"End of the Line for Model Trains?" Topic

For decades now, this is what the "graying of the hobby" is supposed to look like though, I think we're far more vibrant and alive than this lot:

"Is the younger Mr. Mei tempted to take up the hobby? "To be honest," he said, "not really.""

link

It's not my scene, but a couple of years ago I went to a local show to look for some buildings. This local model railway show had more folks in attendance than Sydney's largest wargaming show!

Actually, that says more about wargaming in Sydney more than anything else…

I stopped reading halfway through. Too depressing.

Stamp collecting? *cough cough*

When a hobby is based on something that is irrelevant or doesn't matter or exist anymore, this is what happens.
Luckily we will always have war…..

I'm currently running a model railway building club at the school where I work for the second time running. The kids are between 9 and 10 and they love setting up the track, building papercraft buildings and doing scenics.

Last time I made a static layout. This time I am making everything modular for re-usability and play value.

The kids are really getting into layout design and they are challenging themselves with the complexity of the buildings they make.

I think that kids will always love model trains. They like the movement and they like to create small worlds of increasing sophistication.

They just love flock and call it moss.

So I guess in another couple of years I'll be asked to do another club.

Bad news about Hornby/Airfix mentioned in another thread though, so maybe the end of the high-street retailer may be near.

I've had similar experiences to McWong's taking my young nephew to his local train show – the place gets packed. Not sure how many are sightseers (but sightseers who paid $12 USD to do so) and how many are actually hobbyists, but there were a lotta people there.

And many hobbies are inherently gray.

When you were 25 did you have time for trains? The money? The space?

Crispy,
I never let any of those concerns stop me
(including when I should have been studying)

In PA, I have noticed that once spring hits, you can attend a good size train show almost every other weekend.

When you were 25 did you have time for trains? The money? The space?

I had time for beer and girls when I was 25…and the occasional game.

BTW, these guys would disagree that this is the end of the line. YouTube link

My father is a train enthusiast and attends large train shows on a regular basis. Graying yes, dying no.

I'm not sure if its dying, but it seems to have gotten really expensive, even with adjusting for inflation.

The train Hobby is bigger and healthier than it ever has been. Same with gaming. There are more products available for both hobbies than before. More stuff keeps coming. Both hobbies are in great shape.
Extra Crispy nailed it. Both hobbies have lots of gray eldars. Always has. Both hobbies have young geeks as well. A lot of the young ones get distracted as they get older with cars, beer, girls, jobs, etc. Babies, families, and career paths happen. Then when time and money allows many of them come back becoming the next wave of gray eldars. The gray eldars also show trains and soldiers to their grandkids, who some of which become the next wave of young geeks. The circle of Hobby life. The cool thing is that the circle in both hobbies keeps getting bigger.
Interesting how this discussion keeps coming up every year or two. In both hobbies.

Another factor is the growth of the distaff side of the hobby. Lots of Dads who couldn't get their sons interested turned to their daughters, who dove right in. Here in MSP, we have two big clubs (one O, one HO) plus a number of smaller groups (including a small but enthusiastic garden railway club) and they all seem to be doing quite well.

I don't think it's about to go away just yet. I include model rail roads in some of my games. From what I've seen here I'm far from the only one doing so.

And many hobbies are inherently gray.

When you were 25 did you have time for trains? The money? The space?

Couldn't read the article since I don't subscribe, but you nailed it … I suspended model railroading AND wargaming from my early 20s until my mid-40s as I raised my family and established my career. When my kids left home I went back to both.

I suspect the author was more interested in writing a pseudo-poignant/timely piece than fact checking.

In any event, I hope the model railroaders continue to thrive and prosper, since so many terrain products we rely on are really aimed at them!

When I was 25 I was at my most active in wargaming, running clubs and conventions. When I was 25 I met my wife and since then…

If famous German firms as Fleischmann or Märklin have had financial problems, others (as Lima) have stopped and firms who make modelling stuff are reorganising and now Hornby signals problems, there must be problems in this part of the hobby.
Don't know if it is graying, too expensive stuff or what else but that there are problems is imho sure

I don't have any grand notions about the future of the hobby. I know it will be around as long as I am (Even if I am the only one doing it) and once I am gone it won't concern me anymore.

I refuse to admit how much I've expended on model trains in the last five years. Let's leave it at I could be riding a motorcycle…and not a cheap one.

Yes, model railroading faces the same graying trends as table top gaming. However, I don't buy the argument that kids don't get excited by model railroads because they are disconnected from seeing real railroads. By that logic, there should be no Napoleonic gamers as there is no one left who has a direct connection with 200 year old wars.

I think a big problem is companies catering to the high end old guy customers. Lionel came out with a $1,300 USD dollar locomotive – for just the locomotive.

link

If you want kids involved in model railroads, you've got to offer a product that is tough enough to stand up to the level of rough play kids possess. Most if today's toys are not meant to be fixed. I can see where that would be off putting to parents.

Model railroading will endure in some form.

Given how many lego sets fly off the shelves at the toy stores, kids still like building things, but the community at large needs to actually allow them in and have things to do at their level.

We can barely go three threads on here, without people moaning about "kids these days". Would you put up with that when you were a 9 year old?
Beep that, might as well play world of tanks instead then.

The train Hobby is bigger and healthier than it ever has been. Same with gaming. There are more products available for both hobbies than before.

Or….

If famous German firms as Fleischmann or Märklin have had financial problems, others (as Lima) have stopped and firms who make modelling stuff are reorganising and now Hornby signals problems,…….

So which one is it?

So which one is it?

No easy answer. On one hand, model railroading has never had as much variety. Thanks to the net, they're many more small specialty firms filling a much broader market of scales, gauges and specialty sub groups.

Yet, the broader mainstream has seen a decided downturn. And, worse, there is a definite graying of the hobby as a whole (and where have we heard that before…). How to reverse this trend is the big question. Because if they don't, the hobby will fizzle away…

(BTW, I say this as a confirmed railhead. And have been since I was 3 years old (some 50+ years now). And I don't even want to THINK of how much I've spent over the years on my addiction…)