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An informal survey

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Posted by tstage on Thursday, December 16, 2010 12:21 PM

CNJ831

 

 pastorbob:

 

 CNJ831:

I'm not at all sure just what this "informal survey" is supposed to demonstrate, if anything at all. The only information it might produce is simply a listing of a tiny fraction of this forum's members vitals and the fact that there is a wide diversity in the members' ages and time in the hobby.

CNJ831 

 

 

Lighten up.  The rest of us are having fun with the "poll", I doubt many are taking it seriously.  Don't know why you want to throw a wet blanket on it, no one is forcing you to provide your innermost secrets.

To quote another pastor brother of mine, "get over it".

Bob

 

 

Because, Bob, in the long run it's pointless and sure to mislead the many folks who believe anything they see posted on the Net must be true, regardless of its basis. I've addressed the particular question posed in this thread at length several times in the past and presented published numbers derived from broad surveys conducted by established organizations. If folks want an honest and accurate answer to the question they should consult that sort of information. All I see being accomplished here is that a small number of forum members are posting info of no particular relevance.

I guess that if that happens to be your form of juvenile amusement, so be it.

CNJ831

John,

Please note that the subject line in the OP says "An informal" survey"; neither a "formal" one nor an "official" one.  You have to take it for what it is; not for what it's not intended to be.

Tom

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Posted by joe323 on Thursday, December 16, 2010 12:28 PM

Age 51

Years in Hobby about 3

I started when I met my fiance's godson.  He has a lot of Lionel but would play with wooden trains when he would come over for a weekend  way too young for him.  I could not afford Lionel so my fiance' bought me a shoprite HO set (Very poor quality but it got the bug going in me) Last year I converted to DCC. 

And our Godson Adam?  He's 12 now and will be junior best man at our wedding on January 8, 2011.  There is going to be a train in front of the cake. 

Joe Staten Island West 

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Posted by sfcouple on Thursday, December 16, 2010 12:39 PM

CNJ831:

If it is juvenile entertainment to you, so be it.  This is a hobby and a website we all enjoy in our own way. So far this thread has generated over 90 responses so some of us are enjoying it.  There are many aspects to this hobby, or any hobby, that one can pursue for his/her own source of enjoyment and relaxation.  This thread to me is like walking up to a stranger at the local grocery store and saying: "Hi, how ya doing today?"  

I hope all of us enjoy the upcoming holidays and can participate in the spirit of the season by just walking up to a stranger and say: "Hi"

Thanks to one and all for making this a wonderful Forum, I have learned a lot here.  

Wayne 

Modeling HO Freelance Logging Railroad.

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Posted by Heartland Division CB&Q on Thursday, December 16, 2010 12:46 PM

Well, let's thank ruderuner for starting a fun thread allowing people to get to know a little about others who post here. Obviously its intent is to be friendly.   CNJ831 contributes great photos of his great layout and models in this forum, and I would like to see more of his work.  So, I suggest not getting sidetracked if he has his own opinions and arguing with him..

My 2 cents. I'm in my mid 60's, and have been in and out oif the hobby my entire life. Having lived in 8 states, I have moved often, and I lost count of how many layouts I have built. (Actually, started to build is more correct.) Mostly, I've been in HO but I have been involved with N, O, and live steam.

Currently, I am building my fictional Heartland Division which represents the CB&Q as it appeared in 1962, but I'm not rigid with that date. My layout construction follows walls of the train room. I am building one section at a time including scenery. There are several sections in my plans that have not been started. At present, I am building a large city.

I am now converting from DC to DCC. Most tracks and most locos are still DC.

Happy Model Railroading, everybody!

 

GARRY

HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR

EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU

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Posted by Aralai on Thursday, December 16, 2010 12:47 PM

Age: 52

Years in hobby: 1st train set (HO Triang/Hornby) in mid 1960's - Large HO layout in mid 1970's. Hiatus until now - new HO Layout being built.

Scale etc - HO DC with dual controller.

Prototype - Modeling a freelance layout based on York Region, Ontario CN / GO Commuter service in present day.

 

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Posted by wjstix on Thursday, December 16, 2010 12:48 PM

52 - 39 - HO - DCC - Mixed  Stick out tongue

Stix
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Posted by atsf_arizona on Thursday, December 16, 2010 12:56 PM

Age:  52

Active years in hobby as adult:  10

Active years in hobby as kid/teenager:  7

Scale:  N 

Run both DC and DCC, switch the layout back and forth depending on what motive power

Prototype:  Santa Fe in Arizona, with some Southern Pacific.   Two era 's:  either mid-1950s, or mid-1960s.

:-)

Still having great fun.  And it's the good people that I get to meet that I enjoy the most.

John Sing
X2011 West NMRA 2011 Convention online Social Networking coordinator
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John Sing San Mateo, CA http://home.comcast.net/~j.sing Modeling the Santa Fe's Peavine Line (Ash Fork-Phoenix, AZ) in the 50s and 60s
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Posted by CNJ831 on Thursday, December 16, 2010 1:09 PM

Tom, I would suggest that you re-read the body of the OP's post. Informal, or not, he is looking to in some fashion ascertain whether, or not, the hobby had seen much in the way of "new blood" in recent years. He says: "...since I've not seen anyone put up any actual numbers to confirm the situation [no new blood], I figured maybe a quick survey to feel the pulse of the hobby is in order."  The wording implies that through responses to this thread he would like to glean enough information to indicate the situation as being one way, or the other.

Thus, ruderunner is conducting a member survey to reach a conclusion. And formal, or informal, I will guarantee that, even though any results would actually be entirely spurious, there are folks here that would accept them as established fact and quote them down the road here and elsewhere. This is the nature of what people do on the Internet and why so much posted information tends to be inaccurate.

CNJ831

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Posted by R. T. POTEET on Thursday, December 16, 2010 1:22 PM

 

I have enjoyed reading the responses to this topic.

  • AGE: 70;
  • YEARS IN HOBBY: 48;
  • SCALE(S): HO-SCALE 1962-1982; N-SCALE 1982-PRESENT;
  • CONTROL; (CURRENTLY) DC;
  • THEME:: FREELANCED (SEABOARD AND WESTERN VIRGINIA RAILWAY) MODERN-ERA CLASS 1.

 

 

From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet

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Posted by wholeman on Thursday, December 16, 2010 1:27 PM

I have begun to wonder about the future of this hobby.  I am a little overjoyed seeing some younger people on the manufacturers Facebook pages.

So here goes:

Age: 25

Scale: HO

Years: 20

DCC

No layout, currently.

Era: Modern

Road: BNSF, Amtrak

Will

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Posted by bdpeters on Thursday, December 16, 2010 1:31 PM

Being new to this forum and pretty much a beginner in model railroading I found that this was an interesting post. For 1 it made a great subject for my first(trial) post. I also found it interesting how many folks are still using DC for their layouts and the wide variety of interests.

I would in no way be led to believe that this info here is gospel as far as the state of the hobby and doubt anyone else on the forum would take it that way either by coming to the conclusion that the hobby is in doom or anything else like that. Like many others have stated. its fun to see what others are doing and maybe meet a fellow modeler close by or with the same interests.

 

Brian

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Posted by HamiltonTransitHistory on Thursday, December 16, 2010 2:22 PM

Age: 31

Years in hobby: 20 next summer Wow, armchair for last 6.

Scale: HO

DC

Had a 4x8 HO CN/CP late 1980s branchline layout. I've no layout at the moment, but I'm planning on a small traction layout for my apartment of Hamilton Ontario around WW1. I've also got longer term plans for a Southern Ontario shortline, the York, Simcoe & Northern, to be built whenever I get a house.

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Posted by blownout cylinder on Thursday, December 16, 2010 2:37 PM

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

I think that this is why there is this discussion going on somewhat.A couple of points, some did try to put some kind of numbers up but got discounted as being so much twaddle, even the numbers of subscribers that Kalmbach--remember those circulation number put in the magazines?--got squished as so much subjective nonsense. Yet it is those numbers of subscribers that surveyors would use to identify who was/is in the hobby to begin with...

In this case he did, in point of fact,  claim that this was an informal survey taken...and, yes, professional surveyors could do a better job--but since not many people like to take surveys either--the best that can be done is to get a general idea--in terms of a football field, how well the market really is ...

Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry

I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...

http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/

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Posted by THayman on Thursday, December 16, 2010 2:49 PM

Suppose I'll pitch in for fun:

Age: 21

Years in hobby: 13 (although years in love with trains would be about 21 ;))

Scale: HO (although I've dabbled a bit in N)

DC/DCC: I haven't done any DCC work yet, but I plan for all future layouts to be DCC (no doubt about it).

Prototype/etc: I'm not strictly a prototype modeller (i.e. every specific detail), although my layout will be loosely based on the CN Kingston Sub (in Ontario), with the focus on VIA Rail operations, and a bit of CN, all in the modern (post-2000) period. However I also have an interest in Maritime Canadian roads, such as the CB&CNS and DEVCO in Cape Breton, and VIA Rail's "The Ocean" (and Bras D'Or, when it ran). So my ultimate layout would really be in two separate parts, with a possible interchange between the two representing the hundreds of km in between. In addition to all this, I also have a freelanced southern-Ontario based regional passenger railroad, just to keep things interesting :P

-Tim

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Posted by mmartian22 on Thursday, December 16, 2010 3:40 PM

 i"ll put two cents  in, i'am 58 been in and out.and for the last twenty yrs ,finally  got to build my layout  after apeasesing the other half for the larger bedroom..i enjoy building and  running it, will never get tired of it

JTG
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Posted by JTG on Thursday, December 16, 2010 4:10 PM

Hey, let me in on some of this juvenile entertainment!

I'm 48. Got the bug when I was about 8, when I "inherited" my older brothers' Lionel. I've never lost my interest in the hobby, although there have been times when I've been more active than others. Still, I would say I've been railroadin' for close to 40 years.

Most of my experience was with HO, but I switched to N in the last year. DCC is the only way to go (for me).

I freelance, but with heavy representation from the prototype C&NW and UP. The era is 1954.

Cheers to all who have responded. And somebody please find out who urinated in that one guy's Cheerios.

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Posted by XRAY on Thursday, December 16, 2010 4:54 PM
  • 29 years old
  • interested in the hobby for about 23 years, serious about it for about the last 10
  • HO Märklin 3-rail DCC
  • Proto-freelance 6x1 meter layout

 

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Posted by rrebell on Thursday, December 16, 2010 4:58 PM

Well I tallyed the numbers from the first couple of pages, average age around 50.

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Posted by secondhandmodeler on Thursday, December 16, 2010 5:32 PM

Another thing to think about is whether this would be an average age of model railroader, or an average age of model railroaders who use computer forums.  Whistling

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Posted by CNJ831 on Thursday, December 16, 2010 5:35 PM

secondhandmodeler

Another thing to think about is whether this would be an average age of model railroader, or an average age of model railroaders who use computer forums.  Whistling

An important point, one I made several pages back and that in the latter case will result in significant skewing of any figures derive from this thread's content. Internet surveys only poll a segment of any faction, not a full cross section.

CNJ831

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Posted by blownout cylinder on Thursday, December 16, 2010 5:54 PM

CNJ831

 

 secondhandmodeler:

 

Another thing to think about is whether this would be an average age of model railroader, or an average age of model railroaders who use computer forums.  Whistling

 

 

An important point, one I made several pages back and that in the latter case will result in significant skewing of any figures derive from this thread's content. Internet surveys only poll a segment of any faction, not a full cross section.

CNJ831

That is true. Even then any survey is necessarily going to be incomplete. It is only through an accumulation of surveys, be it through on-line or phone based, in person, informal, circulation numbers--yes, even them--and quasi/near market surveys done at either trainshows or over the phone using those circulation lists et cetera will you come close to a 'realistic' impression of the hobby as such.

Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry

I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...

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Posted by the North East Rail Modeler on Thursday, December 16, 2010 7:18 PM

ruderunner

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

For me:

Age: 16 (17 in May)

Years: about 6-7 (Armchair for most of which. I don't have a layout currently, but I still go and pick up a few locomotives/ railcars to work on every chance I get)

Scale(s): HO and N

DC or DCC: Both, untill I can outfit my non-DCC locomotives with decoders

Prototype-Freelance-Protofreelance: All 3 (I like to model CSX, and Conrail [Still going strong in my version of history], along with my fictional Florida Interstate)

 

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Posted by CTValleyRR on Thursday, December 16, 2010 8:29 PM

rrebell

Well I tallyed the numbers from the first couple of pages, average age around 50.

Are you calling me below average?

I am 47 years young, and I am not growing old because I am still playing (sorry, GBS).

And while I certainly wouldn't want to appear to be siding with CNJ on this issue -- because I personally am enjoying this discussion immensely, the survey didn't ask about my 7 and 9 year old Modelers..... who are not allowed to participate in on-line forums yet.

Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford

"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford

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Posted by Forty Niner on Thursday, December 16, 2010 8:35 PM

This reminds me of those screwy cable news surveys.......

Mark

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Posted by odave on Thursday, December 16, 2010 8:40 PM

My Stats:

Age: 42

Years in Hobby: 6 on, 20 off, 4 back on

Scale: HO

Control: DC (from previous layout), converting to DCC when $$$ allows.

Approach: Proto-freelance

--O'Dave
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Posted by Weighmaster on Thursday, December 16, 2010 9:07 PM

I think I read somewhere on the internet that the earth is flat; even considering that apparently some people believe everything they read on said internet, it's probable that it's a very small percentageMischief  However, I have no hard facts or figures re that percentage.  In any case, I personally strongly feel that the earth taken in its entirety is NOT flat.

 

There is of course no statistical validity to this "survey", but so what.  Interesting reading, at least for most of the respondents, myself included.

 

Age 65 and rusting, AF Hudson set at 8, rebuilt 10x20 layout table several times over next seven years.  Then about 10 years inactive, brief interlude in N, then HO since.  NMRA Life and MR subscriber since 1974.  Without layout since 1982, trying to clear SWMBO's "clutter" to give me room to get going again, and resurrect the 30-35 year old brass.  DC because I have all the stuff needed, no desire to run multiples at present, planning mostly shortline possibly based on what  the Iola Northern (WI) might have been had it survived financially.  Absorbed by GB&W (which my dad called the Grab Baggage and Walk), shut down in 1957.  I got a 100 yard ride on the last GB&W Alco switching in Iola at age 12.  Gary

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Posted by Forty Niner on Thursday, December 16, 2010 9:27 PM

Oh yea!!!! Well, every picture I have seen of earth taken from space is flat!! How do you explain that???  Ha!!!

Mark (;-])

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Posted by Texas Zepher on Thursday, December 16, 2010 9:59 PM

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

53,48,all except Z and M,yes,yes

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Posted by steinjr on Friday, December 17, 2010 12:10 AM

CNJ831

 

 secondhandmodeler:

 

Another thing to think about is whether this would be an average age of model railroader, or an average age of model railroaders who use computer forums.  Whistling

 

 

An important point, one I made several pages back and that in the latter case will result in significant skewing of any figures derive from this thread's content. Internet surveys only poll a segment of any faction, not a full cross section.

 Yes, dear. You are quite right. It probably would be a less than brilliant idea to invest your life savings in a business case based on an informal poll taken from a small, self selected and probably not very representative sub-group of model railroaders.

 Now - do you have any more such blindingly obvious observations you just must share with the rest of us dolts whom you believe are too dumb to think such deep thoughts on our own, or may people continue with the "getting to know the neighbors" mini presentations telling others what their age and hobby interests are?

 Smile,
 Stein

 

 

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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 17, 2010 12:38 AM

While I would not want to base any serious decision on a poll like this, I find it interesting to learn just a little bit more about my fellow forum members. I am surprised to find out, how old actually some of us are and how young some of the opinions are. And vice versa, there are some highly mature posts from younger folks.

We all know that model railroaders are a dieing breed and have been for the last 30 years, yet we are still around.

So lighten up!

 

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