How many years have you been an active model railroader? Vote below then share your comments.
If you were a modeler for a certain number of years, left the hobby, and then came back, count the total estimated number of years.
I’m 40 now, off and on for 30 years
Lionel as a young kid
HO as an older kid
N in teen years
HOn30 in my 20’s
Took time of for college
HOn30 again in my 30’s
Now a G gauge indoor layout but I’m eyeing On30 and resurrecting parts of my HOn30 stuff for a micro layout (8" x 10").
P.S. You young kids out there starting now have it EASY today. The selection and quality in all scales is WAY superior to 20 years ago. Where was all this stuff when I started?
I first started in N scale about 6-7 years ago. I collected a few boxcars and 1-2 structures, but I did not have any time (and less money!) to devote to the hobby. I have been retired for a little over a year now and have restarted my efforts. My benchwork is done, my foam is down and I have started laying track. Yesterday I bought a cheap loco (LL F7)and power supply and this afternoon (with any luck) I’ll run my first train (just to check my track work).
I am 20 now…Lego train when I was 4…N scale when I was 6…now in college I am still doing N scale. That puts me at 16 years. 
Need to have “Getting restarted” as a choice. Started with a Lionel then went to HO by high school. Went in the service and while gone the family garage with the layout burned. Never had time, space or money to restart. Now that kids are gone getting restarted. I am sure a lot of hobbies sit during the college, family, kid years.
I agree with GreenMtn. Many of us started young and left the hobby for the usual reasons, then came back when practical considerations allowed.
I updated the question from “How long have you been a model railroader?” to “How many years have you been an active model railroader?” I too was a modeler as a child, left for high school and college, and then came back. So, I only counted my active years (roughly 15).
Erik
I’m 13 years old and I’ ve beenmodeling since the age of six.
I got a windup set when I was 2, Marx at 3 and a REAL Lionel train at 5 or 6. But when I was ten years old, I got the yardstick and ruler and measured the doors and windows and heard that 1/4" = 1’ on O scale and starting laying out and assembling cardboard buildings for the layout, and figuring what kinds of loads would be carried on a train between different places. I think I had started modeling by then, in 1950 something.
Although I have been involved in model railroading for about 30 years, I’ve probably only done serious modeling for about five or six years of that period.
I started at the age of 4 with an HO box set. Like all 4-year-old childen I destroyed the toys and lost pieces. I owned another HO set by 7 and I was still at the age of destruction but even today I can find some of the pieces. When I was 13 I got a new Lionel set for Christmas. My dad thought HO looked to cheap so he bought me Lionel, probably because of my destructive nature. He grew up playing with Lionel and Marx but he stopped playing with trains. I need to whip him back into shape!
Nothing has stopped me from playing with my trains and adding to my collection. And yes I grew out of the destructive nature and the original train is with my collection. My college years, however, slowed my purchases but it is full steam ahead with buying a basement (with a home on top of it!) and dominating with the ultimate 3-rail empire.
I have been modeling for 57 years.I started right after I came back from overseas after WWll.My first car was paper sided on a wood subbase.Couplers were either dummies or Mantua loops.Like many ,my first locomotive was a Varney Dockside followed by a Mantua Camelback ,Eightball Mogul and Belle of the Eighties. armand
I’m 46 and my first set was a Sears Allstate train set, probably by Marx. It seems like I’ve always had trains. I collect Lionel for the past ten years. I’ve always, otherwise, had HO. I’ve been seriously scratchbuilding and prototype modeling for about fifteen years. Active or armchair, trains will always be in my blood.
I modeled in HO during my teens. I also had some Lionel. I gave all my trains to my sister and her kids when I went to college.
I got back into model railroading in 1978 after getting my M.A. I graduated to N scale and have had an N-trak module since 1979. The module has been rebuilt twice. My module was part of the N-trak layout in Washington in 1982, and has been a part of many club shows.
Scenery and building structures are more favorite parts of the hobby. I am finally beginning work home layout - a short line coal hauler set in WV.
I seem to have been born with a ‘bug’ fer this hobby.
At age 7 I received Lionel for Christmas. Four years later I got a Varney docksider. Since then I’ve modeled in HO, N (back when Rapido and Lone Star pioneered OOO scale), two-rail O and now S. I find S scale (as opposed to American Flyer) to be the perfect size, but try to keep up with developments in all scales.
Model railroading is great at any age. I think it’ll extend your life too! I’d say it’s good for the soul.
I have been involved in model railroad for many years. I even sold model railroad part time so I could get more stuff for my layout. Now I am retired and really enjoy putting more and more time into it. My last stretch has lasted for 12 years but counting all my time, it has been over 25 years. The best part of modeling for me is all of the parts! ;-))
As near as I can figure I’ve been in Model Railroading since 1947. I can remember in my teens in the early 50’s having the oppotunitiy to visit the layouts of the Shortflaggers. This was an informal group in the northern suburbs of Chicago with members including names like Ravenscroft, Berry, and Bradley. The original Skokie Valley was really awesome although you had to duck pretty low to get into the room. After all these years I’m still learning, building, and, most importantly, having fun.
Bill Bell
Since 1957.
with an active layout or not I have kept in the hobby through Model Railroader. Like an anchor that keeps me from drifting away MR has kept up my interest. It has allowed me to feel “up” with the hobby in those times when circumstances just didn’t permit active modelling. Through discovering that my daughter enjoyed the trains more that my son. Then having him rediscover the hobby for himself as an adult.
Years of N-Track modules, and fun in limited spaces in N-scale.
MR is the glue that holds this hobby together. Other magazines are great but MR is the keystone of this hobby.
Thank you.
Doug, in Utah