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Enthusiasts struggle to keep model railway industry on track

theguardian.com

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Re: Enthusiasts struggle to keep model railway industry on track

#21

Post by nlnn »

polka_haunts_us wrote: post #4

Funny to see this now. A couple days ago I was on vacation in San Diego and visited the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park and a lot of the traffic flowing through my head about it are all points addressed in the above article: "Almost everyone working here is quite old" "The amount of space this takes up is incredible, I wonder how people get into this hobby, I've never lived anywhere where I'd have enou…

I've wondered this about a lot of hobbies, e.g. drumming, pottery, woodworking, anything that needs space or sound insulation.

There's a lot you can do at shared spaces, but cost/availability/inconvenience of those is just such a big barrier to entry for many younger people.

Re: Enthusiasts struggle to keep model railway industry on track

#22

Post by Timothee »

TacticalCoder wrote: post #15

I still have the Marklin HO model train from my youth. 40 years later it still works and kids love it (when we take it out). One winter we mixed it with Lego from the Harry Potter series and pretended the train was the one going to Hogwarts. Toys that still work 40 years later are amazing. Younger parents who didn't play with model trains are also in awe. For those who have enough room it's really a nice thing to do…

As a teenager I had a Marklin catalog that I kept for years. I spent a lot of time turning the pages to dream about all these models and layouts…

Re: Enthusiasts struggle to keep model railway industry on track

#23

Post by shagie »

dbish wrote: post #16
euroderf wrote: post #11

> folk are always concerned it’ll die out. Not if my 4yo has anything to say about it. Upgrade path from Brio (wooden) to electric trains.

Kids are funny. I’ve seen multiple go through being completely obsessed up to about 5 to losing interest and never looking at a model train again. I think there’s something about that young age that makes them particularly interested, but the likelihood of a long time mode train enthusiast seems to be quite low.

The predictability of the train can be good. While I can't find it at the moment, there was an article I recently read about how repetition (in the context of Good Night Moon(?)) and the ability to be able to predict the future is useful for early childhood learning and development.

A train is very predictable - the sound, the motion, the path... for the same reason that children like having the same book read to them again and again, the train fills that role too.

Re: Enthusiasts struggle to keep model railway industry on track

#24

Post by lnrd »

I think what drew people to model trains was the ability to create and automate your tracks. It's an interesting and fun thing to do, basically designing a system and going trough all the small things needed to make it work. I can see how today this itch can be scratched by many different videogames (Factorio, just to give one example), while decades ago it was either model train or nothing much else.

I think younger generations are drawn to cheaper and easier to access forms of entertainment that provide similar intellectual experience. It's a shame for the hobby, but I find it a very reasonable thing to happen.

Re: Enthusiasts struggle to keep model railway industry on track

#25

Post by adamredwoods »

AlbertCory wrote: post #18

How about real trains you can ride on? https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/historic-bay-area-mode... There's another one in the hills above Palo Alto that's open to the public once a year. Now I can't find it online. Anyone? It's not Roaring Camp. This was a real train on private land, with a machine shop and a crew of volunteers. It had a loop of several miles.

Portola Valley: https://www.pvarr.org/

I've ridden on the Roaring Camp Railroad, but not the Portola Valley one.

Re: Enthusiasts struggle to keep model railway industry on track

#26

Post by sethhochberg »

dbish wrote: post #16
euroderf wrote: post #11

> folk are always concerned it’ll die out. Not if my 4yo has anything to say about it. Upgrade path from Brio (wooden) to electric trains.

Kids are funny. I’ve seen multiple go through being completely obsessed up to about 5 to losing interest and never looking at a model train again. I think there’s something about that young age that makes them particularly interested, but the likelihood of a long time mode train enthusiast seems to be quite low.

This was me as a kid. Whenever we'd drive past the local hobby shop I'd beg my dad to make a stop so we could go look at the display (and play with the various buttons they had that lit up lights, switched tracks, etc).

I've long forgotten about model railroads and these days I live in small city apartments and move every few years, so even if I'd managed to retain the interest I have no practical way to build or store my own models, and generally prefer to spend money on experiences instead of things. I'm basically the problem millennial this whole thread is about.

Re: Enthusiasts struggle to keep model railway industry on track

#27

Post by londons_explore »

I understand why model trains used to be expensive - they had hundreds of handmade parts.

But every other toy industry has taken on mass production and most toys can now be produced mostly by machine for cents.

Yet still model trains are beyond the budget of most 8 year olds.

Re: Enthusiasts struggle to keep model railway industry on track

#28

Post by thot_experiment »

PeterStuer wrote: post #9

Even 40 years ago many opted for N scale because of space constraints. Clubs were almost always HO scale focused, since they had cheap or free accomodation often in semi abandoned rail hangars etc. As for age, it is not just the cost, but also the alienation of the young from messy analog physical dexterity, long low stimulus attention and slow progress in favor of high stimulus instant digital gratification.

I know a lot of people who are into model building in the younger-millennial older gen-z age range. I am not convinced that this shift is particularly pronounced.

I think the real problem is that y'all got houses to put a train set in for like $3.50 and the only people I know with houses are the ones who's parents put the money down and cosigned the loan. The models fit on a shelf in a tiny apartment with a roommate.

Maybe vote to approve some apartment blocks and public transit next time around?

Re: Enthusiasts struggle to keep model railway industry on track

#30

Post by ThrowawayTestr »

PeterStuer wrote: post #9

Even 40 years ago many opted for N scale because of space constraints. Clubs were almost always HO scale focused, since they had cheap or free accomodation often in semi abandoned rail hangars etc. As for age, it is not just the cost, but also the alienation of the young from messy analog physical dexterity, long low stimulus attention and slow progress in favor of high stimulus instant digital gratification.

No it's because people don't have the space. Are you familiar at all with miniature painting or Gundam model building?
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