All my kids and grandkids love papas trains. They call it art. My son says he would lke to build one himself, but a lack of time ( 3 kids under 6 ) and lack of money say no. We have quite a few 20 and 30 something guys in our club as well.
To quote Mark Twain "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."
At the risk of raining on this parade, I do think the hobby may be dying out. Sure there are some youngsters getting into it, but the expense alone and the room necessary to build a layout can be prohibitive. I just joined a club and there are ten of us and I am the second youngest and I'm 61.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
One man's opinion doesn't make a dead hobby.. Slot cars "died" years ago but,today's 1/24th and 1/32 newer slot cars are highly detail.
That old worn out cry "There's no young people entering the hobby" is a myth. Like video gamers they buy their hobby needs on line by using their cell phones since its fast and convenient. Even I no longer need a hobby shop since I can buy what I need on line with my monthly order.
One more thing. This hobby has never been a open hobby other then few club open houses,train shows(if there is a show in a given area) or the public seeing MR or RMC on the magazine rack. How many unknown thousands of modelers of all ages are there?
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
The hobby is dying blah blah blah.That must be the reason that my home town has four thriving hobbyshops and four model railroad clubs.
I was told the same load of BS back in 1978 when I got back in the hobby.Well folks my free lanced model railroad is still here 38 years after I started it (officially named Grande Valley Railway in 1980) and if I have any say in the matter will still be here in another 10 years.
I deliberately call my layout a train set and I don´t operate my pike, I play with my trains. What´s wrong with that?
Just don´t forget, that the "unarmed" reader/viewer of the WSJ or any other media outside of our hobby wouldn´t know our lingo.
Ho, boy! Yet another "The hobby is dying" thread. This ought to get some mileage...and waaaaay too much of it. I'll amuse myself by ignoring it from this point on and predict that it will garner a min. of 90-100 responses by Monday morning.
Start the clock...tick, tick, tick, tick, tick...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I don't have any problem viewing the whole site in it's entirety....what I don't like is the term they use in reporting about it.
Howard Zane spent 30yrs. working on His ''train set''...what ever happened to ''pike'', ''layout'',even model Railroad empire, wouldn't be bad.
I guess I'll go back and continue working on My train set.
73 year old kid, playing with His train set.....LOL
Take Care!
Frank
Mike
It's probbly your add blocker. I get a pop up that overlays the site. I have to click that off and then everything is fine.
Have a good one.
Lee
Hi guys
Lets see railway modellers hide in attics wearing anoracs
Or in the US hide in basements wearing some equaly unfashionable garment
well there is two other common myths that are a load of cobblers.
The hobby is dying Ha rubish the true hobby died years and years ago with the advent of mass market scale model trains equaly rubbish.
The hobby is changing and evolving as it always has.
The only bit that seemed remotely true was the bit about technology and the young.
But it is fun watching them walk into lamp posts because they are to dumb to look where they are going.
And I wish I was allowed to shoot them when I am in the cinima and they just don't have the manners to turn the mobile off.
The hobby always has been for the young and the old with not much of the middle involved.
The off button seems to get hit around about the time girl's and cars seem to become a lot more interesting then the On button gets hit again later in life
Sometimes the oldest excuse there is kicks in when the son reaches the right age.
Thats how it has always been and probably will remain so.
To the rest of the world we are just a bunch of wierdo's because suposedly we have no interest in the national football code and don't want to beat the opposition fans to death.
So I say long live the wierdo's.
regards John
I just went from Fire Fox to IE, and no difference, still says I need to log in or subscribe. Although, I have features using IE in this forum that I cannot do in Fire Fox.
Mike.
My You Tube
I spoke to a couple of model railroad hobby shop owners, one of whom actually went out of business. Their complaint was they have enough orders, but the manufacturers have not been delivering.
richhotrain Bummer. You need to be a subscriber to read the article. Rich
Bummer. You need to be a subscriber to read the article.
Rich
That was my lament.
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
I have no problem viewing the entire article, and I'm not a subscriber of the WSJ. That's odd that some can see it and some cannot.
Modeling the B&M Railroad during the transition era in Lowell, MA
I had the same problem as Rich, you get a few lines of story, and it fades away, and then tells you to log in or subscribe in order to read the full story. Nothing at all about a video. Nothing to do with browser.
The king is dead - long live the king!
Well, the video is nice - now I can put a face to Howard Zane´s name!
True, manufacturers/importers have a hard time these days enlarging their customer base, but the hobby of model railroading has been said to die for quite a few decades now and is still around. In Europe, we even see new businesses opening up, businesses like Minitrains who are doing quite well.
It´s one of those topics which pop up frequently. IMHO, it´s a waste of time to discuss the non-existent demise of our hobby!
Oh, btw, Rich - I am not a subscriber to the WSJ and I could see the article and view the video. There must be something in your browser setting preventing you to get access!
Alton Junction
If they had interviewed my gransdson instead of some half dead old guys, it would have been all about this new and growing hobby among young people.
Paul
I saw this article this morning and thought that I would share the link. Here's the link to the article:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/end-of-the-line-for-model-trains-aging-hobbyists-trundle-on-1455157546?mod=e2twhttp://www.wsj.com/articles/end-of-the-line-for-model-trains-aging-hobbyists-trundle-on-1455157546?mod=e2tw