I am your typical model train user. Over 50. What does everyone think about the future of the business in 20 years? I don't see a lot of kids at the train shows anymore.
Video games, Social Media like FACEBOOK, things like Minecraft, seem to be attracting the attention of kids instead these days.
I frankly think that most of the traditional craft hobbies (trains, model aircraft, ships, etc.) are going to have the same tough time down the road. The wired, instant gratifcation world of young people is not condusive to the kind of detail work we like to indulge in.
I was thinking that many kids like thomas the train and have the wooden systems. Wouldn't a lot of those transfer over. Not a lot of non train stores seem to have train sets like when i was a kid.
I think you both make good points.
In a month I'll be hitting 60, I've been model railroading since the late 50's, its been a great ride!
I would say that in the last 10 to 12 years we have been in the "Golden Age of Model Railroading",
it is at its pinnacle and I'm sure glad that I have been involved.
As someone who is days away from being 18, I can attest that it IS still alive among the young, but I know very few who share this interest. Having been into it since I was doing wooden railway with thomas, I can say this: I got into it through my grandfather, the best way to keep it alive is to introduce our children, someday in the distant future, when I have kids of my own, I'll be trying to get them into trains too. Keeping this hobby alive is a noble cause!
Attend one of the World's Greatest Hobby on Tour shows and you will see that children and families are still interested in model railways.
I am 21 and I have been into model trains since I was about 3 years old and I don't see myself losing interest ever. As long as there model train makers in business making models, I am good to go.
I think part of the problem is that many companies, bachmann is not one of them, have forsaken the low end of the market and concentrated on the high end. a newcomer is not going to spend $500 on just the locomotive, another $500 on the control system, plus $60 apiece for freight cars, $200 each for building that take months to assemble, etc.
Bachmann is to be commended for upping the quality of what they offer, compared to what they made 20 years ago, while keeping the prices reasonable. they provide a good entry to the hobby, with equipment that is durable enough to last years end runs well enough you won't feel the need to replace your fleet.
I think the hobby magazines need to be a better source of inspiration, like they were in the 1970s. I find the fill in the blanks layout articles, and the our way is the only way approach to modeling to be boring to the point I rarely buy the magazines anymore. there are many creative solutions to problems out there but 99% of them are ignored by the hobby press.
this forum is one of the bright spots in the hobby. we can all learn from each other. we run the gamut here, from newbies to people in the hobby for 40-50 years.
Part of it's marketing. The train store my repair shop is in has a large multiscale layout in the courtyard of the shopping complex we're in. No shortage of young folks coming into the store after seeing that.
It used to be just about every hobby shop had a display layout, at least around the holidays if not the rest of the year. Now almost none of them do, and I believe that lack does affect model train sales.
Len
I hope this hobby will be around for future generations. It is so enjoyable it would be a shame if people in the future did not get a chance to take part.
I am 64 and retired. This has been my major (but not sole) hobby since 1968.
The part that causes me the most concern is that young people are not exposed to railroading nearly as much as when I was growing up. If the young people do not relate to trains, it will be difficult to expect a lot of them to take up model trains for a hobby.
Another problem is the cost of getting started. Bachmann has not abandoned the newcomers, but many manufacturers have. Many new model railroaders get involved while still in school. They do not have hundreds of dollars to spend to see if they like a new hobby. Even those that do have many alternate hobbies to choose from" just look at what is available in radio control hobbies.
The lack of the traditional hobby shops are also a problem. We need more "brick and mortar" hobby stores where a train set can be purchased (maybe for Christmas or a birthday), and still be around the rest of the year for advice and items to expand and upgrade the original purchase.
Les
What I have observed at train shows, is young kids being pushed around by one parent or the other in a stroller or other sort of carrier, middle aged men and old timers, with a few teenage or elementary school kids and some young adults mixed in. But disproportionately, I see mostly middle age to older men making up the huge majority of train show attendees. I don't see many "kids".
Turned 72 back in April. Macular degeneration in left eye no long allow close up work.
Can still drive a car with no problem.
Moving on. Enjoyed it a lot over the years.
I only arm chair trains now.
I now ride a bicycle along twenty miles of rail trails in my area. I also ride a bike with girlfriend who lives about forty miles away and has quite a few rail trails in her area. Winter months are the downside but I have a exercise bike. Just don't go anywhere. lol
Gave away Lionel and Marx trains to nephew's six year old son.
Gave large scale Bachmann to son in law for his two sons when they get older. Both grand sons have Thomas wood set. Finding Thomas stuff at tag sales a lot.
Giving my NCE Power Cab and some Bachmann sound locos, rolling stock to my girlfriend's ten year old grandson who has a HO layout.
No more Big E train shows. It was great while it lasted. No regrets.
The world is evolving, maybe not like we would like it to.
Change is a constant.
Rich
Sorry you're not going to the Big E.
And you know I had said I was sorry some time ago, to learn about your macular degeneration. :(
Not a problem but thanks. It was a lot of fun when it lasted.
Don't forget Memo's across from the Big E for great breakfast.
Life has been good to me. Go out dancing three times a week, Rock, C.W. and ballroom.
Did 1,500 miles on the bicycle this year.
Easthampton still has the old train station, Tandem Bagel, right along side the rail trail. I belong to the rail trail committee.
Now I am a train watcher as some of the rail trail in Northampton is right along the Pan American Railway tracks. Sometimes I have to carry my bike across the track to pickup another rail trail. A tunnel will be built next year.
Watching the new ribbon rail being installed in Holyoke, Northampton for new Amtrak service.
Rich
Thank you for the breakfast tip.
Might get down that way for hockey skates before the Big E event.
Have you loooked at modern trains? Are there any young train watchers out there? Sure the locomotives might be colorful but the freight cars are dull and often loaded with graffiti.
My grandparents farmed in South Carolina. One end of town was the Southern and the other end the ACL (actually the C&WC). I remember reading the slogans on the box cars and was once very surprised to see a car with a maple leaf on it. CN cars were a rare sight in the south. Of course, at the end of the train, was the caboose - always interesting - no two alike.
I grew up in Manhattan and with a friend would walk down to the big NYC yards on the west side. Again there were all sorts of interesting cars from all over the country. It was a learning experience.
Once on school trip to West Point I saw a NYC streamliner snaking its way along the Hudson. The Two tone grey with striping made for a very expensive looking train and made we wish I had the Lionel NYC F-3s!.
One day there appeared in the Manhattan yards new NYC diesels - but no lightening stripes! Instead they were black with the new cigar band herald - they were gp-20s and the simplified paint scheme was hinting at the money problems to come for the Central. The cabooses in Jade green were a sight to behold.
In college the science building overlooked Van Coirtland Park in the north Bronx. If I sat in a certain seat and row I could see the train - it broke up the monotony of learning statistics.
The now long abandoned Putnam line ran through the park.The train usually consisted of an RS-3 in black, two or three reefers (there were meat packing plants in Yonkers and the cars were loaded on the lower west side of manhattan.) The rear of the train was always a poorly maintained NYC 19000 class caboose - the kind with the little tiny cupola and with chicken wire over the windows; there were lots of idips who liked to throw rocks. My point is that modern railroads, although keeping the nation moving, are just shadows of their predecessors.
As a person who trains techers I can tell you that today's students have to be taught in 10 minute blocks because of the influences of modern technology. Unless you can get your Bachmann K-4 to morph into a strange space vehicle or shoot lasers, a lot of kids won't be interested.
By the way - in my last post my reference to rock thowers should be "idiots." I usually proof read things twice - I did with that post but missed the typo. Oh well, looks like I need new, thicker glasses!
I'm 25, a brass collector and a steam only collector, the only thing I've seen so far is the decline of the older folks in the hobby, which to me means less steam will be made in the years to come BUT on the flip side the brass market is borderline about to plummet because there's more brass than there are people buying it. For me that's a good thing because I casually sit here and watch prices slowly drop to affordability. Models that were once $2,000 are going for $750-800 and they aren't selling at that price either, models that were $500 aren't selling at $75-100 so for me eventually it'll mean I can buy a whole railroad roster for pennies on the dollar. The only thing that will retain value are the extremely limited recent runs of brass and that's it and eventually even they will fall prey to the times.
People just like diesels more and more now because that's what they've been accustomed to.
Now I run trains at my local park around christmas time for kids to watch and see things beyond a world on a TV or Computer screen and hope that inspires them to go out and explore the hobby. My local model railroad club I belong to has a few decent youngsters who are active in the hobby. So I think the demographic may be shrinking but the hobby will remain strong for years to come. Especially with the newer stuff coming out being affordable from companies such as Bachmann