider signals important for modeling Class I railroads, I protolance (ATLANTIC CENTRAL) with prototype interchanges (B&O, C&O, WM). I like long trains, lots of action, and "big picture" approach rather than the close up "be the engineer" approach. I prefer to be the Dispatcher or Yard Master while others run the trains (or they run themselves). My layout, when rebuilt, will allow for good "display" mode operation as well as prototype operation with the guys.

OK, this is way too long now,

Sheldon

[nik .n]

14, 5, DC (At the moment), layout is eventually going to be a protolance.

[dehusman]

54, 44 years modeling, DCC.

[jrbernier]

• Age: 61
• Years in Hobby - 49(in scale model railroading)
• HO(did mess with some N)
• DCC since 1994
• Layout - Proto/freelance Milw Road(this is my 4th layout)

Jim

[jeffrey-wimberly]

50, 46, O, HO/OO, S, Z. N, G, Live steam. My current layout is HO, DCC, freelance with no strict regard to era (1965 to 1990 with additions from early 21st century).

[Blue Flamer]

Age 71+

Approx. 58 Years

Lionel '0' and then 'N' since the 70's

DCC

Freelance

Blue Flamer.

[pastorbob]

Age: 74

years in hobby, since 6 months old when I received my first Lionel from dad at Christmas, he was a Santa Fe fireman/engineer

Model ATSF in Oklahoma 1989

DCC

current layout started in 1984.

[tstage]

• Age: 51
• Years in hobby: 6-1/2
• Scale: HO
• Era: Early 40s
• Layout type: Protolance - New York Central
• Power: DCC

[rrinker]

44, I have film evidence of me runnign HO trains at 2 years old, so 42 years (with some breaks here and there), HO and some N in the past, DCC,  currently model the Reading Railroad in the mid-50's, generally 1956 is my cutoff date. I belong to the Readign COmpany Technical and Historical Society, and occasionally help out with the modular display layout, and I also have an informal round robin (is it really round robin if there's only 2 of you?) with a fellow modeler from a few blocks away who is doing a protolance Reading 1910 era layout in N scale - scratchbuild Camelbacks and the freelance part is having the commuter trains all electrified - so he's also buildign his own third rail electrified MU passenger cars.

                                  --Randy

 

[ARTHILL]

I am 75 years old and started my first layout in 1949. I have been off and on since then, with the current layout starting on my 70th birthday. I found DCC 4 years ago and its what I always thought ought to be. I model placs I've been and memories I have, thus the layout is sort of a series of dioramas of memory.

[ClinchValleySD40]

 

Age 63, approx 40 years in hobby, HO, DCC, Protofreelance.

Larry

[NorthCoast RR]

I am 34, just got back into the hobby from a long hiatus, and back when I was a kid, we had some on the carpet stuff...nothing serious.

So, I consider myself new blood.

I run DCC and I am protolance on this, my first layout...but I lay in bed at night thinking of the next one!

[galaxy]

Age:47, 12 years as kid/teen in O-O/27 and N, {then a big break} and now 4.5 years  renewed hobby recently. HO, DCC, proto-freelance. {I wish I could say I always had a train under the tree but that would be a lie} Though I do now!.

I think you will find it is like that old bit about the average age of Cadillac buyers being 57.

We will have some youngsters here, who may loose the hobby as they start college and life, then {hopefully} return as many of us did did to the hobby in later life, but the bulk of the current ages will be older.

 

[Motley]

I'm 42 years old. Returning to the hobby from when I was a kid. Been back in the hobby for about 1 year now.

HO, DCC, Prototype layout D&RGW.

[steinjr]

• Age: 45
• Years in hobby: abt 4 (this time), had Märklin trains for a couple of years as a adolescent
• Scale: HO
• Era: Late 1950s
• Layout type: Protolance - Minneapolis urban switching
• Power: DCC

Smile,
Stein

 

[jalajoie]

Age 71, in the HO scale hobby non stop since mid 1950 approx 55 years, running DCC since 1999. I own both a Digitrax and an NCE system and modeling modern CSXT.  Member of a club for 30 + years and did  organised train show for a while.  I don't count my years playing with a O27 Marx train set.

[AltonFan]

Age:  47

Years in hobby: 

Since first interested in trains: 46 years  (Received railroad oriented toys for first birthday; still have memories of watching trains from before age four.)

Since first electric train set: 42 years  (Lionel, of course.)

Since first reading hobby publications:  39 years  (RMC, discovered in children's room at local public library.  Reading MR for 30 years, but have issues going back to late 1940s.)

Active in hobby:  Probably 25 years.  (Periods of activity between occasional losses of interest.  Currently inactive.)

Scale:  HO until ca. 1990; N scale currently.

Power control:  DC (Too many small locomotives in which to install decoders.)

Subject:  Freelance.  (Based on a few favorite Midwestern prototypes in 1946-1954 period.)

 

[Trynn_Allen2]

Age 38, approx 28 years modelling, first Marklin HO and then "American" HO, DC to DCC, protolance.

[IVRW]

Here I go: Im 14, Ive been in the hobby since I was 10, so about 4 years, HO, DCC (as soon as I can get the decoder in the locomotive), and Prototype Freelancing (See my Model Railcast articles, prototyping a railroad that doesnt give you enough information to model prototypically, so you must freelance some things).

[jaykay]

Age 75, Yrs in hobby - total 6 - 8, Scale was HO, now N, Freelance, was DC, now DCC.

Comment:

Was in HO/DC - spent lots of time building pulse throttles trying to get things running smoothly.  Switched to RC model airplanes for 10 yrs.  DCC and N scale has brought me back to trains.

[selector]

Aged 58 years, six in the hobby, HO and DCC/sound (ooohh yeeahhh..), 1930-1957 time frame, freelance the Seneca Falls Sub.  Roads I enjoy collecting:  UP, AT&SF, NYC, N&W, PRR, C&O, TH&B, and CPR.

Crandell

[TerryJ]

62

50+

N scale, rather recent convert from HO. Started with Lionel which I still have.

New layout will be DCC

Protolance - Northwest Pacific "fantasy" RR, "Jacoby Creek and South Quarry RR"

 

Terry

[rws1225]

Age: 60

59 years since Dad got me Lionel

HO proto lance to be DCC when I get more track laid

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

This was a great idea.

Well I'm 70 and been at it with an exception of about 20 years, since I was 8.

First off was 0-27 (Lionel)  My Dad and I about 1/3rd of our basement was done.

Then HO, alot of scratch built of which I still have the odd item. Now concentrate more on the Western Pacific, of the 60s and 70s. With other Northwestern roads included to some degree.

I am in DC and plan to stay there. I understand it much more than DCC, and don't need the hastle that I read about others having.

Layout is 17' by 13'  Tri-level, five loop helix to the lower level off the end of the center peninsula.

Did not have room for the Kedde Wye, so my feature is the Honeymoon Tunnels.

Johnboy out.........................for now.

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

This was a great idea.

Well I'm 70 and been at it with an exception of about 20 years, since I was 8.

First off was 0-27 (Lionel)  My Dad and I about 1/3rd of our basement was done.

Then HO, alot of scratch built of which I still have the odd item. Now concentrate more on the Western Pacific, of the 60s and 70s. With other Northwestern roads included to some degree.

I am in DC and plan to stay there. I understand it much more than DCC, and don't need the hastle that I read about others having.

Layout is 17' by 13'  Tri-level, five loop helix to the lower level off the end of the center peninsula.

Did not have room for the Kedde Wye, so my feature is the Honeymoon Tunnels.

Johnboy out.........................for now.

[Robby P.]

 Well for me................

 I'm 31 and I've been in model railroading since I was about 14 years old.   All of the modeling of course was HO Scale.   Took a break from it when girls and cars came into the scene (teenage years).  I got back into it about eight years ago. 

 I model the 80's - late 90's.   Some newer stuff but not much.    I am currently in DC and thought about changing over to DCC.  Maybe one day.