And, your age is?

[rexhea]

I'm 59, retired, and picked the best hobby in the world, but unlike Bob, either my head or back doesn't make it all the way under the "Duck-under".[:D]

REX

[Anonymous]

64 is a great age - I can pull out my old brass locos, look at 'em, run 'em for a while and then put 'em back. If I want that new loco I can buy it. I can't read the coal and water capacities but I know they are their. (I own and optivisor). I can still duck-under the layout and enjoy the train running but I don't get upset it something doesn't work right.

Have a good day
Bob

[CNJ831]

For the benefit of newcomers to this forum, let me repeat a statement I made a while back on a similar poll. While polls here can be fun, please don't take them as having any real meaning. Hobbled by the meager numbers of respondents and the fact these polls are automatically skewed toward younger hobbyists at ease with computers and the internet, they _must not_ be regarded as any barometer of the hobby's current state. It can be shown through MR's own published readers' surveys that the current average age of MR's readers (and likely the great majority of hobbyist at large) is essentially 55 years. Thus, 50% of all modelers must be 55 or older. However, the poll here indicates only a quarter of modelers are over 55 and a dramatic 39% are 40 years of age or younger!

The truth is that unless one can survey an actual representaive cross section of hobbyists about their age, by a non-electronic means, one will continuously get skewed and unrealistic figures. The world of computers and the internet tends to be the province of people typically much younger than the average model railroader, so surveys conducted via electronic media can not hope to give accurate or even meaningful results. MR even used to (still does?) run a disclaimer not to take the polls here seriously.

CNJ831

[mikebonellisr]

67 and getting more involved every year,Just wi***here was more time.Ah ..If I only knew then{or could afford it]

[GMO Fan]

34 here....

[Anonymous]

My age is 58. I a train lover for over 50 years and going for 50 more

[Anonymous]

i am 17

[Anonymous]

Even though I don't Trains that much any more..............Im 31!
[bow]BNSF[bow]

[rtstasiak]

I'm 47, and rode the cab of my first steam engine 30 years ago. There is railroad life after 1971 after all.

Rich

[ben10ben]

I'm 16

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BoRockhard

21. Young enough to still date highschool girls.

But why?

I might be getting older (52), but I refuse to grow up!

[Anonymous]

21. Young enough to still date highschool girls.

[egmurphy]

Well, with 120 votes in, the numbers are showing the classic distribution that tends to come out in most magazine model railroading polls. We've got good interest through the teen years, then a big drop off in the 20's (college, careers, family, other priorities) then increasing activity/return starting in the 30's, peaking in the 50's (okay, you have to add the 3 50-something subcategories together), then tailing off slowly.

If you throw in a few pre-teens that may not be forum active, and a few seniors who may not be computer active either, we'd have a pretty good bell curve. I think we are showing a fairly typical cross section of the hobby. It's actually amazing seeing as how we've sampled what, maybe 0.01% of the model rails in the country? (Don't critique the %, it was a grab number just to complete the idea).

Regards

Ed

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by RDLkrbyvllRR

How old am I, you ask. How about[#dots]

"Old enough to know better, but, still to young to care"[:D]

Or, if you want a number, 30.

RDL, or Robert

I usually say... "old enough to know better, but young enough not to let that stop me"

[Anonymous]

I'm 18. It's really great to see that there are as many people near my age on here as there are! However, a much greater percentage of the younger generation is computer-savvy and so obviously this doesn't reflect the hobby as a whole.

[Anonymous]

19 but will be 20 in a couple of months

[twhite]

I'm 64--at least hanging onto it until this Friday (dec 10) when I become an Official Senior Citizen. Retired music teacher, see the future of the hobby continually improving. Remember when the only steam available was Varney or Mantua, lived through the Brass Age, am now enjoying sound along with power. And with retirement--guess what? I can spend as much time as I want in the garage, cramming the Sierra Nevadas into a 24x24' HO scale empire. Life is good. Always has been, but now it's getting just a LITTLE better!
Tom

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by luct

QUOTE: Originally posted by AlvieCO

but guess what, I'm having fun. You don't need a lot of trains to have fun.

And that's what it's all about, Alvie, no matter how many pieces one has. And with times, it grows.
Enjoy the journey [:)][:)][:)]

And the journey should only get better.

[Anonymous]

Age 47 most of the time except when I am in the general area of a layout/somewhere between 12 and 15 at a train show{like a kid in a candy store}And not able to make an acurate determination the few times I have witnessed or rode behind live steam,or vintage first generation diesels.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AlvieCO

but guess what, I'm having fun. You don't need a lot of trains to have fun.

And that's what it's all about, Alvie, no matter how many pieces one has. And with times, it grows.
Enjoy the journey [:)][:)][:)]

[Anonymous]

How old am I, you ask. How about[#dots]

"Old enough to know better, but, still to young to care"[:D]

Or, if you want a number, 30.

RDL, or Robert

[Anonymous]

21, and I won't buy alcohol for anybody under that age.

I don't have tons of stuff, my personal collection is quite miniscule compared to some, but guess what, I'm having fun. You don't need a lot of trains to have fun.

Alvie.

[PistolPete]

54 at least for another 31 days. I like RTR and a do buy kits, it depends what is offereed and the price. Time is also an issue, I would rather spend time working on my layout then building kits.

[mustanggt]

QUOTE: I thought not that many young people were in the hobby (or may be it's just where I live)

same here. everytime I go to the hobby shop its filled with old people-no offense[:o)] that are always buying 1000's of dollars worth of Lionel stuff. btw I built a bowser caboose yesterday, very easy

[Sunset Limited]

I'm 39 and 3/4's....... OK!!!! I'M 40!!!!!! Thank's for the reminder!! [|(] Overall I can't complain! As long as I have my Health, Family and I can't forget... My Hobby!!!!!

[AlcoRS11Nut]

I thought not that many young people were in the hobby (or may be it's just where I live)

[TrainFreak409]

I am 15, turning 16 in March, and proud to be one of the few in my school obsessed with trains. It is amazing how I can't stump almost everyone in my school just by talking like a train nut!

~[8]~ TrainFreak409 ~[8]~

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by eastcoast

I will be 32 on Dec 18 this year. Where do the years go ???
My widowed (model rail)wife says she is raising kids by herself.

Be careful, those were the words of my now divorced wife. It was her idea, I guess she thought she had nothing to lose. My life has been a bit of a struggle since, but I'm getting used to it. Her life has been something of a mess from what I can tell. The kids are the ones who have to really deal with it, and that's not fair. Mine are still adjusting.

[eastcoast]

I will be 32 on Dec 18 this year. Where do the years go ???
My widowed (model rail)wife says she is raising kids by herself.