Sir MadogThis may be slightly , but each year we have a US Model Railroading Convention in Germany. The following video shows scenes from the layouts on display at last year´s convention:
I don't know the answer here. But it does make one wonder.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
Sheldon--
For once we seem to agree, and it's on actually more than one issue, lol!
I agree on Mt. St. Helens, completely, but that is off topic a bit...
and
You did a very good job of explaining one of the transportation paradoxes here in the US:
Except in a few population dense areas like the NE Corridor and parts of California, we just do not have the population density to make passenger rail really work. Every good traffic engineer knows that. To make people ride the train (ie make train economically viable), in some areas of the U.S., you have to let highways reach nearly total gridlock, which nobody really wants, has the stomach, to do. So instead we keep building more lanes, but we can never build our way out of congestion--yet still the politicians try.
More "enlightened" urban planners in the U.S. (not myself, I'm just a design guy designing what I'm paid to design) are pushing for a return to the America we once had: dense urban neighborhoods without the suburban sprawl. PA Dept of Tranportation, for one, is actually embracing that model--but it will take many years to convince people to move back to population centers where they can walk to many things and passenger rail will then become a "more viable" option than it currently is in suburbia.
Since Europe in general has much greater population density than in America, the passenger rail works much better for them from a traffic engineering perspective (leaving all tax/funding discussions out of the argument completely).
John Mock
Sir MadogNo wonder that model railroading enjoys a lesser degree of spread and social acceptance!
It goes far deeper then that and has nothing to do with real railroads but,we won't go there.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Just an attempt to bring this discussion back to the OP´s topic ...
Train travel in the US is certainly not as convenient as it is in Europe. Longer distances, travel time, train stations not (always) in the heart of the cities (not to say the boondocks), freight trains having priority, slow average speeds, noise and maybe even dirt have made taking a train not really attractive. Trains in the US are more connecting with being held up at a grade crossing by a mile (and more) long train than a method of transport you take for business or leisure. No wonder that model railroading enjoys a lesser degree of spread and social acceptance!
BRAKIE Sheldon,More gloomy news. You may be actually facing a 17-18 hour ride to Toledo because the Capital is usually late.The Late (aka Lake) shore Limited is always late.
Sheldon,More gloomy news. You may be actually facing a 17-18 hour ride to Toledo because the Capital is usually late.The Late (aka Lake) shore Limited is always late.
And taking the train to New York, and then taking the Lake Shore Limited, takes longer and costs more.........
Sheldon
So I looked up the cost and schedule to take the train from Baltimore to Detroit.
Worse than flying, you cannot get there from here, you have to go somewhere else first.
Leave my house drive 25 minutes to nearest Northeast Corridor station - Aberdeen, MD.
Ride the Northeast regional for 1.5 hours to Union Station in DC, get on the Capital Limited and ride 13 hours to Toledo, OH, then take an Amtrak bus ride or rent a car to Detroit - twice as long as the car ride - cost, 2 adults, $286 coach. Even at $4 a gallon, the Flex gets over 20 MPG on the highway, no more than $100 in gas. At current prices - $67
16 hours on a train - my wife would go nuts..........
Howard Zane I may add that I have seen a slight movment towards historical modeling by younger "steam challenged" modelers. In my three decades of co-promoting a rather huge mid-Atlantic train show, actually I have seen many younger modelers, be it purchasing or involved with modular groups displaying at the show. Some have chosen the Civil War ear, and many the transitional phase between steam and diesel. At many tourist railroads operating steam, I see the younger folks chasing the locomotive (actually my generation just can run fast enough anymore). To these newer millenials, sure a steam loco is a dinasour, but what kid on this planet does not like dinasours??? There still is hope!! HZ
I may add that I have seen a slight movment towards historical modeling by younger "steam challenged" modelers. In my three decades of co-promoting a rather huge mid-Atlantic train show, actually I have seen many younger modelers, be it purchasing or involved with modular groups displaying at the show. Some have chosen the Civil War ear, and many the transitional phase between steam and diesel. At many tourist railroads operating steam, I see the younger folks chasing the locomotive (actually my generation just can run fast enough anymore).
To these newer millenials, sure a steam loco is a dinasour, but what kid on this planet does not like dinasours???
There still is hope!!
HZ
I agree, I see lots of young people interested in steam around here. Of course we have a steam line that operates every day, most of the year, just 1 hour from where I sit:
http://www.strasburgrailroad.com/
andrechapelon "Trans simple will not work here." Amazing statement. The busiest passenger rail corridor outside of the NEC is the LA-San Diego corridor, which actually extends up to San Luis Obispo. Metro-Link in SoCal extends 75 miles to the Palmdale/Lancaster area and 60 miles to San Bernardino. Ridership is growing and trains can run pretty full. I''ve ridden Metro-Link and had trouble finding a seat. Amtrak California's ridership is pretty high and growing. In the Bay Area, CalTrain trains run with a high ridership. Ever ridden a train anywhere in this country? I've actually ridden Amtrak from the SF Bay Area to Boston, in coach no less. As far as Europe goes, it ain't that small. I've ridden from Vienna to Paris by train (about the distance from SFO to Salt Lake City) and Barcelona to Paris (about 650 miles). As I mentioned in an earlier post, we will be taking the AVE from Madrid to Barcelona. Distance is roughly comparable to Los Angeles from San Jose and will be a good comparison for California's upcoming high speed service. I've driven in the UK and on the Continent as well as taking trains, so I have some actual basis for comparison. Picking up rental car tomorrow and heading to Segovia. Should be fun. Last time I was in Spain was 1989. Andre PS Have also made coast to coast road trips.
"Trans simple will not work here."
Amazing statement. The busiest passenger rail corridor outside of the NEC is the LA-San Diego corridor, which actually extends up to San Luis Obispo. Metro-Link in SoCal extends 75 miles to the Palmdale/Lancaster area and 60 miles to San Bernardino. Ridership is growing and trains can run pretty full. I''ve ridden Metro-Link and had trouble finding a seat. Amtrak California's ridership is pretty high and growing. In the Bay Area, CalTrain trains run with a high ridership.
Ever ridden a train anywhere in this country? I've actually ridden Amtrak from the SF Bay Area to Boston, in coach no less. As far as Europe goes, it ain't that small. I've ridden from Vienna to Paris by train (about the distance from SFO to Salt Lake City) and Barcelona to Paris (about 650 miles). As I mentioned in an earlier post, we will be taking the AVE from Madrid to Barcelona. Distance is roughly comparable to Los Angeles from San Jose and will be a good comparison for California's upcoming high speed service.
I've driven in the UK and on the Continent as well as taking trains, so I have some actual basis for comparison. Picking up rental car tomorrow and heading to Segovia. Should be fun. Last time I was in Spain was 1989.
Andre
PS Have also made coast to coast road trips.
Andre, OK I was typing too fast and had too little time to respond.
Let me explain better. Here in the Mid Atlantic, we have the NorthEast Corridor/AMTRAK and MARC commuter service. And Baltimore has a limited subway and light rail system.
All of these lines work well and have good ridership - BUT, they only serve the limited needs of a very limited percentage of the population.
My comment was aimed at the false notion that somehow more rail lines could or should replace auto travel for large percentages of Americans - its not going to happen - not anytime soon.
So the fact that most of the American public does not see trains as part of their daily lives is not going to change. And if that effects peoples interest in model trains, well, it is what it is..........
From where I live, it takes 25 minutes by car to get to the nearest MARC/AMTRAK station on the Northeast Corridor that would then take an additional 30-40 minutes into downtown Baltimore - in 35 minutes I can drive to downtown Baltimore.
But my daily/weekly activities do not take me to downtown Baltimore. As a family, we only go into Baltimore about 6-12 times in a whole year.
Where we live, again in the rural suburbs, people are too spread out, and their travel needs do not coincide in ways that would make additional rail lines effective.
Yes, I have traveled by train, and by air. I can't say that most of our personal travel needs/desires are well served by either.
My wife prefers the independence of having her own car - It is generally impossible to rent the kinds of cars we prefer to drive once we would reach a destination. And the pleasure travel we do does not generally involve desintations that are major metropolitan areas with airports or train stations. What do we drive? My wife's car is a 2015 FORD FLEX LIMITED with the eccoboost performance package - roomy, comfortable, powerful.
We don't travel for work, we don't work for big corporations in big cities. We don't have family spread all over the country.
We have used the Metro to sightsee in Washington DC - drove to Union Station and took the Metro to all the sights.
While we are at this, here is my take on air travel as well. You need to be going 800 to 1000 miles with time being an issue to make flying worth while. Our only out of town relatives live in the Detroit area. Our closest airport is Baltimore's BWI, 45 minutes away, the other side of Baltimore from us.
If I leave here in my car, and head West/North to Detroit, and you leave here the same time and head to the airport, I will nearly be in Ohio about the time you take off. By the time you land, I will be closing in on the Detroit metro area. Then you need to collect your luggage, and get from the airport to the suburbs west of Detroit. Our portal to portal travel times will be about the same - 8-9 hours. You will have spent more, and will need to rent a car - no thank you. I doubt rail service would do any better......
Yes, we are boring little country home bodies living in our parochial little rural suburb with the dairy cows, horse farms and corn fields right up the street.
It is fun to live here:
One of our favorite travel destinations, Cape May, NJ - just a few hours away.
Sir Madog twhite Austria's only major east-west Alpine railway Tom - Austria is not big enough for two major lines!
twhite Austria's only major east-west Alpine railway
Tom - Austria is not big enough for two major lines!
You're right. They'll have to be satisfied with just four, then--Arlberg, Tauern, Semmering and Vienna-Salzburg. Oops, forgot Salzburg-Vorgel-Innsbruck. Stood at the station in the middle of the Alps at Bad Gastein on the Tauern railway before I went into town to "taste the waters" and couldn't get away, there were too many trains coming up and down the line (single track, right there) and they were all too fascinating. The only times I've ever seen so many trains in such a small area was when my nephews came to run trains with me on my garage layout, lol!
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
tstage DAVID FORTNEY The young kids today involved in trains today don't care at all for the steam era. They only see diesels today and that is what they like. Do they like seeing my big boys run, NO. They want to see today's diesels and the point is today's diesels, not from the 50's. They want the gevo's, SD70aces, etc.n While I can't speak for youngens wanting to see your big boys run, I have seen a number of kids at train shows who show an interest in steam. And I didn't see steam run in the 50s because it was pretty much gone. However, I enjoy the early 40s with steam and early diesel; a generation removed by the time I came along. So, I guess there's always exceptions to the "rule". Oh, and you should see the number of little and big kids who come out to see NKP #765 run on 1:1 track. Tom
DAVID FORTNEY The young kids today involved in trains today don't care at all for the steam era. They only see diesels today and that is what they like. Do they like seeing my big boys run, NO. They want to see today's diesels and the point is today's diesels, not from the 50's. They want the gevo's, SD70aces, etc.n
Do they like seeing my big boys run, NO. They want to see today's diesels and the point is today's diesels, not from the 50's. They want the gevo's, SD70aces, etc.n
While I can't speak for youngens wanting to see your big boys run, I have seen a number of kids at train shows who show an interest in steam. And I didn't see steam run in the 50s because it was pretty much gone. However, I enjoy the early 40s with steam and early diesel; a generation removed by the time I came along.
So, I guess there's always exceptions to the "rule". Oh, and you should see the number of little and big kids who come out to see NKP #765 run on 1:1 track.
My 4 year old grandson just loves steam. Wonder where he got that from
Just as some people like Civil War, some like 1900's, others 1950's, others modern day, or something in between. I think every era will always appeal to some.
Enjoy
Paul
DAVID FORTNEYThe young kids today involved in trains today don't care at all for the steam era. They only see diesels today and that is what they like. Do they like seeing my big boys run, NO. They want to see today's diesels and the point is today's diesels, not from the 50's. They want the gevo's, SD70aces, etc.n
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
The young kids today involved in trains today don't care at all for the steam era. They only see diesels today and that is what they like.
On the ops question, I don't care what country has the most railroaders, I only know I like trains, model and real.
Howard ZaneMy guess is that young folks are not standing in lines at trains stores anymore...not so much that electronic whatevers have captured their interests, but they just don't see trains as us old timers did decades back. It is kind of hard to model or render something that is not seen often....or in many cases, just not seen or experienced.
Nobody stands in line at train stores any more that was a old school precomuter era thing now it faster,easier and cheaper to order on line by simply using your smart phone.
There are thousands of young modelers in the hobby just like it was when we was young and recall most of us when we was teenagers didn't advertise we had model trains.
As far as today's railroads they are still exciting-look at the modern layouts and railfan videos on you tube.
Ever feel the ground viberate when a brace of SD80MACs or GE ES40DCs start a 12,000' tonnage train? Its enough to get your blood pumping.
Today young guns are going for DCC/Sound and highly detailed freight cars.They have no interest in steam but,can tell a SD90MAC from a SD80MAC some things most old head modelers can't do.I know I can't.
Sir Madog ATLANTIC CENTRAL The biggest irony of that however is their general lack of space for modeling given their housing norms. The term "norm" might not be applicable and should be replaced with "cost". Trains are much more a part of every day life in Europe. People ride trains because trains are fast, efficient and cheap to ride. A return ticket from my place to Hamburg costs the same as parking my car does, but the train is much faster and more reliable. A side note - the first UK "toy trains" came from Germany. Basset-Lowke had them manufactured by Bing and Bub in Nuremberg.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL The biggest irony of that however is their general lack of space for modeling given their housing norms.
The term "norm" might not be applicable and should be replaced with "cost".
Trains are much more a part of every day life in Europe. People ride trains because trains are fast, efficient and cheap to ride. A return ticket from my place to Hamburg costs the same as parking my car does, but the train is much faster and more reliable.
A side note - the first UK "toy trains" came from Germany. Basset-Lowke had them manufactured by Bing and Bub in Nuremberg.
Yes I understand, trains are effective there because people live close together.
In the area where I live, the "average" home is 3000 sq ft and sits on an acre of land. Even those who live in apartments or town homes have yards and open space in their developments. Walking to a logical train stop would require a network of trackage that would be simply too expensive, take up too much land, cost too much to maintain, and require too many "transfers" to get most people where they need to go. Then there is issue of carrying "stuff", people have to bring home groceries - we don't shop every day, we shop for a weeks worth of food at a time.
Kids have sports practice, people go out to eat, to shop, because our world is no more than two stories high and spread out, trains simply will not work.
Parking is free out here in the suburbs - every business has a large parking lot.
Look up Bel Air, Maryland on bing or Google Earth and look around........then tell me how you would "install" mass transit.
Today I will drive 25 miles to my current construction project, past farms, through several small villages, and lots of "suburban" homes on large lots. No mass transit could be built to meet that need. Before theday is out I will likely drive 75-100 miles - in my big gas guzzling FORD F250 extended cab pickup with its 6.2 liter V8 engine - which I need to carry construction supplies, and which doubles as my personal vehicle. On many days I must also pick up or drop off my grandchildren at from/to school.
We do have commuter trains that take people into the big city - Baltimore - but most people have to drive to the train stations and park there - they don't live close enough to that rail line to walk........
Trains simply will not work here any better than they already do.
wjstix I would guess per capita the U.K. has the most railfans ("railway enthusiats") and modellers, probably also has the greatest numbers of old engines that have been preserved - often still being used. Apparently on the Fort William to Mallaig line British Rail (or whatever they call it now) still runs restored steam engines on the train in the summer.
I would guess per capita the U.K. has the most railfans ("railway enthusiats") and modellers, probably also has the greatest numbers of old engines that have been preserved - often still being used. Apparently on the Fort William to Mallaig line British Rail (or whatever they call it now) still runs restored steam engines on the train in the summer.
Actually, in peak season, there are 2 daily steam hauled trains between Fort William and Maillag.
IIRC, there are 5 dedicated model railway publications in the UK and a <censored> load of full size railway publications. Just go into a WH Smith the next time you hit London.
Yours truly is currently in Bilbao, Spain. Will be picking up rental car tomorrow, eventually ending up in Madrid. From Madrid to Barcelona, we will take the AVE (Spanish TGV equivalent). 3 hours station to station. Should be fun. Tickets (1st class) were just under $100 each.
I envy those of you in the US who have access to Amtrak. When I checked your regular fares I was really surprised to see that they were less than half of what we would pay in Canada for traveling roughtly the same distance.
When I realized that Amtrak features many discounts in comparison to what Via Rail offers it becomes that much more evident that it is far cheaper for most Canadians traveling long distances to use air travel, more competition, cheaper fares.
In fact one company on the West Coast promotes luxury rail travel and has found a market exists, mainly tourists, who want a memorable trip through the Rocky Mountains and are willing to pay a premium for that experience.
That is not the typical Canadian though, passenger rail travel is quite expensive and will remain that way.
Thanks for information. It is kind of what I suspected. My guess is that young folks are not standing in lines at trains stores anymore...not so much that electronic whatevers have captured their interests, but they just don't see trains as us old timers did decades back. It is kind of hard to model or render something that is not seen often....or in many cases, just not seen or experienced.
Myself and I'm sure many of you once commuted by train. I did often and I loved every minute of riding the rails. These were my seeds, and as an artist often will paint what inspired him or her....so it is with my model railroad and others.
Europe, besides being well endowed with foriegners, is extremely well endowed with trains...both for commute and long distance. During the early 60's I went to grad school both in London and Paris....and spent much of my time watching trains...then still in steam. Not much has changed except for power and unbelievable efficiency....and costs are proportionally much less than here in the states.
Maybe someday in the near future, some person here with vision will say....maybe we should build a railroad....at least so new generations will have something to model.
ATLANTIC CENTRALThe biggest irony of that however is their general lack of space for modeling given their housing norms.
twhiteAustria's only major east-west Alpine railway
PRR8259 OK, I have to call bs: There is a double standard in America. Our trucks are big, dirty, fast and loud and can take up as much as 40% of the traffic volume on Interstate highways, which I actually design for a living (working on new interchanges on I-95 at Philadelphia). If you've ever stood right along even just rural I-81 during heavy truck hours, as I have, it's generally noisier than standing along a train track anywhere--even on Horseshoe Curve with the brake squeal. And a certain segment of the population loves their monster truck rallies! But excepting in some residential areas, we don't screen all our highways from view. Why the double standard? And if I had a dime for every fine Pennsylvanian I met who believes our railroads are dying and on their last legs, I would be a very rich man indeed. In Europe, where the train service can be outstanding, methinks the trains are just more "cool" to the average citizen. So that might explain the popularity? John
OK, I have to call bs:
There is a double standard in America.
Our trucks are big, dirty, fast and loud and can take up as much as 40% of the traffic volume on Interstate highways, which I actually design for a living (working on new interchanges on I-95 at Philadelphia). If you've ever stood right along even just rural I-81 during heavy truck hours, as I have, it's generally noisier than standing along a train track anywhere--even on Horseshoe Curve with the brake squeal.
And a certain segment of the population loves their monster truck rallies!
But excepting in some residential areas, we don't screen all our highways from view.
Why the double standard?
And if I had a dime for every fine Pennsylvanian I met who believes our railroads are dying and on their last legs, I would be a very rich man indeed.
In Europe, where the train service can be outstanding, methinks the trains are just more "cool" to the average citizen. So that might explain the popularity?
John
A few thoughts from the son of a life long trucking industry manager.
My father was a model railroader, and started me in the hobby by age 10......he worked in the trucking industry all his life - including working for the Southern Railroad piggyback service in the early 60's.
No matter the public knowledge or perception in the US, there is a steady shift from trucks to intermodal rail for long distance freight.
This could have happened 60 years ago, but the overly regulatory government stood in the way of piggyback - while at the same time giving the trucking industry larger/heavier rigs every time they asked.
53' trailers? Over 80,000 lbs, they have lost their minds.
BUT, total deregulation a few decades back has started a steady gradual shift to intermodal.
Emissions - well I'm not an expert on diesel truck or locomotive emissions, but todays cars only put out 1% of the harmful emissions of the cars from the 60's - we have all done our part to "save the planet".
Not that it needs saving from us - example, the 1980 eruption of Mt St Helens produced more products of combustion than every car that has ever existed - how can global warming be our fault? The climate is simply changing - with us, or without us, just like it has done in the past.
Anyway, had the government gotten out of the way of piggyback, right away, back in 1953, I would suggest that nearly every truck on the road today would be "local delivery", or very time sensitive, and it would be a lot less of them.
The unintended consequences of bad public policy..........
One other thought - passenger rail transport, not counting inner city mass transit, died in this country the day Henry Ford sold the first Model T. America is a land of open spaces and train tracks can't be built everywhere.
People in other countries may settle for living in small houses in cities, but I don't see that model ever taking over in this country. Heck, when I retire, I'm hoping to move father away from the crowded "rural suburbs" where I live now - surely not moving into a "city" - the right really small town......maybe.
To Howard's question, I would agree/guess that per capita, the UK and Germany have the most model railroaders. The biggest irony of that however is their general lack of space for modeling given their housing norms.
Happy to be living in the lush, green Mid Atlantic of the US, the cradle of American Railroading, and land of big basements, big houses, and big layouts - or my case big out buildings - my layout is on the second floor of my 32' x 40' detached garage.......even if less of my neighbors know or care about trains or model trains.
OK, I've used up my quota of forum time for a while, see ya,
When I was in Austria, I was quite delighted to find that most of the larger cities had model railway clubs. I visited the club in Salzburg (very hospitable) whose layout represented the Salzach/Tauern area of the Alps, and the club in Innsbruck (again, very hospitable) which modeled the spectacular Arlberg Railway, Austria's only major east-west Alpine railway. Each club had quite a few members, and of all ages. The hobby appears to be quite healthy in the land of Schubert and Mahler. Lord knows that the railways themselves are! Forty trains a day is almost considered a branch line, lol!
Sir Madog In UK, the number of key players in the market is small - it´s basically Bachmann and Hornby, surrounded by a great number of cottage businesses catering for what´s is called the "serious" model railroader. Not to forget Peco for track.
In UK, the number of key players in the market is small - it´s basically Bachmann and Hornby, surrounded by a great number of cottage businesses catering for what´s is called the "serious" model railroader. Not to forget Peco for track.
My wife is a Brit and Dec 2014 we went over to her home town of South Shields near Newcastle to work on her sons immigration as well as a several day trip down to London and back up to Newcastle (Newcastle Brown Ale fame). While there we visited one of MR forums posters, Jon Grant (in Sunderland) and also the Sunderland A1 model RR club. The members really impressed me with how serious they were about the hobby despite lack of home layout space - many of them had made trips to the US and railfanned. The club had a large space in the upper level of a wearhouse and multiple layouts housed there. Most were US type trains actually.
I visited a fairl small store in a small town of South Shields which had an entire long wall dedicated to magazines and counted over 35 different train related magazines. Here you'd be lucky to find a fifth of that.
Over time I've come to realize that the UK has a much higher percentage of train fans per capita than the US. I've been to Germany on for extended stays some years back, as long as a couple months, and don't recall getting that impression there although I wasn't exposed to the hobby there. I am aware of some large displays through forum links but not sure if that represents the general population or just some huge attractions.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Hard to say without hard numbers but,I suspect Germany would be among the top five.
I would say America would be among the top five just by judging the number of railroad videos on you tube and the way manufacturers keep cranking out new products plus we've seen several new companies over the past 10 years.
All to sadly our hobby has been a closest hobby and over the past few years that closet has grown rather large. Town A can have a very nice club and only a select few may know about it because the club never holds a public open house,has a membership drive or sponsors a train show.
Both NMRA and printed magazines may not be a a measuring tool like years ago because many no longer buy magazines or find the need to join the NMRA..
Then how about the thousands of hidden modelers that may have a 4x8' or large layout for relaxation but,doesn't consider them selves model railroaders? Those are the types you see or hear at toy shops,train shows or places like Hobbyland that reportedly buying a new car or engine for "the boy" or "Grandson" while in all truth they're buying it for theirself..
Even among modelers they are willing to talk fishing,hunting etc with follow workers not even knowing the person they are speaking to is a model railroader and vis versa.
Then how many of those young faces at trackside has models?
In Germany, the number of players has gone down as companies went belly-up in the past years. You have the Marklin/Trix/LGB group, Fleischmann/Roco, Bemo (German and Swiss narrow gauge), Tillig (TT scale, HOm narrow gauge), Piko, Preiser, Faller, Viessmann/Kibri/Vollmer and also a number of smaller businesses, like ESU, Uhlenbrock, Lenz (the inventor of DCC) and lots of others.
UK is much more of a builder´s market, whereas Germany is more RTR.
Both UK and Germany have regular (daily) steam services, the line from Fort William to Mallaig in Scotland is just one of many in both countries. British Rail is no more - it has been split up into many privatized entities. The Mallaig train is operated by Westcoast Rail - see here
If not U.K., probably Germany / Austria? LGB, Marklin, ESU, Preiser, Kibri etc. Don't think there'd be that many manufacturers there if there wasn't a lot of demand.
Walthers carries a lot of German made HO stuff, you don't see much U.K. stuff because it's OO not HO so not that usefull over here.
If it's true that there are proportionally more Europeans in the hobby, then I suspect there are two reasons:
First, as mentioned, we tend to tuck our railroads away, out of sight, and we eliminate railroad grade crossings wherever possible. People just don't have the exposure that they did in the past.
Second, most Americans don't see the railroad as something relevant to their lives. They have become conditioned to ignore Amtrak and other rail services as a viable transportation mode, even when they are actually their most sensible options. When they do ride trains, they often innocently ask incredibly naive questions because the milieu is so foreign to them. In Europe and other parts of the world, typical citizens accept railroads as a logical and sensible means of transport.
If it's invisible and irrelevant to your experience, there's not much likelihood that it will become your hobby.