# Hope for the Hobby?



## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

You read about people fearing the hobby is dying out, but I'm not sure. I look at the rising prices on ebay and attribute it to high demand. I attended the all scale train show yesterday in Council Bluffs, Iowa(next to Omaha) and was amazed at the attendance. We had to stand in a long line to get into the huge center they had the show at. 
There were different scale displays and lots of vendors who seemed packed with buyers, you could hardly walk around. Kidman's was the main G scale vendor and seemed busy, Renee did not come, due to a bad ankle. He was selling starter kits up to big locomotives. There was some G scale at good prices at a couple of other booths.
Lots of kids with parents were very excited to see the trains. One couple in line with us, their little guy was jumping up and down to see the trains. He already had a Lionel Polar express, a Lego locomotive and a Thomas the train set. 
Things have changed in the hobby with closing hobby shops, but that is the way the world is going. Most of us have no choice but to buy online. It was a 3 hour drive down and back yesterday, I'm glad Ron did all the driving.


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## HaBi Farm (Aug 28, 2011)

My local (mostly HO) club is thinking about a "student" membership to encourage 18 and unders to get involved. Although with sports, etc. there is a lot competition for their (and their parents') time. I was also at the Council Bluffs show (about a 2 hour drive one way) and I overheard a conversation about a toddler watching the RCRR layout. Something like: "Should we just stay here until he gets tired of watching" - reply "That won't happen". The G gauge RCRR layout is at ground level and often has 1 or 2 Thomas type engines going along with the big-boys stuff. It seemed like there were as many preschool age children watching it as at all of the other layouts put together, which were all at levels somewhere above their heads.

Don't know for sure what my message is, maybe that we have to present trains in a way that interests the age that we are targeting, not just show them what interests US.

the other Rodney


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Jerry at the last Anaheim GTS a couple weeks ago, we were quite literally assaulted by the shear number of attendance! I didn't get a single break that day it was constant crowds questions and kids ...lots and lots of kids. By far the busiest shows I've been in. Granted it was a rainy day but there was a lot less stuff on the vendors tables come Sunday, which was more typical traffic wise. 

It does bode well for model railroading as a hobby, but what impact on LS I cannot say. The only LS vendor there was Gold Coast and I never got a chance to ask Hans how well they did, I did buy two more Lil Haulers from him though.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

There are always people who say the hobby is "dying out"..
they have been saying it every year for the past 70 years..
meanwhile new products are coming out all the time, and the hobby seems as healthy as ever..

I attribute it to some people just being naturally pessimistic, about anything and everything..

Scot


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

I'd expect most hobbies are economically cyclical. Just like auto sales crashed when people didn't have jobs, credit, or healthy wages. Jobs are improving, credit is largely returned it seems; if only wages begin to recover, I'm sure more spending on "fun" will occur.

I've got a few things I'd like to get, hobby wise. I may even start my outdoor railway this spring, though I said that last year too.


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## pete (Jan 2, 2008)

With the York g-scale train show coming up we will see what the turn out will be. Hopefully lots of people and good prices. But who knows.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Rodney
Well, stated:
"Don't know for sure what my message is, maybe that we have to present trains in a way that interests the age that we are targeting, not just show them what interests US."


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## adir tom (Dec 4, 2011)

We keep hearing that we have to get Kid interested. When I was a kid, trains were a father-son project. At a minimal fathers are the purse string that does the buying. 

Our club assists in running a large display for the local Garden Factory during the holidays. Hundreds view this display every weekend day. We see kids eyes light up like ligh bulbs and show a great desire to have a train set. But Dad is not smitten with the hobby. So when they leave it is the end of it.

What we need to do is to is to get the 25-40 year old father on board. Some how create an atmosphere where they can have a father-son bonding opportunity. Dad can also have a social outlet with other club members.


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## Nick Jr (Jan 2, 2008)

My son, not so much, but my 2 grandsons, YEA, Grand Pa Whoo Whoo, and one is big enough to run around on the elevated track chasing the train, either his sparkie or Grand Pa's steamer. Maybe this summer for his brother.


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

The show was well attended, it is fun to see the kids come by. I put some Thomas rolling stock out where they can't miss it. Most young families stop to see the BIG Thomas. They are just looking, but now know he is available in Large Scale. I did miss having Renee along to ring sales, she will be in better shape for York.


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## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

I think there's a period in life where we're too busy with too many other things to spend money on  

For me, I loved trains when I was a kid. My grandfather had an amazing O layout in his attic, with a "working" sawmill and an incredible amount of scenery, rolling stock and so forth. And I remember riding the "Skunk" train in Fort Bragg, CA as a kid. When I was about 8, my dad built a modest HO layout in our garage (about 8x8) but he was a busy guy an didn't have a lot of money for hobbies, so we had a good deal of second hand stuff. A lot of homemade stuff too, which back then wasn't as fashionable as it is today. I liked the time we spent together working on the layout, and have fond memories of running trains.

When I was just out of college, I saw some G scale stuff and it brought back those memories, but as a newlywed I couldn't afford what was on offer locally and realistically with an 18x10 backyard, didn't have a place for a garden RR. But it stuck in the back of my mind, and when I moved to Kansas and had a little more time, space, and "fun money" I started up my RR.

My point here is that possibly there aren't a lot of early-middle-age guys in the hobby because that's the age when money and time are both a little tighter. You're raising kids and working long hours and maybe you just can't fit this particular hobby in. But if we can give our kids or grandkids the chance to enjoy the magic of a model RR when they're young, even if they don't "stick with it" they might come back.

Like me


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## Esppe Pete (Jan 21, 2008)

I think many of us in the hobby gauge the health of the hobby by the rate of new products coming from Mfgs. We are both hobby enthusists and collectors! There are underlying problems with Chinese producers and issues of credit, ownership of molds, and rising cost in China. Also consider that ,many of the "Must Have Trains" and for sure sellers, have already been produced in G guage. All of this and a slow recovery in the USA create a market of caution for the companies we support. They are all SLOW to bring new products to us, so we feel like the hobby is slow. The forums are slow because we are not debating new trains or reviewing releases. We may also be seeing a change in how trains are produced to more of a custom run set up where deposits and numbers need to be met to get trains made. If this is the case, MFG warranty, reputation and delivery date accuracy will be much more important to the buyers. I'm more than happy to put a deposit down on something I want, but with that comes an expectation of the best price, good quality, and reasonable delivery time. I also think that MFGs need to support the local train stores. No reasons they can't send out prototypes, have retailers take orders and be the drop point for new releases!


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

Scottychaos said:


> ........meanwhile new products are coming out all the time, and the hobby seems as healthy as ever..
> 
> Scot


You could have fooled me.

Aristocraft is gone, USA Trains hasn't brought out anything really new for years (I don't count repaints as new), Hartland the same,Bachmann the same.
The only G scale manufacturers who are bringing out really new items, ie new molds or at least modified ones are the Europeans - Piko. LGB. ESU-Pullman, Preiser, Pola

There wasa short two year upswing in Europe with G scale but that has fizzled out again.


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

I don't know that you'll ever get the 20 - 30-somethings to be all that active in model railroading (or any similar hobby). Most folks in that age group aren't mentally wired towards "cerebral" hobbies like that. They're into much more active pursuits. That's not to say they're not interested, but they've got other priorities. I stuck with garden railroading through college and through my 30s, but I was for the most part the lone representative of that age group. 

It wasn't until I was in my late 30s and now early 40s that I'm seeing more folks in my age group come into the fold. Few of these folks magically woke up one morning and said "gee, I think I'll buy a train set!" Rather, the seeds were planted long, long ago, but it took this long for time, money, and circumstances to allow the seed to take root. Most of us have young kids with whom we share the hobby. Maybe they'll stay with it, maybe they'll go off chasing footballs, hockey pucks, and companionship and leave it all behind. But the seed will have been planted. In another 30+ years, when they're sitting where we are now, who knows? 

Later,

K


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

East Broad Top said:


> It wasn't until I was in my late 30s and now early 40s that I'm seeing more folks in my age group come into the fold. Few of these folks magically woke up one morning and said "gee, I think I'll buy a train set!" Rather, the seeds were planted long, long ago, but it took this long for time, money, and circumstances to allow the seed to take root.
> 
> K


It happened to me exactly that way..
I was heavily into HO scale from the ages of about 10 to 18. had a large HO scale layout in my childhood bedroom.

then I turned 18 and went to college..its not practical to keep up model railroading while in college! (unless you go to a college like RIT: http://www.ritmrc.org/ - but I didnt,) then I spent pretty much all of my 20's and into my early 30's in apartments, moving every two or three years....I didnt own a house until I was 35...so I didnt get "back" into model railroad until my mid 30's, a 15 year gap.

Here in Rochester we do have quite a few "20 somethings" into model railroading..but now that I think about it, probably all of them that I know are affiliated with the RIT HO scale club..In my local G-gauge club, we have one teenage member, one college age member..then me, at age 45. thats only three members, out of 40 or so, under the age of 50.

Scot


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

Same here, in fact my passion for trains never went but they were on the back burner during my late teens, 20s etc. Years later I almost shamefully bought one of those Bachmann 'Lumber Jack' porter sets, ran it and displayed it. I sold it later saying to the guy who bought it that it would be good for kids and he replied 'It's for me'. I later realized I was denying my own childhood passions. Well, several years later I started collecting big time when Spectrum came in then live steam... Can't stop. I now have a narrow gauge 1:1 railway at the bottom of my 'garden'. 

Hopefully Thomas has brainwashed the next generation so when they get sick of the bling tech stuff with age and come back to what they miss from their childhood. 
Many people now tend to have less space and smaller gardens and there are so many other 'toys' to spend ones money on. Also I suspect the quality of virtual railroads to get better and more immersive so I dunno. 
The tinkering of old kettles will always be something gran-dad does I suspect.

Andrew


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## aspoz (Jun 18, 2014)

In this hobby, as in much else, there are lead and lag indicators. I would suggest a lag indicator of change in direction is the introduction of new models; it takes time for an upswing (or downswing) in demand to cause a manufacturer to decide to produce new models (or to sit tight on current inventory); and the conservative approach of course is to not invest in new tooling etc.

Attendance at shows might well be a lead indicator; suggesting that more people have the time, money or inclination, or all three, to get into the hobby. OTH, if they are all you kids it might only indicate that a new Thomas movie has come out..... I suspect that increased show attendance by the generation that is becoming empty nesters (ie around 50 years old) would likely be a true lead indicator of an upswing as it would indicate that those with increasing disposable incomes are becoming interested in the hobby.

Steve


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## DennisB (Jan 2, 2008)

I live close to the Detroit/Windsor border. There were several good large scale shops that kept the hobby alive. I should mention that they were a two hour drive from where I live. 
The owners retired and sold off their remaining inventory. Even Ridge Road Station was a good source of trains, and now he has retired.
It would be great great if another large scale shop opened here in southwestern Ontario. You can't create interest if there is no supplier within driving distance to visit.


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