Growing the hobby pt 1 MRR mag

[TurboOne]

WOW.....[wow][yeah][wow] Did this topic take off.

Good job guys. It seems as if most of us agree better ambassadorship could be done.

QUOTE: Editor

Posts: 56
Joined: 14 Feb 2002
Location: Model Railroader magazine
Thanks to all who have contributed on this topic, which, as you can imagine, is one that we spend considerable time considering.
Two quick corrections: 1) The WGH DVD sells for $12.99, not 24.99 as one poster stated, and 2) we did a special magazine for beginners (simple layouts, click-together track, etc.) last holiday season that sold for $9.99 and included the DVD with the magazine. (As you can imagine, that price barely covered our costs, but we thought it was one way that we could help new people get a good start in the hobby.)
Best wishes, and thanks for reading Model Railroader,
Terry

Terry I never saw the combo, or I would have bought it. I returned to the hobby on Dec 16th. Offer it to me now, and lets see if we can get others to come on board. I think $7.99 would be better only because its not $10. Let me know how I can promote these if you make the offer.

My 2 closest LHS doesn't care about the newbies. They want to sell their BLI and Proto2k engines and to heck with the newbies. They don't carry Thomas the train just a play set in the shop to keep the kids from getting around the "real" trains.

They don't think anyone makes Thomas the train for HO or O anymore, and don't even know if a G version ever existed. They have the catalogs in their store showing the product. What idiots.

Any dealer that doesn't promote to entry level deserves to go out of business. Old dinosaurs that need to be buried last year. Mean. Crusty. Waste of space.

To any dealer, I challenge you to hire an excited young person. Teenager, or early 20s. No family, no gray hair. Get him excited and show him how simple it is to set up a Thomas the train. I don't care if you don't make money on the set, quit being marketing stupid. The circle of track won't fit around the tree. So you need more. Show him nickel silver and why its better for just a little bit more. What about a 2nd engine and a cranky the crane add on. Maybe these piers that will let you build a second level. Next thing you know, its like drugs, I NEED MORE. Better engines, more track, switches, etc...

NO MORE RIVET COUNTERS helping newbies. While your skills are tremendous, and your layout looks fantastic, you are an idiot on marketing. A train layout for beginners especially kids so be up and running in hours, not years. Santa and Mrs. Claus set up our living room Thomas the train double level layout in 2.5 hours. Kids woke up, and TADA the trains ran immediately. I believe Santa tested them. [:)][:)][:)][:)] Only for 30 minutes, after all it ws 3am.

Now on the bigger layout that we are doing, we can take our time. We have a working layout. We use wooden Thomas trees, oversized building from wooden Thomas, and wrong scale trees. We run the trains fast.

BECAUSE IT IS ABOUT FUN. [:D][:D][:D][:D]

Now when we go to the museum with the rivet counters, the years of work, and the great scenary, the kids appreciate all the work it took. But they want it all and want it now. Just like a video game. We have 6 video systems plus computer games. We still have time for trains. We build cardboard building because they are cheap $1. But the kids make them and I proudly put them on the layout.

Every young child I know, knows who Thomas the Train is. Why are manufacturers so dumb and not know this will bring in more people. That is what I bought from an internet company as he was the only one that had it where I could get it by Christmas. LHS told me what I wrote above.

Hogwarts, Thomas, Disney like O gauge has, promos for Chrsitmas like LGB has, get them in and reel them in.

With that entry level book Terry talked about that would replace putting it in MRR every quarter. Are they still available for $9.99 ????

This forum has been fantastic, and the great guys on here that encourage us newbies is why. As many of you know I cleaned the garage out, I built my own benchwork, and put up 3 temporary loops until I fini***he rest of the benchwork. All because of the encouragement here. I like the rivet counters teaching, I love their work. But they lack the marketing that the younger folk can do. TAMR and other orgs, hats off. Keep it up. Grandpa's show the kids, think of it as a come to life video game. Show them the fun, not the details. They will learn. Look at their video games. Details that they can't live without, just had to show them and lead them. Start with Thomas, then go to a Athearn, then Proto2K with sound. A a lifelong customer if you treat him right.

Ok my [2c][2c] 4 cents.

Tim

[jfugate]

Bob:

There will be a public area with some that are free. Others will be available for download for a small fee. Or if you would like access to the entire library for a year, you can subscribe -- for less than it costs to subscribe to MR for a year.

For example, one of the videos being worked on is how to install and use decoder pro, and that will be in the public free area.

The fees will mainly pay for the space, server, and production costs for the videos. If it could be done, it would be nice for advertising to pay for this so the enitre site could be totally free to the public, but that's unlikely to happen. The model RR hobby is just too small.

I think one of the reasons for the reluctance to pay for the PDFs is it's mostly warmed over material -- reprints of things MR has already published. If it was all fresh new material, there might be more of an interest. For reprinted material that has no associated printing costs, it's seen as overpriced, I think.

[Anonymous]

Can we assume there will be a cost for these videos, downloads and PDF's? Not suggesting they be offered for free, but you did not mention anything about paying for them. There does seem to be quite a reluctance to pay for PDF copies of MR articles on this list.

In any case, good luck!

Bob Boudreau

[jfugate]

I believe we need to get the younger generation interested in the hobby or it will go the way of the dinosaur ...

To that end, MyMemoirs Video, the folks that distrubute my Siskiyou Line video series on DVD are planning to debut a new web site this summer at http://model-trains-video.com .

The site will contain lots of professionally produced video shorts (10 min or less) of how-to demos on various scale model railroading topics that you can watch online. Why not make use of the internet and modern digital media to reach the younger generation? The ones who surf the net all the time?

Would you rather have the video to watch on your DVD player instead of that little-bitty computer monitor? They'll have downloadable versions you can burn to a DVD. Would you rather read an article? They'll have a summary of the steps given in the video, along with diagrams, etc in downloadable PDF format so you can read it and print out a hardcopy.

We need more of this kind of thing, I think, if we want to see the hobby reach the next generation! [:D]

[cmrproducts]

After having been on the net and these forums for the past 5 years or so, I am seeing more and more first time posters saying “I am just getting back into the hobby” or “I just discovered the hobby”!

From the sounds of most posters this should not be happening but it is. The Doom and Gloom people are saying the hobby is dying! Well that is a good way to get it to die! Just keep on telling everyone it is and eventually everyone will believe it.

Well up here in western PA things must be different. I am meeting more new hobbyists and there are always new faces at our Clarion Club shows and our NMRA Division 11 meetings and the once a year Jamboree.

So where is this dieing of the hobby? Yes the older modelers are passing on (and we have lost a few in our area) but from what I am seeing for every two that die three are coming into the hobby!

And we have a very active NMRA Division 11 and we have a lot of young modelers. Several are working on their Master Modelers Certs. Now by young modelers I am talking about those that are younger than 40. Usually by age 40 most of the potential modelers are getting ready to get back into the hobby as the families are somewhat settled. But the ones that are younger than 40 that are active modelers, are the new generation and they are not waiting until they get old to enjoy the hobby.

They just decide that they do not have to have 2 - 4 wheelers and 3 ATV’s and a boat and – and – and! They have seen the light and made a decision. Its not who has the most toys but who has the most trains!

And YES I am a bit over 40!

BOB H Clarion, PA

[AtlasGP9]

How did most of us get into the hobby? I suspect because someone gave us a train set-- American Flyer, Lionel, Bachmann, Tri-Ang. Yes, we lived in an era in which trains were a more obvious part of life-- but it was that tiny model going around in circles that intrigued us.
Kids are fascinated by miniature realities-- Watch their faces at a public showing of N Trak or HO modules. Maybe every one of us should buy a train set to give to a grandchild or two-- or donate time and equipment to a boys and girls club.
Yeah, advertising would help-- and not just in MR-- Those people who pick up MR are already hooked-- or at least nibbling.

[MisterBeasley]

One of these days, I'm going to take a couple of feet of 1x4 and some old brass track and make a short display track. I'll take it to work, and rotate some of my old engines and rolling stock. Admittedly, I work with computer geeks and radar types, but when I mention pulling my old trains out of the attic and setting them up, I get a lot of positive responses. One guy even asked for URLs of train sites. (This forum was at the top of my list.)

Does anyone else do "Take Your Train To Work Day?"

[grayfox1119]

I passed around some of my MRR Mags to friends that have kids, now both Dads and kids are interested. One of my own sond just built a new house and I gave him a copy of the Getting Started mag and DVD that came with it, he and his son are now heavy into their first layout. Communication does work guys.

[Anonymous]

Dave,
That's why I specially target the home educators who have formed their own communities. Their kids (and their kids' friends within the community) are not as likely to have prolonged exposure to "Grand Theft Auto" or similar detritus.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TA462
...lets face it, you ask a kid now days if he wants a train set for christmas or a Playstation 2 what do you think the answer is going to be?

That's an interesting point, which I tried to address when I attempted* to do a presentation for a home schooling co-op last December: Many of these video games are based on violent themes, and Model Railroading can provide an alternative form of entertainment. We have to get this message out to concerned parents - they are the ones who have the money to spend, they are the ones who would most likely prefer nonviolent forms of entertainment for their children and be willing to invest a few extra hundred dollars a year! Several parents I have chatted with about this hobby never even had a clue that something like this even existed, and thought it would be great if their boys were doing MRR instead[soapbox].

Reach the parents, and [hopefully?] the kids will follow.

* The target audience didn't show because of a communication mixup.

[selector]

May I add an addendum? I do think that more people in the hobby would bring more diverse topics to this forum, and I am happy to see this already.

Thanks, everybody! [^]

[CNJ831]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MisterBeasley

We need to be better ambassadors. Invite your friends over, particularly those with kids. Model Railroading is in danger of becoming a secret society, meeting in stealty basements and using mysterious code words. When was the last time you saw a public layout display other than at an open house or a train show? There used to be a very large HO setup at a nearby mall every Christmas, but I think they'd rather have another 3 pushcarts with velvet Elvis paintings and cell phone accessories these days.

Maybe some of the clubs that exhibit at shows could do a mall or two, in the off-season when the floor space isn't so valuable. Put out some train show fliers, and some LHS business cards. A few parents are going to note that look of wide-eyed wonder on their children's faces, and maybe those lucky kids will get a train instead of another throw-away video game.

Mall shows have largely disappeared from many regions of the country because of the requirement of huge insurance policy coverage, demanded by the Mall (who used to be willing to cover that expense, and pay you for displaying as well). Likewise, electrical code enforcement has prevented many modular groups from displaying any longer.

CNJ831

[Anonymous]

I agree about needing more "exposure" for the hobby, and also a better reputation - I suspect more than a few people would like to get into the hobby but are worried about the reaction of friends and family - I know I was very careful not to mention my trains to classmates throughout school, because I knew how they'd react and really didn't want the hassle. If the perception can be changed it will undoubtedly help - When you consider that people who spend thousands on modified cars (a la "Fast and the Furious") are considered "cool", why not those who spend similar sums on models? Greater exposure can help change this - it's hard for people to make jokes about "anoraks" and "playing with trains" when they see precisely what's involved in building a decent layout.

[MisterBeasley]

We need to be better ambassadors. Invite your friends over, particularly those with kids. Model Railroading is in danger of becoming a secret society, meeting in stealty basements and using mysterious code words. When was the last time you saw a public layout display other than at an open house or a train show? There used to be a very large HO setup at a nearby mall every Christmas, but I think they'd rather have another 3 pushcarts with velvet Elvis paintings and cell phone accessories these days.

Maybe some of the clubs that exhibit at shows could do a mall or two, in the off-season when the floor space isn't so valuable. Put out some train show fliers, and some LHS business cards. A few parents are going to note that look of wide-eyed wonder on their children's faces, and maybe those lucky kids will get a train instead of another throw-away video game.

[MRTerry]

Thanks to all who have contributed on this topic, which, as you can imagine, is one that we spend considerable time considering.
Two quick corrections: 1) The WGH DVD sells for $12.99, not 24.99 as one poster stated, and 2) we did a special magazine for beginners (simple layouts, click-together track, etc.) last holiday season that sold for $9.99 and included the DVD with the magazine. (As you can imagine, that price barely covered our costs, but we thought it was one way that we could help new people get a good start in the hobby.)
Best wishes, and thanks for reading Model Railroader,
Terry

[TurboOne]

Way to go guys. This is a fantastic discussion. We all see the bottom line. The hobby needs to grow, and the younger the better. Your LHS has very few customers under 40 anymore.

I like Bob (FundyNorthern) idea on the WGH video. I think it should be available for $4.99 or less. Get people started. Quite trying to sell them at $24.99 for a profit, sell tons for under $5 and get more people going.

If more people get started, then they will buy a train magazine sometime. They need that beginning article to get them going. With more people buying and more advertisers coming on board, they can add the 5 pages to welcome the newbies. Prototypical layouts and cars, kitbashing a car, are all great, but way to high end for the newbie. Read Aardvarks post, *** (greyfox) and see that us newbies are asking the same questions. Be extra nice, when you see a poster that is new, or hung around is just now getting around to asking questions, welcome them. Great them with a smile. Don't tell them to throw their brass track and tyco/mantua trains away. The idea is to have fun with trains. Maybe they think like I did, everything else from the 60's and 70's is worth more. My tyco train is probably worth hundred or thousands of $$$$. Don't laugh [:D] I did. As long as the train runs, and they enjoy it, that is a start. Many well meaning folks on this forum told me my stuff was crap. Now I know it was not as good as BLI, peco track, etc...but I need encouragement not a lecture.

I like the newbies idea for the forum, great place to get some answers to the same questions. That would be cool. But I learned about this forum after going to the GATS show. IN person contact is where we can grow this hobby.

Many good ideas here.

Tim

[Anonymous]

I'm going to retire in three years and have decided to build an N scale layout as a hobby. So, as a new guy here are some thoughts on the subject.

When my son was small in the 70s I bought a cheap N scale package. We were moving around a lot in the military and didn't have the room or the desire to build a layout that we would have to take down every couple of years. However, back then the toy stores and department stores sold engines and rolling stock at relatively good prices and we began collecting some. We didn't see many of the LHSs around. We could package up the N scale stuff easily for moving and I've kept it over the years. I realize some of it probably isn't going to run well, but I can work on it or use it as scenery.

Unfortunely, Star Wars came out and my son developed an interest in that. He now has a basement full from collecting over the years. He just tried to convince my wife to go with him at midnight on Friday to go around to Walmarts and Targets to get the unique next generation issues that will be gone in a few hours.

However, my grand daughters are very interested in trains - started with the Thomas the Train stuff and I can get them interested in working with me.

I've restarted on N scale by doing research and this forum is one of the best places to get info. I don't see the need to run a topic for new guys every few months if the search capabilities or navigation around the forum were improved. There are some real gems that aren't discussed very often and thus don't move up in the forum. It is a real pain to try to go to pages deep in the forum. It would be nice to have a go to page capability. The keyword search produces disjointed results. It is nice to be able to follow the full discussion on a topic rather than getting a mass of one or two responses from different topics.

When I see something I think might be useful I put it in my favorites file and also copy to topic files I'm creating. Based on suggestions from the forums, I've begun buying a few of the suggested books.

When I first started reading the forums I thought there was a lot of elitism. It is like fly fishing for trout here in Colorado. If you don't have the $1000 dollar rod, the $300 reel, and Scottish wool pants with the heated waders or tie your own flies, you are looked down on. It takes the fun out of it. I'm just as happy fishing at times with a cane pole and worms with a bobber. However, the more I read in the forums, I've seen that it isn't necessarily the case and a new person can learn a lot from the experienced people.

I used to build plastic model airplanes and had over 400 when I quit. It is a good example of an industry that has lost the range of models it had in the 50s and 60s and is pricing itself out of the market. On the other hand, I've been involved in the graphics market and the prices of things like computers, printers, and digital cameras have come down drastically as they were made available to the mass market - while the technology has improved significantly. The more people involved in a market is a major market expansion driver. I agree that model railroading is somewhat of a niche market and it would be difficult to expand the market significantly, but the principal still applies.

The second point I would like to make is that new people coming into the hobby can bring in new ideas. For example, when putting together buildings, I've seen a little on using and printing on card stock - but not much. With photoshop and today's inkjet printers a person could do some really nice work. My concern would be texture, but I've gone to the LHS and looked at the pre-moulded styrene and the texture is almost negligible for N scale. I think I could print some very realistic looking streets with more realistic variations and print them on photo matte film that is similar to styrene rather than on card stock. I've also had experience printing on different media such as watercolor paper, tyvek and canvas that do provide some texture. I've worked with some artists that print on even more exotic medias.

I've looked at some of the forum threads on backdrops. I haven't seen anyone use actual scenes taken with a digital camera and printed on various media. With even an average digitial camera, one could take a series of photos, put them together in a panaroma (I've even seen a $9 application that would do this), and have it printed out on some of the large format printers for the price on an expensive locomotive - if the reprographics shop had a good raster image processor (RIP). I worked for a company that built very large format color scanners and we worked with the large format printer companies. I've scanned postcard size documents at 300 dpi and printed them out 36 inches wide with almost indistinguishable loss of resolution and excellent color renditions. I've printed documents as long as 25 feet with the printers. Today's desktop injet printers use the same ink technologies and printheads and have gotten better with 6 and 8 color capabilities.

The backdrops could even be backlit and set up to vary the light conditions. I've read that some of the museums do this. I've even thought about some of the display systems that are available for exhibit booths that can change scenes or have a moving scene. These are expensive, but it wouldn't be too difficult to build one from scratch with a slow rotation motor that would be significantly less expensive.

Bottom line is I think there are more positive benefits from expanding the number of model railroaders than negative ones.

[GMTRacing]

Tim,
I had forgotten how enjoyable this hobby can be, and now that i have rediscovered it, i would like to see it continue. I don't know if a repeating magazine article helps unless research shows that magazines are an entry point for newbies. My concern has been more lowering our average age (according to Sam Posey it's gone from 40's to 50's and now beyond). Out of pure selfishness, if most of the hobbyists have died off at some point will our LHS' continue to stock MRR stuff? At any rate much of modern education seems to teach that working with our hands is somehow inferior to pushing paper. Can MRR get into schools by pushing the craft angle? Much of our sustainable growth will come from appealing to video gamers perhaps by stressing the wireless DCC aspects. At any rate sites like this are in my mind more important because younger people (jeez i sound like an old coot no?) are far more computer literate and open to learning from the net than we will ever be. There are probably not too many people under age 20 that regularly pick up a book or magazine unless they are already interested in the subject. Interesting thread you've started. What do some of the younger MRR crew think? Regards, J.R.

[BRAKIE]

I would allow we need new modelers..If the hobby stagnates in growth it will eventually die...No new hobbyist no future.
We must teach the unlearn(new hobbyist and those that might be interested) that one does not need $150.00 locomotives,$30.00 cars,DCC,Sound and etc to enjoy this great hobby.One does not need a basement size layout..
Now for those that thinks the hobby is growing then I call your attention to the WGH campaign backed by those that stand to lose the most Kalmbach and the manufacturers.A good campaign with faults..It should be aim at all ages instead of the older folks.We need hobbyist of all ages to insure the future of the hobby.
Now..For those that insist on bashing every product that doesn't fit your self impose modeling style I ask you this..Do you know how much more damage you might be doing to the hobby with your constant bashing? How many new modelers or those that may want to join the hobby sees this and the new modeler quits in disgust or those that are thinking about model railroading as a hobby moves on to find a better hobby.
Yes..We need new modelers.

[grayfox1119]

Hey guys, we are missings Tim's original question, as we have turned onto a branch line of economics 101. So let me answer Tim's question first:

I have also read question after question from newbies, and I had the very same questions when getting back into this hobby after many years. What I noticed was, the new guys didn't seem to purchase any of the great books, and some videos, on getting started. They seem to use this forum for a starting point, so I think Tim's point was to create a thread or even a new forum that is directed towards the new hobbyist to get them going..where to look, what to look for, so they don't get discouraged and run out the back door. If you look back at the threads, you see the very same questions being asked over and over, so lets bind these together into a "starter' manual (on-line).

Secondly, to address the side issue on economics....I have been there guys, 43 years working in industry, MBA in business, and EE degree also. No, I am not trying to impress anyone, that is not me at all, I just want you to know that I am speaking to you from a point of having been involved with multi-million dollar decisions over the past years before retirement. What we are talking about here is "economy of scale". When a new product hits the market, lets say DCC to keep it in our focus area, there is always a segment of the buying public that will buy the new technology right away, even though the price is high. As manufacturing builds more units, the cost to produce the item lowers, so the manufacturer lowers the price. As this occurs, the 2nd order effect takes place as more people begin buying the DCC units. This occurs until the market is saturated ( no more buyers ). If we have too few buyers due to a diminishing interest in the hobby, the base starts to disappear. The manufacturers are unable to recoup their costs, so the prices stay high.
Bottom line, we most certainly have to grow this hobby, otherwise it will become a hobby for the rich who can afford the high prices. Radio Amateurs are facing this very same crisis today, in a hobby that once was thriving. Now they are just about eliminating the Code test because they need new members, the old timers are dying off and the young guys are not entering the hobby.
Remember, this is a hobby, not like buying cars that we need to travel about, we do not need MRR ( heaven forbid), it needs us.

[selector]

csx, the current crop regenerates, just like in our gardens. The changes we look for come from all demographic (ie, market) changes, not merely from the NUMBERS of people who do a given thing. Again, with so many thousands extant in our hobby, even doubling the numbers won't see substantial changes in how the hobby morphs. People will be drawn to what they see and understand, and influence changes thereafter, just as they have always done in any market. Mor of them will not make the changes happen any quicker...at least, I don't see how.

[Anonymous]

I think one way to start getting people involved in MRRing again is to start having TV commercials for sets and the like again.... just like with any other toy out there why not have stuff for MRRing.... I remember back in the 80's there were a couple commercials but not many.... and now Toys 'R' Us doesn't even carry any bachmann stuff anymore.... maybe if there were commercials that would get kids back into the hobby.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by selector



I feel that the hobby is well served by the current crop of dedicated hobbyists, especially those of us who are online, as much as some are, to share information....

So what happens when the "current crop" fades away? [:D]

Bob Smith
"runnin 'round the rug"

Delaware Valley & Piedmont RR.

[Anonymous]

I think that more good and basic PR will help. I know this too can get expensive, but like in anything else, you want to sell something or get people involve in some organization then advertise it. Bottom line is PR. [2c]

Thanks a bunch for this opportunity to share my views.

Happy MRRing

[selector]

I wi***here was a mathematician lurking who could do a better job of explaining my point. I'll try this: from a statsticial point fo view, there is a critical population density beyond which improvement in any given endeavour will be won only by massive infusions of dollars, thus keeping the costs high. We already have hundreds of thousands of MR fans who keep the development $ applied to sound, scenics, appliances, and obscure lines. We have a large holding of kitbashers who enjoy building items that the development $ don't yield.

I don't know how else to make my case, other than to say that we are dong just fine with the numbers and ideas that we have now.

More is not better.

[CNJ831]

While I'm sure we'd all like to see the hobby expand dramatically, this is honestly an unrealistic outlook regardless of what steps might be purposed. Judging by the demongraphics of those already in the hobby, we are most likely to be drawing the majority of further hobbyists from an already dwindling pool of early Baby Boomers, rather than any younger generation. This results in a very limited potential for expansion no matter how hard one tries.

By just about any indicator one might consult, the number of model railroaders peaked about a dozen years ago and has been in decline every since. Model Railroader magazine has already attempted to appeal to and entice newcomers through many of its ongoing hobby basics articles and one or two simple 4x8 project layouts annually. The WGH's travelling show has also been in response to the recognized declining interest in the hobby. Nevertheless, to date these attempts to stem the flow have shown no demonstrable indications that suggest that the hobby is other than still shrinking.

To continuously repeat or expand on the amount very basic beginner's articles in MR's already dwindling pages of content would only result in a further loss of readership (they've lost upwards of 50,000 readers over the past 10 years) for them among the more experienced hobbyists. Better to stick with pushing the retail sales of existing introductory books on model railroading than to alter the current content of MR.

CNJ831

[Anonymous]

The Worlds Greatest Hobby (WGH) promotion has a great 1 hour video on making your first layout. It is very complete, starting from making the table all the way through to finishing the scenery. Seems to me that a video like this would be great for all newbies entering the hobby and who want some direction.

The main problem I see is the video is not commercially available, it is only sent to WGH Ambassadors (I'm one). Perhaps if it were made available for a nominal price it might be a help.

As to laying EZ track, when I bought my Bachmann On30 train set it came with a short video on setting up the track and set. Another video that might be helpful for those who cannot figure out how to snap a few pieces of track together.

Bob Boudreau

[IRONROOSTER]

For beginners there is a lot of information available on this web site (under the ABCs of model railroading), the NMRA web site, and others. Model Railroader also has 3 books aimed at beginners and 4 more coming. Other books are also available. I think the info is there. Putting it in the magazine means that all the information is not available when some one starts the hobby. Also, if there is too much of the same info repeated every few issues, then people drop their subs after their beginner stage.

I also think that having lots of people in the hobby helps. While some people keep buying at a furious pace, I suspect that most people eventually slow down on their purchases. I know I have now that I have more cars than I can use at once. I don't know that more hobbyists will lead to lower prices, but it will keep the current manufacturers going and lead to more products being produced. It will also encourage and support more hobby shops.
Enjoy
Paul

[dehusman]

Back to the original question.

I don't think that the magazine's readers would like a repeating feature every 3-4 months on building a beginner layout. Once a year is probably enough. Rather than going down in complexity, I would rather they spent more time on articles on prototype operations and "better" layouts. EZ track is pretty much as simple as it gets. It shouldn't take more than a couple paragraphs to describe it. Their space is better to spent on more column inches of layouts that inspire people to go beyond the limitations of EZ track and into more prototypical track design and operations.

Dave H.