hey how is everyone doing, i’m 26 years old and like the majority O guage collectors i was bitten by the lionel bug when i was very young and stuck with it. i am now finding as my friends come to my house and see my 8x16 ft layout that they are all saying “yea i used to have trains when i was little… i didn’t know people were still into this stuff!”
i always reply to them the same way that yes theres a ton of people that are still into this, but just about everybody that i know that is as into this hobby as I am are at least twice my age. now don’t get me wrong, i love when i meet people that have been operating trains since the 50’s, they always have the best tips for getting stuff to work. but i am just curious if there is anyone on this mesage board who is in my age group?
Honestly, I’m suprised when I encounter anyone my age (40 this year) or younger in this hobby, and I’ve been in the TCA since 1984 (and actually before that as a “family member”) and going to Greenburg’s shows since 1979 or so…
34 here. I never touched a toy train until a less than a month ago when I found a train set in my parent’s attic. I took on the challenge of getting it to work for under the Christmas tree.
Prewar 204 loco (gunmetal), 1689W tender (gunmetal), 609 Pullman (x2), 611 Observation. Tore it apart and cleaned it. Got it to work!!! My seventy-year-old father ran into the room and his face lit up like a little kid–he hadn’t heard that whistle since he was 12. I’ve been hooked ever since.
Bought a prewar Lionel book and I Just got my first Lionel piece (prewar loco) yesterday. Getting a new starter set this week.
So, as far as the O gauge addiction goes, I’m three weeks old!
I am 28. For that matter, I was a promoted locomotive engineer when I was 22.
This generation (under 30) will be the real test for the survival of the hobby as we are the Nintendo generation that has had to overcome the temptation of electronic video games over electric trains.
I’m 19 and have loved trains all my life. I’m definitely unique for someone my age as when I was a kid I was totally into trains and never had even the slightest interest in video games or the various fad toys that the other kids were into. I started out with HO and, while I still have HO, vintage collectable toy trains are my main passion today. I’m almost strictly into prewar and postwar and am very much of the collector mindset, which is even more unusual for someone my age considering that the MPC era had just ended when I was born. I can’t cite childhood nostalgia as a reason for my collecting interests. Like you, I have many friends in the hobby (not counting all of my great friends online here on the forums), but they are all older than me. There are two guys who are in their 30’s, but the others are all middle-aged or senior citizens. I’ve yet to personally encounter anyone my age who is involved in the hobby. Most of my friends my own age respond quite positively to it, though. When I was in high school, I lived right next to the school and twice gave tours of my layout and collection (to my French class as a year-end fun thing and to my Psychology class as we were studying the effects of toys on childhood development). In both cases, the students (who were mainly girls on both occaisions) were absolutely fascinated by the trains.
I Just turned 35 this January and purchase a Lionel set for my kids (we sort of, they are 2 and 4). I just got the bug a year ago when I found my grandfathers American Flyer set. Really did not have any model train exposure before. I hope this will be a lifetime hobby for me.
wow, i am so glad to see that there are other people close to me in age that are into this hobby the same way i am!
i look foward to becoming friends with all of you!
I am 15 years young. I have been in this hobby since I was 6 years old, and I am now starting outside with my garden railway. But O gauge will always be my favorite.
