Does anyone have any experience working in the model railroading industry - other than local hobby shops? What does it take to work for (hypothetically speaking) Walthers, Kalmbach, or Athearn? What positions are typically available? Sales, production, development, etc?
Thanks,
Go to each of their websites and look around. You will probably find a link, probably labeled “contact us” or something similar.
One thing to consider when contemplating a career in model railroading is that you are looking at a niche business group supporting (and not exclusively supporting) a minority hobby. There are no present or potential Microsofts on this rather sparse landscape. All the model railroad related business in the world (exclusive of trains marketed purely as toys for toddlers) hardly rates a jiggle on the seismograph of commerce.
Which is not to say that there are no opportunities in the information dissemination, product development, distribution and hobby promotion areas surrounding model railroading. It does mean that none of those opportunities are of the sort that will make your own net worth rise to stratospheric levels. Nor will all of them together, in any given year, absorb even the fringes of the output of the nation’s business schools.
I have been told that when model railroading becomes a business it quickly loses its luster as a hobby. Having to meet magazine deadlines, production due dates and such puts pressure on performance at the expense of the relaxation that a hobby is supposed to induce. The model railroad business is a business, just as running a casino is business. The customers are the ones who look forward to being pleased. The workers, right up to the top, can expect to feel good about a job well done - but only if it is a job well done. And the reward for a job well done?
Another, more challenging, job…
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - and fully retired)
Absolutely true. Any leisure time activity fits this statement.
Precious few people get lucky and work with trains for a living.
You could go to China and work in the factory there. That should be sufficient for a entry level start in trains.
Others have said it best… trains = fun, not business.
I worked with a guy who was an artist. He was quite good. Someone suggested that he should do it professionally. He gave it a try and after two years he became fed up with it. He said the stress of it made it less enjoyable.
Read especially Chapter 2 of “The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer” wherein Tom learns a great truth and snookers his friends into paying him to let them whitewash a fence.
Andre